Whew! It’s been a long year and I am itching for a much-needed, well-deserved break. Thankfully, summer is here to save me. I can’t wait to talk about my summer plans and all the ways to spend the summer between first and second year (also sadly known as your last summer ever). I think it will be beneficial to recap what I’ve discovered this past year!
Medical
Learn about medicine and how to become a physician in our articles for pre-medical students (including the MCAT), medical students, resident physicians, and practicing physicians.
Should Medical Students be Sued for Malpractice?
An Ongoing Dialogue Between Medicine and Law It is no wonder why medical schools across … Read more
Great Summer Reads for Aspiring Physicians
At the end of the school year, hopefully you will find a little bit of … Read more
How Should I Transition From a Gap Year to Medical School?
With one or more years between undergraduate study and a medical school education becoming more common, many medical students must now figure out how to transition from their gap years back into the classroom. Some students worry that they will have forgotten how to study effectively, while others worry about transitioning from the relatively stress-free environment of a gap year to the rigor of medical school. If you are a newly-minted medical student trying to prepare for your first year of medical school after some time away from academic life, consider making your transition smoother with these tips:
Choosing a Residency That’s Right for You
If you are in medical school, you have been making choices for a long time now, from what to major in as an undergraduate to what volunteer work during your gap year will give you the best chances at getting a coveted med school slot. But now that you are in medical school, one of the most important decisions still lies ahead: what kind of residency should you choose? This is an incredibly important choice that will shape the rest of your career. A good decision now will make it more likely that you will be satisfied with your professional life down the road.
The choice can be a difficult one. What things should you consider before you decide? Read on to find out more about the steps you should take in order to match to a residency that will leave you both personally and professionally satisfied.
20 Questions: Sara E. Gottfried, MD, OB-GYN
Sara E. Gottfried, MD, is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist; founder and CEO of Gottfried Center for Integrative Medicine, Inc.; and volunteer clinical faculty at University of California at San Francisco Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Gottfried received a bachelor’s degree in engineering cum laude from the University of Washington (1988), followed by a Doctorate of Medicine with a focus on public health and integrative medicine from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Physician Scientist Training Program (1994). Dr. Gottfried completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at UCSF (1994-98).
Staying Healthy During Medical School
Medical students and health professional know the importance of teaching others to stay healthy, especially when it comes to the prevention of many chronic conditions like heart disease or obesity. But knowledge is not always enough and doesn’t always result in self-care. The long hours, massive amounts of studying and high levels of stress that are the norm for medical school can make it difficult to start or maintain the good habits that will keep you healthy during your med school years. However, there are important reasons for doing this–and many simple habits that can make it happen.
Marriage and Medical School: The Pros and Cons of Balancing Both
Updated January 9, 2022. The article was updated to correct formatting and minor grammatical errors. … Read more
Q&A With Physician-Author Dr. Richard Friedman
Dr. Richard Friedman is a professor of clinical psychiatry and a psychopharmacology clinic director at Weill Cornell Medical College, where he focuses on mood and anxiety disorders. In addition to his research, Dr. Friedman has interests in mental health policy and psychiatric practice, and is a classical pianist and long-distance swimmer. He graduated from Duke University in 1978 with a degree in physics before graduating from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School – University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1982. He has written for The New York Times science section since 2002, and recently became a contributing opinion writer in 2015. He has also written for The New England Journal of Medicine, The American Journal of Psychiatry, and The Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Friedman graciously agreed to talk with me over the phone. This interview has been edited and condensed.
A Guide to MCAT Preparatory Courses
One of the most pressing issues facing prospective medical students today is the choice of … Read more
Chronicles of Med Student: A Summer to Remember
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to meet some of our incoming first years at a meet and greet event. They came in with wide eyes and big smiles, just waiting to sink their teeth into medical school. Their curiosity always got the best of them, and my classmates and myself were bombarded with questions like “What’s it like?” and “Do you have a life?”. I remember feeling that way one short year ago (and yes, even though our school year is a stretch of eleven months, it does feel short). One of the questions that they should have asked but didn’t is what they should do this summer.
Your Pathway to the White Coat: 7 Tips for Writing Your AMCAS® Personal Comments Essay
The AMCAS application to medical school asks for a lot of information about yourself. It … Read more
How to Skillfully—and Successfully—Revise Your AMCAS Personal Statement
Nowhere else on your medical school application will you have the chance to represent your personality and goals as strongly as you do in your AMCAS personal statement. Your personal statement is one place to which schools will turn to understand who you are separate from your MCAT score and GPA.
For those individuals aiming to submit their primary AMCAS applications in June or early July, revising your personal statement throughout May is essential to crafting an application that represents your unique attributes as a future physician, as well as what you will bring to your medical school class. Use this checklist as you revise to ensure that you are covering all that you must in order to submit a successful personal statement.
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Students With Disabilities in Medical School
Updated December 1, 2021. The article was updated to correct minor grammatical errors and to … Read more
Q&A with Physician-Author Dr. Matt McCarthy
Dr. Matt McCarthy is an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and an assistant attending physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He graduated from Harvard Medical School and went on to complete his internal medicine residency at Columbia University Medical Center. Before that, Dr. McCarthy graduated from Yale University with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, and then spent a year in Minor League Baseball. He wrote about his stint in baseball in Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit. The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physician’s First Year is his most recent book, and details the trials and tribulations of internship year. Dr. McCarthy has published in USA Today, Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic, Slate, Reuters, Deadspin, and Stat. I sat down with Dr. McCarthy at an Upper East Side café to pick his brain. This interview has been edited and condensed:
The MCAT: A History and Current Overview
In 2014, the American Association of Medical Colleges announced that the MCAT 2015 would be … Read more
How to use a Pea Plant to Increase your USMLE, COMLEX, and Shelf Exam Scores
Studying for the boards overwhelms most people. The sheer amount of information to know is … Read more
The Top 5 Ways to Improve Your CARS Score Today
For most pre-meds taking the MCAT, the CARS section proves to be one of the biggest obstacles standing between them and admission to the medical school of their dreams. The CARS section is a highly artificial environment, unlike any test you’ve ever taken before. It can be difficult to know where to begin and what steps to take to improve your overall CARS approach. Everyone and their mother seem to have an opinion about how to do well on the CARS section, opinions that often contradict each other as often as they agree. To make matters worse, unlike the other sections of the MCAT which play to the inherent strengths of pre-meds, hardly anyone starts off with a CARS score in range of where they’d like to be on test day. Fear sets in, and the “you’re not going to get in” gremlins starting chanting their mean-spirited slogans; all because of one stinking section.
Minorities and the MCAT
The MCAT looms large on the horizon of many would-be medical students – and there … Read more
The Dangerous Devolution of Physicians into Technicians
Reposted from here with permission. As I sat in my institution’s white coat ceremony this past fall, … Read more