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Follow a Day in the Life of an OB-GYN
Tweet Share on Facebook May 29, 2012 CommentAmong the many specialties which medical students can choose, obstetrics and gynecology (OB-GYN) is one that requires a variety of practices, such as regular checkups for women, delivering newborns, and gynecologic and oncological surgery. The specialty often involves lengthy days in a very unpredictable field.
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Mobile Technology May Influence Medical School Training
Tweet Share on Facebook May 21, 2012 CommentThe proliferation of mobile and electronic technologies, both in the United States and overseas, has changed the way medicine is practiced, affecting both physicians and medical students. How would this affect your medical school experience?
The New York Times recently reported on ways that mobile technologies have increased access to healthcare advice in remote areas of the world, such as villages in central Africa. Even in the United States, the use of technologies to reach patients in remote or rural locations has become very important for maintaining access to healthcare, particularly for specialty care. Many medical schools have taken notice.
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Medical Students Should Study Patients’ Cultural Diversity
Tweet Share on Facebook May 14, 2012 Comment (2)As the United States grows more culturally diverse and we hear more languages spoken around us, clinical medical education has had to evolve as well. And with national population growth, particularly in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, which are popular with medical students, those students must not only know their jobs, but also need to know their hospitals.
How do these changes affect your medical school experience?
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Minorities Still Do Not Feel Completely Comfortable in Medicine
Tweet Share on Facebook May 7, 2012 Comment (1)When applying to medical school, applicants are asked whether they consider themselves to be disadvantaged, which usually means meeting specific criteria as defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Those requirements include living in underserved areas and belonging to certain groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in medical education. However, there are other minorities in medicine whose circumstances are not always reflected in AAMC statistics.
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Extracurriculars May Improve Med School Applicants' Chances
Tweet Share on Facebook April 30, 2012 Comment (2)When I prepared my medical school application back in the "old days," applicants filled the MCAT out by hand, and it was only offered twice a year. At the time, I could not understand why it was so important for applicants to have engaged in extracurricular activities during college.
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How to Decide Between an M.D. and a D.O.
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2012 Comment (10)A question many medical school applicants ask themselves—or are asked by premedical advisers—is whether to apply to allopathic (M.D.) or osteopathic (D.O.) schools, or to both. The few premeds who are even aware of D.O. schools may be struggle when they try to tailor their applications to the two different types of curricula and career paths.
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Medical School Should Be No-Fly Zone for Helicopter Parents
Tweet Share on Facebook April 16, 2012 CommentWith the success of Amy Chua's book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and the addition of the phrase "helicopter parent" into our lexicon, it's clear that we are in a new era of family dynamics. But while you may laugh at the idea of your mother forcing you to play an instrument to perfection or your father still packing your lunch when you're 25, parental overinvolvement is a real issue and one that can impact the medical school admissions process and beyond.
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Medical Students Should Consider Overseas Clinical Experience
Tweet Share on Facebook April 9, 2012 CommentIn most medical schools, especially during the fourth year, it's possible to arrange a clinical elective overseas. There are many benefits to studying overseas as a medical student, even if you plan on ultimately establishing your career in the United States.
Many medical schools recognize the increasing importance of global health training; a 2009 survey found that approximately 25 percent of U.S. medical students graduated with some type of international medical experience.
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New Medical Schools May Benefit Certain Applicants
Tweet Share on Facebook April 2, 2012 Comment (2)After a medical school building boom in the 1960s and 1970s, only one new medical school was founded in the entire United States between 1980 and 2000 (Mercer University School of Medicine in Georgia). With healthcare reform looming in some form, there will likely be far more patients needing more complex care with too few physicians to help them, especially in primary care.
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Premeds, Physicians Can Help Meet Global Medical Needs
Tweet Share on Facebook March 26, 2012 CommentFrom Syria and the Sudan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and beyond, political instability, crumbling or vacuous medical infrastructure, and the refugee crises that follow result in a foreseeable amount of unmet medical need. Many aspiring physicians express that they want to "help people" and "work overseas," but when pressed, they often can't articulate where, whom, and how they intend to help.
