This past year, my entire life has fit in the backseat of my Hyundai Elantra as I bounced between four states and traveled over 25,000 miles. As I walk into the hospital and my phone reconnects to the Wi-Fi after a night of using cell data in the parking lot, I am bombarded with emails from Credit Karma and loan services about my new balance. The debt accrues, my stomach …
As a medical simulation educator, I get a lot of curious looks when I share my job title with people both inside and outside of medicine. Medical simulation is defined by the Society of Simulation in Healthcare as the imitation or representation of one act or system by another. It has four main purposes in health care: education, assessment, research, and health systems …
Memorizing and retaining the medical knowledge you need to be a doctor is one of the hardest things you can do! If you ask any doctor about their medical school experience, they’ll probably recall hours of lectures, meticulous cadaver dissections, and countless long days and nights of studying, trying to learn a ton of material in a very short time. Of course, this experience can lead to major stress, taking …
U.S. allopathic medical school applications have skyrocketed, with over 60,000 applications in 2021, a nearly 100 percent increase in applicants over the past decade. Despite modest increases in the number of medical schools and class sizes, the result has been an ever-declining acceptance rate, with less than 38 percent of applicants accepted in 2021. Hopeful pre-med students pour over the grievously limited data available through the AAMC (Association of American …
In the past year alone, legislative assaults on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in higher education have surged across the United States. This disturbing trend threatens the foundational values of our academic institutions and endangers the very essence of health equity in medical education and practice.
The recent introduction of the Embracing Anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curriculum, and Advancing Truth in Education (EDUCATE) Act by Rep. Greg Murphy, MD, and its 35 …
Sarah graduated college during the pandemic and landed a job with a Fortune 500 company in the IT sector, a competitive position. Like many others, she knew of the importance of landing a job, not just for a secure future with a good-paying salary, but in the United States as a way of securing access to health insurance.
This health insurance—being someone young and healthy—was something she got out of habit …
Clinical research is a cornerstone in advancing medical knowledge and improving patient care. Through rigorous testing and validation of new treatments, medications, and procedures, clinical research drives progress in the health care field. A notable example is the development of the polio vaccine, which underwent extensive clinical trials by Jonas Salk involving approximately 1.6 million children in the United States, Canada, and Finland to ensure its safety and efficacy, ultimately …
“Ms. Lupo is a 39-year-old female presenting to the ED with a chief complaint of unilateral dead arm.” So read a hypothetical patient scenario during my class one day. As a team of first-year medical students, our job was to review the patient’s case, including history of present illness, past medical history, family history, and symptoms, to diagnose and formulate a care plan to treat Ms. Lupo’s arm. Within seconds, …
Imagine being completely consumed by the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Could you do this for a day? How about for a week? What if I asked you to do this all day, every day, for an entire month? Sounds exhausting, right? Medical students are asked to do this for four years. During that time, we navigated a world that was completely new to us in an unfamiliar environment alongside hundreds …
It’s 4:57 p.m., and I’m anxiously tapping my foot in a stuffy cubicle, trying to ignore the pain of my compression socks seemingly cutting off circulation to my feet. I quickly glance at the timer. Thirty-one seconds. I close my eyes and say a quick prayer as I feel the agile kicks of my daughter, who this week is measuring the size of a cucumber! I do one final pass …
For thousands of individuals every year, receiving an acceptance letter from a U.S. medical school is a monumental occasion. The culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice. It is an acknowledgment of academic prowess and ability. This is an indication that years of hard work and dedication have paid off and that, since being selected, an individual possesses unique talents and abilities, allowing them to enter an esoteric realm …
The Federal Aviation Administration’s “What We Do” webpage describes the FAA’s primary purpose: “We’re responsible for the safety of civil aviation … We issue and enforce regulations and minimum standards … [and] certify airmen.” In addition to those primary goals, the FAA has adopted a secondary objective, which was codified into law by presidential executive order: to increase the racial diversity of its workforce. As early as 2013, …
“You know how to scrub, right?” The short story is no, I did not yet know how to scrub.
As a premedical student, the operating room is different from anywhere else I have been. Just as with any new environment—whether it’s a friend’s home, a workplace, or a place of worship—there are customs to learn. These unspoken rules become second nature to those accustomed to the surroundings. As a newcomer, it’s …
In 1950, newly trained physicians may have gone the entire lengths of their careers without experiencing a doubling in medical knowledge. In 2011, Densen predicted that medical knowledge would have a doubling time of approximately 73 days – or 0.2 years – by 2020. “What was learned in the first three years of medical school,” according to Densen, “will be just 6 percent of what is known …
In a world where the path to medical school is often depicted as a one-size-fits-all journey, my story is a testament to the fact that there is no cookie-cutter method for current or prospective doctors. I am now a third-year osteopathic medical student, but my path to get here has taken many detours.
A nontraditional medical applicant is anyone who has followed an unorthodox path to medical school. We exhibit qualities …
Many Baby Boomers have been quick to point out that 2024 is not 1968. When students occupied buildings at Columbia University 56 years ago, at least their objectives were clear – to put an end to the Vietnam War. Do students today who have camped out at Columbia, and a multitude of universities across the U.S. and disrupted graduation ceremonies want to end the war between Israel and Hamas, …
At the heart of medicine lies humanity. This narrative documents a personal story where I felt deeply connected to this principle as a first-year medical student.
I felt nervous and unsure as I was about to practice medical interviewing with a standardized patient. The scenario was unfamiliar to many of us, involving the care plan for a patient (“Chris”) with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer. Together with his partner (“Jordan”), they …
There is a public health crisis in America right now among the migrant population.
Chicago is dealing with a measles outbreak. Many parts of America are similarly affected, according to the CDC Measles Dashboard.
Health care for migrant children and adolescents in Chicago and other sanctuary cities needs greater focus with increased federal funding.
Last summer, I had the incredible opportunity to present a case report as a poster at the Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium. As a premed student, this was exciting but also quite intimidating.
This meeting is a large national medical conference with about 1,500 attendees, including ophthalmologists of all career stages, many ophthalmology residents, and medical students interested in ophthalmology. I presented the case of a child who had experienced retinopathy …
Over the last few weeks, I’ve spoken to applicants who did not match in the 2024 NRMP match. They are just a few of the thousands of highly qualified students and physicians who did not match this cycle. This is a wrenching experience, and it can be hard to pick yourself up and move on to the next steps. However, the actions you take over the next few months can …
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