medical students
Waltz of the OR – Finding the Music from Within
by Minjal Patel There is an air of musicality that has drawn me towards the OR, whether it is the organized chaos of the beeping monitors or the sounds of steel instruments hitting the table as the team prepares for the patient to arrive. It reminds me of a Chopin waltz – everyone carefully navigates the space as the pristine sheets of blue are draped over the patient. Having trained in classical piano performance since the age of nine, I often find parallels between music and surgery. Those similar bright lights that shine overhead illuminate the surgical field while blurring the rest. While it may seem like a dramatic romanticization of surgery, I reflect on my training as a pianist, which spanned over a decade and has now become a pivotal part of who I am today. It transports me to the time I performed a structured Bach prelude in...
Maximizing Time Off: My Path to Surgical Residency Preparedness
By Dr. Niosha Price As an International Medical Graduate (IMG) with aspirations of joining a general surgery residency, I have structured my time off to maximize personal growth, professional development, and well-being. This period between completing medical school in November and starting residency in July is a unique opportunity to prepare myself for the demanding yet rewarding path ahead. One of the activities that has brought balance and joy to my life is swimming. To combine this passion with meaningful work, I became a certified lifeguard at an indoor pool near my home. This role keeps me physically fit, generates income, and allows me to contribute to my community by ensuring the safety of others. Staying in shape is especially important for a surgical residency, where long hours and physical stamina are often required. Additionally, working as a lifeguard has strengthened my ability to remain calm under pressure–a skill that...
Tools for Empowering Female Medical Students in Research
By Xiomara Ortiz As a fourth-year medical student with aspirations of becoming a surgeon, engaging in research is an essential and fulfilling step in your career journey. Research allows you to deepen your understanding of surgical practices, hone your critical thinking skills, and build meaningful connections with mentors and colleagues who can guide your professional development. However, for female medical students, particularly those from smaller programs or non-traditional educational backgrounds, initiating or finding research opportunities can be challenging. This guide provides practical advice on how to get started and make the most of your research experience. Attend events and join professional organizations Networking is a cornerstone for finding research opportunities, especially if your medical school lacks integrated research programs. Begin by evaluating your current network and identifying your goals. Do you wish to gain insight into a particular surgical specialty? Are you aiming to publish papers or participate in clinical...
Getting the Reps In: Lessons Learned on Building Mental and Physical Strength While in Medical School
By: Rica Generoso As a third-year medical student navigating the clinics and operating room, I’ve learned that resilience isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a lifeline. Many hospital experiences have left me in awe, bringing to life medical knowledge I’d only read about, but the emotional rollercoaster of patient care and the constant pressure to perform can be overwhelming. No matter how prepared I felt, you can’t truly understand until you’re in it. What tested my resilience wasn’t just academics but also my passion for physical fitness. Many who have blazed the trail before us say the most important thing you can do as a medical student is to keep doing what makes you happy outside the hospital. For me, that happiness comes from weightlifting. As a former collegiate swimmer and water polo player, I’ve always been at home in the weight room, and that love has only grown since...
First-Generation Immigrants in Medicine: Overcoming the Challenges
By Juliana Ampadu Otiwaah My Journey As a first-generation immigrant, my path to becoming a doctor was far from straightforward. My family immigrated from Ghana to Canada nearly 30 years ago. My father arrived first, working tirelessly to create a foundation for us. Three years later, my mother, brother, and I joined him. My parents, both blue-collar workers, did their best to support me, but they weren’t familiar with the complexities of higher education. When making decisions about my future, I had to rely on teachers and school staff for guidance—many of whom underestimated my potential based on early academic performance. Growing up in a French-speaking region and learning English presented additional challenges, as did navigating schoolwork without my parents’ ability to assist. By high school, I had unlocked my potential and excelled academically, but understanding how to pursue a career in medicine remained a mystery. Nursing became a practical...
