Students, educators, and physicians writing on KevinMD about medical school: admissions and what they select for, the cost of tuition and the debt it leaves, the curriculum and what students say it does and does not teach, Step 1 and the test-prep industry, pass/fail, mistreatment and depression in training, the match, Caribbean schools, and what should change. Most contributors are students writing while still in school, many of them anonymously. For what physicians have said about paying off that debt and the money decisions that follow, see Physician personal finance: what physicians say about their own money, in their own words. For a maintained record of what students and physicians have said about medical school on KevinMD since 2004, see Medical school: what students and physicians say, in their own words. For what physicians and deans have said for and against affirmative action and diversity in admissions, see Race and medicine: what physicians say, in their own words. For what international and Caribbean graduates have said about the Match and visas, see Immigration and medicine: what physicians say about immigrant doctors and immigrant patients, in their own words.
The doctor shortage across the United States is coming and has the potential to be painful to millions of Americans. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, by 2023, the country may experience a deficit of up to nearly 122,000 physicians. With more and more Americans getting access to health care because of policies like the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion, and with the aging population, medical schools …
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Nurturing professional identity and maintaining pass rates: an important goal in medical education
It is easy to feel the gravity that accompanies the act of caring for those whose souls are still stuck to the surface of the earth. Their nerves still feel. Their skin still bleeds. Their eyes blink, and their hearts beat. Their chests rise and fall and rest for a moment before this rhythm repeats. They cry when poked and, sometimes, ask if they are going to live or die, …
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An ode to a cadaver
I consider myself one of the lucky ones because my wife and I couples matched to the same institution for residency. At the time we put our residency match lists in, we were just boyfriend and girlfriend, and the decision to couples match felt like a bigger leap forward for our relationship than deciding to ask her to marry me about a year later. It was the right decision for …
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A guide to couples matching
Residency application season has begun!
When I was applying last year, I spent a lot of time thinking not just about what programs I wanted to go to, where I wanted to live and how best to answer “Where do you see yourself in five years?” — but also trying to develop a method for making this decision. This is the mental model I came up with that helped me through …
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Applying for residency? Read this first.
A professor recently romanticized my idea of clinical reasoning as he began our session by saying, “When you’re a physician, you’re a detective.” He elaborated: “Every fact you have, every piece of evidence you have, must be consistent with your leading diagnosis.” As he said this, my eyes narrowed, and I sat up a little taller.
My fellow first-year medical students and I have begun our official training in clinical reasoning, …
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When you’re a physician, you’re a detective
Pain and suffering together is a universal language. It is unspoken, one that a person of any age feels when they see a loved one die, or when someone sees another human being suffer when nothing more medically can be done.
I once saw a Vietnam War veteran who, within a few years of returning home, suffered from a hemorrhagic stroke. He was robbed of his ability to walk, to talk, …
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Why this medical student chose to pursue medicine
The sun rises in the distance. The finish line beckons. A wave of adrenaline propels me forward. Finally, after almost 24 hours of running, 100 miles were in my rearview mirror. Years of training prepared me for this moment, and I was particularly proud I accomplished this despite being in medical school. While the preparation was time-consuming and the miles were physically draining, running 100 miles unequivocally made me a …
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How running a 100-mile ultramarathon made me a better medical student
I’m fascinated by the human body — the intricacies of it, the poetry of it. I am intrigued that a cell can come together with other cells to form tissues, those tissues, organs, and systems.
The body is a powerful metaphor for unity: what happens when the one becomes the many, and the many, even more. It is a lesson in both individuality and community; how one sets out to create …
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How do you determine that the dream of medicine is worth it?
The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Salina opened in 2011 — a one-building campus in the heart of wheat country dedicated to producing the rural doctors the country needs.
Now, eight years later, the school’s first graduates are settling into their chosen practices — and locales. And those choices are cause for both hope and despair.
Of the eight graduates, just three chose to go where the shortages are most evident. Two …
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These medical students signed up for rural medicine. What happened to them?
