Q&A with Courtleigh Watson, DVM

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Courtleigh Watson

Today we (Tutor the People) are interviewing Courtleigh Watson, a DVM associate veterinarian. Courtleigh studied veterinary medicine in Alabama, and she is going to tell us more about her background, the steps she took to become a veterinarian, and her current career.

TTP: Hi, Courtleigh. Thank you for speaking with us today. Not many people can say they were able to acquire their dream job. Did you always want to be a veterinarian? Please tell us more about your background and what drew you to this discipline—did you know during undergrad that you would continue to pursue veterinary medicine? This was a big decision to make at that time.

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Non-Academic Ideas to Boost Your Med School Chances

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non-academic ideas

At this point, you are probably already aware of how competitive medical school admissions are. For instance, you may already know that the most competitive med schools boast acceptance rates of nearly 3%—that’s almost half the acceptance rate of Harvard College. Pretty dire, right?

The truth, however, is that while medical school admissions are and will continue to be incredibly competitive, there are a number of steps you can take throughout college to distinguish yourself from the enormous pool of hyper-qualified candidates. Along with doing the typical extracurricular activities for med school like lab research, teaching experience, etc. the best candidates think outside of the box to make their extracurriculars stand out.

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What’s causing this teenager’s vision loss?

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A 14-year-old boy is brought to the pediatrician by his mother over concerns of difficulty walking and worsening clumsiness. He reports a gradual loss of night vision, and a long history of chronic diarrhea which is pale and foul-smelling. Examination reveals an ataxic gait, and loss of deep tendon reflexes. Bilateral retinitis pigmentosa is noted on fundoscopy and a peripheral blood smear reveals the findings seen here. Which additional laboratory finding is most likely?

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Putting the Anxiety Cart Before the Horse

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bropoalypse

Anxiety about your competitive specialty ambitions in your first year isn’t worth it.

Listener Luis wrote in expressing his anxiety that his med school–which he’ll begin attending this fall–doesn’t have the prestige or programs to support his desire for a competitive specialty like ophthalmology. If that’s the case, he wondered, what can he do to increase his chances of obtaining his dream career? Fortunately for Luis, Irisa Mahaparn, Gabe Conley, Brendan George, Jason Lewis, and new co-host Andres Dajles were on hand to give Luis the advice and encouragement he needs…and a tiny dose of tough love, too.

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Q&A with Dr. James Dahle, Emergency Medicine, Founder of White Coat Investor

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Dr. James Dahle is a practicing emergency physician and founder of White Coat Investor, a website in which he shares what he has learned about personal finance management and wealth building.
Dr. Dahle graduated in 1999 with a BS in molecular biology from Brigham Young University before obtaining his medical degree from the University of Utah School of Medicine in 2003. Following this, he trained at the University of Arizona Emergency Medicine Residency Program and then served four years with the Air Force and the Navy, which took him across military bases on four different continents.

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Entering Third Year With An Open Mind

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surgical specialties

By Adelle, Medical Student

I went into my third year with a somewhat open mind in terms of what I thought I liked and what I thought I wanted to do for the next 35 years or so of my life. Internal medicine interested me because you had to know so much about, well, so much. I felt like my brain was getting bigger every day I was on my internal medicine rotation—there was just so much to know! The number of patients you can see is also fairly high on a typical internal medicine service. On the other hand, I had completely discounted general surgery—I was never very interested in anatomy class and didn’t particularly enjoy teasing apart membranes from fascia from blood vessels and nerves. The thought of doing that for the rest of my life didn’t sit well with me. But, nevertheless, I went in with an open mind.

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Should You Consider Romance When Selecting a Med School?

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bropoalypse

Med school can test a relationship.

Lauren wrote in to ask us to what extent her love life should play a role in her selection of a medical school, and how we thought med school challenges relationships. Gabe Conely, Joyce Wahba, Claire Casteneda, and new host Brendan George discussed their perspective on how med school can affect romantic relationships, and what role it should play in the selection of a school to attend.

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On Moving Across the Country for Medical Training

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moving

Moving across the country for medical school was the scariest thing I ever did – and the best thing I ever did

I looked out the window as the plane touched down on the runway. I heard the gentleman next to me ask, “So what brings you to Kentucky?” I didn’t know if he assumed I was a visitor because I looked so curious peering outside at the very green landscape or he caught a glance of my “Kentucky” guide book half peeking out of my purse. I smiled and told him I had come for an interview.

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How to Maximize Medical School Second Looks

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second look

While most students dream of getting an acceptance letter from just one medical school, others find themselves in the enviable position of having to choose between two or more schools to which they’ve been accepted. If you are deciding between schools, Second Look days can help you determine where you’ll commit. Second Look days are offered by most medical schools, usually after their application cycles are complete and acceptances have been extended to candidates. They are meant to give potential students an idea of what attending that particular school will be like. While many students attend Second Look days with the intention of getting to know potential classmates and to see what the academic environment “feels like,” others may want to head into these days prepared with a few specific questions aimed toward helping them gather the information they need to make a final decision. If you’re getting ready to travel to some potential medical schools this spring, keep these questions in mind:

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Confessions of a Former Mediocre Premed Student

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premed

By Yoo Jung Kim, MD Candidate, Stanford University

Many students start college gung-ho about going into medicine, and many end up falling short of their goals. Their reasons are varied. Some discover new careers that better appeal to their interests; others realize that they can’t stomach the long commitment required in medicine. However, the saddest group of people are those who come to believe that they aren’t cut out for becoming a physician because of their performance in science courses. I was very close in becoming one of them.

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Q&A with Dr. Harris Eyre, Psychiatry Trainee, Pharmacogeneticist

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Harris eyre

By Gloria Onwneme, Medical Student, University of Nottingham, UK

Dr. Harris Eyre, MD, PhD, Fulbright Scholar (WG Walker) is a psychiatry trainee, and Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder of CNSDose, a company which has developed and deployed a world-leading genetic test to aid the antidepressant selection process for primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and people with depression. He is also an executive-in-residence at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, the world’s largest medical complex.

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Lack of Empathy: A Med School Dealbreaker?

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bropoalypse

Everyone knows: doctors have to have empathy…right?

Listener Mo wrote to us at [email protected] to ask us if a lack of interest in dealing with the foibles of patients–with their anti-vaccine beliefs, their non-compliance with treatment, and reliance on the latest internet fads–means he should reconsider his med school dreams.  Lucky for Mo, Kaci McCleary, Irisa Mahaparn, and newbs Melissa Chan and Dabin Choi were on hand to propose some paths forward for non-empathetic med school applicants, as well as outlining some of the less obvious areas empathy comes in handy they might want to think about. There isn’t a lot of wiggle room in this area…but there’s a little, and maybe Mo can squeeze into those cracks and come out with an MD on the other side.

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