“I graduated this July and took the QE (written general surgery boards) on July 19th. I got my results today, and I failed. Not only did I fail but my score placed me in the 5th percentile. Needless to say, I’m disappointed. You hear stories about CE (oral exam) failure but never about QE failure. I never blew the ABSITE out of the water (50, 29, 20, 34, …
You failed your surgical boards. What’s next?
Starting this fall, second-year students will no longer have the stress of grades at our medical school, Washington University in St. Louis (WashU). In extending the pass-fail system from the first year to the second preclinical year, WashU joins the other 18 of the top 20 research medical schools on U.S. News and World Report that grade the entire preclinical curriculum on a pass-fail basis. (The sole holdout is Penn, …
Pass-fail is here to stay in medical schools. And that’s a good thing.
It’s that time of year where upcoming fourth-year students are frantically preparing applications for their chosen specialties. Statements like “I LOVE psoriasis,” and “’I’m fascinated by the colon,” are heard from eager, smiling, seemingly-passionate faces when asking preceptors for a “strong letter of recommendation.’”
But what about you? You know, the one whose specialty decision-making process feels more like being tossed into an M.C. Escher lithograph than the instant, undeniable attraction …
You don’t have to love your specialty. Here’s why.
I am blessed to love being a doctor. As the child of two physicians, and the fifth generation of physicians in my family, I had no choice but to go to medical school. But from the first day of medical school, I loved it. What a privilege, to know how the human body works! And I didn’t think medical school was particularly fun: I thought it was hard. The first …
10 pieces of advice for new physicians
“Code fifty-two, emergency room. Code fifty-two, emergency room,” blared over the loud speaker in the hospital. Simultaneously a chorus of beepers went off, like crickets on a sticky summer day.
I glanced down at my pager that echoed the same message “CODE 52, EMERGENCY ROOM.” The same message flashed across the screen three more times as I ran quickly down the main hallway. Code 52 meant trauma. I was about to …
A medical student’s first trauma
What is holding you back from pursuing a career in medicine? What keeps you from going in 100 percent? Have doubts crept into your life and destroyed your premed dream? Is there someone whispering in your ear that you are not good enough or this is the wrong career option for you?
There are many misconceptions about doctors and often times these are perpetuated by individuals who have never walked in a …
Don’t let these 5 reasons prevent you from becoming a doctor
When I started medical school, I was most excited to start learning again. Having spent the last couple years as a teacher in a classroom, I sorely missed the experience of being the student. Reflecting on my college days, I missed the intellectual conversations generated in our seminars, hours poring over literature under dimly lit alcoves of the library; even the far-too-frequent all-nighters spent hashing through complex biochemical pathways with …
A rude awakening for many medical students
A few months ago, I was on my general surgery rotation on the colorectal service as a medical student. It was in the late afternoon that we started a case of a robotic rectopexy to repair a rectal prolapse. Our patient was a kind and warm 89-year-old woman. The operation finished without a hitch.
As we undocked the da Vinci machine, the resident and I began to suture closed the multiple …
A medical student delays reporting his needlestick. Here’s what he learned.
Based on recent data, medical students pay approximately $136 million dollars each year in registration fees for the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1, Step 2 CK, Step 2 CS and Step 3 exams.
Current registration fees to take the four USMLE exams are $3,320 per U.S. medical student and $4,125 per international medical graduate (IMG). Estimated annual registration fees for the USMLE exams …
The cost of taking the USMLE exams is staggering
Psychiatry was my first clinical rotation, and I did not know what to expect when I began. When I initially got assigned to the dialectal behavioral therapy (DBT) team, I had no clue what that would entail beyond working with some borderline patients and that the preconception of borderline patients is that they can be “the most difficult” patients to help due to their intense emotional instability, chronic feelings of …
What a medical student learned during his psychiatry rotation
Health care providers are often uncomfortable discussing issues of religion with patients, despite studies that indicate nearly 9 in 10 Americans believe in some sort of spiritual power. As a medical student, I have noticed that religion plays an important role in many patients’ lives, and that conversations about spirituality can build rapport between doctors and patients.
As the United States becomes increasingly diverse across religious lines, it is imperative for …
The case for teaching medical students about religion
I was a few weeks into my surgery clerkship and was on the tail end of a student call shift. I had been at the hospital for almost 24 hours, and the last thing left to do before I embraced the comfort of my own bed was to round with the faculty surgeon on call that weekend. The night had been busy, but I was prepared to update my attending …
It’s time to end the medical hierarchy
Dear parents,
Congratulations on your daughter’s acceptance into medical school. Like the first day of kindergarten, this launch is notable for parents as well as children.
You may have some concerns about the stresses she will face. Having been there, I can tell you there will be many. Not to worry, though. Times are changing. You daughter is free to learn among the brightest of the bright while avoiding problems women before …
Your daughter is going to medical school. Please don’t worry.
July is back, and clinical faculty at teaching hospitals have again braced for the annual deluge of new residents just beginning their specialty training. Unfortunately, our new doctors may be more unprepared than ever.
The gap between medical school (the four years leading to the MD degree) and residency (advanced training in a particular field) has widened over the past several years. Changes in the health care system, shifting patient expectations, …
New doctors may be more unprepared than ever
Your medical school personal statement is one of the most important components of your application. This short essay can be the deciding factor as to whether or not you will spend the remainder of your life practicing medicine.
To be honest, most personal statements will be similar enough that they’ll fit right in with the rest. There will be a handful that stand out above the majority, and if you can …
Don’t do these 5 things with your medical school personal statement
On my recent tour of residency programs, I had the pleasure of meeting many foreign medical graduates (a.k.a. FMGs; not to be confused with international medical graduates, who are U.S. citizens who go abroad for medical school).
Almost uniformly, they struck me as confident, mature and articulate. Many were older than me, some by as much as 10 or 15 years. Most had extensive research experience, and a few had even …
Foreign medical graduates get a raw deal. Here’s why.
As a fourth-year medical student, I love introducing myself to patients as the “extra eyes and ears of the team, so feel free to tell me anything you forgot or would like to address, even if you think it’s irrelevant or burdensome. I will be your advocate.”
As I establish rapport with them, the walls come down, and they often provide important information that helps my team provide the best care …
The inspiring reasons why this medical student wanted to become a doctor
Aristotle said, “To avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing.”
Sometimes I wish I was nothing; surely, that would just be so much easier. I screw up all of the time. And I hate it. My latest gaffe was killing our simulated patient by causing him to aspirate. I’m sure no one in my group is still persevering on the events that unfolded during the sim. I also really …
It’s OK for medical students to make mistakes. Here’s why.
Meet Dr. Svetlana Kleyman, a powerhouse chief surgery resident with a heart of gold, who works 16-hour days and runs marathons in her free time. Just 18 months before she was to graduate from SUNY Downstate, she developed a spinal infection that left her paralyzed from the waist down. After months of rehab, she was cleared by her doctors to resume work …
A paralyzed surgery resident is told not to come back. She needs your help.
I’ll just start this off by saying that I am not exactly sure where I stand on the white coat thing. One part of me loves the white coat as a symbol, a shield against disease, and a place with pockets to put my things; and then there are other days when I just want to throw that germ-ridden cotton barrier to the doctor-patient relationship in the trash, roll up my sleeves, …
The white coat doesn’t mean much anymore
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