medical students
Need extra board exam preparation? Try Chat GPT…
By Alicia Podwojniak M4 Everyone has mixed opinions about Chat GPT and other forms of artificial intelligence. When the concept began to gain traction last year, I found myself viewing it in a negative light. I distinctly remember a friend teasing me about how Chat GPT would soon take away all our jobs. She even pointed out that it had passed the USMLE Step exams, which triggered a defensive response from me. The idea of a robot passing an exam that I, and many others, had stressed over for years made me quickly dismiss the notion. A few months later, I had a change of heart. I realized that AI was not just a passing trend but rather, becoming a substantial presence in our lives. I felt like I was being stubborn and resistant to change, much like my parents during the tech boom of the early 2000s. I understood...
Fragile – Ah not any more!
By: Dr Swathy Elangovan It is really appreciable to realize how far we have come as women in this competitive world. Balancing professional and personal life for a woman surgeon is indeed challenging. There is a famous quote which says ‘“the profession chooses us.” Nothing matches the feeling of being in the OR performing surgeries. Despite the long work hours and time away from family, the adrenaline rush coupled with the sense of satisfaction of saving someone's life is something only a surgeon can experience. Challenging aspects faced by women surgeons in their field include: opportunities for scrubbing in leadership roles, cumbersome learning curves etc. Unless you have a good teacher who identifies your full potential and trains you to the best of your ability, it's difficult for you to come up. I would like to share one of my personal experience with a patient. It was a sunny day....
From Scalpels to Swaddles: Unexpected Joys and Life Lessons Learned in Neonatology
By: Denise Nemeth Pediatrics has never been my forte. As a former Physician Assistant accustomed to adult care, the prospect of caring for neonates filled me with apprehension. No one really tells you how difficult it can be to navigate rotations. It is like having a new job each month. Each rotation: an unknown. With each rotation comes a new attending, new residents, a new building, new rules, and new expectations. Only those in medicine know what third year of medical school is truly like. During clinical clerkships you are expected to switch specialties monthly while mastering the learning curve within the first day, lest you be deemed the “slow one”. I can hold my own. I am a fast learner and can find my way through unspoken rules and new environments. But this time it was different. I was about to go into the world of tiny humans. The...
Feeling Behind in Medical School and in Life
By Jenna Dvorsky Medical school is a long, challenging path with delayed gratification. For the majority of those that choose to take this route, the four years of medical school occur during the prime years of early adulthood. This is true for myself, as a 26-year-old who has just completed my third year. When I first started medical school at 23, I knew I had a demanding road ahead. Despite knowing the grueling nature of medical school, I expected that I would go through my four years seamlessly with my head down, focused on becoming a doctor. I had goals to do well in my pre-clinical years, excel on my board exams, and honor every rotation. While I have had great successes the last few years that I am extremely proud of, medical school has proven to be a trying time with bumps in the road. I’ve had multiple personal...
We Are Sorry, But You Did Not Match Any Position. What’s Next? A Perspective From An IMG.
By Gabriela Alvarez Pérez, MD The words " We are sorry, but you did not match any position " were not what I anticipated reading in March. I had envisioned relocating and embarking on my residency journey in the United States. However, life has a way of redirecting our paths. Faced with the unexpected, I had to reassess my next steps. Thankfully, I have a network of supportive physicians who have consistently championed my professional growth. Sharing the disappointing news was difficult, but their unwavering encouragement provided solace during those challenging days. After taking time to reflect on my experience and set new goals, I resolved to start afresh. This time, I am better prepared and more determined than ever. Self-compassion has been essential throughout this process. I've learned to combat self-loathing and lean on the support of loved ones. I actively sought guidance from my mentors, seeking advice on...
Applying to Residency as a Caribbean IMG
By: Miranda Montion Medical school, regardless of where someone attends, will come with obstacles. Regardless of who you know, your previous experiences, or what school you go to, students will share similar experiences during didactics and clinical rotations and in a way it’s comforting. Each day we are surrounded by peers that understand what we are going through more than most. I have had some experiences as a Caribbean student that I wished I had been aware of sooner. As I have progressed through rotations and various experiences, I found some things helpful along my journey, which I have listed below. I hope these will give you some encouragement and guidance during this wonderful, hectic, exciting, and stressful time of your life. Be proactive about your goals With my experience, most of my guidance and support has been from my colleagues and recent alumni. Reach out to these people when...
Surgical Rotations as a International Medical Student
By: Sarah Bueno Motter As an international medical student, doing elective rotations in the US brings us many challenges, but this experience also can open unexpected doors. I would like to talk about the good people we meet on this path. Seeing how people can help without knowing you well is very inspirational; they give us their best, taking our word as proof of commitment. The beauty is recognizing those people in your path and allowing them to help you. First, you must put yourself in their view and try connecting. Set up meetings, ask for conversations, ask questions, share your goals, and ask advice from the people you work with. We often focus on meetings with the PDs, for example, but we must remember the ones we are with daily. Ask your residents for feedback, and connect with them and other medical students. The medical staff, nurses, and surgical...
4 Part Blog Series: Considerations as Junior Faculty: What Should I Be Doing? – Part 1: You Are Done with Training, Now What?
By: Christine Castater, MD, MBA Congratulations! You've completed surgical training and are now a junior faculty member. This is the culmination of years of research and training, and this transition changes your career and lifestyle. When I finished training, I felt like I had been running a marathon and suddenly ran face first into a wall. The sudden cessation of everything that had been my reality left me feeling stunned and confused. I seriously wondered about my identity since for 15 years, my identity was “trainee.” It took me a year to breathe and acclimate into my new job. At that point, I was able to look around and figure out my next steps. Setting Goals and Expectations: The first thing I did was to set realistic goals for my next five years. These goals partially depended on the dynamics of my new setting. Goals in academia can look quite...
Back to School Mom – A Decade Later: Trauma Surgery Fellowship with Teenagers
By: Dr. Evelyn Coile The house is silent. The house is silent for the first time in the last 16 years of training. Both kids received the news this week that they landed their first summer jobs. My husband and I finally sit staring at each other---no one to cook for or entertain. My eldest son, now a licensed driver, is taking control of the drop-offs with me closely watching a Life360 app and praying for constant safety. Previously, drop-offs were mostly handled by my husband. From community college night classes while working, to attending medical school, followed by a vigorous surgical residency, I was not available for drop-offs. It is quite ironic that as I look back now (as most parents do at this phase), I wish I had made it to more drop-offs. To wish them a “Happy Day Ahead!” To ask them “How Was Your Day?” It...
Being a First Generation Immigrant from India: Breaking Down Stereotypes about “Model Minorities”
By Gopika SenthilKumar, PhD I still remember the news of the 2008 economic crash playing everywhere within a few weeks of us arriving in the US. As a first-generation immigrant family, this meant the highest level of uncertainty about our jobs, residence, and place of employment. Sure enough, in the years that followed, we ended up having to move six times over six years. I have a few distinct memories of these times. I still remember the first year that we were here - I was 11 years old, and I wanted a nightstand and wardrobe and a bookshelf in my room like all the other kids,... but it was too risky to spend our savings on furniture. Instead, I used to take cardboard boxes, build them into shelves, rearrange them if I was bored, and I was a very happy kid. We didn’t have a car for a while,...
