Silent No More

My colleague and friend Dr. Resa Lewiss (of FeminEm podcast fame) wrote this compelling opinion piece with Dr. Katherine Sharkey regarding sexual harassment of women in medicine - its prevalence, its professional and emotional consequences, and the need to stop it. The article is worth a read. 

White Coat Investor Scholarship Winners Announced

For the past few years, the White Coat Investor has funded a scholarship for full-time professional students, including those in medical, osteopathic, dental, law, pharmacy, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, optometry, and podiatry schools. The goal is to both reduce the winning students' debt burden and spread "an important message of financial literacy throughout medical, dental, and other professional schools."

This year's first place winner's essay is here. It's great and worth a read. Second through fifth places can be found here. Keep your eye out for next year's contest. The financial support is significant. 

A Medical School Applicant's Secret Weapon

I heard a recent piece on  NPR's "All Things Considered" called "Uncovering A Huge Mystery Of College: Office Hours." The broadcast argues that taking advantage of the opportunity to develop a one-on-one relationship with a professor can bolster a student's college success. Yet, many college students are too nervous to attend office hours. 

Despite what some students consider a nail biting experience, office hours for pre-meds are particularly important because they provide a means for professors to get to know students so that those faculty members can write strong letters of recommendation. I have a doctor friend who told me that he went beyond traditional office hours: During his undergraduate years, he got acquainted with a few professors by inviting them to lunch at his dorm. He had to call several times before one professor got back to him, but once they did have lunch, my friend's opportunities really expanded. That professor realized my friend's intellectual potential and good nature and offered him a position on an honor committee and a strong medical school recommendation. 

As they say in the NPR broadcast, "... when you go to office hours, you're actually letting the professors do their job."

Residency and Medical School Interviews: What Is the One Thing You've Learned...?

I was with my children at a four year-old's birthday party a few years back when I met the grandfather of the birthday-boy. As it turned out, before retiring, the man had been on the admissions committee of a prestigious California medical school for decades.

So, I asked him, "Looking back at all of those years of experience, what is the one thing you learned from interviewing medical students?"

The man chuckled and said, "They have no idea what they're getting themselves into."

In life, we never really have an idea what we're getting ourselves into, but I think of this man every time I practice the question "What will you like least about being a doctor" or "...least about being a [insert your medical specialty here]" with my medical school and residency applicant clients, respectively. Saying you'll love everything about being a physician or psychiatrist or pediatrician or internist sounds disingenuous and naive. You need to show that you have some idea what you're getting yourself into.

Having said that, I would avoid tacky topics like money. And talking about how horrible night shifts are is not going to win you many points. But a sophisticated applicant can infer what the challenges will be in medicine or in her specialty and can express them with aplomb.

...As with everything, practice in advance.