The transition to clinical clerkships in medical school comes after two years of lectures, in-class exams, and national board exams. Without a doubt, it is an exciting transition. It is a key stage in the development of a physician, allowing the student to see real patients and to learn from practicing professionals. Clinical rotations requires the student to critically think and to apply the vast amount of information learned in the classroom to new situations. The goal is to learn to come up with a list of differential diagnoses, use the correct confirmatory test, and develop a treatment plan. This is what many students believe will be the bulk of their clinical learning during the third and fourth years. As a result, many students spend most of their time focusing only on the academic preparation for clinical rotations and do not sufficiently prepare themselves to stand out in equally important, but non-academic ways.
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Chronicles of a Med Student: One’s Not Such a Lonely Number
Medical school is becoming routine to me now—which is great. I’ve finally found my rhythm after a few months and feel comfortable with my learning style and studying methods. And it keeps me busy enough during the workweek. I try to accomplish most of my studying during the week so that I have the weekends to not study and actually have a life. But here’s the thing: my study habits don’t necessarily line up with those of my peers, which can leave me with some long weekends. Instead of wondering if am covering all of my bases (or if I’m forgetting to do this reading or that reading), I take a break. I can’t possibly study all the time, so I’m forced to have confidence in myself to do well. I understand that I sound quite crazy complaining about having free time, because who–especially a medical student–has ever done that?
Q&A with Physician Writer Christine Montross
Dr. Christine Montross is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and the Director of Counseling Resources at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She works as a staff psychiatrist at Butler Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. Before attending medical school at Brown, Dr. Montross graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master of Fine Arts in poetry, and undergraduate degrees in French and Natural Resources.
Difficult Interview Questions: Learning To Hit A Curveball Out Of The Park
By Michelle Finkel, MD with CrispyDoc
You put your heart and soul into your compelling, charismatic personal statement; you showcased your accomplishments and drive to succeed in your activities section; and you demonstrated the endorsement of respected faculty allies in your letters of recommendation. Now your hard work has paid off and helped you get a foot in the door: You’ve been invited to interview at your dream medical school or residency program.
10 Things to Expect Your First Semester of Research
Even if you have previous lab experience from a high school or college lab class, the first few weeks of a new research experience in a professional research lab will have its challenges, surprises, and probably be quite different from you expect. It might take a few weeks before you feel at home in the lab, but it will happen if you stick with it and commit to learning everything you can about your research project. To help you prepare for your new adventure, here are some things that await most undergraduates at the start of a new research experience.
Chronicles of a Med Student: Time for a Reality Check
I was about to burst with excitement the minute I started medical school. I’m pretty sure I was actually giddy: like so many other pre-meds, I had dreamt of the day when I would finally put my pretty white coat on and actually start learning about things I cared about (that’s not to say everything I’d learned previously was useless—it absolutely wasn’t, but it wasn’t what I wanted). It felt like the longest road just to get to this point and I couldn’t even begin to fathom what was to come. It really was like the journey had ended…instead of just begun.
Attend a Pre-Med Fair – Connect with Admissions Officers and the AAMC
Why attend a pre-med recruitment fair? Pre-med recruitment fairs are great opportunities to learn about applying to medical school, admissions requirements, and resources all in one place! You’ll be able to engage with medical school admissions officers and representatives in person to learn about specific opportunities at their schools. You will find a variety of medical schools, programs, and associations, like the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), that have a wealth of resources to support you on your path to medical school.
How My MCAT Study Plan Helped Me Go From the 30th to 90th Percentile
Download the 2023 Edition of the Nymeria 100-day MCAT study plan – rebuilt with all … Read more
Getting to Yes: Crafting a Resume for the Medical Field
Since the medical field is full of a wide variety of job opportunities, it is … Read more
20 Questions: Jeffrey M. Whitaker, DPM, FACFAS
Dr. Jeffrey Whitaker knew at a very young age that he wanted to be a doctor, though his specialty remained uncertain until he discovered podiatric medicine as an undergraduate pre-med student. Having graduated Magna Cum Laude with his Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from California State University-Long Beach, he later completed a second Bachelor in Cell and Molecular Biology with San Francisco State University, followed by the successful completion of his Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree from the California College of Podiatric Medicine, which is now Samuel Merritt University. Dr. Whitaker graduated from the DPM program with Honors, ranking 4th in his class, and completed his three-year foot and ankle surgery residency with Western Pennsylvania Hospital, in Pittsburgh.
Chronicles of a Med Student: We’re All In This Together
Walking into my first day of medical school was a little like walking into my first day of kindergarten (if my memory does not fail me). Everything was brand new: I was being exposed to a new way of learning in a new environment, where people had new expectations of me, and where I was going to start from square one and build up a new circle of friends. I had carried the same set of friends in grade school and though I thought initially that college would’ve felt like this on my first day, it didn’t. I had a lot of friends from high school go to the same college as me, so it just felt like we were hanging out in a new place. And again college is very different from medical school in more ways than I can put into a coherent list. Starting medical school was unlike any other start in my life (besides kindergarten, of course). What if I had forgotten how to make new friends from scratch?!
Choosing a Specialty: The Generalist vs. the Early-Committer
Many students arrive at medical school with a bias that their liberal arts education has instilled, namely, that they should survey everything before deciding on their specialty. Before medical school, students matriculate at colleges that pride themselves on providing a diverse exposure to a variety of subjects: Computer science majors experience the canon of Great Literature before pursuing a life of code, and English majors can take “Physics for Poets.”
