Students, residents, and educators writing on KevinMD about how physicians are made: medical school, the match, residency, duty hours, supervision, assessment, mistreatment, and the path from student to practicing physician. Many contributors write while still in training, and many write anonymously. For a maintained record of what students and physicians have said about medical school since 2004, see Medical school: what students and physicians say, in their own words. For what residents and attendings have said about residency itself, see Residency: what residents and attendings say, in their own words.
Did you know that the majority of medical schools only interview about 15 to 20 percent of the applicants that submit an application to that school? Albert Einstein College of Medicine, for instance, had 8,138 people apply for entrance. 1,324 were interviewed. That’s only 16.27 percent of the applicants.
If you have an interview, that means that the medical school likes you well enough to give you one of their coveted …
Read more…
Ace your medical school interview by being yourself
Recent events seem to be signaling an increasing sentiment toward hitting the metaphorical “pause button” on immigration or perhaps even adopting more anti-immigrant postures in the US and in many other places around the world. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued its deadlocked non-decision in United States v. Texas, No. 15-674 which will prevent Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents or DAPA from …
Read more…
Can medicine cure what’s wrong with U.S. immigration policy?
A letter to my nephew, who is just starting residency.
There will be days ahead when patients will bring you their most prized and flawed possessions — their broken bodies, their flagging spirits, their waning hope. They will wonder: “Can I get back to my loved ones, my life, my dreams? Will you help me? Do you care?”
You will not have all the answers, though you will have read a forest …
Read more…
Sage advice to new medical residents
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 …
Read more…
A medical student delays reporting his needlestick. Here’s what he learned.
The question, asked to me by a new first-year medical student, seemed simple enough: “There are a lot of different types of reflex hammers out there — which one should I buy?” As with so many things in medicine, however, I knew that my answer wouldn’t be so straightforward.
As I prepared to answer, I flashed back to one of my first days in medical school, when one of my clinical …
Read more…
Medical school: A crash course to critically appraise information
It’s a typical chaotic day on the hospital’s hematology and oncology floor. I’m sitting in a side room with one of my fellow medical students, doing paperwork and making follow-up calls for our medical team.
That’s when the music starts. The sounds of two guitars, a tambourine, and a few maracas drift down the hallway. I can’t make out how many people are singing, but the happy voices and the song’s …
Read more…
A moment of sorrow transformed into bliss
Hi there,
Allow me to introduce myself.
I’m you.
I’m you 20 years ago, or 45 years ago if you were in the Class of ’72. I’m you one month ago if you were in the Class of 2016. I spilled coffee down my shirt, my hair is kind of a mess, and there are dark circles under my eyes from long hours spent studying.
Sound familiar?
Great. Then you’re in the right place. The …
Read more…
Medical students need guides to help them navigate the hospital
This is the question that every premed student must answer. It is the automatic query that follows after you have informed someone of your future goal to become a doctor. It is also the question many med school interviewers will ask in an attempt to gain their first impression of you.
“Why do you want to be a doctor?”
Everyone who poses this question has their own intention behind it. Your follow-up …
Read more…
5 questions to ask before applying to medical school
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 …
Read more…
The cost of taking the USMLE exams is staggering
“I could never go into that specialty. They’re so passive aggressive.”
“Those residents are so catty.”
“Oh, them? They don’t even know their patient’s names.”
“Those residents are such bros.”
And so on.
I guarantee you that if you’re in medicine — or even if you’re not — it would take you no more than two guesses to figure out which specialty each of the above statements is describing. At some point during third year, …
Read more…
Let’s end the stereotypes of medical specialties
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 …
Read more…
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 …
Read more…
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 …
Read more…
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 …
Read more…
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, …
Read more…
New doctors may be more unprepared than ever
Much is made of the date July 1st in the medical profession. Freshly graduated physicians begin their training career in medicine as interns. Although technically physicians, these interns are new to the clinical practice of medicine and all that comes with that. Much has been made of the experience of the new intern. Samuel Shem’s House of God is a renowned novel about medical training. Countless television series, chronicle the …
Read more…
On June 30th, I hope we remember the intern within us
As a researcher, there may come a time when you interact with the media. It may make you cringe; for traditional research publications, we have the protection of editing, and feedback from mentors and colleagues. Interviews feel much more risky: Questions are unpredictable, and there is seldom an opportunity to polish the product before it goes into the wild. Yet, interacting with the media offers an opportunity to garner attention …
Read more…
10 tips to handle the media as an academic researcher
The USA trains its physicians differently from every other Western country I know. Everyone (with rare exceptions) who goes to medical school first must get a four-year undergraduate college degree in something. There are no such degrees in medicine, although the overwhelming majority of students going on to medical school major in one of the sciences, such as chemistry, biochemistry, and biology. If they don’t major in a science, they generally …
Read more…
It’s time to change the way we choose medical students
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 …
Read more…
Don’t do these 5 things with your medical school personal statement
When I was in high school, I remember being fascinated by the television series House the medical mystery show whose title character was the doctor version of Sherlock Holmes (only with non-existent ethics and a drug problem). Back then, of course, I didn’t have much understanding of the medicine behind the show, but I was impressed by the show’s apparently realistic use of medical terminology and the way it made the …
Read more…
How a TV medical drama gave this medical student confidence
