Family Medicine

Is swiftly falling off my list. Today I worked with a family med doctor who was young and seemed pretty cool. But I was so bored I wanted to DIE. First of all, the patients I saw were less than exciting. Sinus problems, hypertension, diabetes, allergies, etc. But, hey, that's ok.... these things are important too. So in clinic myself and a 3rd year (who pretty much was a kick-ass rockstar) did the entire H and P on the patient. So the attending just had to come in and confirm our findings. With every other doc this takes just a few minutes.

Not today however. It took this guy 30 minutes. 30 MINUTES!!!! 30 minutes to tell the patient to get Zyrtec OTC at Walgreens. There were 3 med students, a patient and an attending crammed into a tiny little room with inadequate air-conditioning for 30 minutes. I was cursing family medicine the ENTIRE TIME. I could have rounded on 40+ patients in the ED in that amount of time.

Sorry Dr. D. I still think you rock, though. :)

Top 10 Mistakes Pre-Meds Make

1. Not majoring in something you ENJOY, are GOOD AT, and you can get GOOD GRADES in.

2. Not listening to what an admissions officer tells you. Really listening. If they say, "I think you should consider the Carribean", don't waste your time applying there. If they say "I think you need 3 more points on your MCAT", don't apply to THEIR school until you have 3 more points. They aren't lying to you.

3. Asking people for letters of recommendation who suck at writing. Better to have a fabulous letter from some yahoo than 2 generic lines from a Nobel laureate.

4. Not taking full length practice MCATS. Timed. Lots of them.

5. LISTENING to pre-med advisors. Bleh.

6. Spending tons of money on high profile PBPM programs. Go to state school. It's cheap and adequate. Also, don't go to community college unless they have a VERY reputable science/pre-med department. Most admissions committees are not too keen on CC's unless they know their curriculum.

7. Focusing too much on "volunteer" work. No admissions committee gives a crap about you having a billion volunteer hours. They want to see that you are involved and committed to your community, that you are altruistic, and that you have clinical experience. If you are able to demonstrate these things in your application, racking up hundreds of hours of volunteer work is totally unnecessary.

8. Being too passive. American culture tells us that we shouldn't be pushy, that we shouldn't ask for favors, etc. That's fine if you have a stellar application with a 3.8 and a 40 on the MCAT and you've singlehandedly revamped the water system in Djibouti. For the rest of us, get assertive. Note: I am NOT advocating that you be obnoxious, pushy or annoying. But contact the Deans, make appointments, write letters, have a faculty member call on your behalf, etc. I lost out on an entire year because I didn't want to be "pushy" and the Dean simply forgot about me.

9. Stressing. About everything. But you can't avoid it. You're a pre-med.

10.Letting the MCAT and the application process affect your feelings of self-worth. I can honestly say that I do not know even one medical student that breezed through every single aspect of this process. There is a huge disconnect between a pre-meds perception of themselves and their perception of the ease to which everyone else supposedly gets into med school. And if you're going to be in the medical field, get used to going up against adversity. Because now its the MCAT and the application. But in med school you have to beat the USMLE. Then its residency application. Then competition for fellowships. Then competition for faculty, and tenure, and on and on. It will never be over. Get some perspective and enjoy the journey.

GOOD LUCK !!!!

Lo Lo

One of my best friends has decided to go to med school. Well, I think she's pretty much convinced. I met her because we were getting our Masters degrees at the same time, back in 2006, and we've been friends ever since. We even worked together as epidemiologists for the state.

So even though I'm probably going to get my ass kicked for it, I want to put her story on here. First because she needs a team cheering for her, and second because I think her story is a good one.... (probably 'cause its a lot like mine). My friend, let's call her Lo-Lo... has been back and forth on this idea for a while. She says she's oscillating because she isn't sure if she's up to entering the world of tough academics and doctor stress... I say she's being chicken. She actually handles academics beautifully, is a resourceful student and I think she'd be a great doctor.

About her. She didn't major in the sciences, but did complete her pre-med requirements. She originally wanted to go to pharmacy school and scored really well on the PCAT (this would be the part of our stories that are clearly not alike). For whatever reason she didn't get accepted at the school she wanted to go to and sort of let the idea go. Then she got her MPH and has been working as an epidemiologist for 3 years. She briefly thought about med school again a few years back and took the MCAT but didn't do so hot. But she's trying again and plans to apply to med school this summer. If she matriculates next year she'll be 29 when she starts.

She's taking the MCAT on May 1st (2 weeks!) and she needs a little encouragement... so write her a message. And tell her to do the damn full-length exams! She's slacking on those!

Well...

I've added the profiles I've been sent to the tab above... but the formatting is totally f*&%$# up. But they are there none-the-less. And yes I know the colors suck. Nothin' doin. Sorry. Thanks for everyone who sent me one. Keep 'em comin!