by Alison Hayward, M.D.
SDN Staff Writer

In the battle of humans vs. bacteria, a new enemy has emerged as the most feared “superbug” of 2007. Forget West Nile and bird flu – Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is suddenly all over the media. It is an overdue and well-deserved spot in the limelight.

MRSA rose to prominence last month when a CDC report published in JAMA estimated that nearly 19,000 people had died of MRSA infections in 2005. Compare that with AIDS, which killed about 17,000 in the same year, and it becomes readily apparent that most of the country is unaware of the degree of threat posed by MRSA. In fact, many people still do not know what MRSA is.

Here is a quick primer on MRSA to help answer any questions your patients, friends, and family may have.

Read the full story

by Ivan Edwards, D.O., USAFR MC (CPT)

Whzz . . . pop! The man clutched his chest and fell to the ground. Eerily, time seemed to stand still. The armed rogue Ugandan soldier, eyes glaring, held his AK-47 as the half-dozen people ahead of me stood frozen in their steps. The air smelled of gun powder, and the dying man lay quivering on the ground, a pool of blood enlarging under him. The gunman, six to seven feet away, then turned to us.

We all bolted for cover. I was oblivious to the screams, dust, and chaos around me. I tripped and rolled, but do not know how I got up and propelled myself forward. It seemed like I was in slow motion.

Then, the adrenaline in my body seized my legs, and I ran like I had never run before. I heard another loud pop. But I did not stop or turn to look. After what seemed like an eternity, I stopped running. Read the full story

by Alison Hayward, MD
SDN Staff Writer

Are you suffering from roundsitis? Hypercaffeinemia? Overnight call adjustment disorder? Scutworkophobia? My friend, there is hope. I strongly advise you to look into the specialty of emergency medicine – in which the medicine you practice is practical, your time is spent saving lives rather than writing notes, and you miraculously find yourself at home at the end of every workday, wondering how you got to be so lucky.

In emergency medicine, as in all specialties, there are rough days and difficult patients, and you will still end up cursing our broken healthcare system as you struggle to get paid for what you do. Read the full story

Substance

Substance refers to the content of the essay and the message you send out. Here are some questions to ask yourself regarding content:

1. Have I answered the question asked?
2. Do I back up each point that I make with an example? Have I used concrete and personal examples?
3. Have I been specific? (Go on a generalities hunt. Turn the generalities into specifics.)
4. Could anyone else have written this essay?
5. What does it say about me? After making a list of all the words you have used within the essay – directly and indirectly – to describe yourself, ask: Does this list accurately represent me?
6. Does the writing sound like me? Is it personal and informal rather than uptight or stiff?
7. Regarding the introduction, is it personal? Is it too general? Can the essay get along without it?
8. What about the essay makes it memorable?

Structure

The meaning of an essay can be obscured by not properly ordering your ideas. Your essay should be a roadmap leading the reader to an inevitable conclusion.

1. To check the overall structure of your essay, conduct a first-sentence check. Write down the first sentence of every paragraph in order. Read through them one after another and ask the following:
   
   • Would someone who was reading only these sentences still understand exactly what I am trying to say?
   • Do the first sentences express all of my main points?
   • Do the thoughts flow naturally, or do they seem to skip around or come out of left field?
2. Now go back to your essay as a whole and ask these questions:
   • Does each paragraph stick to the thought that was introduced in the first sentence?
   • Does a piece of evidence support each point? How well does the evidence support the point?
   • Is each paragraph roughly the same length? Stepping back and squinting at the essay, do the paragraphs look balanced on the page? (If one is significantly longer than the rest, you are probably trying to squeeze more than one thought into it.)
   • Does my conclusion draw naturally from the previous paragraphs?
   • Have I varied the length and structure of my sentences?

Interest

Many people think only of mechanics when they revise and rewrite their compositions. As we know, though, the interest factor is crucial in keeping the admissions officers reading and remembering your essay. Look at your essay with the interest equation in mind: personal + specific = interesting. Answer the following:

1. Is the opening paragraph personal?
2. Do I start with action or an image?
3. Does the essay show rather than tell?
4. Did I use any words that are not usually a part of my vocabulary? (If so, get rid of them.)
5. Have I used the active voice whenever possible?
6. Have I overused adjectives and adverbs?
7. Have I eliminated clichés?
8. Have I deleted redundancies?
9. Does the essay sound interesting to me? (If it bores you, imagine what it will do to others.)
10. Will the ending give the reader a sense of completeness? Does the last sentence sound like the last sentence?

