I never thought there could be poor performing medical students on clinical rotations until I became a resident. That was a real shocker for me. The example stories you’ve been told of what NOT TO DO—guess what? Medical students still do them. That is always beyond me. How? What? Why? Just some starter words for […]
Studying Can Be Hard
I remember the times I was studying for USMLE Step 1 and Step 2. I was in medical school, and I knew I would have special “dedicated time” just to focus because that was my only responsibility. Those times were hard. I didn’t enjoy them. I felt like all the joy in my life was […]
Easy Meal Prep on a Busy Schedule
Back by popular demand are my easy meal prep ideas, residency edition! I told myself that I would carry on the tradition of eating healthy, simple meals, even with my busy residency schedule and I am proud to say that I have thus far been able to accomplish my goal. Residency has also been a […]
Patient Education: How can Physicians Improve as Teachers?
Just recently I was listening to a lecture by one of our physicians regarding cervical cancer. He made a statement that really stuck with me: “although we have made many advances towards screening, and treating the progression of cervical cancer, there is still more work to be done.” So I began to ask myself what […]
Delivering Bad News
Delivering bad news is a part of medicine. It has been something that I have had to witness as a medical student and now take a part in as a resident physician. Meeting with families to discuss goals of care or delivering a poor prognosis over the phone to those who cannot visit their loved […]
Intensive Care Unit During a Pandemic
One of the best aspects of my residency program includes the ability to rotate with our intensive care unit (ICU) team to increase our learning opportunities given the acuity of our patients. What makes our rotation this year even more challenging is working through a pandemic especially in California, one of the states experiencing high […]
Reflections on my Favorite ASCP 2020 Sessions–2
Scientific luminaries like Keith Porter of the Rockefeller Institute have asserted that a vital step in the birth of a new field is the establishment of specialized journals and institutions. In this session Dr. Roger L. Bertholf describes this process for Laboratory Medicine through an exploration of the field’s eponymous journal. Journals reflect not only […]
Inpatient Rotations During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Although we have been back in the hospital for several months now after a hiatus when COVID-19 was ramping up initially last year, there are a few things that are different about inpatient rotations in the context of COVID-19 precautions now. There are pros and cons to these precautions in light of student learning, however, […]
The Rank List
For the fourth year medical students, interview season is coming to an end and it is almost time to devise our rank lists. This can be a daunting task, as the future literally lies in our hands to an extent. The ranking process tries to work in the applicant’s favor by matching you up with […]
Reflections on my Favorite ASCP 2020 Sessions – 1
When I first considered pursuing a career in the field, I could not see how to reconcile a largely lab-based field like pathology with my passions for global health and addressing healthcare disparities. The revelation that not only do the fields readily reconcile but are in fact inextricably linked emerged for me after months of […]