Breaking the glass ceiling: Importance of representation in medicine
By Camila Gonzalez,MD The glass ceiling is a metaphorical concept used to describe an intangible barrier that hinders the career advancement of certain individuals, particularly those seeking to attain managerial or executive positions within an organization or industry. Unfortunately, this term can be applied to the current environment in medicine, where underrepresented groups such as women and International Medical Doctors (IMGs) face significant obstacles in advancing their careers. This is a concept that I have been dealing with for a large portion of my young medical career. I come from a family of strong women who did the best they could with their circumstances, between migrating continents and countries, taking care of their families, and assuming jobs that could bring food to the table and give better opportunities for the generations to come by sacrificing their dreams. A good example of this is my grandmother, who had a great affinity...
Performance Punishment, Perfect Punishment?
By Jenna Kwon I heard about it for the first time during a recent meeting with my mentor from the AWS Mentoring Program. As I was telling her I wanted to dedicate more time to research, she advised me to ask my current research mentor if there were additional projects I could join, saying, “since good work gets rewarded with more work.” My immediate reaction during the meeting was, “I hope he thinks I did a good job so I can get more work.” After all, I both wanted and needed research opportunities. After the meeting, as I looked through my notes on a Post-it, I noticed that the phrase about good work being rewarded with more work was circled several times with a small, sloppy “??” scribbled next to it. How lucky would it be to get involved in a research project you are passionate about—and to keep getting...
From Sci-Fi to Surgery: Exploring Neuro-Enhancement Technologies
By Larissa Werneck For centuries, the idea of enhancing human cognition has captivated scientists and thinkers alike. Early experiments in brain augmentation, such as Roberts Bartholow’s 1874 electrical brain stimulation, laid the foundation for further exploration (Patra et al., 2019). Today, rapid technological advancements and increasing scientific curiosity have led to a surge in neuro-enhancement research (Clark et al., 2014). These innovations are revolutionizing healthcare, particularly in surgery, where they are used therapeutically (Giordano, 2012) and to enhance surgical performance (Patel et al., 2020). As research in this area expands, neuro-enhancement technologies hold the potential to revolutionize surgical practice, pushing the limits of precision, stamina, and ethics. How will this rapidly evolving field reshape the future of surgery? Neuro-enhancement technologies are various tools aimed at optimizing cognitive and neurological functions, either by enhancing existing abilities or compensating for deficits (Giordano, 2012). Examples of these technologies include brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), neurofeedback...
Food as fuel: optimizing health in med school, residency, and beyond
By Maya Zhou The phrase “food as fuel” is not a novel concept, but I didn’t fully appreciate the truth in this phrase until I started my surgery rotations in medical school. Studying nutrition in college, I experimented in my own kitchen to come up with convenient and simple recipes that I could rely on when on a time crunch. I tried cooking with new vegetables (like collard greens and artichoke) and proteins (like tempeh) that I hadn’t tried before, and I found ways to incorporate them into recipes that I cooked regularly. In medical school, during my surgery rotations, time became a precious resource, and cooking everyday was no longer realistic. It became more challenging to consume a balanced diet every day. Through trial and error, I developed a reliable and realistic method to optimize nutritional intake every day, and wanted to share this in case it would be...
Breaking Barriers: My Journey As A Female Img And How The Association Of Women Surgeons Fueled My Surgical Aspirations
By Yashjot Kaur From a small town in India to the vast medical community in the United States, my journey as an International Medical Graduate (IMG) has been one of resilience, discovery, and growth. When I decided to pursue a residency in the U.S., I had few opportunities available. As a first-generation medical student, the first in my family to ever take an international flight, and from a background where neither of my parents spoke English fluently, my journey has had many peaks and valleys. In my first year of medical school, I fell in love with anatomy. As an artist at heart, surgery combined my passion for art and anatomy. Crafting mandala art, with its intricate designs and attention to detail, mirrors the precision required in surgery, and, very much like art, surgery provides me with an opportunity to work with my hands. When I decided to pursue a...
