So you are nearing the end of your application season. You have spent years completing prerequisite courses, engaging in thoughtful and philanthropic extracurricular pursuits, preparing for the MCAT, and of course submitting primaries, secondaries and interviewing at your desired medical schools. Maybe you have multiple letters of acceptance in hand; maybe you have not yet received your fat envelope. But there is one school that has stolen your heart. And unfortunately, your love might be unrequited.
Medical
Learn about medicine and how to become a physician in our articles for pre-medical students (including the MCAT), medical students, resident physicians, and practicing physicians.
What substance is associated with this presentation?
A 45-year-old female presents with painful lesions on her lower limbs and ears. She is a smoker, and has a history of recreational drug use. Purpuric, necrotic lesions are noted on both lower extremities, in addition to tender purpura on both ears. A biopsy is performed which demonstrates leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Use of which substance is most likely to be associated with this presentation?
Man Ovens, Shoring Up Weaknesses, and Ditching the MCAT
Should you fix a bad grade, or concentrate on making your strengths even stronger? Activia … Read more
How To Avoid The Comparison Game
When we matched for residency, our program brought us close to some good friends we … Read more
Factors to Consider When Applying as a Disadvantaged Applicant
As pre-medical students complete the AMCAS application for medical school, they are confronted by the … Read more
What long-term complication is associated with this condition?
A five-year-old male with a four-day history of fever presents with a new erythematous rash. His mother says he has been coughing and sneezing for the past few days. Examination reveals conjunctivitis, grayish elevations on the buccal mucosa opposite his molar teeth, and a maculopapular rash on his trunk and extremities. Which of the following is a long-term complication of this patient’s condition?
A. Mitral valve disease
B. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis
C. Cataracts
D. Infertility
Combined Medicine and Psychiatry Training: It’s a Thing
Most people asking what discipline I was pursuing during my fourth year of medical school … Read more
How would you manage this acute abdominal pain?
A 24-year-old sexually active female presents with a three-day history of severe right upper quadrant pain that worsens on inhalation. She has a history of multiple sexual partners and does not use contraception. Examination reveals marked tenderness in the right upper quadrant and laparoscopy demonstrates the findings seen here. Based on this patient’s diagnosis, what treatment would address the most likely underlying infection?
A Crucial Health Professions Pipeline Pt. 2
More great stuff from the SHPEPers at CCOM
Our visit with pre-health students in the Carver College of Medicine’s Summer Health Professions Education Program continues as co-host Teneme Konne talks with SHPEPers Asjah Coleman, Kirsten Grismer, Ahone Koge and Margaret Mungai. Before the show, Teneme also visited with two of Iowa City’s homeless population, and gained some insight into their lives as well as the reasons they are living on the streets.
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Your Research Can Change Medicine: Interview with Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, Editor-in-Chief, NEJM
Medical journalists and researchers have a responsibility to perform meaningful, reproducible research to guide the direction and practice of medicine, both now and in the future. As upcoming researchers and practitioners, your work could have a significant impact on future medical practice. In this video, Nirmal Gosalia of DocThoughts discusses the future of research and medical journals with Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Medical Training Hierarchy: Your Role as a 3rd or 4th Year Student
I’ve just started my fourth year, and while it’s a relief to be done with all of my medical school exams, I’m finding that there are plenty of new responsibilities to take on! I’m no longer the lowest member of the medical food chain, which also means that I partially have the responsibility of taking care of my M3 classmates. I am currently rotating on a surgical service where this dynamic is especially prevalent. It comes into play when scrubbing in to surgeries or doing other “higher level” tasks. I think this hierarchy is important to discuss for those M3s just beginning their first clinical year.
Recess Rehash: Emily Silverman, MD, and The Nocturnists
A live stage show featuring the stories of healthcare providers is now a podcast you’ll love.
The day-to-day of internship, residency, and an MD career doesn’t allow much time to process the effect it’s having on the practitioner. Rushing from one patient to the next, putting out the fires even while drinking from the firehose, and being selfless in service to the patients’ needs means that one’s own stories are buried, neglected. More and more, however, medicine is acknowledging the need for practitioners to examine and tell their stories so that they can learn from them, teach their lessons to others, and show colleagues that they are not alone. In 2015 Dr. Emily Silverman was in her second year of her internal medicine residency at UCSF. She found herself with a little more time following her frenetic intern year, and with her own stories that had gone untold and unexamined. She started to write, first in a blog she called The Nocturnists. Then, in 2016 she organized the first live storytelling session with her colleagues.
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Medical School Prerequisite Courses
Becoming a physician requires a lot of planning. You have to plan which college to … Read more
How to Write a Prescription: 7 Steps for Safety
Are you learning to write a prescription? It’s not that difficult once you know the … Read more
What History is Most Consistent With These Findings?
A 62-year-old female, G3P3, presents to her gynecologist with a year-long history of worsening stress urinary incontinence. During the course of her investigation, a pelvic MRI is performed, and reveals the findings seen here. Which of the following histories is most consistent with these findings?
SHPEP: A Crucial Healthcare Professions Pipeline
Mentorship and Examples are critical.
The Summer Health Professions Education Program, SHPEP, has become a summer tradition at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Students from around the country participate in SHPEP’s goal: “to strengthen the academic proficiency and career development of students underrepresented in the health professions and prepare them for a successful application and matriculation to health professions schools.”
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5 Tips for Preparing for Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs)
In recent years, the multiple mini interview (or MMI) has gained popularity with medical school … Read more
Put Down That MPH Application: How to Reapply to Medical School the Right Way
Unsuccessful medical school applicants face a quandary. What to do next?
A popular option has been the master’s degree in public health. Students figured it was a way to spend a year doing something “health-related.” They could take off for medical school interviews, maybe write a paper or two. But the MPH is too easy a route. It is not enough. Here is what the MPH telegraphs: “I sat down for a year in easy to moderate difficulty classes and passed. I have a broad overview of public health.”
Failure to Thrive in a Child—What’s the Cause?
A three-year-old African American boy is brought to his new pediatrician over concerns of poor growth, fatigue, and irritability. On examination, he has a large head and generalized muscular hypotonia. His left wrist demonstrates the findings seen here. What next step is most appropriate?
When The Cat’s Away, The Mice Found Risky Business Ventures
Executive Producer Jason has kindly let Dave go on vacation, so Aline Sandouk takes over the hot seat, with Irisa Mahaparn, Hillary O’Brien, Elizabeth Shirazi, and Jayden Bowen. Together they unravel the mysteries of the human body and med school. For instance, why do med students feel guilty about having to take time off to deal with their bed bug infestations? And what would having many normal or two overly large testicles do to fertility? Such brilliant questions!!!
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