For over a year, we, Korea’s medical students, have lived under the weight of institutional threats What began as a disagreement over health policy escalated into an all-out campaign to silence us. We were told that if we resisted, we would be pu…
Category: Education
America, our health care workforce training isn’t evolving alongside our needs
It was recently match day in the medical school world. Students who have given their lives to their studies to become doctors learned where they’d spend the next three to seven years in their chosen specialty completing their residency. This is o…
The quiet segregation no one talks about in medical school
I hated so much of medical school. Not all of it. I started eager, positive and bright. I was excited. But I struggled to belong. There was unwritten, informal segregation. Fresher’s week: I was stoked to try out new things… Hockey and rowi…
The origin of medical licensing exams
In January 2022, the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 transitioned to a pass/fail format, sparking debate over how best to assess physician competence in an era where medical misinformation proliferates online. Although medica…
Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?
Taylor Walker, a 25-year-old pregnant woman, lived in a town of under 500 people in rural Nebraska. In 2019, she told NPR that after experiencing pregnancy pains, she endured a four-hour round-trip journey to see her physician only to discover her regu…
Small acts of kindness can change someone’s world
So much of the world is centered around looking out for ourselves. We get caught up in our own problems, our own routines, and sometimes, we forget to stop and think about what someone else might be going through. It’s easy to do—we’re all …
The preceptor paradox: PAs get the nod while NPs are sidelined
Let’s talk about a trend I’m seeing—and honestly, I can’t stay quiet about it anymore. Across the country, more and more NP programs are telling highly experienced family nurse practitioners (FNPs) working in acute care settings that …
From isolation to innovation: the power of learning communities in health care
Many years ago, I thought I was going to be a mechanical engineer. My studies revolved around case-based learning and field work, all of which I enjoyed immensely. Then I learned about biomedical engineering and decided to go to medical school. For the…
Leaving medicine is not a failure: It might be the change you always needed
Four rigorous years, filled with countless long days and nights of education, is often just the beginning for most medical trainees. The Match and subsequent residency await on the horizon. It is the norm in health care, and very few stray from that pa…
The emotional weight of witnessing a patient’s final moments
The first time I witnessed someone die in front of me will stay with me for a long time. I was only eighteen, early in my EMT experience, and transporting a patient home from the hospital while my colleague drove the ambulance. The patient was an eight…
