Medical education

2,303 articles · Since 2007

Articles, page 41

The medical school personal statement struggle

March 4, 2019Mar 4, 20192

If you are in the same boat as I and aspiring to become a physician, you are likely in the process of compiling an application for medical school. If you are like me, then one of the most intimidating parts of the application process is the personal statement segment of the American Medical College Application Service. It is increasingly difficult to stand out in the medical school application pool, as …

Millennials: This is our time in medicine

Danielle Verghese

March 4, 2019Mar 4, 2019

Let’s talk about that infamous transition to third year. This is a precarious time in your medical school career when your resolve faces its greatest challenge yet. After weeks of self-imposed exile to prepare for Step 1, you finally take that dreaded exam. Before you even know whether or not you’ve passed, you and your colleagues scattered to the far corners of the earth to begin clinical rotations.

But hey — …

America’s inadequate LGBTQ medical education

Haidn Foster

March 3, 2019Mar 3, 201916

As medical students, we are asked to learn in exquisite detail the ins and outs of rare diseases that we may never encounter in clinical practice. Yet the education we receive on caring for a population numbering in the millions is sorely lacking, and the health of those patients — the members of our communities identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or as another sexual or gender minority — is …

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My first patient taught me a humbling lesson

Mirissa D. Price

March 1, 2019Mar 1, 2019

"How do you say cultural competence in Korean?" “I am always treated with respect in America. So why don’t they care about me here?” My first patient at my community clinic rotation struggled to speak English. But she came prepared,…

“How do you say cultural competence in Korean?”

“I am always treated with respect in America. So why don’t they care about me here?”

My first patient at my community clinic rotation struggled to speak English. But she came prepared, her words memorized, printed from Google Translate.

“All I want is help.”

She had immigrated from Korea not too long ago and found this community health center for her first dental care in over …

This residency interview season: Be the rebel

Bryan Pardo, MD

February 28, 2019Feb 28, 2019

Ours is a chaotic and overburdened medical system. As a senior resident, there is every temptation to seek in our incoming classes more obedient interns and junior residents who would obey my orders as their senior without question. I challenge…

The explosive growth in the health care industry has seen a shift in priorities to traumatic, urgent and emergent care. And we see profits …

Medical schools need to cut their cutthroat culture

Glen Jacobs, DeD

February 26, 2019Feb 26, 201911

The United States will be short 120,000 doctors by the end of next decade, according to the latest research from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That shortage will become permanent unless medical schools make the path to becoming a…

The United States will be short 120,000 doctors by the end of next decade, according to the latest research from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

That shortage will become permanent unless medical schools make the path to becoming a doctor a bit less arduous.

Some medical schools seem to take pride in imposing a heavy emotional and physical toll on their students. Toughen up aspiring doctors early on, the thinking goes, …

How a medical student can help the team during clinical rotations

Ton La, Jr., MD, JD

February 23, 2019Feb 23, 2019

Based on my clinical experiences, there are ten pieces of advice I would give to any medical student starting their rotations that will maximize productivity and lead to a robust and thriving work environment (your interns will thank you). 1.…

1. Do as complete of a workup on your assigned patients as you can. Be thorough with your admission H&P. Think of all the tests, labs and imaging studies you want ordered. …

The culture of permission in medicine

Lauren Joseph

February 21, 2019Feb 21, 201913

During the recent winter break, I went home and visited my yearly slew of doctors for check-ups: vision, dental, gynecology, etc. In the exam room, my new gynecologist instructed me to put my feet up in the stirrups. I had recently learned in a seminar at school that new guidelines on Pap smears suggest spacing them every three years for women at my age, and I wondered, “Do I even …

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The culture of permission in medicine

Why medical students need more continuity of care training

Nathaniel Fleming

February 18, 2019Feb 18, 2019

One of the major challenges of being on medical school rotations is the necessity of changing rotations every four weeks, and how adapting to each new specialty feels like going through the first day of school all over again. I…

I want to share my experience on other side of the coin. About a year ago, I started participating in Stanford’s Continuity of Care program, a clerkship in which I am excused from …

The hidden curriculum of medicine

Errin Weisman, DO

February 13, 2019Feb 13, 2019

Think all the way back to your grade school years. Did you know that your personality traits were starting to be honed for the work you do today? Let me give you some examples about myself and see if you…

I remember the praise and exhilaration of being the only kid in the class to get a 100 percent on an extremely difficult second-grade spelling test. My teacher told …

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The hidden curriculum of medicine

The post-baccalaureate pre-health program experience

Sheindel Ifrah

February 10, 2019Feb 10, 20192

After teaching biology and nutrition for three years, I began my journey back to my original dream: a career in medicine. The most common sense approach to me was to return back to college and start taking the necessary pre-requisites to apply for medical school. My original major in college begin special education, I had no previous college-level science background, so I began taking introductory biology and chemistry at a …

Do whatever it takes to conquer this depression. Now and forever.

