After starting way back in August, I finally just finished my first year of medical school. Now it is time to enjoy the very last summer of my life. It is slightly depressing that this is will be my longest “vacation” until retirement, but right now it is just nice to have an abundance of free time (which I will use partly to start writing blog posts again). While everything about my school year is still very fresh, I wanted to write a post about some of the things I learned during my first year of medical school. As a fair warning, some of my musings will be practical and helpful, others will be personal and may not apply to anyone except me. read more…
Doing well on the MCAT probably holds back more “pre-meds” from getting into medical school than any other single part of the application. In 2012, the MCAT was taken by 89,452 hopeful future medical school students. The average score…25.2. The average medical school matriculant on the other hand, scored 6 points higher, with an average score of 31.2! Each year this average increases just a bit; I can’t even imagine what it will be ten years from now. The truth is, to have a good chance at getting into medical school you are going to have to score a 30 or better on the MCAT. I know there are exceptions but I wouldn’t feel comfortable applying without a 30+ (and I took the test exactly 2 years ago today!). But enough with all this “tough-love,” because the good thing is that beating the MCAT isn’t just possible, it’s probable. read more…
I was a patient transporter for awhile, and the Emergency Department (ED) was my favorite place to work in the hospital. This post is all about my future (knock on wood) specialty.
In 1966, the National Academy of Sciences published the “Accidental Death and Disability, the Neglected Disease of Modern Society,” more commonly known as The White Paper. This influential report highlighted the poor state of emergency care in the United States. Shortly thereafter the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) was established with Dr. John Wiegenstein as the acting president. The ACEP worked to create a new specialty, along with a dedicated residency program…the idea for Emergency Medicine (EM) was born. read more…
T
he following is an anonymous submission from a member of the Student-Doctor Network forum. I thought it was helpful, poignant, and made for some thoughtful discussion:
This semester I served as an interviewer at a multiple mini interview (MMI) for medical school applicants. Just one year prior, I was the one sitting outside the door, with my fingers crossed that I would do well. Flash forward back to the present, and I was slightly preoccupied with my first medical school exam coming up and also struggling to use my stethoscope (my hands make too much noise and I can barely hear a heartbeat . . . oh yeah, and I had to remember which side of the stethoscope to use – diaphragm or bell). In one year I went from the hopeful interviewee to the intimidating interviewer. read more…
The first thing I want to say about, The Intern Blues
The Intern Blues: The Timeless Classic About the Making of a Doctor is the collection of feelings, lessons, and travails from young doctors: Andy, Amy, and Mark as they reveal their own very personal, and gut wrenching monthly narratives of how they survived their intern year. Robert Marion (Bob) collects these notes and also makes monthly comments about the interns, or interjects commentary about his own intern year. read more…
