In the news recently has been a complaint filed by over 60 Asian-American groups, alleging discrimination in admissions at Harvard. They point to such statistics as this: in 2009, among accepted applicants to the Ivy League, the average SAT score on a 1600 point scale for Caucasians was 310 points higher than Hispanics …
Asian-American discrimination: Is medical school next?
After the last elective case of the day, the neurosurgeon I was shadowing told me that he was on overnight call that evening, and that I could stick around to observe more surgeries if I wanted to. “Yes,” I responded. “Absolutely yes.”
My fascination with surgery stems from its ability to provide immediate results to a patient by cutting out, repairing, reshaping, or …
A neurosurgery case that this medical student won’t forget
The transition between the basic science years and the clinical years in medical school are jarring, mystifying, exhilarating and thought-provoking. Recently, I did an hour conference with approximately 30 medical students. About half started their clinical year five weeks ago, while the remainder have only three weeks left before they finish the year. They gave me permission to share our discussion. We focused on their (and my) observations about the …
10 thoughts on the transition to a third-year med student
I have received many questions on this topic from medical students so I thought I would share my thoughts on choosing the right medical specialty for you. I hope you find this helpful.
1. Relax. The medical degree offers more flexibility than any other graduate degree. Even if you realize your selected specialty no longer fits you there are multiple areas your degree …
Med students: 10 essential tips to choose the right residency
I have been exposed to many patient interactions during my first year of medical school. However, my first real patient interaction was when I accompanied my attending to a homeless shelter in downtown Phoenix. I can clearly remember being very excited the day before the visit to the homeless shelter; this was to be the first time I would actually interact with real patients. …
To a patient: Stay strong. Don’t lose hope.
An excerpt from So You Got Into Medical School… Now What?: A Guide to Preparing for the Next Four Years.
By far one of the most unique experiences first-year medical students can have is working in the gross anatomy lab. From the potent smell of formaldehyde to the …
Gross anatomy: What’s a first-year medical student to do?
Kaitlyn Elkins was a medical student at the Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina and a member of the class of 2015. She excelled academically, named the valedictorian of her high school class and graduating summa cum laude from Campbell University. She wrote poetry in her free time. She had a cat, lovingly named Gatito. On April 11, 2013, just …
Medical student suicide: It’s impact is devastating. This case proves it.
We’ve all heard it said that learning medicine is like drinking from a firehose. Yet many students and schools don’t use one of the most effective study techniques available to them. Spaced repetition is a powerful, evidence-based study technique that can enhance learning and long-term retention of medical knowledge. Medical students and schools could both benefit from understanding and using spaced repetition to produce more knowledgeable and better-informed doctors.
Over a …
Want to enhance medical education? Use spaced repetition.
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been classically described as “the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.” At first look, this well-accepted approach to clinical medicine appears not only completely reasonable, but also somewhat obvious given the immense amount of research available for academic consumption.
EBM has been repeatedly preached as the gold standard of clinical care across all medical …
The challenge of evidence-based medicine to the new physician
I didn’t really notice him standing in line. But how could I? Hundreds of kids came through the high school gym yesterday. His turn for the heart and lung portion of the high school sports physical had come. He said he was going to play baseball and basketball. How could he with that arm he carried so carefully? I am not …
A high school physical that shook this student to the core
An excerpt form Baby City: An Inside Look into Labor & Delivery.
I am going to make this medical student cry.
I don’t know how I know it, but somehow I can sense it. I know it the second she walks into the resident room on labor and delivery at Cadence …
A medical student on her obstetrics rotation: Behind the scenes
There he stood at our beach party, the family doctor I grew up admiring. I timidly approached his circle of friends to announce I had gotten into medical school and would start in the fall. He stopped to attention. His friends stood watching. I couldn’t conceal my smile. I thought, “He is going to be so excited for me!”
“Get out now.” …
Leaving medical school for a startup. And with no regrets.
At a recent block party, neighbors asked me questions about the life of a resident. It amazed me how little the general public still knows about the hours a resident works. Over the years, TV shows have shed some light on what the experience of a resident is like, although none are quite realistic, but it is hard to appreciate from …
Counting 80 hours: The life of a pediatric resident
Anyone considering attending a Caribbean or any foreign medical school should do due diligence. An Internet search is step one. If the school does not list residency match statistics, that could be a red flag. It would not be easy to accomplish, but try to speak with some current students or recent graduates of any schools you are thinking about.
If the school won’t give you any names, use caution, and …
IMGs matching into surgery: What are the chances?
For me, hepatitis B booster shots feel pretty much as pleasant as being sucker punched in the arm. You can imagine that it didn’t inspire much elation when I scrolled through my calendar to see, spelled out in big red letters, a reminder for “Hep B #3.”
Now, as I reflect, this reminder feels like a victory of sorts.
When you are told during medical school orientation that you must be reimmunized for …
Dealing with doubts in medical school
My first experience administering injections involved sitting in an ICU room, ten years old, drinking bitter diet Shasta colas and watching thrillers from the 90s starring Sandra Bullock. The nurses started me on oranges. Easy as pie — I could stab away, practicing insulin injections with saline and fruit. The oranges practically squealed with delight upon puncture, rewarding me with the scent of citrus and a plume of juice — …
My first experience administering injections
I am relieved and proud to report that I passed my boards: I am officially a diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. While the oddly formal “diplomate” is a term in common use with physicians, I didn’t understand what “diplomate” and its sister phrase “board-certified physician” meant until I undertook my own board preparation.
The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a memorably stressful element of applying to …
Boarded to death: When will testing for doctors ever end?
“You have the nurse hand you the equipment, that way she doesn’t just stand and stare like a chaperone,” my doctoring mentor explained to me before we entered the room to do a pap smear on a young, 35-year-old woman. My doctoring mentor is a middle-aged, 6-foot-5, exceptionally hairy, broad-shouldered man that carries a warm, jovial presence. Yet the reality of the fallen world is that no matter how sweet, happily …
As a doctor, I need to understand power, trust, and pain
Does the profession of medicine favor certain personality types over others?
When I was younger, it seemed like all of my doctors were gregarious, self-confident, and humorous, leaving me to wonder if one can “make it” in medicine without being outgoing. This seemed a natural consequence of the fact that so much of medicine is team-based and demands constant interpersonal interaction with colleagues and patients. For many introverts, a career in …
Can introverts survive in medicine?
Every year 300 to 400 physicians commit suicide. More than 10 percent of doctors are thought to have depression, a frequent precursor to suicide. Rates of depression and suicide
Does medical student debt lead to suicide?
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