We’ve all been told by a well-meaning friend, family member, or therapist, “You can’t care for others unless you care for yourself first.” Put your oxygen mask on first, blah blah. But in medical training, we repeatedly demonstr…
Category: Medical school
Scholarship tips for medical school [PODCAST]
“According to AAMC, the median debt for medical students in 2019 was $200,000. Unfortunately, fundraising for scholarships was difficult for many organizations due to the pandemic despite more students seeking out scholarships. Luckily, more anon…
Joy is our antibiotic. Let not your stings fester.
I had a nightmare last Christmas. I thrashed in bed for at least an hour before slipping into a seat at the start of a medical lecture. Some of my classmates were present, and while standing next to a friend’s desk, he said, “Wow, your knee is red and …
Medical student rotations amid COVID: Welcome to medicine little grasshopper
I learned a valuable lesson about mentoring medical students during clinical rotations amid the COVID pandemic, and it’s not as easy as you think. I have been in medical education, either in it or teaching it, for 20 years. I have spent countless…
My child wants to be a doctor [PODCAST]
“As a family physician, guest lecturer at a local medical school, and creator of a pre-med curriculum for young learners, I’m often asked by parents how to support their child who wants to be a doctor. The most important point to remember is that…
Medical school and the lessons learned from football [PODCAST]
“In the Spring semester of my final year as a football player, my college team faced necessary coaching, staff, and player position changes. At this point in my college career, we had yet to have a winning season. These changes were made to shift…
Family principles of COVID-19 heroes
As we sat at home watching our physician colleagues on the news draped with masks and PPE calmly explaining their dire situations last year, one cannot help but wonder what kind of environment and community cultivated these heroes. Were their commonali…
DO and MD: If perceptions matter, which one matters most?
I remember the second I received my first phone call from admissions to a medical school. I was sitting at an airport, after having finished another interview. After putting down the phone, I started to cry. All of those years of hard work had been rec…
Trauma: Encountering the past in the present
“Code blue!” the overhead speaker blared. I had just started my shift in the pediatric emergency department. “This will be good for you to see,” the off-service junior resident said to me, as she sprang up from her chair in Pavlovian fashion. With a s…
Medical school is more than practice problems
It was the first day of my third year of medical school. I was assigned to an outpatient OB/GYN clinic. I woke up early, had only a coffee for breakfast that I would later regret, hesitantly wrapped a stethoscope around my neck, unsure if this specialt…
