Be A Dirtbag Millionaire

For many of us, medical training means taking on significant debt and learning to manage complex personal finances. Many financial advisors "specialize" in physicians (like wolves who specialize in sheep?), and young doctors have a reputation as easy targets. 

How can you defend yourself against financial predators, kill your debt early, and learn to manage your own portfolio? (And where can you even learn what a portfolio is?) Crispy Doc offers a blog dedicated to financial literacy for the newly minted physician with an emphasis on early financial independence for doctors.  

Check out his blog, and learn from Crispy Doc's recent Student Doctor Network article. 

Brevity

I've started editing a lot of medical school essays of late, and I want to give a shout out to the importance of brevity. I focus on a work count of 700 or fewer for my advisees for a few reasons: First, I've found that that number is just the right balance of content and streamlining. Under 700 words for an admissions essay leads to a lack of substance, and more lends itself to meandering writing.

Second, your reader is likely stuck reviewing tens or even scores of applications in a short period of time. S/he is looking to spend as little time as possible on your written materials, while still getting a good flavor for your candidacy. Don't burden your reader with verbiage.

Here's a helpful trick: Imagine AMCAS or ERAS is charging you $10 per word. How would you keep costs down?

DO vs. MD

As the medical school application date looms nearer, I’ve had several pre-meds ask me about DO school. There was an excellent article in the New York Times a few years ago about what doctors of osteopathy do and how their admissions criteria are different from allopathic schools’. It’s here and worth a read.

The topic of DO schools is an enormous one. A few quick points many candidates don’t know about DOs:

1. Many doctors of osteopathy practice medicine just like allopathic doctors do. I do per diem emergency shifts at Kaiser and work with many DOs. Candidly, I usually do not know which colleagues have osteopathic degrees and which have allopathic ones unless I see a prescription blank or a signed computer note.

2. If applying to osteopathic school, candidates are generally better off with at least one (strong) letter of recommendation from a DO supervisor.

3. Osteopaths currently take the COMLEX for their board tests, instead of the USMLE. If an osteopathic medical student wants to enter an allopathic residency, s/he may need to take the USMLE in addition to the COMLEX. On the other hand, there are many allopathic residencies that accept the COMLEX. Also, there is talk that in the future (when exactly is unclear, however) there may be just one board test that both groups take.

4. The osteopathic Match occurs before the NRMP Match, a fact that can be difficult for osteopaths applying to both types of residencies. If those applicants are successful in the osteopathic Match, they cannot enter an allopathic residency. If, on the other hand, they wait and enter the NRMP Match, they run the risk of simply not matching.

Again, this topic is complicated and nuanced. If you’d like to discuss your candidacy and the DO option, contact me for a Strategy Session.

Make It Pop: Your Residency or Medical School Personal Statement

As I've written many times, the personal statement should be substantive and crafted in a persuasive essay format. Yet, the introduction is a place where you can let your hair down (to a point) and write in a narrative fashion.

It helps to start your essay with a "clincher," something that will convince the reader your statement is worth reading:

I found this short piece in an old Stanford Magazine to be worth a read. The author compiled a list of first lines from the application essays of Stanford's newest college class at the time.

Some of my favorites:

Unlike many mathematicians, I live in an irrational world; I feel that my life is defined by a certain amount of irrationalities that bloom too frequently, such as my brief foray in front of 400 people without my pants.

When I was 8 years old, I shocked my family and a local archaeologist by discovering artifacts dating back almost 3,500 years.

As an Indian-American, I am forever bound to the hyphen.

Time to Take A Reading Break

It's a stressful time of year for you, pre-meds. (Then again, maybe all times of the year are stressful for your cohort, unfortunately.) Why not take a break from crafting your personal statement, starting your AMCAS activities, gathering your letters of recommendation, studying for finals (and maybe the MCAT), and attending all of your extracurricular activities to read a book? Here's a piece I wrote that was featured last week on Student Doctor Network regarding great books to read for doctors in training.

Your Residency or Medical School Application: Maybe Leadership is Overrated

As an Assistant Residency Director at Harvard, I often heard my colleagues ask, "Will she be a leader?" or "Can we count on him to show leadership qualities?" when we discussed applicants.

 

But maybe being a leader or even an extrovert is not what we should be seeking in all applicants. Poor leaders can bully, be arrogant, and may ignore excellent advice. In academics, I saw many leaders who were not role models in their behavior or scruples.

 

Here's an interesting New York Times piece about the need for introverts and even followers in college admissions. I found the story about the young woman who tried to overhaul her personality and activities to fit the admissions mold to be particularly telling.

Residency Match!

Congratulations to so many successful Insider Medical Admissions applicants in dermatology, plastic surgery, internal medicine, psychiatry, anesthesia... and many others. You should feel good about your hard work.

 

And speaking of hard work... It's time for third year medical students (and graduated IMGs) to get started on a plan for this coming Match season. As of this writing, I have a few Strategy Sessions slots left in April. Advising discussion topics at this time of year should include creating a fourth year schedule, if/where to do away rotations, potential letter writers, crafting an outline for a personal statement, understanding how to write solid ERAS activity descriptors, reviewing an individual's prospects in a desired field - using data, and producing a timeline for the application process. Also, note that some applicants contact me to discuss their current indecision about what field to pursue, and that's fine too; those conversations should happen soon.

 

Here is a list of my residency services. Contact me for help.

Congratulations!

Many congratulations are due to those residency applicants who had a successful Match. I would really appreciate hearing from this year's clients regarding their Matches. 

On a related note, unfortunately, as of July 1, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) will allow first-year residents to work 24+ hours without a break. I'll come out as saying that I think this is a very poor idea.

I remember a horrible week during my internship in which I worked 138 hours (absolutely true). I still have nightmares about the experience. I also remember surgical resident friends who were "rewarded" with operating the morning after being on-call all day and night.

 

Here's an NPR piece and a Forbes piece on the topic. Extreme hours lead to danger for patients and residents and keep talented folks out of medicine.

Residency Applicants: The Big Day is Approaching

Here's a condensed version of this week's Match schedule from the NRMP website:

Today 

11 am EST: Applicants learn if they matched via email and the R3® system. SOAP-eligible unmatched and partially matched applicants have access to the List of Unfilled Programs in the R3 system.

2 pm EST: SOAP applicants can start preparing and sending applications in the AAMC ERAS® system. Applicants cannot communicate with a program until contacted by that program.

