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.
In his famous novel, Moneyball, Michael Lewis illustrates the phenomenon of professional baseball scouts focusing on all the wrong characteristics when looking at players. He describes how scouts focus on fastball velocity as a way to compare pitchers, despite the lack of correlation between fastball speed and the quality of a pitcher. As it turns out, the most important factor in a pitcher is deception, not a high-velocity fastball. The …
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Residents need to learn medicine, not how to pass a test
Imagine taking the MCAT, applying to schools, getting interviews and even being accepted into medical school. How would it feel knowing your dedication has paid off? I felt great, as I had studied hard and made sacrifices others were unwilling to make. As I saw the finish line for what would be the beginning of medical school, I began to ask myself, “Should I continue onwards toward medical school or …
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Why I got into medical school and chose not to go
When I entered college, I wanted to be a chemistry major. I had no idea what college chemistry would be like, but it was the class I loved most in high school and something I was pretty good at. The town I grew up in had little more than 3,000 people and more gas stations than stop lights. My school didn’t have Advanced Placement classes or partnerships with local hospitals …
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Love something other than medicine? It’s OK.
Congratulations on your acceptance to medical school! Wherever you’re starting this fall, know that you’re joining a “cult” of health care professionals and health care professionals-to-be. No matter how little you know, you’ll be asked for medical advice. And the more you learn, the less likely you’ll be able to sit through an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” without picking out the make believe. We’re right there with you.
Medical school is a …
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3 pieces of advice to new medical students
My sister calls my name three times before I hear her. I am so distracted by the palm trees and the ocean view that I don’t feel her put the car in park. I look up at the “Physician Parking Only” sign straight ahead.
“Hurry up and get out. We’re running late, and I don’t want to have to stay after my shift ends,” she says.
“Don’t you always stay like two …
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How a blanket changed the way I thought about medicine
I began medical school, like many of my peers, with some experience working with patients. I worked as a volunteer EMT with Cornell University EMS for four years during my undergraduate years; shadowed a cardiologist and an anesthesiologist through Cornell’s Urban Summer program at NYP Hospital–Cornell and worked with patients during Global Medical Brigade trips to rural Honduras. All of this sparked my interest in medicine, but to claim I …
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A medical student is diagnosed with cancer. Here is his story.
Every July, recently graduated doctors from medical school transition into hospitals, clinics, and surgical rotations. Doctors completing their internship year welcome the second year with additional leadership roles. This period of transition is coupled with the pressure of doing well, the stress of proving your competency on attending rounds, and the desire to receive respect from your team.
It is easy to become confused and frustrated as you learn to navigate …
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5 ways to transition to residency
My husband and I met during my graduate studies and while he was earning his bachelor’s degree. Two years after getting married, we packed our belongings and moved to a new state where he began medical school. We started our own little family a year later and welcomed an amazing daughter into our lives. After she was born, I made the personal decision to leave my job and stay at …
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Waiting on a significant other to finish medical school? Here are some tips.
I write this blog in order to prepare premedical students for the road ahead. I want you to understand common obstacles facing medical students so you can be better prepared to overcome them. Medical training is akin to a roller coaster pulling you through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. On the one hand, medical school is extremely challenging but rest assured, it is very tough to …
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5 reasons why medical students drop out
Have you ever wondered exactly what it means when a medical student is “on rotations”? We always claim that we’re busy, but just what is it that we do all day? To answer these questions, here’s a recap of one day from my inpatient pediatrics rotation.
5:27 a.m.: I pull out of the parking lot and start the now-familiar early morning commute down I-280 to San Jose. The good thing about …
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A day in the life of a medical student
Recently, I had the privilege of presenting the Clinical Specialty Award for General Surgery at the 2017 Graduate Awards Celebration at Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP-NW). It was amazing to hear all the accomplishments and meet so many wonderful new doctors in this year’s class. I also got the opportunity to meet a few proud parents and professors.
The list of accomplishments of …
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In this world of burnout, doctors have to remember why they do this
Dear fellow students,
I am addressing you today as a comrade, a peer, as someone who shares your concerns and understands the pressure and stress you experience in medical school. It is true that medical schools attract very similar kind of people: Medical students are smart, hard-working individuals who are striving for excellence and achievements. They want to help the sick, the poor and the needy and cultivate a sustainable change …
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Medical students: Don’t take the easy way
Everyone says that medical school gets better, especially third year. The traditional four-year curriculum covers basic science in the classroom for the first two years. Then suddenly, third year plunges us into clinical rotations in the hospital, where we’ve all dreamed of working for so long. Third year is when we transition from learning how to be scientists; we finally learn how to become doctors — except for one critical, …
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They said, “Third year of medical school is better.” It wasn’t nearly good enough.
At the 8th Annual Patient Experience Summit, Adrienne Boissy, MD, MA, Chief Experience Officer at Cleveland Clinic Health System, encouraged conference attendees to “dream bigger.” So here goes. It’s time for you to invite patients to speak to promising young doctors during their time at your respective schools. You need to invite patients for regularly scheduled story sharing. Don’t roll your eyes at me just yet. It’s time to invest in …
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Every medical student needs to hear patient and caregiver stories
There was more than one tooth missing, maybe three or four from what he could tell. He held one in his scraped hand as I searched for the others, not sure what I would do with them if I found them. My little sister’s bike laid on top of him, a paperweight on his frail frame. Blood pooled in his mouth and dripped onto his shirt when it ran out …
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I couldn’t save my father
They say the first cut is the deepest. For me, this was definitely not the case.
It is a typical Tuesday afternoon, and I am preparing for my third case of the day when the intern I am working with informs me that he needs to leave for clinic. It will be just me and the attending for this next one.
I report to the OR, feeling a little nervous and not …
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My first cut was not the deepest
In response to recent national events, I have often reflected on privilege — what it means, and what I should do about it. Privilege is the freedom to have an advantage without the guilt of knowing that you have it, and not knowing that it is unfair. It is the freedom to say and do things that others cannot. Admittedly, I am male, which comes with certain privilege. I am …
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Let’s make our field welcoming to underrepresented minorities
Dr. Leon Pedell discusses how to transition from memorizing physical exam techniques to applying them with real patients to find real abnormalities. Many students have a misconception that they can forget much of what they learned in first and second year as, “low yield.” This is not the case. More than anyone else on a care team, medical students have time to perform thorough physical exams and you …
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Transition from memorizing physical exam techniques to real patients
High-stakes standardized testing is an enduring facet of medical education, and the standardized test that is on every medical student’s mind is the USMLE Step 1. The paramount importance of this test for getting into residency creates a demand for high-quality test preparation materials. Established test prep names like Pathoma, Sketchy Medical, First Aid and UWorld fill that demand in a market consisting of more than 40,000 test takers worldwide …
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Test prep companies are more powerful than medical school
