Doctor and Patient at Odds?

Here's another NYT article about dissatisfaction in medicine. This piece (unlike the other one I blogged on) is about patient disillusionment. I think it's worth a read for those training to be physicians. Click here to read the article "Doctor and Patient, Now at Odds."

"Cliff notes" for the MSAR

In my last blog, I wrote about the utility of the MSAR for choosing where to apply to medical school. (Remember, though, that the MSAR only includes schools in the U.S. and Canada.) I wanted to suggest a good web page I found that highlights medical schools' average GPAs and MCAT scores, data that comes directly from the 2008-9 MSAR. Although this data is technically a year old, this site is useful if you don't have a MSAR at home: http://www.washington.edu/uaa/gateway/advising/downloads/gpamcat.pdf .

Alternately, you can order the brand new 2009-10 MSAR from the AAMC web site and Amazon (currently cheaper).

For one-on-one help applying to medical school – assistance with your AMCAS, personal statement, secondary essays, your interviews – please see http://www.insidermedicaladmissions.com/applicants/medapplicant.shtml .

For medical school applicants: Where to apply

Many clients tell me they don’t know where to start in picking which medical schools are appropriate for their application list. I recommend starting with the MSAR. This book (fully titled Medical School Admission Requirements) is published by the Association of American Medical Colleges and lists all U.S. and Canadian medical schools. Unfortunately, the MSAR does not include schools outside the U.S./Canada, including those in the Carribbean, Mexico, Israel, etc. However, it’s still a good start. The MSAR lists selection factors that can help you compare your qualifications to schools’ accepted applicants.

Considering how competitive medical school is, I recommend setting your sights on getting an MD (or DO), rather than on attending a particular school. (As we discussed earlier, geography is important, and it’s fair to rule out schools based on their location. But understand this might hurt you if you are not a competitive candidate.) Ensure you create a list that has three tiers of schools: Your dream schools, more realistic schools and schools you would be less excited about but you would attend if admitted.

For one-on-one help applying to medical school – assistance with your AMCAS, personal statement, secondary essays, your interviews – please see http://www.insidermedicaladmissions.com/applicants/medapplicant.shtml .

The importance of geography for your medical school, residency and fellowship applications

When I was a medical student applying for Emergency Medicine residency programs, a well-meaning dean gave me some bad advice. I was deciding the order of my rank list and was particularly concerned about one program that had an excellent reputation but was in a city I didn’t like. The dean told me, “You’ll be so busy during residency it won’t matter where you live.” Luckily, the advice rubbed me the wrong way, and I wholeheartedly disregarded it. Where you live for your medical training is as important (or more so) than the quality of your training program! The reasons are several-fold:

1. Medical training is extremely time-consuming, and you want to be in a city you can enjoy fully when you’re able to blow off steam.
2. Medical training is extremely stressful and you want to be in a city where you have social support.
3. Medical training is not completed in a vacuum. Your personal life continues. If you’re single you may meet someone and end up staying in the city where you have trained for the rest of your life (gasp). If you’re in a long-term relationship you may decide to have children or may already have them. Down the road you may not want to relocate your family.

Not everyone gets the opportunity to go to medical school or train in residency and fellowship programs in a city s/he likes. But you can make choices that will increase your chances. In a future blog entry I’ll talk about how. In the meantime, prioritize geography and certainly don’t be embarrassed to do so!



For one-on-one help with your application please see http://www.insidermedicaladmissions.com/ .

Tips for how to improve the content of your letters of recommendation

Getting the best letters of recommendation for medical school, residency and fellowship is dependent on

1. Asking the right people (See my previous blog entry on this topic.)
2. Making the job of letter-writing as easy as possible for your recommender.

Regarding the latter what I strongly recommend is creating a “LOR packet,” which should include the following:

1. A brief, well-written cover letter defining all of your important accomplishments
2. Your transcript/ evaluations
3. Your CV
4. Your personal statement in its final form

Also, be polite: Ensure that you don’t leave your letter-writer to find the address(es) to which your letter should be sent. As someone who was asked to write letters of recommendation, I can tell you that applicants who offered me a list of their accomplishments in a tidy, accessible package were more likely to get a comprehensive letter that was submitted promptly.

(If you are requesting a letter years before you apply then you won’t have a personal statement but can still compose the rest of the packet. If you’re requesting the letter closer to your application date, you should include a personal statement for your letter-writer to improve the letter’s content.)

I’ll write more about LORs in future entries. For one-on-one help with your application please see www.InsiderMedicalAdmissions.com .

Tips for writing your personal statement: What to avoid

Please see my previous blog entry on how to get started on your personal statement for medical school, residency or fellowship. Once you’ve picked a distinctive topic and organized your thoughts in an outline you’ll have to sit down and write your statement. Here are some errors to avoid:

1. Don’t use flowery language. Pretend that you are being charged for each word you write. How can you keep the imaginary cost down?
2. Don’t use quotations, clichés or questions.
3. Avoid medical terminology unless absolutely necessary to convey a point. A layperson should be able to easily understand your essay.

4. Don’t forget to spell and grammar check. (You’d be surprised how many folks don’t do this.)

5. Highlight your accomplishments but don’t sound arrogant. Even one bad sentence can bomb your essay and make the committee worry about who you are.

You’ll see more personal statement suggestions in my future blog entries. For one-on-one help on your essay please see http://www.insidermedicaladmissions.com/ for information about my personal statement editing services.

Physician (dis)satisfaction in the news

Many people have referred me to a recent article in the New York Times regarding physicians' discontent with medicine. It might seem strange to showcase this type of article in a blog about medical admissions. But I think reading the piece helps clarify why medical schools are so gung ho about applicants' having clinical experience and why residencies and fellowships want to see applicants with multiple examples of dedication to their respective specialties.

The article's author Sandeep Jauhar MD was an American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media Fellow with me.

Enjoy (sort of)!