Wednesday

SOAP Round 1

12 pm EST: SOAP Applicants begin receiving offers by logging in to the R3 system. Applicants accept or reject offer(s) once all offers have been generated.

2 pm EST: SOAP Applicant deadline to accept or reject Round 1 offers in R3 system.

2:05 pm EST: List of Unfilled Programs updated in R3 system for SOAP-eligible applicants.

SOAP Round 2

3 pm EST: SOAP Applicants begin receiving offers in the R3 system.

5 pm EST: SOAP Applicant deadline to accept or reject Round 2 offers.

5:05 pm EST: List of Unfilled Programs updated in R3 system for SOAP-eligible applicants.

Thursday

SOAP Round 3 

9 am EST: Applicants begin receiving offers in the R3 system.

11 am EST: Applicant deadline to accept or reject Round 3 offers.

SOAP ends 

12 pm EST: List of Unfilled Programs accessible from R3 system and updated to include unfilled programs not participating in SOAP. All applicants who are unmatched or partially matched have access to List of Unfilled Programs. Programs not participating in SOAP can be contacted by unmatched or partially-matched applicants, including applicants who were not SOAP-eligible.

Friday - Match Day

1 pm EST: Applicants learn the location of program(s) to which they matched via email and in the R3 system.

Using SOAP to clean up the NRMP Match

I'm very hopeful that all blog readers who are residency applicants will be Matching successfully this year. But it is worth understanding how the NRMP SOAP (formerly called "the Scramble") works.

Years ago, when I was an applicant, the Scramble was all that unmatched candidates had... and it was not great. For a quick history on the Scramble's transition to SOAP, check out this article.

For details on this year's SOAP (and Match week) schedule, check out this PDF that includes great details.

Planning Your Residency Application for 2017-18

It's that time of year when some folks are awaiting their Match, while others are getting ready for the upcoming ERAS season. Here's a piece by Dr. David Presser and me, "Choosing a Specialty: The Generalist vs. the Early-Committer," originally published on the Student Doctor Network site, regarding the huge endeavor of making the first critical step in preparing your candidacy (and future career!):

Many students arrive at medical school with a bias that their liberal arts education has instilled, namely, that they should survey everything before deciding on their specialty. Before medical school, students matriculate at colleges that pride themselves on providing a diverse exposure to a variety of subjects: Computer science majors experience the canon of Great Literature before pursuing a life of code, and English majors can take “Physics for Poets.”

For a generalist student sampling from the buffet of medicine, it can be jarring to sit in lecture next to a classmate who declares on the first day of school that she intends to become an orthopedist. These early-committers appear to have whittled down their choices from day one. They magically become apprentices to a faculty member in their chosen specialty by the first quarter, have a publication by their first year, and seem to possess an intuitive roadmap for applying to residency that the generalist cannot read.

So who is right, the generalist or the early-committer? In life, as in medicine, the answer is – it depends. For clarification, let’s start to explore the problem by seeing what residency directors prioritize in their selection of candidates:

The 2014 NRMP® Program Director Survey, which amassed responses of the directors of all programs participating in the Main Residency Match, demonstrates that – in all specialties – 69% of programs cite “perceived commitment to specialty” as a factor in selecting applicants to interview. That 69% is more heavily favored than reputedly important factors like Honors in the specialty clerkship, Audition elective in the residency’s department, and even Pass USMLE Step2 CS. Furthermore, on a mean importance ranking scale from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (very important), those directors ranked perceived commitment as 4.3. The 4.3 mean importance ranking is greater than USMLE Step 1 score, Letters of recommendation in the specialty, and Honors in clinical clerkships. For certain competitive fields, demonstrating commitment is even more important. Take neurosurgery at 80%/4.6.

So, one could make the argument that making the specialty decision early is the way to go. If a generalist ends up deciding that he will only be happy in a hyper-competitive specialty like dermatology or orthopedics, and finds himself compared to early-committers with a slew of same-specialty letters of recommendation and multiple publications, it seems he is at a disadvantage.

However, being a gung-ho early-committer has its problems too, and those headaches can last a lifetime. Some of these future doctors find out too late that they have dedicated themselves to the wrong field, and that their motives for pursuing a specific specialty (my mother and grandmother were both general surgeons) were not enough to warrant life-long regret over not entering pediatrics. This issue is not a small one. While data regarding the number of residents who switch specialties is lacking, websites for off-cycle residency positions have proliferated, including forums here on Student Doctor Network. And while physician dissatisfaction is not an exact proxy for specialty-specific miscalculations, it is notable that certain specialties have much higher rates of burnout, and that the ability to control work hours (much harder in certain specialties) is increasingly found to play an important role in reducing stress, and therefore, burnout among physicians. The Medscape Physician Lifestyle Report 2015 showed that U.S. physicians suffer more burnout than other U.S. workers with 46% of American doctors surveyed reporting the problem. Critical Care and Emergency Medicine doctors have the highest burnout at 53% and 52%, respectively. Psychiatry and Dermatology have the least at 38% and 37%. If a student commits to the “wrong” field too early and sticks with it, she may make enduring mistakes in job fulfillment and a suitable lifestyle.

Moreover, anecdotally, the authors have seen many doctors switch fields. Personal acquaintances through our emergency medicine residency programs included residents who matched in orthopedics and plastic surgery, only to transfer into emergency medicine residencies several years into the game; several emergency medicine residents who switched into other fields (orthopedics, psychiatry, pediatrics); an internist who completed his training before undertaking an additional residency in emergency medicine and pursuing an academic career; and a former chief resident in emergency medicine who, after serving in the armed forces during the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns, returned from his tour of duty and re-trained in dermatology, in part, so he could spend more time with his family.

The bottom line is that there is no right answer about whether to be a generalist or an early committer when selecting a specialty, except if a highly competitive specialty is even remotely in the cards. In that case, a medical student should position herself accordingly and early.

Ideally, one would know for sure what his perfect specialty is on arrival at medical school and pursue appropriate faculty mentors and research opportunities. But life is not that simple. How, then, should a medical student go about selecting a specialty, a choice that will affect his job satisfaction, future income, and lifestyle?