For a generalist student sampling from the buffet of medicine, it can be jarring to sit in lecture next to a classmate who declares on the first day of school that she intends to become an orthopedist. These early-committers appear to have whittled down their choices from day one. They magically become apprentices to a faculty member in their chosen specialty by the first quarter, have a publication by their first year, and seem to possess an intuitive roadmap for applying to residency that the generalist cannot read.
Dental school the second time around: An IDP student perspective
This article is reprinted with permission from the American Student Dental Association. It originally appeared in the Summer 2015 issue of Mouth.
Each year, dental schools across the United States graduate students who were already dentists. Coming from different backgrounds and nations, we are termed IDP, or International Dentist Program, graduates. ID Programs in the U.S. are one of the most incorporating and intensive dental programs around the globe. However, the realization of second graduation involves a different set of struggles that the traditional dental student might not be aware of.
20 Questions : Karen M. Winkfield, MD, PhD, Radiation Oncology
Karen M. Winkfield, MD, PhD, is a radiation oncologist with Massachusetts General Hospital, and she divides her time among clinic research in health equity and hematologic malignancies, teaching as assistant professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School, and a clinical practice treating patients with lymphoma, leukemia, myeloma, myelodysplastic syndrome and other blood cell dyscrasias, and breast and gynecologic malignancies.
Dr. Winkfield received her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Binghamton University (1997), and her PhD in pathology (2004) and MD (2005) from Duke University. She completed an internship in internal medicine at Duke and a residency in radiation oncology at Harvard. Dr. Winkfield co-founded and directs the Association of Black Radiation Oncologists, and she’s been published in numerous journals, including the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of the National Medical Association, International Journal of Radiation Oncology – Biology – Physics, Oncology, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, and New England Journal of Medicine. She also currently chairs the Health Access and Training Subcommittee for the American Society For Radiation Oncology and is chair-elect of the Health Disparities Committee for the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
The Risk Involved in Going to Medical School (and How You Can Subvert It)
Most people wouldn’t normally think of medical school as a risky investment. Sure, there are … Read more
The Med-Peds Residency: Big and Small, We Care for Them All
As third year medical students you’re rotating through your general specialties and you think you’re seeing familiar faces but in new places. Isn’t that your newborn nursery resident who assigned APGAR scores, now leading the code in the medical ICU? Some of you may have had similar déjà vu experiences but rest assured, your mind isn’t fooling you. At 79 programs across the USA and Puerto Rico, Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatric residents walk (briskly) through the halls of the hospital carrying both PALS and ACLS cards in our coat pockets. Our minds have been shaped to think broadly and decisively. We carry an air of calmness from our critical care rotations yet we know when to appropriately turn to our goofy side to connect with our patients. Through four years of versatile training, we are training to be the 21st century physician.
The Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics (commonly referred to as “Med-Peds”) is a four-year residency-training program that leads to dual board certification in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. While there are many combined training programs offered in the US, the Med-Peds residency is by far the most ubiquitous and popular program available. During the four years of training, residents undergo a rigorous schedule of rotations ranging from adult and pediatric wards, MICU, PICU, NICU, CCU, Med-Peds clinic and specialty electives. By graduation, residents will have completed a total of 2 years of adult and 2 years of pediatric training. The frequency at which residents switch from one “side” to another changes depending on the individual residency program. The end product is the same: Individuals who are prepared to deal with acute, complex, chronic and preventive care for both adult and pediatric medical conditions. The broad training creates an endless list of career possibilities. We each carve out a niche that best fits the career interest we have in mind.
Five Ways to Make Your Audition Rotation in Anesthesia (or Other Specialty!) a Success
It is that time of year again. Medical school students across the country are preparing applications for residency and pursuing audition rotations at residencies they are hoping to woo into an interview and hopefully to match into their program.
Any audition rotation is a challenge. This is especially true for the anesthesia audition rotation. For medical school students who look great on paper, the audition rotation can either confirm they are a great candidate or confirm the program should not interview/rank them. For medical school students who do not have a stellar record, the audition rotation can open up doors.
Chronicles of a Med Student: Drinking from a Fire Hydrant
For the past several years, I felt like all I heard was everyone in medical school telling me how hard it is. I was a little worried, especially since I took a year off of school. How would I have the capacity to study anymore? Heck, I was used to spending my weekends and evenings lazing around, watching TV, and overall doing as I pleased. And now all of a sudden, I was expected to sit with my feet bolted to the floor staring at a computer screen with words like infundibular recess screaming at me for 9 hours a day. There was no way. All kinds of thoughts crossed my mind: I would lose all of my friends, gain weight from sitting around all day, and generally go insane.
What I Learned During My First Semester of Medical School
Students will feel a variety of emotions during the weeks and days leading up to the start of medical school, ranging from excitement to anxiety. Below are five key things I learned during my first semester in medical school, some of which I wish I had known before I began:
1. Every student is unique, so do what works best for you
Many people equate the preclinical years of medical school to standing before a water hose and attempting to drink all of the water that pours from it. The vast amount of information that you will be exposed to may seem overwhelming at times, but it is important to remember that generations of physicians have successfully completed their medical training. There is a way to manage this wealth of information.
How to ace your first patient encounter
As a medical student, you spend four years of college and the first two years of medical school studying non-stop for what feels like thousands of hours, cramming your brain with knowledge. But when the time comes to conduct your first face-to-face patient encounter, your confidence is rocked by the challenge of having to establish rapport, extract all the relevant medical history, and complete a physical exam, all while showing compassion, answering patient questions, and developing a differential diagnosis list and treatment plan in 30 minutes or less. Clinic is even worse with a meager 12 minutes scheduled for each patient encounter.