With care moving to various virtual formats it was inevitable that as medical students we would have to become well versed with these technologies. Prior to my first virtual care experience, I was fortunate enough to have a practice session organized by my school. I can recall how awkward it felt, to have serious conversations […]
My Makeup Routine for the Hospital: Residency Life
I know this isn’t the usual post, but I started thinking about the things that we do every day and why we do them. Right now, it’s important to hold on to some sense of normalcy from our old normal. It’s hard to uproot from what we once knew to do something completely different. Something […]
Delivering During a Pandemic: Experiences of an OBGYN Intern
As we all know COVID 19 the number of COVID-19 cases has been growing around the nation. One of the many detrimental outcomes that this pandemic has is the effect on pregnant patients who are delivering in the hospital. Although politics might differ (slightly) around the nation, our program allows for one support person to […]
Avani’s Top 5 “What’s In My Bag” Essentials
Let’s talk about some new essentials now that times have changed, thanks to COVID-19. My everyday necessities have now changed for me. Sometimes, what our “old normal” looked like seems like a foreign concept. Every time I leave my home, I realized how much I used to take for granted seeing people, seeing their smiles, […]
Virtual Learning Experiences: Part 2
Having used videos as study aids while in medical school I assumed these online lectures would be something similar. However, while they had the same essence they came with their own set of challenges. Some benefits of having these lectures in the virtual format enabled me to ask and answer more questions via the chat […]
Virtual Learning Experiences: Part 1
As soon as we got the email that we were pulled out of clinical duties, I was surprised. Even though the coronavirus had been declared as a pandemic, I didn’t think it would get that bad. Canada was not as affected at the time. However, I remember speaking to my staff at the time who […]
An Updated About Me: Avani K. Patel, MD, MHA
As we navigate this new normal, I find that for medical students, especially fourth-year medical students, the journey to residency has changed drastically. I can’t imagine trying to interview and rank institutions based on virtual interactions only. In the spirit of our new normal, I have found many residency programs are now creating Instagram pages […]
Cognitive Distortions: Med School Edition
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on confronting maladaptive thought patterns and changing behaviors to achieve psychological wellbeing. One of the most common ways that this type of therapy is performed is by consciously labeling these distressing thoughts as ‘cognitive distortions’ with the intent of showing how unrealistic and unhelpful […]
Volunteering as a Treatment for Depression?
Victor Frankel, a psychiatrist, and holocaust survivor, once wrote, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’”. He believed that meaning was central to a fulfilling life and that consequently, the search for meaning was a fundamental component of the treatment of psychopathology like depression. Most providers understand this intuitively—that […]
Residency Application – The Letter of Recommendation
Asking for a letter of recommendation for residency application can be tricky especially during COVID times, when time spent with attending physicians may be minimized as a result of social distancing and hiatus from clerkships. When determining a strong letter writer, you will want to make sure you are asking a physician who you have […]
