By Alexis Moren MD,MPH,FACS The irony isn’t lost on any minority group as many of us recited the Pledge of Allegiance in elementary school: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States ...
Blog
From Sewing Circles to Mentorship Triangles
By: Morgan Hopp, Anjna Kalya and Lily Foster During the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college, I completed an internship with a private practice plastic surgeon. I learned about sur...
Blog
Straight People Problems
By Dr. Elinore Kaufman “Don’t worry, I still wear make-up every day.” A surgical resident was assigned to talk to our group of medical students about being a woman in surgery—the first of m...
Blog
The Association of Women Surgeons National Medical Student Committee
By Charlotte Smith, Gopika SenthilKumar, Paulina Gutkin Fostering a community intended to elevate women medical students is vital not only for increasing representation within surgery, but also build...
Blog
Forget About Perfectionism; Instead, Strive for Excellence
By Fara Bellows, MD As surgeons, we are high-level performers who expect specific results from precise planning and execution. Throughout our education, we developed a keen awareness of the requireme...
Blog
The Identities We Choose
By: Heather Wachtel, MD Growing up in Vermont, I had one person who looked like me – my sister. The children of a first generation Cantonese immigrant and a second generation Russian Jew, we loved...
Blog
THE MATCH EQUATION: AN IMG’S PERSPECTIVE
by: Anjani H Turaga, IMG The day starts at 5 am on an unusually cold morning in Los Angeles, where we see our protagonist, an IMG (International medical graduate) brushing her teeth furiously, trying...
Blog
Finding Myself: A Korean-American Adoptee’s Reflections on Identity, Loss, and Purpose
By: Elizabeth Lilley, MD, MPH Many people are surprised to learn that I am both a surgeon and a palliative care doctor. Although the number of surgeons pursuing fellowship training in palliative care...
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A Weightlifters Guide to Fitness during Medical Education
By Sophie Hockran Two years into medical school, and I have learned a lot, as expected. Many who have come before me know the feeling of learning so much information that your brain may explode. Bein...
Blog
How an Arab American Made It to a Surgical Residency
By Shadin Ghabra, MD As an Arab-American female of Syrian descent, who lived in the Middle East, applying to medical school was a no brainer. I grew up in a household that believed knowledge is the e...