Education

The future of health care depends on hands-on training: We cannot afford to cut corners

Education

September 3, 2024

Imagine walking into a doctor’s office or hospital and being treated by someone who has never actually touched a patient before. Sounds absurd, right? Yet, this could become a reality if we continue to push aside the hands-on training of our future health care providers.

This may seem extreme, but it reflects a recent message sent by HR to one of our most dedicated preceptors. (Parts of the message are redacted …

A medical student’s perspective: Using my osteopathic training in the field of psychiatry

Fahad Molla

Education

September 2, 2024

Every DO has the quote, “Mind, Body, Spirit,” ingrained in their minds. These words resonate when we step on campus, open a lecture, and discuss osteopathic medicine. These tenets are the foundation for osteopathic medicine when working with patients. While I always understood what that meant, it was only during my psychiatry rotations that I fully grasped the importance of focusing on holistic care and the mind, body, and spirit.

In …

A doctor’s reflection: 25 years of mentoring and pride in medicine

Alan Dow, MD

Education

August 24, 2024

“I want you to be proud of me,” my intern replied when I asked what he wanted to get out of the rest of his year. We were wrapping up the first two weeks of July—his first two weeks of being a doctor—and having our end-of-rotation feedback session. However, he had just flipped the tables on me. His comment was the type of jolting response that made me rethink my …

How medical school curricula perpetuate inequality

Lauren D. Olsen, PhD

Education

August 23, 2024

In Curricular Injustice: How U.S. Medical Schools Reproduce Inequalities, I describe how the medical profession, in its attempt to integrate the humanities and social sciences to develop humane and equitable future physicians, often failed to do so. Clinical faculty members, in their capacity as …

The surprising secret to success in medical school

Madison Garlock

Education

August 17, 2024

I never thought I would make it to medical school. I stumbled upon pre-med while walking down the halls, late to my 8:00 a.m. art class because weightlifting went longer than expected. I was on the university soccer team, and my schedule already felt overwhelming. When I got the call, I was on a hike with my dad and husband. “Congratulations Madison, you have been accepted!” I couldn’t believe it. …

From toe pain to financial strain: the hidden costs of medical care

Christopher Huy Doan

Education

August 10, 2024

“I was terrified, and my foot was in so much pain,” said Mrs. C as I began our interview. There was a blood clot that had turned her toe blue. She went on to describe her history and briefly mentioned that she did not have medical insurance. With her pain now gone after a few days in the hospital, the anxiety of the financial burden of her stay was now …

Why speaking up in medical school could save lives

Riya Sood

Education

August 10, 2024

It was a fresh start to my first day of medical school as a second-year student. With a slightly stronger arsenal of information compared to my first year, the energy was palpable. My team and I huddled in our small conference room, gathered around the table, ready to tackle our first case of the week as part of our team-based learning. The first patient was a 1-year-old female infant presenting …

How a group of British medical students fought for social prescribing

Julia Hotz

Education

August 8, 2024

An excerpt from The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging.

With slicked-back hair, a fancy-buttoned vest, and a politician-like charisma, you wouldn’t guess Dr. Bogdan Chiva Giurca, a doctor for England’s National Health Service (NHS), grew up in a Romanian village, handwashing his clothes because he couldn’t afford laundry. “I got to taste the real social determinants of health without knowing they were called …

Physicians’ social media criticism of trainees sparks controversy

Jonathan Cohen, MD

Education

August 7, 2024

In the past two weeks, there have been two social media posts, one from a resident physician and another from an attending physician, criticizing trainees. The resident was critical of a trainee’s inability to identify anatomical structures in the operating room, while the attending physician was entertained by a trainee who mistakenly wore a shoe cover as a scrub hat, with a photo of it included in the post. As …

Inside Out 2: How new emotions mirror medical student struggles

Emil Chuck, PhD

Education

August 2, 2024

The 2024 summer blockbuster film Inside Out 2 explores the complex emotions that first hit teenagers during puberty. Briefly, the five original emotions (from the first movie in 2015) that define the behavior of childhood Riley – Joy, Anger, Fear, Sadness, and Disgust – meet new emotions that allow Riley to grow further toward young adulthood. Unfortunately, the new emotions – Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui – threaten …

