medical school

The One Letter to Rule Them All

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letter of recommendation

As an undergrad, one of the reasons you devoted so much time to a research experience was to earn an epic letter of recommendation–one that speaks to your strengths, resilience, character, self-reliance, cultural competencies, ability to solve problems, and contribute to a group effort. This letter will be a comprehensive endorsement of your medical school application complete with specific examples that influenced your PI’s opinion. This one letter has the potential to outweigh all other letters from a professor whose class you attended, or from someone who oversaw a volunteer program you participated in for a semester.

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Love and Happiness… And Medicine? Our Experience in the Couples Match

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couples match

We were in the same class in medical school. It was your typical story. Boy meets girl, girl doesn’t like boy’s buzz cut, they waste a year, eventually end up as anatomy TAs working on the same dissection together, and fall in love. Standard. I knew that I was going to be a surgeon, he was thinking about ER. We moved in together. We talked about getting married. Then he went out for third year rotations and I started the Anatomy Fellowship at our school. He did Surgery mid-way through the year. To my concern, though not to my surprise, he loved it. He loved it the way I loved it. We talked seriously about what this would mean for us, both for our relationship and for our careers. We had always assumed that when the Match rolled around that we would participate in the Couples Match. Couples matching into Surgery seemed like a long shot, but we both knew we couldn’t be satisfied in another field, that we were surgeons at heart. So we decided we had to try.

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What You Should Know: Talking to Your Patients About Their Mental Health

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mental health

Even student doctors who have not yet completed all of their medical training have probably realized that awkward, difficult or delicate conversations are part and parcel of a physician’s practice, and for a number of different reasons. Few conversations you will likely to have with your patients can feel more uncomfortable–for patient and doctor both–than those involving a patient’s mental health. Despite energetic advocacy for the mentally ill in recent decades, the stigma of mental illness remains and many patients may feel embarrassed, upset, or ashamed to discuss these issues with their healthcare providers. A doctor who is comfortable with this topic and can put their patient as ease, however, can more easily screen patients for mental health disorders and, more importantly, get them referrals and contact with community resources that many of them so desperately need.
But how do you start this conversation?

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Chronicles of a Med Student: All Aboard the Financial Struggle Bus

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Chronicles of a Med Student

I remember the sheer joy of ripping open the letter that granted me a medical school spot. Everything was roses and rainbows, and I was thrilled that my dreams were coming true. This cute little fantasy carried on until I received the tuition numbers a few weeks later . . . wow. I had no money, and I was being expected to pay how much? Regardless of what you hear from other people about how doctors make enough money to quickly pay back their debt, those five digits after the dollar sign per year are still scary.

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Time to Start Thinking About Your Medical School Application

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If you are planning to start medical school for the 2017 Fall Semester, it’s already time to start thinking about your application!
You will apply using the American Medical College Application Service® (AMCAS®) for your medical school applications – the 2017 application cycle opens in early May. AMCAS is the primary application method used by most US medical schools. For you, this means that you’ll submit only one online application, regardless of the number of medical schools you choose to apply to.
We’ve highlighted tips and resources to help you begin to prepare for completing your application whether you are applying for this upcoming cycle or sometime down the road.

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5 Soft Skills Every Pre-Med Student Needs

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soft skills

Though the emphasis of the medical school application process lies on academic achievement, there are a number of personal qualities that pre-medical students should strive to develop if they wish to become superior physicians. The development of these soft skills may also make students more competitive medical school applicants when they are evident in interviews and letters of recommendation. Such soft skills include:
1. The ability to work effectively in a team
Modern medicine requires immense coordination between various clinicians and providers. Doctors must collaborate with nurses, social workers, specialists, therapists, and others in order to adequately care for their patients in today’s complex medical and social climate. The ability to lead and to collaborate with team members is a necessity for today’s medical trainees. Pre-medical students can develop this skill while working in a team setting in their college coursework (e.g. group projects and presentations), extracurricular activities (e.g. student government and student interest groups), and other major experiences (e.g. philanthropic organizations and research laboratories). Students should actively strive to lead, but they should also work to see the perspectives of all team members, and to incorporate effective strategies to help their team meet common goals.

