Education

As I become a better baker, I hope that I will continue to become a better doctor

Education

February 12, 2020

Growing up in a Korean household meant that I had very little experience with the type of baking that most Americans are used to; My grandma made rice cakes, not birthday cakes.

But during my third year of medical school, an intern recommended a show called The Great British Bake Off. After watching a few episodes and seeing what devoted home bakers could do, I was smitten and resolved to bake a …

The questions people ask medical students

Menachem Gurevitz, DO

Education

February 3, 2020

Wow, you’re in medical school? So you are going to be a doctor? What year are you? When are you going to finish? What are you going to go into?

You should become a skin doctor, what do they call them again? It doesn’t matter, but they do good. But they are not real doctors, so maybe it’s not worth it.

You should become a doctor that gives vaccines. Are vaccines real? …

A medical student’s advice for clinical rotations

Ton La, Jr., MD, JD

Education

February 2, 2020

As a rising fourth-year med student, these are my words of wisdom for all students who are on their clinical rotations.

Your mental health is paramount; do not neglect how you are feeling!

There is not one med student that I know of who hasn’t felt anxiety, paranoia, or depression. Some of your peers may even be diagnosed with psychiatric disorders and take medications. And that is OK! As a mentor of …

The excitement of clinical rotations: Not just learning medicine but doing medicine

Orly Farber

Education

December 27, 2019

The first time a woman went into the final stage of labor, I watched from a corner of the room. As a third-year medical student, I was on my six-week clinical rotation in obstetrics and gynecology, and it was day one of the two-week portion on the labor and delivery floor. As a loudspeaker announcement projected over the woman’s screams, and nurses and doctors rushed in response, I instinctively clasped …

For students with test stress, medical schools leave a void

Steve Blatt, MD

Education

December 27, 2019

I’m writing this for my tribe of worriers and self-doubters, people for whom ever-present test stress is inextricable to the med school experience. Sure, every medical student becomes preoccupied fretting over exams to some degree. That’s part of what you sign up for. But our preoccupation is something greater than that—it towers over us and bullies us. It makes us cower in the corner, begging to be spared from harm.

We’re …

Why this medical student is pursuing a dual MD/JD

Ton La, Jr., MD, JD

Education

December 26, 2019

I am frequently asked: “Why are you pursuing a dual MD/JD?” Neither profession is a family business; no one in my family is a doctor or a lawyer — but I’ve always dreamt big. I always wanted to get the most possible out of my education. Beginning in elementary school, I knew I wanted to be a doctor, but it was not until college that I …

What I learned from starting medical school in January

Gaelle Antoine, MD

Education

December 14, 2019

I graduated from an international medical school this past spring. I’m currently in the midst of a preliminary year as an internal medicine resident at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, N.Y. Next year, I’ll start my dream residency in anesthesiology at Brown University.

Like many physicians, my journey to medicine has had its share of twists and turns. But my story is slightly different than the …

A letter to a cancer patient in palliative care

Alison Vasa

Education

December 10, 2019

I heard about you a few times before I ever met you in person. It was my first day on the palliative care service — a week that felt like a relaxing break from the sixteen-hour days I was used to on surgery. Many people don’t know what palliative care is. But I suspect these days if you are still living that you know it well.

I first heard of you …

What challenges do you see yourself facing as a doctor?

Eric Tian

Education

December 3, 2019

“What challenges do you see yourself facing as a doctor?”

I’m sitting in a suit, facing a young Asian woman with black, round glasses across a desk. On the desk in front of her is an iPad, and she sits cross-legged, hands resting on her legs. I’m in my interview for medical school, and the woman across me, who introduced herself as Angela, is awaiting my response.

I pause and mentally check …

3 reasons why smart doctors fail big exams

Steve Blatt, MD

Education

November 27, 2019

OK, quick — word association time.

I say “doctor,” and you think what? “Smart,” right?

And it’s true. Doctors are smart. But before you buy into the myth that every doctor has breezed through school and could fall out of bed with a #2 pencil and crush an exam without thinking about it, consider that over 1,100 internal medicine doctors fail their board exam every year.

And that’s just one medical specialty. When …

How studying abroad helped get me into medicine

Susan Muncner

Education

November 23, 2019

Think studying abroad doesn’t fit with your future plans? Think again.

