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A medical student, Janet Constance Coleman-Belin, discusses her KevinMD article “The hidden cost of medical training: debt, depression, and despair.” Janet explores the challenges of medical education, including exorbitant debt, mental health …
Debt and despair: Navigating medical training challenges [PODCAST]
For students, medical school is more than just an educational opportunity: it’s a major stage of life that can evoke profound self-reflection. Between classes, clinical experiences, and interactions with classmates, one of these reflections may be the following: Do I really have what it takes to be here?
This is known as imposter syndrome, a phenomenon whereby a person’s perception of their merits or skills doesn’t match their actual accomplishments, leading …
The weight of the white coat: imposter syndrome among medical students
I still remember the day I opened my acceptance letter to medical school. It felt surreal—a rush of excitement and pride that had me packing my bags months before classes began. As a kid, I was always a dreamer. My dolls weren’t just toys; they were part of elaborate stories where every character had a purpose and a world of possibilities ahead of them. Medicine represented the ultimate story—a chance …
Finding your “why”: lessons for future medical students
I am going to ask you to do something, and I hope you’ll play along. Think back on your week. Did anyone tell you that you did something well or that you could tweak the way you did something just a bit? Did anyone pull you aside to say they would have communicated that diagnosis or performed an exam maneuver differently? I hope that you said “yes.” Good medicine depends …
Transform feedback into growth with the ARISE model
In October, President Biden formally apologized for the U.S. Indian boarding school system—a brutal legacy of forced assimilation that inflicted profound harm on Indigenous communities and continues to reverberate today. For those who are unfamiliar, Native children at these boarding schools suffered horrific physical, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse, all while being isolated from their families and communities. By 1926, nearly 83 percent of Native children were attending …
I imagined that medical school would be a challenging yet fulfilling journey—an opportunity to learn, grow, and ultimately make a difference as a physician or surgeon. We medical students dedicate over a decade of our lives, and many invest more than $200,000 (plus interest) for the honor of caring for patients. Yet, the surge of medical training-related memes and reels on social media captures our reality: “You have to laugh …
The hidden cost of medical training: debt, depression, and despair
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We sit down with medical student Ashley McCray to explore the powerful lessons learned from failure and the resilience it builds. Ashley shares her personal story of perseverance after failing her licensing exam, …
Why failure should be part of every doctor’s story [PODCAST]
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We sit down with medical student Medha Venigalla to explore the urgent issue of resident sleep deprivation and its impact on health care. We discuss the systemic challenges residents face, including long hours, …
Why medical training is pushing residents to their breaking point [PODCAST]
Are you a medical student or resident rotating through new parts of the hospital? Then it’s a good time for some nuts-and-bolts advice about what you should wear on your upcoming rotations.
No, it’s not about looking like a doctor (whatever that is). It’s not about whether patients like white coats or not. Or whether white coats carry germs. It’s not about style and personal expression. It’s about how to have …
In January 2022, the medical school curriculum underwent a transformative shift when Step 1, the first of three licensing exams for U.S. medical students, switched from numerical score to a pass/fail (P/F) grading system. Now, with several years of perspective, we can assess the broader implications of this change on medical education. The primary objective of this reform was to alleviate the pressures associated with Step 1 and to …
Did Step 1’s pass/fail switch actually increase medical student burnout?
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Join us in this episode as we explore the story of a medical student who redefined her career path after a pivotal moment of self-discovery and patient insight. Our guest, Janet A. Jokela, …
Patient insights can shape your career in unexpected ways [PODCAST]
As a child, I was always reading. As is the case for many people, I lost my literary passion in high school and college as my time was taken up by extracurriculars and doomscrolling on my phone. One thing I have thoroughly enjoyed about my gap years between graduation from college and matriculation into medical school is reconnecting with reading. I have read a wide variety of books, but below …
My book reviews for premed students
The fourth-year medical student “Megan” urgently wanted to meet with me. She just returned from an away rotation in pathology in mid-August and wanted to talk. She was not her usual confident self, appearing distracted and pale. She shared that she had thoroughly enjoyed her rotation and had found it stimulating and the faculty inspiring. One of her …
How one medical student’s life-changing conversation reshaped her career
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We welcome back internal medicine physician Vijay Rajput. Two years ago, he shared his insights on the KevinMD article, “Top 10 things new interns should do.” Today, he returns to discuss updates on …
Why kindness is the missing link in medical education [PODCAST]
Introduction
In the book Ender’s Game, humans face a time-dilation war in which they must travel light-years into the future to face an enemy of unknown strength and scale. The weapons and technology they possess for the journey may be outdated by their arrival, because relativity minimizes the passage of time. The same dilemma is true for medical and premedical students who can spend decades in training, only to emerge without …
It’s not a normal job, folks: How 3 elemental forces of reality shape the profession of medicine
Attending academic conferences as a medical student offers a wealth of opportunities. Whether it’s networking, finding potential mentors, deepening your knowledge of specialties, or simply exploring new cities, conferences provide unique experiences that can significantly shape your career. As a medical student, I had the chance to attend both regional and national vascular surgery conferences through travel scholarships, and I want to share the lessons I learned in the hope …
Many students only learn basic health facts, like how to put a condom on a banana or that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. But when it comes to making real-life health decisions, this scarce knowledge just doesn’t cut it. Shockingly, only 12 percent of American adults have proficient health literacy skills. This gap becomes especially clear in college, where young adults face new independence and make crucial …
The health crisis no one’s talking about: Why teens need better health education
Neurosurgery is an exhilarating and rewarding field that combines cutting-edge technology with the intricate art of surgical precision. Yet, despite its allure, many medical students feel intimidated or uncertain about pursuing this path. As a fourth-year medical student applying to neurosurgery, I have noticed several barriers that could be addressed to make the field more accessible and inclusive for future generations.
One of the primary obstacles is the lack of early …
How can we make neurosurgery more accessible to future generations?
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Join us for an episode featuring Lynn McComas, a recognized expert in precepting nurse practitioners and advanced practice provider students. We’ll discuss the critical importance of hands-on training in medical education and the …
How lack of hands-on experience could endanger patient safety [PODCAST]
Teaching is a blast! As an attending, I love to employ offbeat methods, with absurdity and humor, at times skirting the edge of political incorrectness, all for the purpose of enhancing one’s medical education.
Educating medical students and residents by practicing physicians is a tried-and-true element of medical education, a practice dating back through the ages, where those without formal education in the art of teaching provided instruction. This tradition continues …
The surprising power of laughter and creativity in medical training
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