One suggestion is to start thinking about specialty choice earlier than third year. Granted, there is a lot on the to-do list the first and second years of medical school. But in the summer after first year, most students have some freedom. That summer would be a good time to do some shadowing or commit to a project to see if being in the operating room is enjoyable. Starting a research project in an appealing field (especially if it is competitive) is a good option as well. If a student has whittled potential interests down to a few specialties, erring on the side of tailoring the first summer experience to prepare for a candidacy in the one that is most competitive is wise. In other words, it’s easier for a would-be dermatologist to become a born-again internist than the other way around. But even if a medical student can simply start to decide whether a surgical or non-surgical field is more suitable for her, something will have been accomplished.

Another suggestion is to arrange meetings with multiple doctors in different practice settings in appealing fields. This tactic is best started early (first or second year), but even during third year, it’s a plan worth pursuing. A medical student should interview physicians about the worst parts of their specialties and listen carefully. Then, that student should try to find someone in a field who embodies the life she envisions for herself. If – after speaking to a good number of doctors in varied practice settings – she cannot find a role model who fits the life she hopes to lead, it may be worth avoiding that field entirely.

Finally, if it’s affordable, consider a year “off.” Schools are increasingly flexible with their curricula, allowing students to take a year to pursue research scholarships, travel grants, and other academic pursuits. Considering how little exposure medical students get to different specialties in third year, asking them to choose their field at the end of it seems demanding. Taking extra time to make a considered decision is a reasonable option.

The statistics show that program directors are seeking commitment to their fields, which is understandable, considering their goal is retaining and training residents. However, committing early can be a treacherous path. Until the medical education system changes, students are stuck between a rock (of residency application strategy) and a hard place (of potential job satisfaction). Seeking resources outside the conventional system through extracurricular exposure, research, faculty mentorship meetings, and even a year away from school can help a student make a critical life decision.

Remember: Finding the right specialty is in many ways a matter of luck – mentorship, early exposure, and fortuitous experiences. As the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca famously stated, Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Whether generalist or early-committer, the wise students evaluates the pros and cons of each approach, deciding with eyes wide open and leveraging the opportunities that luck provides.

NRMP Rank Order List Deadline Fast Approaching

Residency applicants, please note that the NRMP rank order list deadline is this Wednesday, February 22. Rank order lists must be certified by 9 am EST. After that, you can sit back and relax because there is little to do except wait.

Geography is Giant

When I was a medical student applying for emergency medicine residency programs, a well-meaning dean gave me some bad advice. I was determining 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. As I've said in a recent blog entry (and others in the past), where you live for your medical training - medical school, residency, or fellowship - is as important as 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.

After Your Residency or Medical School Interview: What's the Value of the Second Look?

After interviews - if permitted by the institution - there are several ways you can communicate with a medical school or residency. My favorites are brief thank you notes and well-written letters of interest.

But what about the "second look?" I've had many mentees ask me if re-visiting a school or training program after the interview day is valuable. Unfortunately, there may not be a definitive answer to this question because how a second look is perceived varies by institution.

The cons of the second look are cost and time. And perhaps even worse, there is the risk that you are imposing on the school or program. You don't want your request for a second look to work against your candidacy. On the other hand, the pros of a second look are that demonstration of interest and enthusiasm that many schools and programs are seeking.

If you are a pre-med and are wait listed at a medical school, I would generally recommend a second look if you can swing it. After all, you have every right to visit the institution you may be attending. If you go for a second look in this scenario, make sure to do a formal visit: Let the admissions office or dean's office know you would like to spend the day and ask if you might have an opportunity to meet with students and even an admissions officer to support your candidacy.

If you are a residency applicant, it's hard to say if a second look will help or not. A residency director friend of mine says that a visit from someone who travels from far away might improve a candidate's standing by a few slots on the rank list at her program. That sounds like a tepid endorsement at best... If you are considering a second-visit, make sure to speak to the program coordinator. S/he might advise you against it or, on the contrary, let you know it's appreciated by the residency director.

As we all know, the residency and medical school interview scene is already stressful and expensive, so unless you are a wait listed pre-med - with all other things being equal - I generally would not push yourself hard to do that second look.

Your Residency Application: What to Prioritize When Creating your Rank List

Creating your Match rank list can be challenging. Below, I briefly note a few considerations when making your list:

1. Make sure you understand how the NRMP algorithm works. See my previous blog post regarding errors to avoid at all costs. The key is to rank in the order you want - first goes first, second goes second, etc.

2. Consider your happiness and life balance. Blasphemy perhaps, but I would argue that they are more important than the strength of the training program.

3. Reflect on the culture, geography, size, and even maturity/age of the program. Think about whether you will fit in.

4. Consider whether you could spend your whole life at the institution or in that program's location. It's a lot to grapple with, but many residents graduate and stay for the rest of their careers.

5. Decide whether you liked the program director, chairperson, and faculty generally. They could make or break your happiness and success.

6. Realize that most programs will train you well if you work hard. Their prestige and quality may be more similar than you think. For that reason, note that your personal preferences and intuitions are paramount.

Ten Ways to Improve your Medical School Application

Please check out my latest Student Doctor Network article here. Enjoy!

Thank You Notes

Clients ask me what's the best way to send post-interview thank you notes - email versus snail mail. I advise the latter, sending hand-written notes. Email can be viewed as less labor-intensive or thoughtful.

You can still get the notes in quickly: Put them in the mail the morning after you've completed your interview. Some applicants even bring blank thank you notes to the interview day, complete the cards after their interviews, and leave them with the program coordinator.

Your thank you notes should be written on plain cards and sent to every faculty member you conversed with one-on-one. If the residency coordinator helped you with a difficult scheduling issue, for example, writing to him/her would be wise too. Within reason and if written cordially, a thank you note cannot hurt you (unless you have been expressly asked not to communicate after the interview day).

Consider them low-hanging fruit.

Check Yourself Before you Wreck Yourself: Your Residency Application

As we approach the time to submit your rank order list, it's imperative that you understand how to organize your list.

Don't try to outsmart the algorithm by putting programs with more residency slots higher on your list or by prioritizing those that have given you good feedback over those that haven't. None of those factors is relevant in creating your rank order list, and you will harm your chances if you pursue those strategies!

Your first choice should be first. Second should be second, etc. Here's an explanation of the algorithm if you're interested.

Take a look at this under-one-minute Guru on the Go video for further clarification.

Your Residency Application: What to Do if You Receive No or Few Interview Invitations?

1. Don't panic.

2. Try contacting - in a professional manner - all institutions to which you have sent your ERAS. You can send an email and call. When you call, be calm, respectful, and enthusiastic. Do not demand to speak to the program director. Let the person who answers the phone know that you are very interested in the program and would appreciate the opportunity to interview. Offer to be on an interview wait list if necessary.

