Medical school

How Project ECHO is fighting physician isolation and transforming medical education [PODCAST]

Podcast

July 14, 2025

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Pediatrician Daniel Johnson discusses his article, “From isolation to innovation: the power of learning communities in health care.” He reflects on the collaborative, case-based learning that makes medical training exciting and contrasts …

Why medical schools must ditch lectures and embrace active learning

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA

Education

July 5, 2025

When I was a medical student, some enterprising classmate started a note taking service so we wouldn’t have to take notes on our own. He set up a tape recorder and transcribed the notes for distribution the next day. One day, our professor showed up with a tape recorder, set it up on the table in front of the lecture hall, and turned it on. The result was an electronic …

Why helping people means more than getting an MD

Vaishali Jha

Education

July 5, 2025

“Why do you want to be a doctor?”

Ask any pre-med that question, and you’ll probably hear the same answer: “I just want to help people.”

I’ve said it, too—more times than I can count. But lately, I’ve started to question what that phrase even means. Not because I’ve lost faith in medicine, but because I’ve learned that helping is more complex, layered, and humbling than I ever imagined.

As the host of …

Residency match tips: Building mentorship, research, and community

Simran Kaur, MD and Eva Shelton, MD

Education

July 4, 2025

The residency match process is one of the most defining and often most daunting milestones in a medical student’s journey. It represents the culmination of over eight years of dedication, sacrifice, and hard work in pursuit of a dream many of us have nurtured since childhood.

Building a strong application is challenging for everyone. Whether you’re navigating personal doubts, managing financial strain, lacking mentorship, or simply trying to figure out the …

Why the pre-med path is pushing future doctors to the brink

Jordan Williamson, MEd

Education

June 22, 2025

I have been on the pre-med path for years. I started college excited to one day become a doctor, but I quickly learned that excitement was not part of the culture. From the beginning, pre-med students are taught to compete with one another. We are forced into difficult STEM courses that are often graded on a curve, which turns classmates into rivals. I saw people hide resources, give wrong information …

Graduating from medical school without family: a story of strength and survival

Anonymous

Education

June 15, 2025

Today I graduated from medical school. It should have been one of the happiest days of my life. And in some ways, it was. I earned this moment through sleepless nights, years of sacrifice, and an unshakable drive to serve and heal. I walked across the stage, accepted my diploma, stretched my smile from cheek to cheek, and looked directly at the camera. But behind that smile, I carried something …

What led me from nurse practitioner to medical school

Sarah White, APRN

Education

June 12, 2025

For years, I cared for patients as a nurse practitioner—managing chronic disease, guiding them through acute illness, counseling them through the often messy realities of life and health. I loved my work. I loved the relationships I built with patients, the trust they placed in me, and the opportunity to make a difference in their lives.

But over time, a quiet restlessness began to grow—a sense that I wanted to deepen …

Professional identity: a new narrative for medical education [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 10, 2025

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Otolaryngologist Kevin C. McMains discusses his article “The hero’s journey: Understanding professional identity formation in graduate medical education.” Kevin discusses the ongoing crisis of burnout and mental health issues in medical training, …

How school meals can transform health [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

June 9, 2025

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Osteopathic medical student Scarlett Saitta discusses her article “The school cafeteria could save American medicine.” Scarlett discusses the profound connection between childhood nutrition and long-term health outcomes, drawing from her personal experiences …

Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

Hiba Fatima Hamid

Education

June 6, 2025

Medicine demands precision. However, we overlook one of its most critical variables: physician cognitive load. As a medical student, I see both sides: how deeply patients trust their doctors, and how invisible that mental toll often is. Each day, doctors are pressured to make high-stakes decisions while managing patient care and mental strain. As a field, we track vital signs but fail to measure cognitive fatigue.

Burnout is peaking at crisis …

The hidden cost of becoming a doctor: a South Asian perspective

Momeina Aslam

Education

June 3, 2025

Everyone talks about the pride of earning that “Dr.” title. But few speak about the ugly journey of medical school: the isolation, exhaustion, and invisible battles.

There’s never a shortage of people telling you to work hard. What they don’t tell you is that sometimes, hard work still won’t be enough. In Pakistan, over 180,000 students sit for the MDCAT each year, competing for limited seats. Globally, 70,000 take the MCAT. …

From burnout to balance: a lesson in self-care for future doctors

Seetha Aribindi

Education

June 1, 2025

Last fall, more than 20,000 first-year medical students donned white coats, pushing total U.S. medical school enrollment to nearly 100,000. Yet despite this surge of new trainees, the American Association of Medical Colleges projects a shortage of up to 86,000 doctors by 2036.

The strain is already evident. Each year, tens of thousands of American physicians pack up their stethoscopes and scalpels …

Why young doctors in South Korea feel broken before they even begin

Anonymous

Education

May 31, 2025

I am a first-year medical student in South Korea. I wrote this essay to share what it feels like to enter a system that demands so much and still receives so little understanding in return. I haven’t even worn a white coat yet, but I already feel the weight of it.

In South Korea, becoming a doctor requires six years of undergraduate medical education, followed by exhausting years of internship and …

Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

Amelia Mercado

Tech

May 27, 2025

The physician shortage in the United States is a real and urgent issue. Projections from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimate that by 2034, the nation could face a deficit between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians. Primary care will be particularly affected, with a potential shortfall of up to 48,000 doctors. Rural and underserved communities will likely bear the brunt of the burden.

This shortage stems from multiple …

Why true listening is crucial for future health care professionals [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

May 23, 2025

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Certified coach Kathleen Muldoon discusses her article, “The cost of presence: a lesson in listening.” She recounts a poignant experience observing a health care student disengaged during a powerful presentation by a …

Do Jewish students face rising bias in holistic admissions?

Anonymous

Education

May 21, 2025

In the grand theater of American higher education, where the pursuit of knowledge once bowed to the austere discipline of merit, a troubling drama unfolds. The medical school admissions process, now awash in the murky waters of holistic review, risks becoming a stage for ideological caprice rather than a crucible of intellectual rigor. Amid the clamor of the Gaza conflict—a geopolitical tempest that has spilled onto university quads and inflamed …

Rethinking medical education for a technology-driven era in health care [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

Podcast

May 20, 2025

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Medical student Rishma Jivan discusses her article, “Medical curriculum 2.0: Integrating technology and innovation in medical education.” She argues for an urgent update to medical training, embedding technology and innovation as core …

Does silence as a faculty retention strategy in academic medicine and health sciences work?

Sylk Sotto, EdD, MPS, MBA

Conditions

May 17, 2025

Faculty retention remains an ongoing concern for colleges and universities, especially at a time when there is a clear misalignment between the socio-political environment, the mission of higher education, and the values held by most faculty. If you’ve been paying attention, you know: higher education is experiencing waves of faculty disengagement.

However, some institutions respond to crises not with dialogue, but with silence. They avoid confronting faculty concerns …

How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo

Education

May 17, 2025

Shortly after taking the oath of office on January 20, 2025, President-elect Donald Trump issued two Executive Orders: One halted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the federal government, and another mandated the use of “sex,” rather than “gender,” in official federal documents while simultaneously terminating federal funding for gender-affirming care. In the days that followed, institutions …

A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

Ankit Jain

Education

May 9, 2025

Medical education is a long and arduous route and can take from twelve to sixteen years of education which includes three to four years of undergraduate degree, one to two gap years before medical school, four years of medical school and three to seven years of residency training.

To address this shortage, we have come up with solutions for creating three-year medical schools, starting tracks for physician assistants/associates and nurse practitioners. …

Medical school

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