Since the day I applied to university, I had been researching how I could incorporate global learning into my undergraduate degree program, while also thinking about my future goals for getting into medical school. When I was accepted to do a Bachelor of Science with a double major in chemistry and biology, I surprisingly still found time for extracurricular activities …

It’s time to stop being skeptical of hospital chaplains

Ilaria Simeone

Education

November 11, 2019

What is your gut reaction when you hear the words “hospital chaplain?” Maybe it’s an eye roll or confused stare about what you believe to be an incoming attempt at religious conversion. As a family member anxious about a loved one in the hospital, maybe it’s a sigh of relief. As a patient, maybe it’s an overwhelming fear of incoming bad news. Health care chaplaincy is chronically misunderstood, beginning with …

Physicians must first establish their life priorities

Meagan W. Vermeulen, MD and Todd Skertich

Education

November 8, 2019

An excerpt from Career & Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents: The Best Part of Your Journey Is about to Begin.

Life is a journey. Where is this journey of life taking you? Do you know? If I asked you where you will be in seven years, could you tell …

The Resident and Fellow Bill of Rights

Eden Almasude, MD

Education

October 24, 2019

Last June, I became a freshly-minted young doctor, bright-eyed, and enthusiastic about heading off to my dream residency program. By August, I found myself crossing the street on my way home, wondering if I had made a horrible mistake that could have harmed a patient. The most painful thing was, I hardly had the energy to care.

This is not why I chose to dedicate myself to medicine.

Like many medical trainees, …

Read more…

The Resident and Fellow Bill of Rights

When you’re a physician, you’re a detective

Lauren Joseph

Education

October 21, 2019

A professor recently romanticized my idea of clinical reasoning as he began our session by saying, “When you’re a physician, you’re a detective.” He elaborated: “Every fact you have, every piece of evidence you have, must be consistent with your leading diagnosis.” As he said this, my eyes narrowed, and I sat up a little taller.

My fellow first-year medical students and I have begun our official training in clinical reasoning, …

Why this medical student chose to pursue medicine

Ton La, Jr., MD, JD

Education

October 20, 2019

Pain and suffering together is a universal language. It is unspoken, one that a person of any age feels when they see a loved one die, or when someone sees another human being suffer when nothing more medically can be done.

I once saw a Vietnam War veteran who, within a few years of returning home, suffered from a hemorrhagic stroke. He was robbed of his ability to walk, to talk, …

Do physicians really need such extensive training?

Erin Wildermuth

Education

September 30, 2019

Last year the American Association of Nurse Practitioners announced a $2 million campaign to further expand independent practice, which they already have in 22 states. The relatively new doctorate of nursing (DNP) has led to a confusing scenario where nurses are indeed doctors, just not the kind you think of when you see a white coat. The profession (well, its money-making institutions) has fought hard to keep people confused.

Doctors are …

Made mistakes? How to spin them for your medical school applications.

Michelle Finkel, MD

Education

September 24, 2019

Despite more than a dozen years in medical school admissions consulting, I still clearly recall a bright advisee who had improved her grades considerably throughout her college career. But I, unfortunately, had a less than stellar freshman transcript. After calculating her AMCAS GPA with me, she lamented, “I feel like my grades are a criminal record.” In a twisted way, she was right — she couldn’t erase the grades.

But she …

It’s time to abolish the MCAT

Inginia Genao, MD

Education

September 12, 2019

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) should be abolished. This single test — which ranks students by the science they’ve learned before going to medical school — prevents the physician population in the U.S. from looking like the population it serves. Underrepresented minority students have lower scores on all standardized tests. And the MCAT is no exception. When medical school admission committees use the MCAT as a screening tool to …

Read more…

It’s time to abolish the MCAT

Most of what you learned in medical school is wrong. And that’s OK.

Joshua Y. Yang, MEng

Education

September 10, 2019

“90 percent of what you will learn over the next four years will be wrong in a couple of decades from now.”

Speaking to a lecture hall of 120 first-year medical students, our professor’s prophecy seemed to fall on deaf ears. Looking around, I saw no concerned students, no diminishment of our collective enthusiasm. For me, however, his words of caution struck a chord on that first day of medical school.

As …

Education

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