Every medical student is a bit apprehensive when he/she knows they will be assigned a new resident. The same questions always come up. Will the resident be nice? Will they understand my busy schedule? Will they make me do a ton of scutwork? Will they make me write all of his/her progress notes? And maybe most importantly, will they let me leave early to study for boards or enjoy the …
The third year of medical school is definitely an interesting one. You leave the classroom and enter the big bad world of medicine, and you quickly realize that much of what you’ve learned is for naught. You also realize that the medical student next to you could become your best friend, or the bane of your existence — or fall anywhere along that spectrum. Here is a list of the …
Some medical schools have altered their admissions process by replacing the traditional applicant interview with the Multiple-Mini Interview (MMI). MMI resembles speed-dating: applicants rotate through numerous interview stations, where they act out scenarios and solve puzzles, sometimes alone and sometimes in groups. A July New York Times article presented a good overview of MMI, as implemented by Virginia Tech Carillon.
As you might expect, schools that have adopted MMI (UCLA and …
iPads have been introduced into medical education mostly during the pre-clinical years. I’d like to share my experience using an iPad during my clinical year. I’ve found it to be exceedingly useful and versatile.
I have an entire medical library in my pocket. With the touch of a button I can pull up essential texts such as Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine or William’s Endocrinology. I get these books and …
A second year medical student reader asked me to comment on what rotations to take in medical school to prepare for an internal medicine or hospitalist medicine career.
I am a second year medical student, very interested it practicing the art of Hospital Medicine, and I was wondering if you had any advice/comments on any specific electives to consider to help prepare me for an Internal Medicine residency.
Great question. As …
An interview by Curaspan Health Group with Marilyn Gugliucci, PhD.
Every summer, a handful of medical students spends two weeks in a nursing home as a patient. That’s part of what’s been called “the life-altering education” established by Marilyn Gugliucci, Ph.D., the director of geriatrics education and research at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Gugliucci spoke with Curaspan Connections about the inspiration for her unique approach to elder-care …
Before I start second year of medical school, I wanted to take this time to reflect on my first year in medical school and use these lessons to ground me as I begin a new school year.
When people ask me how first year was, my first answer is that it was a lot of fun. That usually comes off as a surprise. Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely …
This post is dedicated to the many 3rd year students whom I have had the privilege to teach over the past 35 years. They continue to inspire me to help them become great physicians. They care.
The third year of medical school is wonderful, but it is a year of great change. Those readers who are physicians will completely understand, and I will try to explain to the non-physicians.
During the third …
I recently saw a post in Yahoo questions entitled, “Is it illegal for a medical student to introduce themselves as ‘Doctor’ before they have received their MD?”
One of the answers that was rated highly was “I think it is more unethical than illegal.” Clearly, if a student is deliberately misrepresenting themselves as a ‘doctor’, it is grounds for disciplinary action. More often than not, this misrepresentation …
In the New York Times article “18 Stethoscopes, 1 Heart Murmur and Many Missed Connections,” Madeline Drexler tells her story of being a model patient. Not like a model citizen cooperative and pleasant but, a person with a medically interesting finding who is asked to help teach medical students. These “patients” are examined by small hoards of inexperienced medical students who have little knowledge, little skill and varying degrees …
If you’re a new intern you are hopefully a little afraid of the new found responsibility in your life. I say “hopefully” because there is nothing more frightening in healthcare than someone who is “unconsciously incompetent.” That is, someone that doesn’t even realizethey have no idea what they are doing.
Before starting medical school I was an emergency nurse. As an RN, I had the opportunity to see many medical …
A strange thing happens on your first day of med school. Yesterday, you may have joked with old friends about upping your Paxil dose, but starting today, you are expected to be professional. And professional is suddenly a word that prevents you from being open with your new friends, a word that hints admitting to any real struggle could be a career-ending mistake.
I want to tell you that it isn’t, but the truth is, I’m …
As I finished my 24-hour call recently, I was reminded of a 2009 study revealing a decline in empathy as medical students transition from their mostly-didactic second year to third year, which is essentially an apprenticeship in the hospital with lecture as an afterthought. I began my third year with what most would argue is the most difficult rotation, surgery, and my experiences over …
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For the first time since I have been in medical training, I got sick.
Not just the kind of sick where its a cold, or you know that its stress, but the kind of sick that does not go away and randomly comes up just to make you mad when you just want to have fun (like …
I recently had quite a long conversation with a college senior that was just accepted into medical school for this coming fall.
As a rising fourth year medical student myself, I would like to think that I have navigated the waters of academia and figured out both efficient paths to success and avoidance of roadblocks and setbacks. …
Here’s some advice to think about before starting clinical rotations during the third year of medical school.
Don’t sit in the back of the plane
The basic sciences are important to learn the vocabulary and grammar of medicine. Clinical rotations are different – it’s where you actually learn to be a physician. If you use the analogy of learning to fly, …
Armed with tools I have never used or seen before I entered a physical exam practice room for the first day of learning.
Having finished history-taking practices last semester, we were now beginning a new chapter, learning to take a head-to-toe physical exam. Before class began, we were told to read a book and …
On May 15, 2011, 147 students embarked on their careers as doctors as they graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
One student, Jenny Rowland, who will pursue a career in Radiology and continue her training at Penn, shared her personal thoughts and emotions as she prepared to graduate.
by Jenny Rowland, MD
I’m not a typical PennMed student.
I’m 31 years old, and I …
I recently had the opportunity to go to the anatomy lab and help the first years go through the pelvic anatomy. What a blast! There is nothing like dissecting a cadaver to tune up one’s surgical anatomy skills, and helping young eager medical students through it is a great experience.
Prior to going into the lab, I spent many hours going through Netter’s atlas to brush up on the anatomy so …
Becoming a doctor is a long and arduous process. Between taking pre-med courses, taking the MCAT, applying to medical schools, matriculating, then taking test after test after test until you take the big one (USMLE Step 1) before which you did questions all day long for weeks from a good USMLE question bank …
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