“I was terrified, and my foot was in so much pain,” said Mrs. C as I began our interview. There was a blood clot that had turned her toe blue. She went on to describe her history and briefly mentioned that she did not have medical insurance. With…
Category: Education
Why speaking up in medical school could save lives
It was a fresh start to my first day of medical school as a second-year student. With a slightly stronger arsenal of information compared to my first year, the energy was palpable. My team and I huddled in our small conference room, gathered around the…
How a group of British medical students fought for social prescribing
An excerpt from The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging. With slicked-back hair, a fancy-buttoned vest, and a politician-like charisma, you wouldn’t guess Dr. Bogdan Chiva Giurca, a doctor for …
Physicians’ social media criticism of trainees sparks controversy
In the past two weeks, there have been two social media posts, one from a resident physician and another from an attending physician, criticizing trainees. The resident was critical of a trainee’s inability to identify anatomical structures in th…
Inside Out 2: How new emotions mirror medical student struggles
The 2024 summer blockbuster film Inside Out 2 explores the complex emotions that first hit teenagers during puberty. Briefly, the five original emotions (from the first movie in 2015) that define the behavior of childhood Riley – Joy, Anger, Fear, Sadn…
Making medicine my home
This past year, my entire life has fit in the backseat of my Hyundai Elantra as I bounced between four states and traveled over 25,000 miles. As I walk into the hospital and my phone reconnects to the Wi-Fi after a night of using cell data in the parki…
Revolutionizing medical training: the power of simulation education
As a medical simulation educator, I get a lot of curious looks when I share my job title with people both inside and outside of medicine. Medical simulation is defined by the Society of Simulation in Healthcare as the imitation or representation of one…
Music as a tool for explaining medical concepts
Memorizing and retaining the medical knowledge you need to be a doctor is one of the hardest things you can do! If you ask any doctor about their medical school experience, they’ll probably recall hours of lectures, meticulous cadaver dissections…
Skyrocketing medical school applications: the hidden costs and stress factors
U.S. allopathic medical school applications have skyrocketed, with over 60,000 applications in 2021, a nearly 100 percent increase in applicants over the past decade. Despite modest increases in the number of medical schools and class sizes, the result…
The misrepresentation of the EDUCATE Act and the future of our health care system
In the past year alone, legislative assaults on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in higher education have surged across the United States. This disturbing trend threatens the foundational values of our academic institutions and endangers the very…