Making medicine my home

Christina Stach

Education

July 18, 2024

This past year, my entire life has fit in the backseat of my Hyundai Elantra as I bounced between four states and traveled over 25,000 miles. As I walk into the hospital and my phone reconnects to the Wi-Fi after a night of using cell data in the parking lot, I am bombarded with emails from Credit Karma and loan services about my new balance. The debt accrues, my stomach …

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Making medicine my home

Revolutionizing medical training: the power of simulation education

Andrea Austin, MD

Education

July 17, 2024

As a medical simulation educator, I get a lot of curious looks when I share my job title with people both inside and outside of medicine. Medical simulation is defined by the Society of Simulation in Healthcare as the imitation or representation of one act or system by another. It has four main purposes in health care: education, assessment, research, and health systems …

Music as a tool for explaining medical concepts

J. C. Sue, DO

Education

July 16, 2024

Memorizing and retaining the medical knowledge you need to be a doctor is one of the hardest things you can do! If you ask any doctor about their medical school experience, they’ll probably recall hours of lectures, meticulous cadaver dissections, and countless long days and nights of studying, trying to learn a ton of material in a very short time. Of course, this experience can lead to major stress, taking …

Skyrocketing medical school applications: the hidden costs and stress factors

Jessica Lee, MD

Education

June 28, 2024

U.S. allopathic medical school applications have skyrocketed, with over 60,000 applications in 2021, a nearly 100 percent increase in applicants over the past decade. Despite modest increases in the number of medical schools and class sizes, the result has been an ever-declining acceptance rate, with less than 38 percent of applicants accepted in 2021. Hopeful pre-med students pour over the grievously limited data available through the AAMC (Association of American …

The misrepresentation of the EDUCATE Act and the future of our health care system

Sylk Sotto, EdD, MPS, MBA

Education

June 27, 2024

In the past year alone, legislative assaults on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in higher education have surged across the United States. This disturbing trend threatens the foundational values of our academic institutions and endangers the very essence of health equity in medical education and practice.

The recent introduction of the Embracing Anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curriculum, and Advancing Truth in Education (EDUCATE) Act by Rep. Greg Murphy, MD, and its 35 …

Studying medicine in a time of deep medical distrust: Why I remain hopeful

Roshan Sapkota

Education

June 27, 2024

Sarah graduated college during the pandemic and landed a job with a Fortune 500 company in the IT sector, a competitive position. Like many others, she knew of the importance of landing a job, not just for a secure future with a good-paying salary, but in the United States as a way of securing access to health insurance.

This health insurance—being someone young and healthy—was something she got out of habit …

Understanding why people participate in clinical trials

Pouria Rostamiasrabadi

Education

June 25, 2024

Clinical research is a cornerstone in advancing medical knowledge and improving patient care. Through rigorous testing and validation of new treatments, medications, and procedures, clinical research drives progress in the health care field. A notable example is the development of the polio vaccine, which underwent extensive clinical trials by Jonas Salk involving approximately 1.6 million children in the United States, Canada, and Finland to ensure its safety and efficacy, ultimately …

The growing abuse of ChatGPT in medical education

Riya Sood

Education

June 19, 2024

“Ms. Lupo is a 39-year-old female presenting to the ED with a chief complaint of unilateral dead arm.” So read a hypothetical patient scenario during my class one day. As a team of first-year medical students, our job was to review the patient’s case, including history of present illness, past medical history, family history, and symptoms, to diagnose and formulate a care plan to treat Ms. Lupo’s arm. Within seconds, …

Medical students are learning to treat others, but who is caring for them?

Liza Rosenbloom

Education

June 16, 2024

Imagine being completely consumed by the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Could you do this for a day? How about for a week? What if I asked you to do this all day, every day, for an entire month? Sounds exhausting, right? Medical students are asked to do this for four years. During that time, we navigated a world that was completely new to us in an unfamiliar environment alongside hundreds …

Maternal instincts in medicine: the dual journey of motherhood and healing

Nicolette Siringo

Education

June 15, 2024

It’s 4:57 p.m., and I’m anxiously tapping my foot in a stuffy cubicle, trying to ignore the pain of my compression socks seemingly cutting off circulation to my feet. I quickly glance at the timer. Thirty-one seconds. I close my eyes and say a quick prayer as I feel the agile kicks of my daughter, who this week is measuring the size of a cucumber! I do one final pass …

Education

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