Last year the American Association of Nurse Practitioners announced a $2 million campaign to further expand independent practice, which they already have in 22 states. The relatively new doctorate of nursing (DNP) has led to a confusing scenario where nurses are indeed doctors, just not the kind you think of when you see a white coat. The profession (well, its money-making institutions) has fought hard to keep people confused.
Doctors are …
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Do physicians really need such extensive training?
Despite more than a dozen years in medical school admissions consulting, I still clearly recall a bright advisee who had improved her grades considerably throughout her college career. But I, unfortunately, had a less than stellar freshman transcript. After calculating her AMCAS GPA with me, she lamented, “I feel like my grades are a criminal record.” In a twisted way, she was right — she couldn’t erase the grades.
But she …
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Made mistakes? How to spin them for your medical school applications.
Dear Alex,
As you realize your destiny, I want to share the lessons I have learned in my 45 years on the front lines of health care. I am hoping they will serve you well on your journey.
First and foremost, love what you do. Have fun with the people who surround you. Know that in medicine, as in life, you will have the chance to make a difference in others’ lives, …
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A parent shares health care lessons with her son as he begins medical school
Whether you’re hoping to become the first doctor in your family or you hail from a long line of physicians, navigating the path to medical school can be a daunting experience that takes years of preparation. Providing a peek inside the mind of an admissions officer, associate dean of admissions, Karen M. Murray, MD from New York Medical College answers questions about what the best applicants all have …
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Getting into medical school: Q&A with an admissions officer
I still remember the feeling of my first few days of medical school. Walking the halls felt like a giant, very real step towards a career that I had dreamt of pursuing for years.
While I knew that academic excellence was table stakes, what I did not think about at the time was how important the other the parts of my life would be to my success. From my current vantage …
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5 tips for surviving your first year in medical school
A little background before I set off: I study in a medical school in India whose attached public hospital is as busy as it can get. It serves its people absolutely free of cost and is often a refuge for the poor of the society. We often run out of resources, and patients outnumbering the beds is a common sight. And yet, like everything else, life and medicine must go …
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Scent of a hospital: a medical student’s perspective in a developing country
The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) should be abolished. This single test — which ranks students by the science they’ve learned before going to medical school — prevents the physician population in the U.S. from looking like the population it serves. Underrepresented minority students have lower scores on all standardized tests. And the MCAT is no exception. When medical school admission committees use the MCAT as a screening tool to …
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It’s time to abolish the MCAT
“90 percent of what you will learn over the next four years will be wrong in a couple of decades from now.”
Speaking to a lecture hall of 120 first-year medical students, our professor’s prophecy seemed to fall on deaf ears. Looking around, I saw no concerned students, no diminishment of our collective enthusiasm. For me, however, his words of caution struck a chord on that first day of medical school.
As …
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Most of what you learned in medical school is wrong. And that’s OK.
Students’ time in medical school should help them grow and become insightful, caring doctors. Instead, medical education is somehow turning smart, gifted, enthusiastic applicants into exhausted and unhappy students who become interns, residents, and physicians at increased risk of depression and burnout.
I’m no stranger to the demands of medical school. My father and father-in-law were both …
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Medical schools cause burnout. Here’s how to fix that.
Job shadowing is a long-standing tradition. High schools often have dedicated shadowing days, during which students can come and spend time with people working in careers that the students find interesting. While a few hours isn’t really enough to know if you like, love or hate a job, it’s a start.
In health care, it can be especially important to spend time shadowing. In fact, PA schools want applicants to have …
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The medical profession needs more shadowing opportunities
Interleveling strategy
- Interleveling is the process of studying/learning multiple unrelated concepts across different subjects during the same study session.
- This can make studying appear difficult and more disjointed. However, research shows it yields better exam results. This is attributed to better simulation of the exam environment as questions are presented in random order, and concepts are scattered throughout the test.
- A literature review rated interleveling as having …
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Want to crush USMLE Step 1? Here are some evidence-based study tips.
