Physician Burnout

The Medscape Physician Lifestyle Report 2015 is out, and don't be surprised if you find it a little discouraging. U.S. physicians suffer more burnout than other U.S. workers with 46% of American doctors reporting the problem. Critical care doctors are most affected at 53%, followed by emergency physicians at 52%. The report cites bureaucracy, administrative tasks, and long work hours, among other causes.

Check out this piece on emergency physician burnout to better understand why there is such a disconnect between medical student interest and physician satisfaction in the emergency medicine field.

Medical School - Accepted!

So far this year, Insider clients have seen a lot of medical school acceptances. School include University of California - Irvine, Washington University, Drexel, University of Michigan, Northwestern, Louisiana State University, Tulane, University of Texas - Southwestern, Baylor, Temple University, Oakland University, and Hofstra-LIJ North Shore School of Medicine, to name a few. Click here to see a complete list of Insider client acceptances.

Avoiding a Re-application to Medical School

After disappointing admissions cycles, multiple medical school re-applicants hire me every year. Individual cases are complex, but keep the below five suggestions in mind as you approach the application season in order to avoid missteps:

1. Make sure you have robust clinical experiences. No one wants to hire a chef who's never been in the kitchen.

2. Ensure you have the grades/MCAT and apply to schools that are appropriate to your academic level. Check out the Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) to get an idea of what grades you'll need. (Take a deep breath. It might be shocking.)

3. Get very strong letters of recommendation. Consider a mediocre letter a bad one in this competitive environment.

4. Craft a compelling personal statement that distinguishes you from everyone else.

5. Practice interviewing. Don't get as far as the interview only to be rejected because you weren't prepared.

Step 2 CS

For residency applicants, there is an updated version of the Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) Content Description and General Information booklet now available. As many candidates know, because the test is not a familiarly-formatted multiple choice examination, Step 2 CS requires careful preparation. The test is made up of 12 patient encounters and lasts about 8 hours.