For Apple iPhone users, the release of iOS 12 included a new feature called “Screen Time.” Although a number of productivity apps that offered a similar snapshot of phone usage were available before this update, I was never interested in quantifying my usage. Now, on a weekly basis, I get a reminder of the exact percentage breakdown of how I’m using my phone.
In true millennial fashion, a review of my …
A physician’s addiction to social media
I still remember the warm, fuzzy feeling of receiving my first few interview invitations. Unlike medical school, I received much more “love” from residency programs. Since I was part of the inaugural class of a new medical school, I interviewed for a lot of programs: 16 anesthesiology, six transitional years, and three preliminary medicine programs. After my first few interviews, it became apparent that most residency interviews tend to be …
What I wish I knew on the residency interview trail
The summer is an exciting time for fourth-year medical students. By this point in the year, many fourth-years have decided on a specialty to pursue, are traveling to new institutions for away rotations, and starting to work on their residency application via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Since I was part of the inaugural class of a brand-new medical school, there weren’t recent graduates available …
Which residency programs should I apply to (and how many)?
I’m usually a huge fan of Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel’s writing — whether it’s his controversial piece on health care resources at the end of life or his book describing the tumultuous health care policy that led up to the Affordable Care Act, I generally enjoy reading his editorials and vehemently agree with many of his opinions. This being said, when I saw that …
What Ezekiel Emanuel gets wrong about physician salaries
The July Effect is a relatively well-known reference to the influx of new trainees entering hospital systems annually on the first of the month. Researchers have attempted to investigate the impact of the new trainees on patient outcomes with divergent conclusions. Despite the ongoing debate, educators in medicine recognized the need to prepare medical students for day 1 of residency training, by establishing core competencies to evaluate the preparedness of students. One such example …
The medical student catch-22: Preparedness for residency vs. patient safety
It was a quarter past six in the evening. The day team had just completed their signout to us. As we sat quietly along the periphery of the trauma bay getting oriented to our list of patients, a small army of hospital personnel started trickling in. We were expecting company.
He was rolled into the first slot. From behind the desk, I tried assessing how serious the injuries were, but the …
As I held this man’s icy hand, my paradigm shifted
I open the heavy, wooden door to the unit. On my left are the patient rooms, equipped with minimal privacy; to my right are members of the healthcare team shuffling around. I continue toward my destination, a small room containing a couple desks and computers dedicated to mid-level providers, but cannot help but notice how eerie the unit is. Although there are at least fifty individuals within this space, it …
A real code deviates from what they depict in medical dramas like Grey’s Anatomy. Television chest compressions are usually too slow and superficial, they are nowhere near forceful enough to sustain blood flow throughout the body. There is no foreboding soundtrack to hint at what’s coming, only the numbers that appear on the monitor that suddenly dip in the wrong direction.
Although I understood the magnitude of the situation as it …
The importance of letting go after witnessing a code
This morning started off like any other. I parked my car, walked into Starbucks and pulled up my iPhone app while waiting in line. The usual suspects were already there — the elderly fellow that always flirts with the baristas, the business man with his freshly pressed suit and the tired-looking mother. As I approached the counter, I ordered my usual summer morning beverage and went through the motions to …
I am just a medical student, I am not a doctor yet
This is an account of my first encounter with an in-patient from a little while back — I have provided only minimal details about the patient to maintain compliance with HIPAA.
After a firm handshake with each of us, our preceptor embarked purposefully up two floors to our first in-patient encounter. As we walked, I peeked into the rooms with the door left ajar and wondered what brought each individual to …
A medical student’s first patient encounter
Let’s face it, medicine is slow to change – the profession has produced successful physicians for centuries using an education system based on grueling hours and unwavering dedication. Many established medical schools boast impressive Step 1 scores and match rates, so why should they modify what works?
Change is necessary because our society needs the next generation of physicians to be technologically savvy and driven toward innovation. With the increasing prevalence …
Why medicine needs new schools to drive innovation and change
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