3. Prepare for the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP). Note that SOAP is not a separate program from the residency Match. So a) your main residency Match user status must be active and b) your credentials must be verified by the Rank Order List Deadline in order to participate in SOAP. Here is more information on SOAP. 

4. Make a plan for what you will do if the Match and SOAP don't work out for you. What will you do next year? How will you improve your written materials, interview skills, and overall candidacy? If heaven forbid, you do not have success in either the Match or SOAP, please consider getting help from me or someone else who is experienced. The sooner the better to improve a candidacy and prepare for a re-application.

Understanding How the Match Works is Critical for Succeeding in the Process

Improving written materials and interview skills is important, but all of that work can go to waste if applicants do not understand basic strategies for the Match. In November of last year the NRMP published an article called, "Understanding the Interview and Ranking Behaviors of Unmatched International Medical Students and Graduates in the 2013 Main Residency Match" in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education. The data is especially important for IMGs who represented the majority of unmatched candidates.

Sadly, the authors found that some applicants made strategic errors including the below:

- Not attending all interviews, thus failing to capitalize on every opportunity to market themselves.

- Declining to rank all programs at which they interviewed or not ranking all programs they would be willing to attend.

- Misunderstanding the Match and ranking programs at which applicants did not interview.

- Failing to rank programs based on true preferences or ranking programs based on the perceived likelihood of matching.

It kills me to read about these mistakes :(. Here is a simple explanation of the Match algorithm. If you do not understand how the Match works, it is absolutely critical that you learn about it to avoid destructive errors.

A Great Opportunity: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science News Writer Internship

Looking for something different to do this spring and summer? The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is offering a paid six-month internship (April through September) with Science Magazine in Washington, D.C.

As some of you know, I was an AAAS Mass Media Fellow in 1995. The program was truly fantastic and life-altering.

In terms of qualifications for the Science News Writer Internship, applicants need to have completed their undergraduate education or be in their senior year of college. They should have interest (and preferably experience) in writing about science for lay people. According to the AAAS, preference will be given to candidates who have published science journalism articles, worked at other science news publications, and/or completed a journalism or science writing program.

The AAAS suggests you visit their job information website to get more information. Applications are due by January 2nd, so get moving!

Your Residency Application: What Do Program Directors Really Want?

If you were a program director (PD), you'd be trying to avoid two big headaches as you assessed a residency candidate:

1) Will this person be competent and collegial? A PD does not want to get complaints from patients, faculty, or other services about his/her residents.

2) Will this person leave the program prematurely? A PD does not want to scurry around to fill an open call schedule/ residency slot.

As you approach your interviews, consider how you can demonstrate your competence and collegiality, as well as your commitment to the field and the residency program. For the former, ensure you showcase academic successes, extra curricular activities that demonstrate teamwork, and - if asked - hobbies and reading materials that demonstrate your personality. For the latter, highlight research projects in the specialty, sub-internships, and knowledge about the program and city.

Making sure the PD knows you are not going to cause him/her headaches is half the battle.

The Residency and Medical School Application: Moving Past Impostor Syndrome

First described by psychologists Drs. Suzanne Imes and Pauline Rose Clance in the 1970s, impostor phenomenon occurs among high achievers who cannot easily internalize their successes. They often externally attribute their accomplishments to luck and worry that others will eventually realize they are frauds.

Recognize this phenomenon of self-doubt?

You are not alone. Although many people suffer in silence (as they do not want to be revealed for what they perceive to be major deficiencies), the syndrome is quite common, especially in medical school. According to one 2016 study, almost a quarter of male medical students and nearly half of female students surveyed suffered with impostor syndrome. The phenomenon can be associated with depression, burn out, and anxiety.

The American Psychological Association offers a few tips for overcoming impostor syndrome including speaking to mentors, recognizing what you excel at, and talking to a professional if necessary. Here is a piece in Grad Psych for more information.

Finding Balance

This time of year, when the residency and medical school interview processes are in full swing, many of us feel overwhelmed. Here's a brief but thoughtful piece regarding balance. As you consider your future career, it's worth thinking about issues the author covers like clarifying what makes you happy and defining balance. In this day and age, one can choose a traditionally tough specialty but work in a practice setting that allows for some autonomy and flexibility. But you need to know what you want to guide yourself in the right direction.

Your Medical School or Residency Application: What is a Letter of Interest/Intent?

A letter of interest or intent (LOI) is a supplemental note applicants write to medical schools, residencies, and other medical programs to let faculty know of their enthusiasm for an institution and the distinctiveness of their candidacies. LOIs can be written early in an effort to obtain an interview, after the interview to show enthusiasm and to remind the faculty of the candidate's worthiness, or after a wait list notification (for medical and dental students who don't participate in the Match).

The letter should be written in a timely fashion. In other words, there's no reason for a residency applicant to write a letter of intent in late February. The letter should avoid restating the strengths of the institution. Instead the applicant should express his/her interest and then move onto his/her strengths. An LOI should be a page or less.

Please note that some schools and residency programs do not allow post-interview contact, in which case an LOI is not recommended.

For help writing a professional, expert LOI, hire me here.

Your Residency or Medical School Application: More on the Squeaky Wheel

Please see my previous blog entry about contacting institutions regarding your status. When you call you can gently say, "I'm attempting to make some travel arrangements and was wondering if you could give me an update on my status." As long as you are polite, you won't hurt your candidacy. (Of course, if an institution specifically requests on their website or brochures that you not call, I would advise against it.)

Your Residency or Medical School Application: Be the Squeaky Wheel

Several years ago I helped a strong applicant who had been rejected by a top medical school. He thought he was a very good fit for this particular institution, so he called the school to make his case. Surprisingly, after the applicant's phone call, the school granted him an interview, reversing their original rejection. 

It was at this time that I met the applicant; we conducted a mock interview so he would be well-prepared.

Ultimately, after being initially rejected, this applicant was admitted to that top school.

Of course, this is an exceedingly rare occurrence. But to me, the moral of this story is that it is worth being assertive (not aggressive!) in the residency or medical school application processes: Send an update letter, call institutions (politely) to inquire about your status (if they do not expressly prohibit phone calls), and be proactive during your interviews. If you haven't received an interview invitation, now is the time to make a phone call.

You need to advocate for yourself in order to be noticed.