Ton La, Jr., MD, JD

February 5, 2019Feb 5, 2019

"Ms. Taylor*?" "Yes, it's me. I'm so deeply sorry to you and the team. You all helped me so much when I was here. But I started drinking a day after I left and blacked out." Two weeks ago, Ms.…

“Ms. Taylor*?”

“Yes, it’s me. I’m so deeply sorry to you and the team. You all helped me so much when I was here. But I started drinking a day after I left and blacked out.”

Two weeks ago, Ms. Taylor was found by her sister lying unconscious on the bathroom floor after a week-long alcohol binge. Next to her was a suicide note.

“My depression is robbing me of my freedom. I …

Reflections after a medical student’s first code blue

Danielle Verghese

February 1, 2019Feb 1, 2019

We were in the middle of the morning routine – sign out between mouthfuls of eggs and homefries – when the call came in overhead, “Code Blue, 9 West. Code Blue, 9 West.” Just like that, our team snapped into action, the continued banter only thinly concealing a change in demeanor: backs straight, jaws set, we walked with a sense of purpose. There was a life on the line.

By the …

Why medical students should develop and increase self-awareness

Ton La, Jr., MD, JD

January 31, 2019Jan 31, 2019

The most important piece of advice I can give to incoming medical students is to be vigilant about how you are feeling day-to-day and to be aware of your actions. As is often said, our personalities, the distinctive makeup that makes us who we are, are set in stone. If you are a mindful person, you’ll stay that way even as you get older. If you are someone who likes …

Why doctors-in-training need better nutritional education

Abeer Arain, MD, MPH

January 27, 2019Jan 27, 20196

Obesity is a global epidemic, and its prevalence is increasing in every part of the world. While we have new medications and complex surgical techniques that promote weight loss, the awareness of healthy eating habits and dietary education are still…

Unfortunately, nutrition knowledge appears confined largely to books and exams; as the doctors barely engage in nutrition counseling with patients. In teaching …

6 things learned from being rejected from medical school

Anonymous

January 26, 2019Jan 26, 20194

I have spent the greater portion of my 20s enduring a premature quarter-life crisis. Patterns of self-doubt and debilitating anxiety became my new normal. I was rejected from medical school — again. After taking time to process the reality that…

I have spent the greater portion of my 20s enduring a premature quarter-life crisis. Patterns of self-doubt and debilitating anxiety became my new normal.

I was rejected from medical school — again.

After taking time to process the reality that I would have to wait another year to re-apply, I fervently journeyed through a messy jungle of introspection that led me to these six lessons. Although I learned more than I could …

Patients are an integral part of medical student education

Orly Farber

January 25, 2019Jan 25, 2019

A face feels nothing like a frozen pig’s foot, I thought, as I guided a curved needle into the woman’s cheek, drawing the absorbable thread across her still-bleeding wound. Two wraps around the needle driver and I pulled the nearly…

A face feels nothing like a frozen pig’s foot, I thought, as I guided a curved needle into the woman’s cheek, drawing the absorbable thread across her still-bleeding wound. Two wraps around the needle driver and I pulled the nearly invisible thread through, bringing the edges of her skin back together, securing my first knot.

“Hey, have you ever sutured?” the ER doctor had asked, just minutes before.

“Only in class,” I replied, …

How this student took care of his severe depression in medical school

Anonymous

January 22, 2019Jan 22, 2019

We learn about it in school as a formula. There is a checklist that we are given, and we ask our patients these eight questions and then calculate whether or not they have depression. It’s so simple. Anyone can do…

I entered medical school full of hope after years of failures and …

10 tips for non-traditional medical school applicants

Joe Bardinelli, DO

January 16, 2019Jan 16, 2019

I would like to offer some words of encouragement to what many call the “non-traditional” students pursuing medicine. The term encompasses people in different aspects in their lives. It may be someone in a different line of work looking at…

I would like to offer some words of encouragement to what many call the “non-traditional” students pursuing medicine.

The term encompasses people in different aspects in their lives. It may be someone in a different line of work looking at medicine as a second career or another just getting started that didn’t take the traditional path in undergrad.

My own journey

I started medical school at 28 after spending six years as a …

Despite physician burnout, medical schools are still hard to get into. Why is that?

Suneel Dhand, MD

January 10, 2019Jan 10, 20197

It’s no secret that physician job dissatisfaction is soaring to unprecedented levels, with over 50 percent of practicing physicians reporting burnout. While many factors have contributed to this epidemic in America over the last 20 years — not least of all electronic medical records that are taking a heavy (and unacceptable) toll on physicians’ time — this is not a phenomenon unique to the United States.

I went to …

Medical education

Articles, page 41

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