Education

When selecting a specialty, it’s OK to choose happiness

Anonymous

Education

January 23, 2021

I began pursuing a career in medicine with the fervent desire to become a neurosurgeon one day. When someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I answered neurosurgeon without missing a beat. I chose neurosurgery in high school after falling in love with the nervous system and watching Gifted Hands. I wanted to be like Dr. Ben Carson before his political debut. At that point, …

End medical school grades

Adam Lieber

Education

January 19, 2021

There should be no grades in medical school. Forty-something percent of applicants get accepted to one or more medical schools. To even apply to medical school, one needs to have not only graduated or be on track to graduate college, but also needs to have passed the MCAT and have the support of a pre-medical application committee. I am no mathematician, but I do not think that it is a …

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End medical school grades

The dangers of selective empathy

Anonymous

Education

January 8, 2021

I go to medical school with a girl who is universally disliked, perhaps more than anyone I’ve met before. It began innocuously enough: She was too active in the group chat, too pushy about ordering class jackets, this and that.

In lecture, she barked out obscure answers like “Saturday Night Palsy” with physical force; her petite body careening forward in her chair, her class-jacketed hand spearing into the sky. But did …

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The dangers of selective empathy

Unpacking the timely need to address the lack of diversity in medical media

Trisha Kaundinya

Education

January 5, 2021

Multifaceted diversity continues to be a challenge to achieve in medicine, which is concerning given the irreplaceable value that a diverse community of clinicians provides to research, patient care, and medical education. Current initiatives to expand diversity are centered around academic mentorship models, in which striving to teach more students the life sciences and frontiers of biomedicine as early as elementary or middle school can provide critical exposure and pique …

Creativity in medical school and beyond

Thomas L. Amburn

Education

December 31, 2020

On those brisk walks across the hospital, I briefly look over at the instillations from local artists. Those pieces ignite a chain reaction of creative empathy and even critique from both patient and provider alike. In the briefest moment, we mentally collide into the artist’s creation, catching glimpses of their point of view. The result is our engagement in the vital need for our own creativity.

Hospital art fosters a welcoming, …

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Creativity in medical school and beyond

COVID, paternalism, and the death of patient autonomy

Garrett Jensen

Education

December 15, 2020

A year ago, if you had asked me if most doctors respected their patients’ wishes, I would have answered with a resounding yes. If you had asked me if medicine had divorced its paternalistic roots when physicians trampled over ideals like patient autonomy and non-malfeasance, I would have said yes. But that was last year, and in this new world of COVID, panic, hysteria, and ever-present claims of just “following …

Lottery docs? Randomize medical school admissions for fairness

Caspian Kuma Folmsbee, MD

Education

December 9, 2020

It’s this simple: The medical school admissions system is bloated and reinforces implicit and systemic biases leading to further social inequity.

Medical schools across the country are going through thousands of applications and making literal life-changing choices for these students. Introducing randomization into the admission process would simplify and address the built-in issues in this process.

Admissions tests do not determine the quality of a doctor’s …

Preparing for the USMLE despite 2020’s obstacles

Jia Wei Tan, MD

Education

December 8, 2020

I came from Malaysia dreaming of completing my residency in the U.S. and becoming a nephrologist. Luckily, I interviewed for programs before COVID-19 shook the world, and I began my residency at Yale University Bridgeport Hospital in June 2020.

Having just reached my target score for the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) after graduating from UCSI University in Malaysia, I empathize with current students struggling to study for their USMLE. …

3 strategies for matching into a competitive specialty, even with a lower USMLE score

Rajani Katta, MD

Education

December 6, 2020

For applicants seeking to match into a competitive specialty, it can be challenging. In fact, it’s not uncommon for programs to receive over 100 applications for a single residency position. To sort through that many applications, many programs use filters. One type of filter is a USMLE “cut-off” score: applicants who don’t score above a certain minimum won’t be considered further.

That’s why, for applicants with lower-than-average USMLE scores, my advice …

In the face of uncertainty, choose hope over fear

Shreya Kumar

Education

November 25, 2020

Over and over again, I find myself repeating the same words to myself as I watch the sunset over the Sacramento River on my dreary commute back from my job in clinical research: hope over fear.

