Doctor’s Orders

Doctor’s Orders is our section for residents and physicians to give wisdom and advice to medical students.

Angela Kim, MD Angela Kim, MD (1 Posts)

Physician Guest Writer

Ob Hospitalist Group


Dr. Angela Kim did her OBGYN residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and now works as an obstetrics hospitalist with Ob Hospitalist Group in Ohio.




5 Ways to Thrive in Your Medical Training

Dr. Gary Shlifer, DO recently completed his residency training in internal medicine at Indiana University in Indianapolis, IN after attending medical school at Midwestern University (AZCOM) in Glendale, AZ. He is currently an Attending Physician in Los Angeles, CA where he grew up and attended UCLA for his undergraduate studies. He is passionate about sharing his experiences from his medical training and giving a voice to young physicians everywhere. Gary is also a regular contributor with Docs of Tomorrow.

How We Should Treat Failure, by Matthew Bloom, DO

How we respond to failure says a lot about who we are. In business, failure is often seen as a good thing. World-famous motivation speaker Tony Robbins likes to say, “You’re either winning, or learning.” He replaces the word losing with learning. We learn from our mistakes when we fail. Failing allows us to move forward in life, to grow into something better. Why is failure treated so differently in medicine?

Applying to Residency is Overwhelming, Let’s Start with the Basics, by Sagar Patel, MD

You’re almost through with med school—the exams, the lectures, the rotations—but here’s where things get really real. Now it’s time to apply for residency. Don’t take your foot off the gas pedal yet, though. Residency applications are just as nuanced as medical school applications. They require plenty of preparation and attention to detail to ensure you have a successful match. A key difference, however, is that applicants and residencies are both trying to find an appropriate fit with each other.

Entrepreneurship in Medical School, by Stuart Maitland, MBBS, MSc

How do you define an entrepreneur? You might have visions of bleary-eyed university students hunched over laptops in the dark, coding the next Facebook or of businesspeople starting a new chain of restaurants. As an entrepreneur, the only definition I’ve been able to relate to comes from Eric Ries, writer of Lean Startup: “someone who creates a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty.”

Can Doctors Be the Next Big Startup? by Matthew Bloom, DO

Everyone has heard of startups. For many of us, the term “startup” is a reference to technology companies in Silicon Valley. Companies like Google and Apple for example. These companies are so well-known to us because their products and services have and continue to significantly shape and define the world we live in today, from how we purchase almost everything we buy to how we communicate with almost everyone we know. But startups seem to have become more than just providers of goods and services — they’ve become lore of our capitalistic society: a standard for what it means to be truly successful.

Breaking Bad News: A Side of Medicine That Is Not Easy, by Sahil Munjal, MD

Have you ever had a sinking feeling in your stomach when you are about to tell something to a patient or family member that might change their life forever? I had that feeling before speaking to the wife of my patient, Mr. Smith. It had only been one day since Mr. Smith was first admitted to the inpatient unit but regardless of how long the interaction is with a patient and their loved ones, some news is always difficult to deliver.

Things To Do To Shine on Your Anesthesia Clerkship, by Daniel Orlovich, MD, PharmD

You see, when starting your anesthesiology clerkship it feels as if you are learning a completely new skillset and knowledge base. Of course you are drawing on common principles in physiology, pharmacology, and anatomy. But how they play out, and how you apply those concepts, are fresh. Here are some tips to maximize your learning, assist your resident and really start to appreciate the field.

Daniel Orlovich, MD, PharmD Daniel Orlovich, MD, PharmD (1 Posts)

Physician Guest Writer

Stanford University School of Medicine


Daniel Orlovich, MD, PharmD is a resident physician in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University. He attended medical school at the University of California Irvine. He has written for the American Society of Anesthesiology, California Society of Anesthesiology, Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and Anesthesiology News.