Translational research is a catchphrase in biomedical circles these days. But if you’re confused about what the term really means, you’re not alone. It was 35 years ago when I first heard the term “translation” in a scientific context. It…
Translational research is a catchphrase in biomedical circles these days. But if you’re confused about what the term really means, you’re not alone.
It was 35 years ago when I first heard the term “translation” in a scientific context. It was about enabling basic research undertaken by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to find its way into treatments for patients. Though that sounds pretty straightforward, I still have to explain …
Recently, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine called into question the effectiveness of surgical checklists for preventing harm. Atul Gawande, one of the original researchers demonstrating the effectiveness of such checklists and author of a book on…
Picture this. You walk into your doctor’s office for an urgent visit for new distressing symptoms. He (or she) takes your blood pressure, temperature, heart rate. All within normal limits. He asks you several questions pertaining to your symptoms, does…
Picture this.
You walk into your doctor’s office for an urgent visit for new distressing symptoms. He (or she) takes your blood pressure, temperature, heart rate. All within normal limits. He asks you several questions pertaining to your symptoms, does a thorough exam and perhaps orders a quick in-office lab or two. You ask him what he thinks is going on.
The quandary
If it’s a slam dunk diagnosis, the branch point in …
What do you do when your ideal residency program does not exist? This is a truth that all perspective applicants must come to terms with, but I was still hoping that I would be the exception. I had created my…
What do you do when your ideal residency program does not exist? This is a truth that all perspective applicants must come to terms with, but I was still hoping that I would be the exception. I had created my list of everything my top family medicine program must have, including strong research mentorship, dedicated faculty, and a welcoming resident environment, and I had an idea going into the interview season what …
Should medical school be shortened to three years? I say, "no." Here's why. There is way too much to learn in 3 years. Unless medical education is radically changed, it will be impossible for students to memorize all the unnecessary…
Should medical school be shortened to three years?
I say, “no.”
Here’s why.
There is way too much to learn in 3 years. Unless medical education is radically changed, it will be impossible for students to memorize all the unnecessary stuff they still have to memorize, complete all their clerkships, and move onto the next phase — residency training.
I do not see how medical students can choose a career path before they have …
The field of nephrology is in a workforce crisis. We as a subspecialty have witnessed a steady decline in the number of applicants perusing nephrology fellowship over the last several years. In fact, fewer than 100 US medical school applicants…
The field of nephrology is in a workforce crisis. We as a subspecialty have witnessed a steady decline in the number of applicants perusing nephrology fellowship over the last several years. In fact, fewer than 100 US medical school applicants participated in the 2014 nephrology fellowship match. This is a sobering statistic as 403 nephrology slots were available in this year’s …
As a medical student, I am being taught not to judge patients. If a patient tells me that he has smoked cigarettes for forty years of his life despite the protests of his wife, I am supposed to nod my…
As a medical student, I am being taught not to judge patients. If a patient tells me that he has smoked cigarettes for forty years of his life despite the protests of his wife, I am supposed to nod my head understandingly without showing my inherent disapproval. If a patient tells me that she has given her husband genital herpes because she is cheating on him, I am not supposed …
As a medical student looking to explore entrepreneurship, I quickly came across Shiv Gaglani’s October 2013 article in Entrepreneur, entitled “Why Medical Schools are Pumping Out Entrepreneurs,” in which he the highlights similarities and differences he sees between medical students…
As a medical student looking to explore entrepreneurship, I quickly came across Shiv Gaglani’s October 2013 article in Entrepreneur, entitled “Why Medical Schools are Pumping Out Entrepreneurs,” in which he the highlights similarities and differences he sees between medical students and entrepreneurs. I was struck by his proposed differences — he does not share his take on their origins, so I have come to delineate my own view.
Match Day: It’s among the most memorable moments of medical school, a time when students, friends, family and faculty gather to open those coveted white envelopes. It’s the symbolic first step out of medical school and into residency, and a…
Match Day: It’s among the most memorable moments of medical school, a time when students, friends, family and faculty gather to open those coveted white envelopes. It’s the symbolic first step out of medical school and into residency, and a tradition that is beloved by many. Yet the matching process is viewed by those outside of the medical profession (and to some within it) as a very odd way to …
A hospital is not the homiest of establishments. The bright neon lights, strange smells and piercing high-pitched beeps that radiate from the rooms of dormant patients fill the halls in a symphony of annoying sensory stimulation. But to someone recovering…
A hospital is not the homiest of establishments. The bright neon lights, strange smells and piercing high-pitched beeps that radiate from the rooms of dormant patients fill the halls in a symphony of annoying sensory stimulation. But to someone recovering from a relationship that just ended, hospitals are heavenly. When the lonely silence of your one bedroom apartment is overwhelmingly loud, beeping IV lines and incoherent mumbles are surprisingly therapeutic.