Residency and Medical School Applications: Don't Make It Urgent

I'm writing this blog entry from the Compton, California Jurors' Waiting Room, having been called for duty today. We were to arrive at 7:45am. After hearing a long introduction from the orientation coordinator here, I noted a woman arriving at 8:50. She sat next to me and asked me to repeat everything the orientation coordinator had said for the last hour.

Her lack of judgment prompted this entry. When approaching your interviews, try to anticipate problem issues and ensure you complete tasks early:

Responding to interview invitations immediately helps you target a time frame you prefer. Also, since some programs do not have enough slots for all of the invitations they issue, it also assures you a slot.

Arriving at your interview early decreases stress, which allows you to perform optimally. At times it also gives you the opportunity to better acquaint yourself with the coordinator or even the residency director. (Several years ago a residency candidate told me he had a fifteen-minute one-on-one conversation with the residency director because the applicant had arrived early. He felt confident that the individualized time furthered his candidacy.)

Sending your thank you notes immediately increases the likelihood they could make a positive impact on your candidacy since faculty may speak about your candidacy earlier rather than later.

So, don't make it urgent. Plan in advance. If nothing else, the perception of control will help reduce anxiety and improve your interview days.

If You Think Your Medical School Application is Expensive...

According to an article in this month's Annals of Emergency Medicine, the median educational debt for surveyed emergency medicine residents was $212,000, a substantial amount that altered life and career priorities and caused significant stress.

Medical school is not only tough mentally and emotionally, but also it's a huge financial burden. And the low salary that residents take home only compounds the issue because of the opportunity costs of not having invested starting at a young age.

Although sobering, it's worth looking at the study and the conclusions drawn.

Residency and Medical School Interview Questions: How to Answer that Icky Decade One

"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" the interviewer asks you, and you squirm...

An influential physician-administrator once complained to me that whenever he asked potential new faculty hires where they saw themselves in a decade they always said they were interested in global health or teaching. "They just say that because it's sexy," he remarked. "Many of them have nothing in their C.V.s to bolster their interest in either pursuit."

When asked where you see yourself in ten years, consider what your accomplishments thus far support to show a clear evolution. This doesn't mean you're stuck with what you've done even if you didn't like it. You could point out that having tried myocardial bench research, you realize that your real interest is in clinical investigations of new cardiac markers. Throwing out activities just because they sound appealing doesn't make you look professional or your candidacy seem well-synthesized. The idea is to have a trajectory that you can back up, defend, and easily justify.

Many medical school applicants say they don't know what field they want to go into. Of course not! And many residency applicants don't know if they want to do a fellowship. That's okay. Again, the point is to focus on your previous strengths and achievements and leverage them.

One more thing: If you are planning to seek mock interview help from me, please do it now. I am booking several weeks in advance.

Using Psychology to Further Your Residency or Medical School Application

In my last post, I spoke about the importance of knowing about a school or program in detail in order to show enthusiasm. This entry is a follow-up piece. Being genuinely complimentary (there's no need to sell yourself down the river being disingenuous) can readily further your candidacy:

There is a psychological principle that asserts that if someone likes you, you tend to like him/her more. So, if I say, "I was just talking to Mike, and he always says the nicest things about you," you now like Mike more (even though he's not a real person in this case).

Use this strategy to your advantage. It's hard to say, "I like you!" in an interview setting. But when speaking about a school or program during interview day, showcase what the institution's strengths are and specifically, how they apply to you. If the program has a focus on public policy, mention your work with AMSA's lobbying efforts. If the school is in Utah, note how much you like skiing. Demonstrating interest and zeal can go a long way to leverage simple psychology. 

Your Residency Application: Know Before You Go

I distinctly remember a very strong candidate whom we considered as a potential emergency medicine resident many years ago. Although multiple faculty members raved about the medical student, one of my colleagues pointed out that the applicant made it clear he did not want to move to Boston. "He wants to stay in California. If he's not interested in us, why are we interested in him?"

Mathematically speaking, this strategy doesn't make a lot of sense. Programs should rank strong applicants highly no matter what they believe the candidates' desires are. (After all, the program may be wrong, and there is little disincentive to go for the gold.) But the point is that it's critical that you don't give off signals that you are not interested in the program at which you are interviewing. (If you would rather not Match than be at that residency, you shouldn't be interviewing there - not a tactic I would generally recommend, however.)

Know the program well and be enthusiastic about its strengths. Every program has something to offer, and you'll need to learn details of those positive qualities if you want to stay in the running for a spot.

Residency and Medical School Interviews: Don't Be the "Guy with the Tie"

Check out this brand-new Insider Medical Admissions Guru on the Go© under-one-minute, stop-motion video called, "Spiffy Tie for the Dull Guy." If you're heading to residency or medical school interviews this season, you'll want to learn about this effective way to protect your candidacy while you evade the fashion police.

Medical School Interviews: Preparing for your MMI

Although the majority of medical school interviews are traditional, an increasing number of medical schools (as well as dental schools) are using the MMI platform. The MMI (multiple mini interview) is a format that uses several timed stations to assess applicants' interpersonal skills and judgment.

A few things to note about MMI interview questions:

1) They are not always medically-related. You may be asked to manage an everyday problem (e.g. a disagreement at the supermarket).

2) They are not always situational. You need to be prepared for conventional questions too (e.g. what are your three greatest strengths?).

3) Schools are trying to assess whether you can skillfully employ important techniques and demonstrate professionalism. Underlying topics might include your ability to offer effective counseling, your understanding of patient-doctor confidentiality, your ability to diffuse a heated situation, your capacity to admit wrongdoing, etc.

It is important that you practice MMI questions before you go to your medical school interview. Even if you have excellent social skills, there are techniques you should hone to expertly manage the challenging MMI format. Please consider hiring me for a mock interview or two as soon as you get your first interview invitation, as my slots go fast.

Medical School Interview Tips: What Do Admissions Officers Really Want?

Congrats to those who have already been invited for medical school interviews. It's early in the season, so if you are an applicant who has not been invited yet, do not dismay.

Getting into medical school has gotten so competitive; the interview is critical. But what are medical schools looking for during the interview process?

1. They are seeking someone distinctive. Your goal is to distinguish yourself from all of the other applicants by showcasing your accomplishments. Anyone can say s/he wants to help people or is hard working. Fewer candidates can prove it with their pre-professional achievements.

