I still remember the day I opened my acceptance letter to medical school. It felt surreal—a rush of excitement and pride that had me packing my bags months before classes began. As a kid, I was always a dreamer. My dolls weren’t just toys; they w…
Category: Medical school
Transform feedback into growth with the ARISE model
I am going to ask you to do something, and I hope you’ll play along. Think back on your week. Did anyone tell you that you did something well or that you could tweak the way you did something just a bit? Did anyone pull you aside to say they woul…
Going beyond apologies: Bringing intergenerational trauma education into medical training for Indigenous health
In October, President Biden formally apologized for the U.S. Indian boarding school system—a brutal legacy of forced assimilation that inflicted profound harm on Indigenous communities and continues to reverberate today. For those who are unfamiliar, N…
The hidden cost of medical training: debt, depression, and despair
I imagined that medical school would be a challenging yet fulfilling journey—an opportunity to learn, grow, and ultimately make a difference as a physician or surgeon. We medical students dedicate over a decade of our lives, and many invest more than $…
Why failure should be part of every doctor’s story [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! We sit down with medical student Ashley McCray to explore the powerful lessons learned from failure and the resilience it builds. Ashley shares her personal story of perse…
Why medical training is pushing residents to their breaking point [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! We sit down with medical student Medha Venigalla to explore the urgent issue of resident sleep deprivation and its impact on health care. We discuss the systemic ch…
How to dress like a doctor
Are you a medical student or resident rotating through new parts of the hospital? Then it’s a good time for some nuts-and-bolts advice about what you should wear on your upcoming rotations. No, it’s not about looking like a doctor (whatever…
Did Step 1’s pass/fail switch actually increase medical student burnout?
In January 2022, the medical school curriculum underwent a transformative shift when Step 1, the first of three licensing exams for U.S. medical students, switched from numerical score to a pass/fail (P/F) grading system. Now, with several years of per…
Patient insights can shape your career in unexpected ways [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Join us in this episode as we explore the story of a medical student who redefined her career path after a pivotal moment of self-discovery and patient insight. Our guest,…
My book reviews for premed students
As a child, I was always reading. As is the case for many people, I lost my literary passion in high school and college as my time was taken up by extracurriculars and doomscrolling on my phone. One thing I have thoroughly enjoyed about my gap years be…
