Express Yourself

I'm working post call.  Just another day.   I got to talk to a senior resident about what I'm going through and he said he went through the same thing as me!  It made me feel so much better that I'm not alone.  I've known the resident for a long time and they told me they've noticed I have changed.

Residency is hard.  People drop out. People switch specialties even 2 years into residency.  If you don't have a support structure, build one!  It's so important. If you're not comfortable talking to people in your residency, make friends in other fields at your hospital and talk, even ancillary staff.  

People in the medical world work very hard, down to the techs and people who clean the operating rooms.  I just live in a constant state of exhaustion, hunger, and thirst.  I am careful about how much water and caffeine I take in because I don't want to be stuck with having to go to the bathroom when there's so much to do or I'm in a case.  

Another aspect of residency is working with people in other fields and building my reputation as someone knowledgeable and trustworthy.  So far it's been good. I can't emphasize how important it is to introduce yourself to the people you work with, even if it's just one call shift for a few minutes. 

Going to make it through this week for some hard earned rest. 

Winning Plans to Save Money During Medical School

FAFSA: Completed
Undergraduate Debt: It's still there!
Plans to Save Money During Medical School: In Progress..

Well, with med school coming up and undergrad loans still being paid off, I decided to compile a list of ways to help with money during medical school:

1. Forget spending money on detergent, I'm going to beat my clothes on a rock in the middle of a river.

2. Whenever there is free food ANYWHERE, I'll take it and if anyone stops me I'll say "Don't worry, I work here. You know, upstairs." Or growl ravenously.

3. OR: Eat what I grow on Farmville.

4. Sell my car, lose weight, and travel by human-powered glider.

5. Use my oil paints to make absurd, splattery messes and sell them as "prized work from an inspired, visionary Dutch artist."

6. As for electric bills: I'll hook up everything to my racing bike: by the end of the year I'll weigh 0 pounds but have a bill of $0.00. Success. Sort of.

7. Stress out a little extra so the hair I lose from it will save me money on haircuts.

Or I guess I could live okay during med school and land a practice in interventional neurodermatoradiopathology.

Choosing a Medical School

Haha, I typed "Shoosing a Medical School" because I was thinking of "Selecting" and "Choosing" at the same time. Either way, this article should help you "shoose" the med school that's right for you.

Alright, so you've been accepted! Definitely take time to celebrate and share the excitement with the people you care about.

However, now, you've got a decision to make about where to attend. The most important advice I have here is "go where you think you'll be happy," and "consider where you had a great interview day."

I can't decide for you, and no one else can, but hopefully my post can help a little.

The schools I considered the most (I've narrowed it down but I'm still deciding and waiting to hear back from one final school) were the ones where I felt put together a great interview day. Applying for medical school and going to interviews is expensive, and kind of stress-inducing, so it's nice when a school does what it can to make your interview day really smooth.

Warmth (for lack of a better term): Warmth of the place you're at might not seem like a big deal at first, but you'll be there for 4 years (or more if you're doing a research track). See if the students really collaborate a lot and are friendly, rather than competitive and not open to helping. I haven't interviewed at a school where students seemed self-interested, but I'm sure different people get different vibes.

Research: Are you interested in becoming an MD/PhD or researching as an MD? Then I'd consider looking at the calibre of research at that institution, but if you're more focused on developing clinical skills, I'd take a look at the medical school's clinical training sites.

Reputation: From what I've heard, where you go to med school doesn't matter that much when it comes to residency (but I'm totally open to being corrected, enlightened). I think you have to just do really well on your boards and clinical rotations, and also get solid rec letters, and you should be in good shape.

I wouldn't let this "lower-tier" or "high-prestige" talk get to you, go where you'll be happy for the next 4 pretty intense years of your life, and where you think you can have a great support system, as well as great clinical training.

Med School Interviews

Hey everyone, I'm back with an entry about medical school interviews. Hopefully you guys who are applying this 2010 are doing what you guys need to do to prepare a strong app (even though the apps don't open yet, it doesn't hurt to start getting your rec letters and your MCAT over with).

After you submit your MCAT scores and your completed app, you guys should breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, after that, you have to wait to hear back from schools for an interview. It might be a little nerve-wracking with all the waiting, but be sure to take time for yourself and don't stress.