2. They want to ensure you are committed to medicine and that you have an idea of what you are getting yourself into. Medical school is tough; the institutions are not seeking someone who is ambivalent and might quit. Giving examples of your clinical experience can help.

3. The schools want to ensure you are reasonable. They want to see that you don’t have a problem personality, aren’t going to harass your colleagues, aren’t going to cause them embarrassment or extra work. Being professional during the interview day and having strong letters are important.

4. They want to hear that you are particularly interested in their institution. You can convince them of your interest by knowing specifics about the school and city.

One would never take the MCAT without practicing first and yet, countless applicants go to medical school interviews without preparing. If you are interested in working with me, please hire me with at least two weeks' advance, as I'm booking up quickly.

The Medical School Interview: Creating your Elevator Pitch

You may have heard the term "elevator pitch," a streamlined summary a person uses to describe and hopefully, sell her product, service, screenplay, or book. In preparing for medical school interviews, you, too, should create an elevator pitch to sell...you.

Create a 2 to 3 minute "summary statement" that recaps your candidacy, specifically your pre-professional accomplishments and other skills that make you distinctive. (Perhaps you are multilingual, for example.) I'd recommend conceiving of the elevator pitch in chronological order and presenting it that way as well. Doing so makes it easy for you to remember and for the listener to absorb.

Content should include accomplishments in these categories: academic, clinical, leadership, volunteerism, research, teaching, writing, and international work.

If you have this elevator pitch at the tip of your tongue, you'll be at a great advantage at your medical school interview, ready to nail questions like "Tell me about yourself" and prepared to showcase your accomplishments in other open-ended questions throughout the interview session.

Residency Personal Statement: Honors Won't Make it Write

Several years after writing my own residency personal statement, I found myself reading essays and making admissions decisions as a medical school faculty member. In assessing application essays, I learned firsthand that certain personal statement techniques fly and others don’t. A candidate’s approach can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection at his/her dream institution.

The below are some of the most common and easily-avoidable errors applicants make in crafting their personal statements:

1)      Unlike mom, an admissions essay reader doesn’t offer unconditional support for an applicant’s endeavors. Candidates who write a paragraph (or two) about their childhood surgeon Halloween costume have made two fatal flaws: First, the tactic is overused. Second, these stories do not engage the admissions reader nor further an applicant’s candidacy because they are not built on evidence of any distinctive accomplishments.

2)      The rule applicants should remember is this: All stuff, no fluff. (No Miss America clichés!) The residency personal statement should be a persuasive document that convinces programs that a candidate is worthy of a spot at their institutions, which means it should include facts about what makes an applicant special – her achievements.

Just like a lawyer does when s/he is trying a case in front of a judge, the residency applicant must persuade with evidence. Saying he is a caring person or wants to make the world a better place is not compelling, and those claims do not distinguish the candidate from the scores of other applicants competing with him. The candidate needs to prove his value and distinctiveness with academic, clinical, research, community service, leadership, international, and teaching achievements. To the admissions reader, applicants are what they do – not what they say.

Every part of the personal statement should be distinctive, highlighting unique qualities through accomplishments. If there is even a phrase in the essay that could have been written by someone else, it should be omitted.

3)      I remember a talented residency applicant I advised a few years ago who showcased an award she had won. She listed the name, but didn’t explain what it was. When I asked her, she told me the award was an academic honor given to only the top 1% of students out of several thousand. Had she not rewritten the section, her admissions readers wouldn’t have given her an ounce of credit for that extraordinary accomplishment. What a candidate fails to adequately explain counts against her.

Bottom line: Candidates must ensure their residency personal statements can stand alone and don’t rely on the remainder of the application for clarification.

I hope this year’s applicants will leverage the knowledge I’ve offered above to anticipate a future reader’s objections so that they can strengthen their personal statements and reach their career goals.

Residency Application: ERAS Tips

I've been editing a whole heck of a lot of ERAS applications recently, so I thought I'd create a list of tips for those embarking on their descriptors:

1. Include relevant pre-professional accomplishments from college. If you conducted research, for example, list and describe it. Do not include high school achievements unless they were truly unique (worked at the White House, sang on Broadway ;)).

2. While you want to include many strong achievements, you do not want your ERAS to be so long that your reader is tempted to skim it. Be selective.

3. Keep your descriptors to approximately three to seven sentences. Fewer can look lazy and more can look self-indulgent.

4. Use full sentences. It’s a formal application, and you want to make your written materials as readable as possible.

5. Avoid abbreviations. Again, you want to be formal, and abbreviations you think are common might not be familiar to the reader.

6. Make sure you spell out your accomplishments clearly. If your reader doesn’t understand an activity, you will not get “full credit” for what you’ve done. Make no assumptions.

7. Write about yourself and your role – not an organization. For example, don’t use the space to discuss Physicians without Borders. Use it to discuss the specifics of your role at Physicians without Borders.

8. Use numbers to be persuasive. Saying that the conference you organized had 300 participants says it all.

9. Unless your PI won the Nobel, avoid using supervisors' and/or doctors' names in your descriptors as they will be meaningless to the majority of your readers.

10. Get help. Do not submit your residency application without having it reviewed. Don’t submit suboptimal materials for a process that is this important and competitive.

Nailing the Residency or Medical School Interview

Google had a problem.

As a New York Times article describes it, Google executives were growing increasingly aware that they were not hiring enough women. Worse still, they were attracting negative attention about it. So, Google did what Google does best: They amassed data and mined it.

In their analysis, among other findings, Google concluded that the company was overlooking women who tended to be more modest than comparable male applicants during interviews. The interviewers inappropriately perceived the women applicants to be less accomplished, and the female candidates were not offered jobs. (Once they understood the problem, Google altered their internal hiring policies accordingly.) 

This story is instructive in understanding the importance of your residency or medical school interview.

Let’s start with your overarching strategy, one that can be gleaned from the Google story: The residency and medical school interview processes are persuasive ones. Your role is to convince faculty that you deserve a slot at their institutions. The best way to persuade is with facts, just like a lawyer does when s/he is trying a case in front of a judge. Saying you are compassionate or hardworking is not convincing, and it doesn’t distinguish you from the scores of other people the interviewer is meeting. You need to prove your worth by highlighting your academic, clinical, research, community service, leadership, international, and/or teaching achievements.

