Match day. Many of you are rejoicing in the outcomes, while many of you might be experiencing these “other” emotions. They might sound like rejection, shame, hopelessness, despair, disappointment, anger, exhaustion, or self-doubt. The wound…
Category: Education
How situational judgment tests help medical schools evaluate applicants
Within 48 hours of every job posting, hundreds of applications pour in. As the hiring manager, you want to fill the position within two months, or your supervisor might cut it out of your budget. After triaging the unqualified applicants using data-dri…
Confronting the damaging hierarchy in graduate medical education
Although I have a deep respect for everyone who contributes to the education of our next generation of physicians, I also feel that the current hierarchy in graduate medical education is damaging U.S. health care. That is, the best students go to the b…
How medical training indoctrinates toxic beliefs in physicians
There’s a great irony that exists within medicine. We are taught to critically examine all scientific evidence; however, there are a series of beliefs we learn about the profession as a whole that we’re meant to accept without question. Ess…
The unseen struggles of Native medical students
The average medical student spends anywhere from 40 to 80 hours a week studying to become the future of health care, not to mention the hours outside of work that include family, community, jobs, volunteering, research, and day-to-day necessities. The …
How to lose your compassion: the brutal reality of medical internship
Not all at once, just slowly enough that you don’t notice. “I’m having a rough go at it,” Mr. Robinson confesses. He was listening to me use choppy, challenging vocabulary to piece together what’s landed him in the hospita…
Is the MCAT still vital for medical school admissions?
I recently concluded my application cycle with an acceptance, and I’ve been catching up on the news regarding medical school admissions. Admittedly, I’m disappointed. Also shocked by how much can happen while being occupied. It kind of felt…
Just how personal should personal statements be on medical school applications?
I read an essay advocating the disclosure of personal trauma on medical school applications as a means of overcoming stigma and taboo often associated with rape and other forms of trauma. The authors lamented that a culture of silence persists in medic…
From timed essays to time mastery: a doctor’s journey through the power of belief
One of my most stressful high school class memories was an AP English class I took during my junior year. Each week, we had timed writings where we were given a specific amount of time to write an essay on a given topic. As soon as the timer went off, …
A call for LGBTQ+ inclusion in medicine’s definition of “underrepresented”
In an impromptu listing of all the diseases his children had, I never would have guessed that the next word to come out of my attending’s mouth was “gay.” As an LGBTQ+ medical student with scars on my chest to prove it, this encounter…
