"Personal Branding" as a Premed: How Knowing Who You Are and What You Stand For Can Help You Get In

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personal branding as a premed

I began my first job when I was just 12 years old (don’t worry, I had a work permit from my school!). It was natural for me to want to start earning my own income and save money for eventually purchasing a car. I continued to work through high school and on into college. I worked two jobs to pay for my tuition, housing, and living expenses. It wasn’t always easy, but providing for myself gave me a sense of pride and encouragement that I could achieve whatever I set my mind to. Although I wasn’t fully aware of it at the time, having this sense of determination shaped my personality and defined who I was. Eventually, sharing these experiences with medical school admission committees helped to convey my most desirable qualities as an applicant: responsibility, work ethic, perseverance, and strength.

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How Med Student Parents Make It Happen

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Can you be a parent while you’re in medical school?

Listener Courtney, a 26-year-old mother of three wants to know if her med school dream is even possible.  Obviously this is a two-part question since there are both moms and dads to consider, so we’ll have a mom on a future show to help.  But first, Gabe Conley, Marissa Evers, Joyce “Spicy” Wahba, and Kaci McCleary invited 2004 CCOM grad Dr. Tom McNalley on the show to represent the dads.  Tom was 39 with three kids of his own and a wife who was working towards her PhD when he entered med school.  We’ll find out how they did it.

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What infection preceded this rash?

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An 8-year-old boy is brought to the pediatrician by his mother over concerns of a new-onset rash. He is otherwise healthy, though his mother mentions that he was unwell two weeks prior to the rash appearing. On examination, numerous small salmon-pink scaly papules are seen on his trunk and extremities. Which of the following infections most likely preceded this cutaneous eruption?

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Location, Location, Location! Should You Apply In-State or Out-of-State? 

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The AAMC Premed Team recently conducted a few twitter polls which asked premeds to share what you are looking for in a medical school. We received hundreds of responses, and while a school’s mission statement and scholarship opportunities were both important influences, the results pointed to one factor above all others: location!

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Q&A with Benjamin Stobbe, Executive Director of Clinical Simulation

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Chris Diem

Ask any doctor, in any specialty and of any age, and they will remember their training in medical school. It is full of learning, new experiences, new friends, and major strides in both personal and professional development. With so many changes, dozens of obstacles in each student’s life must be confronted and overcome. Fortunately, medical schools have extraordinary people who devote their time and talent to guiding and supporting medical students through their four years. This column interviews these people at medical schools around the country to help students learn more about the resources they have available during their years in school.

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The Power of Listening: What I Learned From My Trip to Rwanda, Africa

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listening

I woke up abruptly from my jet-lagged sleep surrounded by a bed net, two fans, and the smell of the DEET bug spray I had applied before going to bed. One of my team members was knocking on the door, saying that a large group of women was already outside the hostel where we were staying and had been waiting for us to come out. I was surprised to find out they had been coming every morning, anticipating our arrival, but I also realized how different this place had already become in my mind.

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Tales from the Clinic: from Theory to Practice

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There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

Kylie Miller and Issac Schwantes take a break from their fairly new clinical duties to let Gabe Conley and Erik Kneller know how it’s going working with actual patients. What unexpected things have they learned? Were their professors really correct when the said that arcane bit of information would actually be useful in the real world? Were their fears (whatever they were) realized? Would they rather grandma puke every time they broke wind, or have a shingles outbreak whenever they get a passing grade or better in medical school? Dave assures them: these are the questions listeners want answers to.

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What’s causing this patient’s diminished femoral pulses?

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A 56-year-old man presents with a three-month history of erectile dysfunction and bilateral buttock pain on exertion, but not at rest. His past medical history is significant for type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. Examination reveals bilaterally diminished femoral pulses. What is the most likely diagnosis?

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Refusing to Treat: A Collision of Medicine and Conscience

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Do doctors need protection from having to provide treatments they don’t believe in?

During Human Rights Week at the Carver College of Medicine, we heard some hard truths from national news commentator, human rights activist, and podcaster Angela Rye. In her speech to the College of Medicine, she clued white people in on what black Americans face every day in 2017.  She also pointed out that Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech was just the beginning of his activism.  Meanwhile,  Mackenzie Walhof, Joyce Wahb, Claire Casteneda, and Gabe Conley discuss the department of Health and Human Services announcement that it would be forming a department to protect doctors from having their religious rights infringed. Do doctors need protection so they can refuse to treat as a matter of conscience?  Or do they self-select what they do and don’t do by where they practice and what they specialize in?

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A Creeping Eruption

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A 40-year-old male presents to his family physician with a pruritic, erythematous lesion on his foot after returning from vacation in coastal Brazil a week earlier. On examination, a serpiginous, slightly elevated tunnel can be seen on the lateral aspect of his left foot. He is otherwise well, but mentions that the intense pruritus is disturbing his sleep. Which of the following treatments is the next best step?

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