Once you hear back from medical schools about your interview, definitely take some time to celebrate and feel good about reaching the last stage of the medical school admissions process.

I was fortunate to interview at 10 schools (and was actually kind of shocked I got some of the interviews I did) and I did feel nervous before my first one. However, I consistently met really friendly interviewers throughout the interview season and I was more excited than nervous about my interviews.

Should you feel nervous or stressed out prior to your interview, or on interview day?. That's normal, but try to keep a positive mindset: your interviewers aren't against you, they're more for you since they present you to the admissions committee, so think of them as a friend or a partner in the admissions process.

The only advice I really have for interviews is this:

-Go over your application and make sure you have your dates straight, and know your listed activities well enough to talk about them in a conversation.

-Relax! You made it this far and the school really just wants to meet the person on paper and see if they're a good fit for the school's "personality" or mission.

-Expanding on the last one, looking relaxed and confident is great: If you're an applicant incredibly nervous about the interview, how are you going to handle board exams, or patients in critical condition? There are bigger things!

-Be humble, smile, show your sense of humour (at the right time), and connect. You'll potentially be seeing patients and in charge of their well-being, and I'm very certain medical schools want personable people to be in that role.

-Thank the interviewer for their time: I was interviewed by a neurosurgeon with an insane schedule, and I felt really humbled by the whole thing. Interviewers are excited about people who are excited about medicine and take time off to do the interview day (when they could be seeing patients or performing surgeries), so thank them for their time.

-Sincerely be sincere. Don't compliment the interviewer on every little thing, or fawn over their CV, or be smarmy or anything. Sincerity and humility are important qualities in a physician, and hopefully you can show that at the right time.

This isn't critical insider information but it may help: I really don't think you get evaluated for every little thing about you on interview day, I think all the evaluation is done during the one-on-one (or group interview at Northwestern). Plus, I'm certain the people coordinating the day understand the applicants are pretty nervous, so they cut you some slack.

Oh, one more important thing: the Dress Code.

For males, I really recommend a charcoal or dark gray suit, white shirt, and a tie you feel comfortable in that is a muted colour.

Females: I'd try the same muted colour thing, and do wear appropriate-length skirts, since you're interviewing and not at the club or whatever.

The reason I recommend charcoal/dark gray is that to me, black is over-doing it and a colour usually reserved for weddings or sombre events. It'll make you stand out and looks "fresh" compared to the mob of interviewers in stark black.

Navy works too, but that might be a little harder to make work. You could probably get away with a white shirt, navy suit, and dark gray/muted silver tie.

A popular look at my interviews (besides the black mourning look) was a navy suit with a yellow shirt, for some reason.

Dark brown suits can work too, but usually if you're going to spend that much on a suit, you want something more versatile like dark gray or navy.

I hope I helped some, and don't forget to relax and enjoy yourself on interview day!

How About an Introduction?

Hey everyone, and welcome to my new medical school-themed blog.

I'm a male MS-0 (admitted to medical school, but still choosing where to go) and thought it'd be pretty awesome to start a blog chronicling the adventure/craziness that medical school seems to be, as well as relevant stuff before medical school.

I'm absolutely thrilled to have been accepted to medical school, and I'm really glad all of those long hours of studying really paid off. I also am really thankful to all of my mentors and people who wrote my letters of recommendation: I think people who see potential in us tend to be among the most influential people in our lives.

Having been accepted, there's nothing like living a hermetic study life during undergrad to be rewarded with the second part of a hermetic study life for medical school, haha.

Anyway, my blog title comes from the fact that I studied undergrad at the University of Texas at Austin, a completely awesome place to do so. I never had much school spirit in anything until university, and there are just so many amazing things about UT: the city of Austin, the people, food, live music, the football team, it's basically paradise in Texas haha.

Currently, I'm working in a laboratory before taking a lengthy vacation before medical school (carpe awesome!) and I enjoy stuff like watching Britcoms, playing guitar and violin, working out, oil painting, and spending insane amounts of time on wikipedia.


I'll try to keep my entries short from here on out, and post an entry or two on medical school admissions, hopefully they'll benefit some of the readers!

Til next,

A Medicool Student