Poverty is a significant public health concern affecting 10-15% of individuals living in Canada and the United States. Recommendations to eliminate poverty have focused on areas of income, housing, food security, and early childhood development. Calls for government action and…
Poverty is a significant public health concern affecting 10-15% of individuals living in Canada and the United States. Recommendations to eliminate poverty have focused on areas of income, housing, food security, and early childhood development. Calls for government action and provision of resources to healthcare professionals have been issued. Notably, educating medical trainees to address poverty has been absent from the discussion.
More than a century of American medical history was turned on its ear recently by the announcement that the groups that accredit medical residencies will unify their standards. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you failed to understand the…
More than a century of American medical history was turned on its ear recently by the announcement that the groups that accredit medical residencies will unify their standards. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you failed to understand the significance (or notice at all). But this should be viewed as good news across the land. As someone who trains doctors from both traditions, I certainly welcome a more level playing field.
Since becoming a full-time medical school faculty member again, I've volunteered to interview about two applicants each month from September through March. When I first started doing this, I was surprised that the admissions office did not provide me with…
Since becoming a full-time medical school faculty member again, I’ve volunteered to interview about two applicants each month from September through March. When I first started doing this, I was surprised that the admissions office did not provide me with a copy of the applicant’s resume and essay until the time of the interview, carried in a manila folder by the applicant.
But I quickly realized that it wasn’t necessary to …
On Twitter a while ago, a medical student asked me how surgical program directors select new residents. Then a discussion arose among some academic surgeons on the same topic. Someone suggested that medical school grades were the best way to…
On Twitter a while ago, a medical student asked me how surgical program directors select new residents. Then a discussion arose among some academic surgeons on the same topic. Someone suggested that medical school grades were the best way to tell whether an applicant would be a successful resident.
The fact is that we aren’t really sure what the best way to choose residents is.
As a philosophical coda to the 2013 cacophony over Obamacare, health care reform and the notion that doctors and their skills will be needed less in some indeterminate future, this last month saw a media frenzy about the fate of…
As a philosophical coda to the 2013 cacophony over Obamacare, health care reform and the notion that doctors and their skills will be needed less in some indeterminate future, this last month saw a media frenzy about the fate of the doctor’s white coat.
It started with an article by Gonzalo Bearman and his colleagues in Infection Control and Epidemiology that asked the …
There was a very large lesion in his left frontal lobe, and no one knew what it was. He had been admitted earlier that day, after a neighbor found him in the hallway, confused and covered in urine. Now he…
There was a very large lesion in his left frontal lobe, and no one knew what it was.
He had been admitted earlier that day, after a neighbor found him in the hallway, confused and covered in urine. Now he sat in his bed quietly, while we stared at his brain and the bright spot that didn’t quite resemble something.
It can’t be tissue death from a stroke, insisted one resident. It …
The past few months I have joined thousands of individuals hoping to match into a residency program in 2014. I have had interviews all over the country and spent way too much time living out of a suitcase. For many…
The past few months I have joined thousands of individuals hoping to match into a residency program in 2014. I have had interviews all over the country and spent way too much time living out of a suitcase.
For many students, residency interview season is exciting. For others, it’s stressful and exhausting. But for me, more than anything else, the interview trail was inspiring.
I am currently applying to internal medicine-primary care …
I’ll never forget the anxiety of the first day of medical school. I was excited. I was enthusiastic. I was overwhelmed. But all of these emotions were humbly interrupted by my profound, palpable sense of otherness. I was surrounded by…
I’ll never forget the anxiety of the first day of medical school. I was excited. I was enthusiastic. I was overwhelmed. But all of these emotions were humbly interrupted by my profound, palpable sense of otherness. I was surrounded by one hundred and sixty-seven brilliant peers, many from high-ranking undergraduate schools and each of whom had countless accomplishments in their already rich pasts. They clearly, unquestionably deserved to be here. …
"A new roadmap for improving residents’ professional skills was released Tuesday by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)" begins the press release. As I dove into this announcement a bit further, I discovered the origins of this initiative…
“A new roadmap for improving residents’ professional skills was released Tuesday by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)” begins the press release.
As I dove into this announcement a bit further, I discovered the origins of this initiative outlined in this executive summary published by the ACGME on the “CLER Program:”
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recognizes the public’s need for a physician workforce capable of meeting the challenges of
How do you ask a person to be the last person to go through an education system that is failing them? Yet we’re doing just that. Every day tens of thousands of medical student wake up to an education, and…
How do you ask a person to be the last person to go through an education system that is failing them? Yet we’re doing just that. Every day tens of thousands of medical student wake up to an education, and an education system, that is failing them. This is not to say that we are not producing good doctors. On the contrary, our doctors are likely the most well-educated, and …