It was with hope that 2020 began—a catalyst year in which we had the wind at our backs and the promise of a better future just over the horizon. 2020 promised the inevitability of change, …

What Caribbean medical students need to know about the residency match

Samir Desai, MD

Education

November 22, 2020

For students studying at Caribbean medical schools, success in the residency match is a major concern. And it should be, because Caribbean medical students have unique challenges. At the same time, strategizing early in your medical school career can significantly impact your ultimate success.

Here are five rules that are critical in residency match success:

1. Yes, your exam score matters. The reality of the current day residency match is that programs …

The value of intergenerational relationships

Satya Moolani

Education

November 17, 2020

With the rapid growth of modern medicine and awareness in lifestyle and environmental influences, individuals can live longer and healthier lives. Approximately 15.2 percent of the U.S. population consists of individuals 65 years and older. To make the added years of life expectancy fulfilling, older adults need to stay socially connected and involved. One key method is through the development of meaningful …

To the third-year medical students who feel like they aren’t learning anything

King Pascual

Education

November 14, 2020

First of all, congratulations on making it this far in your journey towards becoming a physician. It truly is a privilege to be in the position of a third-year medical student because unlike the previous two years, we are now able to address the needs of actual patients, and in many cases, their family members and caregivers, whether they be emotional, mental, physical, or socioeconomic.

I admit that it sounds trite …

Medical ethics and medical school: a student’s perspective

Jacob Riegler

Education

November 11, 2020

The symptoms of systemic discrimination and sweeping organizational problems are ubiquitous in the news and health care literature. Yet, medical students’ curricula focus on codes of professionalism, setting these issues, and the historical forces that created them to the side. While professionalism is undoubtedly an important aspect of being a physician, it is simply not enough to give students the background they need to recognize the historical contextualization of ethical …

The benefits of early clinical exposure in medical education

Karan Patel

Education

November 9, 2020

Medical schools are increasingly emphasizing early clinical exposure for their medical students. While the traditional medical education format — in which the basic sciences are taught during the first two years, and clinical rotations are stressed during the latter two — are still generally followed, many schools provide their students with exposures to the hospital or clinical settings much earlier in their medical education. For example, just two months into …

Moving forward in medicine with your significant other

Todd Skertich

Education

November 7, 2020

The transition from resident to doctor is overwhelming and can impact your personal life deeply, particularly within the context of your relationship. It is important to sit down and discuss with your partner or spouse and discuss your excitement and fear during this odd phase of life. Although the transition can make or break a relationship, if both you and your partner put forth the effort, you will surely be …

The pandemic has only further strengthened my passion to become a physician

Karan Patel

Education

November 6, 2020

As a first-year medical student, the transition to an online curriculum has posed a unique set of challenges. I am often asked, “How exactly can you become a doctor without having seen a patient, without having put a stethoscope on another human being?” I’ve been told many times already by my professors that to listen to one of the four heart sounds, I should place the diaphragm of my stethoscope …

5 common and commonly overlooked mistakes in the medical school interview

Rajani Katta, MD

Education

November 4, 2020

When you’re applying to medical school, it’s remarkable how much four years or more of intense work can come down to one single day. The medical school interview is high stakes: studies have found that interview performance is the most important factor in admissions decisions.

While your MCAT score and your GPA can help secure an interview invitation, it’s your interview performance that matters most when it …

Will reading Tolstoy make you a better doctor?

Charlotte Botz

Education

October 23, 2020

In an increasingly technology-oriented world, genuine human connection is becoming rarer. Physicians are taught to emotionally disassociate from their patients for mental self-protection. This detachment can result in a loss of human connection between a doctor and patient, which may interfere with patient health outcomes. Studying great literature, such as Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, allows health care professionals to adopt the patient perspective and gain insight into how …

The burden of the badge: an MD student’s response to the FIGS controversy

Palak Patel

Education

October 19, 2020

Recently, FIGS – a design-driven medical apparel company – published its latest video advertisement: a young woman in bubblegum pink scrubs struts into view, shaking her FIGS-clad hips for the camera while holding a Medical Terminology for Dummies textbook upside-down. Forget practicing medicine; this woman isn’t fit to drive. The camera pans, emphatically, towards her badge, which reads DO – short for doctor of osteopathic medicine. Ahhh, the viewer is …

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