Medical school

Medical training and the systematic creation of mental health sufferers

Education
September 1, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted our lives, tilting them into imbalance and oftentimes severing our individual sense of inner peace. The newfound public initiative to combat these paralyzing challenges is welcome, especially to me. I’ve coped with major depression for as long as I can remember.

The grinding pursuit of my own inner peace led me to medical school. Medical training, I expected, would make a healer out of me, able …

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A death knell for cadavers

Education
August 30, 2022

If “video killed the radio star” and Zoom squelched the commute, it seems certain that virtual reality and three-dimensional imaging will be the death knell for cadavers.

Recently, NBC Nightly News did a story featuring staff members from Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine using the metaverse and 3D imaging to map out the details of an upcoming complex brain surgery. No matter that the four participants were in different …

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9 ways international medical graduates can boost their residency match outcomes

Education
August 27, 2022

International medical school graduates (IMGs) play an integral role in the health care system of the United States and constitute approximately one-quarter of the physician workforce. In 2022, fewer IMGs registered for Match than in 2021, with a match rate of 58.1 percent. The transition to USMLE Step 1 pass/fail, elimination of Step 2 Clinical Science, and implementation of secondary application will likely impact IMGs in their 2023 Match. Here …

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Just as medicine is rooted in relationships, so too is good advising

Education
August 27, 2022

“Well, you may think you want to be a surgeon, now that you’re young and think you can do it all, but that will change — once children are in the picture. You’ll see how hard it is to leave them and wish you could be with them all the time.”

As a young female medical student, I seriously considered the physician’s words. I imagined what it would be like to …

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Who gets to go to medical school?

Education
August 25, 2022

I knew I wanted to be a doctor when I was seven years old. I excelled in school, attended a good college, scored well on the MCAT, and was accepted into medical school just as I always knew I would be. It was only as I progressed in my career as a physician that I realized that being a white, middle-class individual had given me an advantage—I had access that …

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Putting on the mask of professionalism causes burnout

Physician
August 24, 2022

In medical school, we are not just taught the scientific information that doctors should know, we are also taught how doctors should look and behave.

I remember being shown a video on “professionalism” during our first day of orientation. It was meant to be humorous, demonstrating more extreme examples of dress code and behavioral violations.

Medical students walk into exam rooms with their bra straps hanging out.

Smacking on gum and blowing bubbles …

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Advancing health equity conversations through cultural humility

Policy
August 23, 2022

In 1998, Drs. Tervalon and Murray-Garcia created the concept of “cultural humility” as a way to transcend the prevailing but limiting concept of cultural competence in teaching medical students and trainees how to respectfully deliver health care to the increasingly diverse populations of the U.S. The cultural competence paradigm leads health care professionals to assign patient group traits or labels. On the other hand, cultural humility incorporates a lifelong commitment …

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On the boundaries of medicine, medical education, and political passion

Physician
August 19, 2022

On July 25, 2022, dozens of medical students at the University of Michigan School of Medicine walked out of the school’s White Coat Ceremony when the keynote speaker, Dr. Kristin Collier, an assistant professor of medicine, approached the podium. Dr. Collier is pro-life and has expressed her anti-abortion views in tweets and interviews. She was chosen as keynote speaker by a vote by the university’s Gold Humanism Honor Society. A …

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A medical student’s advocacy journey [PODCAST]

Podcast
August 15, 2022
YouTube video

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“As I looked across the boxes on my screen, I saw the gleaming faces of my peers. Just as it did then, and as it has for countless of my peers since, involvement in the Student Osteopathic …

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My high school was harder than my first year of medical school

Education
August 13, 2022

I am a second-year medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. In 2018, I graduated from Westwood High School in Austin, Texas. My experience at Westwood was harder than my first year of medical school at UTMB. I wrote this piece to provide some context to students like myself who struggled or are struggling with public school in Texas.

When I was 17 years old, …

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Student advocacy through the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA)

Education
August 5, 2022

“Nerves ablaze, my voice cracked as I ended my remarks outlining the need for equitable data collection. I leaned towards the screen, adjusted my eyeline to make eye contact, and asked Representative Thomas Suozzi to support The Equitable Data Collection and Disclosure on COVID-19 Act. Representative Suozzi paused for a second, appeared to think over, or perhaps through the points of my argument–and then responded resolutely with, ‘I will cosign …

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To fight medical student burnout, focus less on the clinic and more on life

Education
July 24, 2022

Medical training has historically been known for its intensity, during which work-life balance is traded in for intensive study sessions and early morning rounds. In recent years, medical schools have become increasingly interested in programs to improve student wellbeing. Many of these programs teach students the importance of wellness, touting the value of exercise, hobbies, and spending time with friends and family without providing the time …

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Should your child try for medical school?

Education
July 15, 2022

An essay from 1989.

Some day one of my children will likely ask what I once asked my stepfather, “Dad, do you think I should try for med school?” I feel that it will most likely be our inquisitive middle child, Clayton John (“CJ”). And, when that time comes, what will I say to Mr. CJ?

For many physicians in the past, the answer to this question would have been a resounding, …

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Strategies to help you prepare for multiple mini interviews (MMIs) [PODCAST]

Podcast
June 21, 2022
YouTube video

“The bottom line is that while you can’t predict exactly which MMI prompt you’ll be given, you can absolutely start preparing for the MMI. Become familiar with the format, practice your delivery, start reading about issues in health care, and start thinking about major points to discuss around these issues. While …

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I married an MD

Conditions
June 14, 2022

Recognizing accomplishments and a ticket to residency: That was Match Day. But now, at the doorstep of the next challenge, you’d better take a hard look at your most important personal relationship.

That is, if you want to keep your good thing together. Because if you think residency is going to be the start of easy, no-maintenance times for you and your partner, maybe you need to go back to medical …

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The health care system will cause its own physician shortage

Policy
June 14, 2022

A quarter of a million dollars — that’s the amount of debt the average medical student in the United States owes after completing medical school. After all the late nights studying, the endless exams and selfless sacrifice, it’s human nature to expect a historically stable career as the reward — right? I mean, weren’t we all told that “hard work pays off” at some point in our lives? For budding …

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The MMI: 3 strategies to help you prepare

Education
June 7, 2022

You’re feeling pretty confident as you walk into your medical school interview– but then you meet your interviewer. “Why did it take you so long to get here?! I’ve been sitting here, waiting and waiting, and I’m in so much pain.”

Welcome to the world of the MMI. The Multiple Mini Interview, commonly known as the MMI, is a newer type of medical school interview, and it’s increasingly being used in …

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For medical students: 20 pearls to honor every clinical rotation

Education
May 21, 2022

With medical school graduation on the horizon, I wanted to share my pearls for success for any clinical rotation.

1. Integrate yourself into your team and be engaged in all patient care.

2. Ask questions and be motivated to learn.

3. Follow up on patients without being asked.

4. Be the “extra” pair of hands to help the team.

5. Be proactive in picking up new patients.

6. Come up with solid differentials and plans before …

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Infertility treatment’s hidden costs [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 19, 2022
YouTube video

“Looking to the future, since I only froze one embryo and my ovary reserve is diminishing, we are hoping to go through another infertility treatment cycle. Although, once again, the medications are once again being denied.

Infertility is just like any other mental or physical health condition and should be fully covered, …

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CME Spotlights