Tag: medical education

Amy Ho Amy Ho (2 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

University of Texas Southwestern Medical School

Amy is a Class of 2014 medical student at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX going into Emergency Medicine with a strong interest in health policy. She is on the AMPAC Board of Directors, TEXPAC Board of Directors, and a contributing writer for Motley Fool.




On Becoming a Doctor: Excellent Medical Student, Terrible Clinician

Published by Amy Ho

There is a saying that you enter medical school wanting to help people but exit it wanting to help yourself. It may be a cynical view, but a realistic one. The criteria to being a good medical student are far different from being a good doctor. Medical education may be breeding a legion of self-serving, grade-grubbing, SOAP-note spewing machines rather than the “empathetic,” “compassionate” and “caring” physicians of admission essays yore. I was no different. …

No Mom, You’re Not Interrupting Me, I’m Always Studying

Published by Aisha Harris

Okay. So, I am in medical school. As in, really in medical school. Let’s take a moment and let that sink in. Tilt your head back and think about it. There aren’t many people that get into medical school. I won’t simply say it’s competitive; that belittles that fact that medical school has a significant lack of enrollment opportunities compared to the much-talked-about demand for future physicians. But really, I am a first-year medical student. …

I Don’t Know: The Medical Student Motto

Published by Daniel Lefler

It took one day of medical school to kick me off the high horse I rode through the months leading up to it. “Repeat after me,” said one of our administrators as he quieted down the eager students. “I am a first-year, and I know nothing. Remember that.” It was completely true. (A year later, it probably still is.) To all of my family members who keep asking me what that rash is: I don’t …

An Open Letter to the Self-Loathing D.O. Students

Published by Will Jaffee, DO

Here’s a curious phenomenon I can’t help but notice as an osteopathic medical student: the attempt that some osteopathic medical students make to distance themselves from the two letters that will soon piggyback their names forever. (I’ll give you a hint: the first letter isn’t M). As a member of my school’s curriculum committee, I sent out a handful of formal and informal surveys to gather students’ input on a variety of topics. Without fail, there would …

To Being Doctors-to-Be

Published by Mrigank Warrier

We who were always overachievers. Who missed the dusk of our adolescence solving multiple-choice questions. We who began our adult lives spending alternate days with corpses. Who carry bones in our bags and books that break our backs. Who spend the best years of youth in the grime of wards. Who have already witnessed a lifetime’s share of deaths. Who learn about depression but fail to recognise it in ourselves. We who have no definite …

The Ethnicity Factor in Choosing a Physician

Published by Qing Meng Zhang

I would like to begin this article with a question: Do the name and ethnicity of a doctor affect your decision when choosing a physician? America has always been a melting pot with diverse cultures and ethnicity. The medical field is a melting pot in its own right with its own politics, conflicts, racial disparities and the like. When I was starting medical school, my mother suggested that I should change my Chinese first name …

On the Road with Atul Nakhasi: AMA-MSS Chair and the Person Behind the Next Medical Student Revolution

Published by Meena Thatikunta

Atul Nakhasi has been called the most sought-after young man in Iowa—2007 Person of the Year, Campus Kingmaker, you name it—for his game-changing political organizing as president of University of Iowa Democrats during the 2008 presidential election. Atul now oversees 50,000 U.S. medical students as chair of the American Medical Association Medical Student Section (AMA-MSS). I vividly remember the email Atul sent to me during his campaign for chair almost a year ago. He casually …

Not Enough LGBT Training in Medical School

Published by Neil Kalsi

Approximately 3-5% of the population in the United States identifies as homosexual or as having sex with a person of the same gender at some point in their life. That is approximately eight to 12 million individuals. In comparison, the population of Boston, MA is around four million people. Los Angeles, CA has a population of approximately 10 million. These statistics suggest that engaging in sex with a partner of the same gender or being transgender is not uncommon.

ACT NOW. Save GME.

Published by Meena Thatikunta

Dear medical students: our fates are being decided by Congress on March 1 — we don’t have time to dilly-dally, so here is a high-yield summary of this piece. Congress may cut graduate medical education (GME) funding on March 1. (GME funds residency programs). Congress is considering cuts as high as 50%, which translates into thousands of residency programs and thousands of residency slots on the chopping block. That’s your future on the line. I’ll let the …

LGBT Health: A Story Behind the Statistics

Published by Meena Thatikunta

Let’s keep it real: this is a long piece and you have to study, dear medical student. But just for a moment, I’ll ask you to think upon your own LGBT medical education experience. Do you feel prepared? Do you know what to ask? Do you know how to ask it? The answers to these questions may vary from an enthusiastic “yes” to “I have to study now” to “…no.” Regardless of where you fall, …

The Incompetence of Competence

Published by Andrew Petersen

It was 3 a.m. in the emergency room. I had the ultrasound probe in my hand and was searching for a 50-something-year-old man’s bladder. He had not been able to urinate for over 10 hours and was in terrible pain. I figured his bladder had to be the size of a basketball by now. I stared intently at the black and white fuzzy screen, trying to interpret the landmarks. I did not see the large …

Volunteering in Medical School: A Waste of Time?

Published by Jimmy Tam Huy Pham

“Are you going to sign up to volunteer this quarter?” I asked my classmate after hearing about an upcoming volunteering opportunity for a homeless shelter clinic. “Volunteering? Why?” came a brisk and seemingly astonished response from her. “Uh, well, it’s a good opportunity to gain some clinical skills,” I responded, “and don’t you wanna have some volunteering experience when you apply for residency?” “It’s a waste of time! Residencies only care about good grades and …

Jimmy Tam Huy Pham Jimmy Tam Huy Pham (4 Posts)

Columnist and Editor Emeritus: Former Medical Student Editor (2012-2015)

Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine

Jimmy is residing in Phoenix, Arizona. He received his undergraduate degrees from California State University of Long Beach. Actively involved in research, his interests include internal medicine, cardiovascular medicine, and medical humanities.

Jimmy also volunteers at local community events and non-profit clinics in the Phoenix, Arizona and Orange County, California areas. Web: jimmytamhuypham.com