2020 was a difficult year on many levels. The pandemic, police violence, and a contentious election all cast a shadow over this past year and with so many things that seem wrong with the world, it would be easy to fall into despair. But the new year is a time for hope and a time […]
The Who and XYY of Maegor the Cruel
As is well known to regular readers of my posts I often enjoy reflecting on the real scientific and medical parallels of phenomena in George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Most recently a thought came to me regarding Maegor the Cruel, the third Targaryen King. While much discussion has been dedicated […]
Medicine in Media: Bending the Arc
Before the recent shift to pass/fail step I scoring authorities at the NBME and the Federation of State Medical Boards derided students for likely devoting “more time to activities that make them less prepared to provide quality care, such as binge-watching the most recent Netflix series” in a score free world. Not only was this […]
Patient and Provider Advocacy
One of my main philosophies as a healthcare provider was to empower my patients and form a relationship where we both make decisions as a team. Many times as a patient myself, I felt as though I didn’t have all the information to make an informed decision regarding my own health. I felt lost and […]
Taking Time for Yourself
Let’s talk about a topic that I feel is sometimes hard to talk about especially in the field of medicine where one may feel a lot of pressure. It’s hard to say you need time or a vacation when everyone else around you seem to be able to do it all, but let me tell […]
The Letter of Interest for Residency Interviews
It is the middle of the interview season, and you haven’t heard from a number of programs you applied to. With the pandemic shifting the normal schedule of interviews, it is unclear to you whether programs are delaying sending out invites, or if you missed the cut. Either way, you know you have to resort […]
Pros and Cons of Virtual Interview Season
Initially, I imagined this virtual residency interview season would be a struggle in terms of getting a good feel for a residency program. While I do believe it is more difficult to grasp the culture of the program over webcam and miss the opportunity to visit each hospital in person, I am impressed with how […]
Book Review – The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly
The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly details the author’s journey from intern year of residency to becoming a second-year resident in the end. As one who is about to graduate medical school and enter internship next summer, this was a nice illustration of some of the dilemmas and emotions I certainly will encounter as […]
What is Urgent Care?
I just completed my four-week outpatient sub-internship in urgent care, and I must admit that prior to this rotation, I did not know exactly what purpose urgent care served. Over the past four weeks through many provider complaints about what was unnecessarily getting triaged to them, I have learned what urgent care is and what […]
Finalizing Specialty Selection During my Clinical Years
Having just officially entered the residency application cycle at the time this piece is being written I thought I would reflect on my decision-making process during my clinical years of medical school. I feel I adopted a somewhat backward approach in selecting the field into which I am now applying. Rather than thinking about what […]