When mentoring applicants, I hear them ask: Michelle, if I showcase my accomplishments in my residency/ medical school interview, doesn’t that mean I’m being redundant? My answer: Absolutely! Think of the medical admissions process like building a house. Your ERAS®/AMCAS® and letters serve as one layer of that house – like scaffolding. In other words, your accomplishments are conveyed simply and succinctly there. The personal statement is your opportunity to apply a thicker layer, one in which you flesh out your achievements, thus persuading the reader of your distinctiveness (plumbing, pipes, electrical). Finally, the interview is your chance to add on the thickest peel (exterior, roof). Discussing your accomplishments in detail can seal the interviewer’s positive impression of you. 

If you still feel shy about drawing attention to your achievements, I can assure you that occasionally residency and medical school interviewers do not leave adequate time to review materials for the candidates they will ultimately judge, or they are asked to interview such a large number of applicants that they might understandably get candidates confused. If you treat every residency and medical school interview as though it were a “blind” one, you address these obstacles. Determine in advance how you want your interviewers to remember you when they represent you to the committee, and tailor your interview to leave that impression. At the end of the week, when your interviewer asks what others thought of the "young woman who volunteered with Mother Teresa while doing malaria research and competitive hammer-throwing,” all the other admissions officers know immediately she is referring to you.

Medical School Interview Questions: How to Handle the Illegal Ones

In the United States, a professional interview is subject to basic legal rules. Specifically, admissions officers should refrain from asking medical school interview questions that are not relevant to the position the interviewee is seeking. Questions about race, religion, sexual orientation, and marital or family status fall into this category.

If you are asked these types of questions, you can simply answer - if it's not distasteful to you - or respond by addressing the intent of the question without revealing personal information. ("I think you're asking if my home life will affect my ability to carry out my medical school studies or my clinical duties. I can assure you it won't, and I’ll complete my full tenure here at your school.")

If you have the opportunity to give feedback to the institution about your medical school interview questions or experience, you can consider doing so after the interview. When I was interviewing for residency, I was asked by a faculty member if I had a boyfriend. After the interview day, I talked to a faculty mentor at my school who reported the situation to the other institution. The faculty member who asked me the illegal question was no longer permitted to interview.

Residency Personal Statement: Should you be a Creative Non-Conformist?

There is no question that being different is an asset in medicine. Those who think outside the box consider diagnoses that others miss, craft approaches to tough patients that others don’t conceive of, and come up with solutions to systemic problems that can positively change medicine as a whole. However, being different does not mean being unprofessional.

Yes, you want to distinguish yourself in your residency personal statement, but you want to do that by showcasing your unique and impressive pre-professional accomplishments, not by submitting a zany essay. Think of it this way: It would be a shame to annihilate your career goal because you’ve made a reader cringe when you were simply trying to write imaginatively.

This is not to say your residency personal statement should be boring! By using good writing techniques – crafting a catchy intro, using robust language, even choosing a compelling sequence – you can write an outstanding essay while still showcasing your accomplishments.

For the skeptic who insists, “Michelle, I’m special. I can do something wild and not scare off the reader,” I will tell you the following anecdote: In all of the time I read essays at Harvard, I remember only one applicant who submitted a truly wacky essay who still received rave reviews. (There was a lively discussion about his weird personal statement, however, before he got the thumbs up.) This person was a true superstar applicant. He came to our program, was loved by patients and staff alike, and eventually became an emergency medicine chief resident. The point of this story? I remember him because he was an outlier - the only applicant in years of assessing candidates whose strange essay did NOT kill his candidacy. Much like CPR, the vast majority of eccentric essay writers don't respond to heroic efforts to save their candidacy.

Take home point: You get one bullet. Don’t use it to shoot yourself in the foot.

How to Explain Inconsistencies in Your Medical School Application

You put your heart and soul into your compelling, charismatic medical school personal statement; you showcased your accomplishments and drive to succeed in your activities section; and you demonstrated the endorsement of respected faculty allies in your letters of recommendation. Now your hard work has paid off and helped you get a foot in the door: You’ve been invited to interview at your dream medical school.

But how do you manage the medical school interview when you have a gap in your resume? Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you took a year off after college and moved to Barcelona to pursue an exciting romantic relationship, only to find yourself dumped two months later. You moped the rest of the year and had neither research nor volunteer experiences to show for your time off. Your interviewer asks you that dreaded medical school interview question: What exactly did you do, anyway, during the gap year?

A prepared candidate can see this interview question as an opportunity to turn a skeptic into an ally. Responding with a calm demeanor – without making excuses or delving into the intricacies of your personal life – will make you look professional. This is a great time to explain that, although you graduated college with a minimum of life experiences, your year off helped you consider alternative professional paths and strengthened your resolve to enter medicine. Consequently, you will pursue your medical career with greater maturity and commitment and a broader perspective than those who went straight through.

The medical school interview requires preparation and an optimistic attitude. Support your candidacy with practice and enthusiasm.

Managing Difficult Medical School Interview Questions: Rehearse Your Elevator Pitch Now

An important key to preparing for tough medical school interview questions is realizing that a) interviewing is a skill and b) practice improves performance. Every year too many medical school (and residency, fellowship, and dental school) candidates expend tremendous energy assembling fantastic applications, only to undermine their chances by approaching the interview with twisted laws of entropy and enthalpy: They prepare for it with maximum randomness and minimum energy.

Once you’ve done adequate groundwork, the medical school interview represents your opportunity to distinguish yourself and impress your interviewers as the type of candidate they’d love to have at their institution.

That’s not to say every interview will be full of hugs and puppy kisses. Like the story of the interviewer whose window was nailed shut, there may be uncomfortable moments and even illegal questions. With a bit of preparation, you can learn to hit these curveball questions out of the park. Let’s explore an example that has come up in the not-so-distant past.

Rehearse Your Elevator Pitch

While most interviewers take the time to read your application materials in advance, don’t be offended by the faculty member who did not prepare, is blankly flipping through your application right there in front of you, and who asks open-ended (and dreaded) medical school interview questions, such as “Tell me about yourself” to be brought up to speed. View it this way: These faculty members are offering you the opportunity to define how you’d like to be remembered.

Your goal should be twofold: 1) to persuade them how much you’d add to their institution and 2) to make their job easier by giving them the bullet points they’ll need to persuade their peers about your candidacy’s worthiness. When your interviewer sits around a table advocating on your behalf, steer her to use terms that will be germane to your candidacy. Are you the, “global health advocate who volunteered with Mother Teresa and ran his school’s homeless food program?” Or perhaps you are the “first generation college graduate who held premier leadership positions in medical school?” Help your interviewer help you.

