Category: Education

A transformative year for GME recruitment: How the process has changed forever

The 2020-2021 GME recruitment season was transformative. While it was full of new and old challenges for stakeholders, the impact of the first-ever entirely virtual recruitment season will be substantial and long-lasting. Before COVID-19, the long-stan…

Best practices in virtual residency interviewing

The 2021 residency match “capstoned” the inaugural virtual interview season. Interviews may likely continue to incorporate some virtual aspects given the realized efficiencies. But these efficiencies come at a cost: limiting the applicant&#…

Medicine is very much like driving. But don’t be a passive driver.

Medicine is very much like driving. As an emergency physician, when you see a patient, you ask the same questions, “What brought you in today? What’s bothering you?” and go through the normal flow of the history and physical. You order the same labs an…

Applying to medical school in the post-COVID-19 era: What has changed?

The spike in medical school applications during the 2020-2021 cycle surprised most people involved with medical school admissions. COVID-19 erupted full force in the spring of 2020, right in the middle of the admission season for the medical school cla…

Congratulations on getting accepted into medical school during an unprecedented application cycle

As a fortunate incoming medical student, I would like to congratulate my future physician colleagues on getting accepted into medical school during an unprecedented application cycle. This piece is dedicated to the members of the class of 2025. Like yo…

Are letters of recommendation effective or burdensome?

A letter of recommendation is a document written about the applicant by a previous employer, professor, or anyone working in close contact with the applicant. This one document is supposed to describe you, your qualities, and your abilities — all…

“Difficult” patients”: Is it them or is it us?

It was past midnight in the ED, and she was writhing on the bed, palms clutched over her abdomen. I pulled up a stool, notebook, and pen in hand. I was ready to listen to Mrs. Walker’s story. But I also felt a sense of dread rising: From a quick chart …

From future doctors to new ones: We need you

Dear future medical students: You applied to medical school in record numbers this year. Whatever your reasons, we (three graduating medical students) applaud you. You come to medicine at an exciting time: a time of both celebration and moral reckoning…

Exclusivity and exclusion: disability discrimination in medical education

In my medical school admissions essay, I wrote about helping at-risk kids like myself. I wanted to be a child and adolescent psychiatrist, but that wasn’t the main reason for applying. The real reason I applied was for my own personal survival. I…

“Use the force”: How do we teach in the operating room?

As I embark on my chief year in general surgery, I look forward to most is taking junior residents through operations. I am grateful to have had excellent teachers over the past five years, and I appreciate the opportunity to pay forward this mentorshi…