Recent content by pazzer2

You described it well. A provisional patent application is just a placeholder. The patent office takes no action on it anyway, until at least 1 year later if you convert it to a non-provisional. So by default, all provisional patent applications are "accepted" in a sense. The timelines for...

There are a few high impact journals that people will notice: Nature, Science, Cell, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, etc. But apart from that it doesn't really matter much. Your co-authors, whether they have a high H-index or not, doesn't really come into play. But it might help because...

Well said! I would choose Hopkins in a heartbeat if I were you. The prestige of med school is now weighted more heavily for residency spots after Step 1 became pass/fail.

Thanks for the context. Being on call for a manufacturing line is not exactly the same as being on call for patient care. I can understand why you'd want to emphasize this. But they will still want to know that you have other clinical experience (shadowing, volunteering, etc). You can probably...

I think your engineering + pharma background is interesting. The experience you've gained will be valuable. I don't think its a red flag. The adcom will want to know that you understand the daily grind of being a physician. In pharma you have weekends and holidays off, a 9-5 job. Being a...

I've worked in clinical research for over 20+ years. The FDA requires that all PIs sign the 1572 form. This outlines the obligations under the code of federal regulations pertaining to human subjects. The PI is required to take responsibility, not you. Even if you screw up, its still the...

This part is confusing me. If you created the content for the lab report on your own (without plagiarizing) then how could this be a violation of the honor code? Did you cut and paste copyrighted material into your lab report? What exactly did you reproduce? And how similar was it to what the...

Be mindful that having an addiction and the ability to prescribe is a dangerous combination. While it sounds like you have won the first battle against your addiction, it will be a never ending struggle. Many state medical boards will ask questions about substance addiction during your...

If I was the first choice residency director, I'd be wondering why you chose to do your research away from home. This makes me wonder if you would do the same during your residency. Research institutions want people to stay, not go elsewhere. It sounds like your home mentor would advocate for...

Many, but not all, of the surgical subspecialties require completion of a General Surgery residency: Cardiothoracic, colorectal, breast, critical care, hand, pediatric, plastic, transplant, vascular, oncology, etc. Some of these have combined programs that you can match into right out of medical...

I agree with @mmmcdowe. Its very common to submit the abstract and then shortly thereafter submit the manuscript. The journal editors want to make sure it hasn't been published elsewhere. Presenting a poster at a conference doesn't count. Also note that some conferences have an embargo period...

I left general surgery residency for the same reasons mentioned above. With enough ICU experience, you could also transition into a shift-based ICU doc. The call schedule is what really destroys your social life. As a surgeon you'll almost certainly need hospital admitting privileges. In...

There are lots of freely available data for research purposes. But the difficulty is coming up with a hypothesis and knowing how to analyze it. It usually takes a team of people. So doing this on your own will be difficult. If you have a background in stats/python then it makes things easier...

Getting information piecemeal like this is very confusing. Could you please write out a complete timeline of events?

I went through a traditional 4 year MD program. After the core clinical rotations in 3rd year, the fourth year curriculum was mainly geared towards prepping for the match. I spent a lot of time in the lab and did some electives and Sub-Is. It did help me prepare for internship/residency. But i...