Proofreading

When you are satisfied with the structure and content of your essay, it is time to check for grammar, spelling, typos, and the like. You can fix obvious things right away: a misspelled or misused word, a seemingly endless sentence, or improper punctuation. Keep rewriting until your words say what you want them to say. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Did I punctuate correctly?
2. Did I eliminate exclamation points (except in dialogue)?
3. Did I use capitalization clearly and consistently?
4. Do the subjects agree in number with the verbs?
5. Did I place the periods and commas inside the quotation marks?
6. Did I keep contractions to a minimum? Do apostrophes appear in the right places?
7. Did I replace the name of the proper school for each new application?
8. Have I caught every single typo? (You can use your spell-checker but make sure that you check and re-check every change it makes. It is a computer after all.)

Lesson Menu:

• Lesson One: The Audience
• Lesson Two: What “They” Look For
• Lesson Three: Brainstorming a Topic
• Lesson Four: Tackling the Question
• Lesson Five: Introductions
• Lesson Six: Editing Checklist

Source
From Essays That Will Get You Into College, by Amy Burnham, Daniel Kaufman, and Chris Dowhan. Copyright 1998 by Dan Kaufman. Reprinted by arrangement with Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.

Materials for Essay Statements Workshop 101 are provided courtesy of EssayEdge. Copyright 2002 EssayEdge. All rights reserved.

PRESS RELEASE
The Student Doctor Network would like to announce a new partnership with The Business of Medicine. Founded in 2006 by medical students at Georgetown University, The Business of Medicine (BOM) is a nonprofit national medical student organization and currently applying for 501(c)3 status. BOM’s mission is to increase medical student awareness of financial challenges and opportunities impacting the practice of medicine. Read the full story

by Jeremiah Fleenor, MD, author of “The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success”

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)

Part 1 of this series dealt with how to gather and organize the personal information you want to convey during interviews. Now that you have collected that information, you’re ready to practice delivering it in a smooth, professional way. Read the full story

by Sarah Markham Lawrence
SDN Staff Writer

Dr. Kirsh, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Kentucky, is a licensed clinical psychologist. His particular areas of interest include chronic pain management, pain and its interface with abuse and addiction, and palliative care issues in cancer populations. He was recently kind enough to sit down with SDN and give some perspective into clinical psychology as a career choice.

1.Tell us about your educational background.
I attended a rather unique doctoral program at Indiana University – Purdue University in Indianapolis. The program was entitled ‘Clinical Rehabilitation Psychology’ and I was drawn to it as it was basically one of the few dedicated, medical psychology programs in the country. Read the full story

PRESS RELEASE

The Student Doctor Network would like to welcome its newest partner, the American Medical Association Alliance. The mission of the AMA Alliance is to partner with physicians to promote the good health of America and support the family of medicine. The Alliance network of physicians and physicians’ spouses represents all stages of the medical lifestyle, from the training years to retirement.

The President of the AMA Alliance, Dianne Fenyk, has a message for SDN users. Read the full story

PRESS RELEASE

The Student Doctor Network is pleased to announce partnerships with two premier health care organizations: the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations – United States (IFMSA-USA) and the Student Osteopathic Medical Association, Undergraduate Division (Pre-SOMA).

IFMSA strives to offer future physicians a comprehensive introduction to global health issues. Through programming and opportunities, IFMSA-USA develops culturally sensitive students of medicine, intent on influencing the transnational inequalities that shape the health of our planet.

The goal of Pre-SOMA is to promote and inform the public about osteopathic medical education as well as to increase the number of applicants to osteopathic medical schools.

SDN is excited to partner with two organizations so dedicated to pre-health and health professional students and looks forward to the reciprocal benefits these alliances will provide. Welcome!

International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations
Reprinted with Permission

Almost 1,000 medical students from over 90 different countries gathered in Canterbury this August to tackle inequities in health care across the globe. The 56th August Meeting of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations returned to the UK with the theme, “Access to Essential Medicines.” It proved to be a fascinating, tumultuous, and at times controversial week.

The IFMSA is the largest student body in the world, founded in 1952 to provide a cohesive voice for medical students across the globe. Its biannual general assemblies aim to educate and inspire its members to take action on international health issues, each centered around a chosen theme. The decision by the UK to focus on “Access to Essential Medicines” (AEM) was taken in light of its key relevance to both the developed and developing worlds. More than 10 million deaths each year can be attributed to lack of access to life-giving medications, in direct contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, entitling every citizen the right to “health and well-being of himself and his family, including … medical care and necessary social services”.   Read the full story