Tag: choosing a specialty

Sasha Yakhkind (16 Posts)

Editor Emeritus: Former Medical Student Editor (2013-2015)

Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida

Sasha is thrilled for the opportunity to combine her interests in writing and medicine. She has been writing since she got her first journal in second grade, and editing since she ran her high school newspaper. Her interest in medicine evolved through travel, studying the brain through the lens of social science as undergraduate at Boston University, and together with her interest in yoga and dance. Sasha gets inspired on long runs and looks forward to few things more than hiking with her mom.

Allison Gray, MD: Choosing a Medical Specialty

Published by Sasha Yakhkind

I am the kind of person who can become interested in anything. When it came to thinking about a medical specialty, I was pretty open-minded from the get-go. That said, I grew up talking about the brain with my dad, a neuropsychologist. He would tell us fascinating stories about patients who had problems with different aspects of their cognition because of traumatic brain injuries that they had suffered. My sister and I grew up wearing helmets for everything — ice skating, tricycle-riding, you name it. Any activity in which you could potentially bump your head meant that we were wearing helmets. I guess in a way I was destined to be a neurologist — an interest in the brain was part of my DNA.

Match Day Spotlight 2014: Internal Medicine

Published by Christopher Deans

Recent fourth-year matcher (and in-Training writer) John Dougherty of the Feinberg School of Medicine provides his expertise on how to succeed — and stay sane — in medical school and beyond: 1. Tell us about yourself: Where are you from? What is your undergraduate degree and where did you receive it? Did you do anything between undergraduate and medical school? John Dougherty: I’m from Valparaiso, Indiana, and went to Northwestern for my undergraduate and medical …

Match Day Spotlight 2014: Family Medicine

Published by Christopher Deans

Recent fourth-year matcher (and in-Training editor) C. Emily Lu of the Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago, IL gives us her expert advice on succeeding in medical school and beyond. 1. Tell us about yourself: Where are you from? What is your undergraduate degree and where did you receive it? Did you do anything between undergraduate and medical school? C. Emily Lu: I grew up in Wisconsin, but have spent most of my adolescent andadult …

Choosing a Specialty: My Journey into Family Medicine

Published by Deke Barron

Well ladies and gents, it is that time of year again. The temperatures are getting cooler, the leaves are falling off the trees, and for thousands of fourth-year medical students, myself included, it is residency application and interview season. Fourth year year is a special time for all medical students. It means we are but mere months from achieving those oh-so-special added letters at the end of our names. It means no longer introducing yourself …

Orthopedics: A Thank You. Perspectives of a Patient, Family and Hopeful Applicant.

Published by Max Seiter

I quickly became acquainted with the practice of orthopedics during my childhood, as various boyish and overly rambunctious pursuits left me with over a dozen broken bones. Each break was relatively innocuous, at most fixed with some pinning; however, I became instantly aware of the gravity of orthopedic injury when my father broke his back on New Year’s Eve 2002. I was 14, and he was driving me to a friend’s house when we were …

My Path Towards a Career in Internal Medicine

Published by Manik Aggarwal

As our friends finish undergrad, apply for jobs, settle down and develop a lifestyle, we are preparing for the next standardized exam, writing that catchy personal statement and requesting another set of recommendation letters on our journey towards residency. Although medicine is not for everyone, for whom it is, it likely is the only choice. After completing three years of medical school, the time finally comes to choose what we will do for the rest …

Choosing Psychiatry: Reflections from a Fourth-Year Medical Student

Published by Reza Hosseini Ghomi

I entered medical school with the intention of becoming a primary care physician. In my previous years, I was an engineer and researcher, and my affinity for problem solving combined with deeply held interests in quality improvement, patient safety, integrative medicine and nutrition, naturally led me in the direction of primary care. Early in my third year of medical school, however, I found myself disillusioned. The primary care I had experienced was not quite what …

Choosing General Surgery: Reflections from a Fourth-Year Medical Student

Published by Valentina Bonev

Why do I want to become a general surgeon? The real question is why wouldn’t I want to become a general surgeon? I enjoy the operating room, I find the cases interesting, and I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. Even more than all the usual reasons, I feel like there’s something so unique about surgery that is almost indescribable. Being a surgeon is unlike any other career: you get to operate on people. You improve and …

Choosing Internal Medicine: Reflections from a Graduating Medical School Senior

Published by Kimberly Ku

“Leadership is taking responsibility for enabling others to achieve shared purpose in the face of uncertainty.” Marshall Ganz The first time I heard one of Marshall Ganz’s lectures, I was astounded. His topic that day was leadership in social movements and was informed by his work experiences, including his contributions to the civil rights movement under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ganz used his examples to outline five practices of leadership that we …

Choosing Family Medicine: Reflections from a Graduating Medical School Senior

Published by Jocelyn Mary-Estelle Wilson

Family medicine is not something I selected once and took for granted. In contrast it seems that family medicine is a path I chose in the past when I studied public health, am choosing as I begin residency, and will continue to choose as I grow into the physician I desire to be. As with any weighty decision, the act of choosing family medicine along with the events that follow reify this career path thus far …

Choosing OB/GYN: Reflections from a Graduating Medical School Senior

Published by Nikki Nametz

I guess you could call me a late bloomer. I certainly wasn’t one of those people who had known since receiving their Fisher Price doctor bag at age five that they would one day grow up to be a pediatrician. And when I started medical school four years ago, I still didn’t have the slightest clue what type of physician I would ultimately become. In making my third year schedule, I became acutely aware of …

Nikki Nametz (2 Posts)

Editor Emeritus: Former Medical Student Editor (2012-2013) and Former Resident Editor (2013-2014)

University of Arizona College of Medicine

After completing medical school at University of Arizona College of Medicine in 2013, I've moved on to residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Kaiser Permanente -- Los Angeles Medical Center. I'm passionate about preserving women's reproductive choices, ensuring access to health care for all Americans, and facilitating scientific discovery in medicine. Also, I hate writing, which is unfortunate because I've got some things to say. (If this whole being a doctor thing falls through, I plan to camp outside The Onion headquarters until someone hires me.)