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How To Overcome Adversity in Professional School

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overcome adversity in professional school

After coming home from a long day at the library studying for my cardiology exam, I get a phone call from my sister. “Hey,” she said. “Grandmother is in the hospital. Can you come home this weekend?” Great, I thought. Not this again.
I was barely beginning to cope with the loss of my dad over eight years ago, and barely staying afloat in medical school because of it. I had failed my first medical course, anatomy, during my first year and just spent a tough summer trying to remediate it, as my other friends went off traveling or spending time at home with their families. Now, my grandmother was a piece of my childhood that I was about to lose and I had no idea how to prepare for it.

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Top Tips for Sub-Internship Success

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The sub-internship is a crucial rotation for all medical students, no matter which specialty they plan to pursue. During this transitional phase in their clinical training, students begin to assume more independent responsibility for patient care. A sub-internship introduces students to life as residents, and it is often a source of recommendation letters for the residency application process. Below are my top tips for success during your sub-internship.

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Study Smarter, Not Harder

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Occasionally when I am browsing the online forums on SDN, I come across an unfortunate statement like this: “I studied so hard for my chemistry final and did horrible.” I’ve come across this problem for classes other than chemistry as well. A lot of people say they studied hard, but did they really? Until I really understood the other principles of studying, I didn’t realize that there is a lot more than just the act itself.
Some of the variables I’ve been able to come up with that impact studying are sometimes things we don’t analyze. A couple examples are sleep patterns, intrinsic motivation, breaks, contacting your professor, repetitive intervals, studying like it’s your job, remembering the ultimate goal and of course having fun when your not studying. I personally have to constantly remind myself to remain vigilant of everything I do and how it will impact my studying. Just remember that every test counts, so make the best possible outcome for yourself by following some of these tips.

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Student Loan Forgiveness for Medical Students

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Many medical students cheerfully expect to be earning a generous income as they begin their medical practice. But while it is true that that, according to the Medical Economics website that in 2014, 7 of the 10 top-paying jobs were in the medical profession, the issue of course is far more complicated than that. The American Association of Medical Colleges estimates that a four-year medical education at a private school today will cost around $278,455 dollars while a public one runs only slightly below that at $208,868. And the average medical student will be around $180,000 in debt at the time of their graduation. Around 20% will have debt in excess of $250,000.
These numbers can seem staggering. Fortunately, there are programs available to medical students which not only get them out from this monumental debt, but help underserved communities across the country and improve access to quality medical care for some very vulnerable patient populations.

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Why Some Labs Don’t Train Premed Students and Why You Shouldn’t Care

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So far, the vast majority of the undergrads I’ve trained during my research career have been premed students. With the numerous personal and professional advantages an in-depth research experience can provide, and how a successful research experience can support a medical school application, that is unlikely to change.
Most students prove to be an asset to my research team. They are motivated, dedicated, step up to extra responsibility without hesitation, and are helpful to their labmates. These are the undergrads who arrive at lab ready to work, ready to contribute, and ready to learn everything anyone is willing to teach them. These undergrads find the self-discipline to push through disappointment at the research bench, and like to be challenged—whether through learning a new technique, designing an experimental strategy, or interpreting data. They serve as ambassadors for their research and university at scientific meetings, present their projects at symposia, and occasionally, if all the stars align, earn coauthorship on a publication.

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Chronicles of a Med Student: Making Every Moment Count

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Chronicles of a Med Student

I was ringing in the New Year with a friend when suddenly it hit me that it was 2016. I still feel like 2015 is in the future and it’s already 2016. I’m not getting any younger, but more importantly, how fast am I getting older? My birthday is close to New Year’s, so my biological clock is really in sync with the calendar year. Now that I’m in medical school, time flies faster than ever. It’s important for me to keep track of what I’m doing and to make sure I savor every moment. In order to do this, I want to make sure I make every day count by doing something useful so when I look back, I know I’ve spent my time wisely even while in school. I decided to take a quick look back at my last year to reflect on my highlights!

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