In the end, difficult interview questions are less intimidating if you both prepare well and have an attitude that they are an opportunity to clarify and further your candidacy.

Residency Personal Statement: What's Your Best Strategy and How Do You Execute It?

I've had several applicants recently ask me if they need to showcase their accomplishments in their residency personal statements if they have already drafted a strong ERAS activities section. The simple answer is yes.

First, remember that you don't know at what part of your application the readers will be starting. If some start with your personal statement, and it's pale, you will have lost those readers from the beginning.

Also, note that the faculty members seeing your application are reading many more ERASes than just yours. If you only mention an important achievement once in your application, the program director might simply forget your accomplishment. After all, s/he is reading scores or even hundreds of similar applications. Your readers have to be reminded several times of your candidacy's strengths. (You'll mention those accomplishments in your interviews as well.)

To a program director who hasn't yet met you, you are what you've done. You need to use substantive examples of your achievements to demonstrate your worthiness for a potential residency position. Evidence is persuasive; use it!

How to Design Your Life

I just watched a great video called, "Designing Your life: What Do you Want to Be (When You Grow Up)?" The mini-workshop is part of the Stanford (University) Connects program and showcases design professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, who run a course about life design at Stanford. For those who want to make considered choices about their professional and personal future (and who doesn't?) I recommend the video workshop. You'll be taken through exercises about how to craft different versions of yourself and how to explore options through prototype conversations.

Medical School Interview Questions - Discerning or Disturbing?

This fun piece from the Harvard Medical School (HMS) alumni magazine is worth a read. The article, "Stress Fractures" by Dr. Jules Dienstag, a member of the HMS Admissions Committee, briefly chronicles a history of the "stress" interview at HMS, specifically whether a well-known professor Dr. Daniel H. Funkenstein used the dubious tactic. The famous nailed-shut window story is explored.

ERAS Help and Scheduling

Just a reminder that U.S. medical students can already register for MyERAS and can start inputting their application materials. IMGs must wait until June 21 for their tokens and then they, too, can register. Both groups can "assign" their documents early September, which means that at that time they can start sending their completed applications to ACGME-accredited residencies.

DO candidates for AOA-accredited residencies have a somewhat accelerated cycle; please check it out here.

No matter what camp you are in, please start working on your materials early. Good writing takes a lot of time, and that mad rush at the end is never strategic.

How to Navigate the Residency Personal Statement when You're Applying for a Preliminary Year

Candidates who apply to certain fields - dermatology, ophthalmology, etc. - need a preliminary or transitional year of residency before initiating their specialty training. So does that mean those applicants need to toil over two personal statements?

No, thankfully. It's very appropriate (and strategic) to use the same essay with modifications. Ensure you explicitly address why a prelim year will advance the rest of your career and how you will contribute to the training program as a future specialist.

When you use a very similar essay, you can be honest about what your professional goals are. After all, the reader knows you're applying for a one-year position anyway.

Remember that many preliminary/transitional year programs are eager to match residents who are moving onto competitive fields. In general, those applicants will have strong USMLE scores, evaluations, and clinical skills.

Medical School Help: What are the Next Steps Once the AMCAS is In?

Once you've submitted your AMCAS, what can you do next to best prepare for what's to come in the medical school admissions process?

Here are a few tips:

1. Start to draft secondary essays. Even if you haven't yet received the prompts, you can begin to craft responses to common themes like "how would you add diversity to our school?" and "describe an extracurricular activity that might be of interest to the committee." Good writing takes time, but if you wait for the onslaught of secondary applications, you won't be able to impart your essays with your highest quality effort.

2. Get a head start on preparing for the medical school interview. Practice, practice, practice. Start mocking up answers to interview questions so that you distinguish yourself.

3. Consider what you want. Do some soul searching to determine what you are really seeking geographically, philosophically, and educationally. You want to make considered decisions when the time comes.

AMCAS tips

On June 7, you can submit your AMCAS. In preparation for that rapidly upcoming date, here are a few quick tips for writing your AMCAS activities:

1. Use full sentences. It's a formal application, and you want to make your written materials as readable as possible.

2. Avoid abbreviations. Again, you want to be formal, and abbreviations you think are common might not be familiar to the reader.

3. Make sure you spell out your accomplishments clearly. If your reader doesn't understand an activity, you will not get "full credit" for what you've done.

4. Choose "most meaningful" activities that show a breadth of experience, e.g. one that is related to research, another that is clinical, and a final that is volunteer.

5. Write about yourself and your role - not an organization. For example, don't use the space to discuss Habitat for Humanity. Use it to discuss the specifics of your role at Habitat for Humanity.

6. Use numbers to be persuasive. Saying that the conference you organized had 300 participants says it all.

7. Get help. Do not submit your application without having it reviewed. Don't submit suboptimal materials for a process that is this important and competitive.

Medical Students: How Do you Select Your Specialty?

'Tis the season: Yes, it's time to make those final decisions about your future specialty. However, the way the medical education system is set up, it's a very difficult and stressful choice to make. Here's my Student Doctor Network article on how to choose your future career.

Get a Better Letter

After over a decade of reading medical school and residency letters of recommendation (LOR), I can tell you that the biggest error I see in the LOR process occurs when applicants settle for mediocre letters. In other words, they know that a supervisor/faculty member/attending isn't going to write them a strong letter, but they fill the LOR slot with the middling endorsement anyway.

Please take a look at my most recent Student Doctor Network article, "Get a Better Letter" for concrete ideas on how to approach the letter of recommendation process.

Personal Statement Errors You Can Easily Avoid

As AMCAS® and ERAS® openings approach, I wanted to remind candidates about a few personal statement errors to avoid. First, take a look at my piece Tales from an Insider on Student Doctor Network about how to write a persuasive (not narrative) personal statement. Second, spend under two minutes (literally) checking out two Guru on the Go® Videos on my YouTube channel: Personal Statement Russian Roulette #1 and #2.

Contact me for personalized help on your documents.

AMCAS Opens this Week

Just a reminder that AMCAS opens on May 3, and you can submit your AMCAS as early as June 7. This application cycle's AMCAS Processing Fee is $160 (which includes one medical school designation). Additional medical school designations are $38 each.

AMCAS has fantastic resources, including a FAQ sheet and pre-med calendar for applicants. Take a look here to get started.