Salt shaker alert on this one, my opinion is certainly not the only one.
I personally do not think there is one best medical school in the USA or anywhere, rather that there is a best medical school for you. The problem with saying who is better than who is the question of how to rank them. There are probably a half dozen legitimate ways to rank medical schools on the web, the most popular of them being the two used by USA Today. Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Washington University Saint Louis are ranked tops in this list. The problem arises because everyone is not looking for the same things in a medical school. For example, I would argue that, if you polled 100 random strangers that are not related to the medical field in any way, you would find that Johns Hopkins is considered to be more prestigious than Harvard, and that WashU is probably not even in the top 10. On the other hand, let us just consider the average opinion of residency directors. Harvard and JH continue to stand at the top, but other schools further down the list reorient themselves. What about research dollars? Then the question arises about who's research dollars, and do we consider the total amount, or the amount per researcher at a specific school? More reorientation. This list would be totally useless to someone not interested in research or maybe even academic medicine. There's another list for those interest in care only. And it just gets more and more complicated.
This is why I say that there isn't just one top medical school, it varies from person to person. Some people might want to practice in California and thus UCLA or Stanford might top their list, since people tend to do residency and practice in the region that they went to medical school (on average). Perhaps someone absolutely hates the cold, and so only apply to medical school in the South. I strongly encourage that, rather than just taking ranking or prestige alone into account, create a list of priorities, and allow yourself to make a decision based on your interview experience and how the school "felt" to you. Plenty of people turn down Top 10 schools to go to other schools, and not just for financial reasons. They felt that they fit better, or that a different school had a teaching style or atmosphere that was better suited to their personality. I would also suggest not choosing a "top school" or trying to rank your schools until you have been accepted. Otherwise, all of your carefully made plans might be thrown in disarray, depending on admission decisions. That's a lot of emotional effort spent on something you have very little control over.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Question 5: Am I too old for Medical School?
Absolutely not! Medical schools regularly graduate students that are in their 30's, 40's, and older. Granted, the older you are, the less time you will have to practice a physician/pay off your loans, but medical school admissions are age-blind. This means that your age itself will not be a discriminating factor. In fact, you may find it easier to get into medical school after several or more years out of college. One of the biggest factors in admissions is maturity and life experiences. Having another career full of responsibilities could be a great asset, as long as you convince the committee on your reasons for applying to medical school and shifting careers. The average age of first year medical students is 24, though this is probably slightly skewed by those who are over 30's and over. Regardless, a healthy number of medical students take a year or two off to do research, travel, perform community service, or just work. As long as you can validate your reasons, it will not hurt you, and has a very likely chance of helping you.
Question 4: Picking a Major
This actually covers a bunch of questions I get hit with a lot, so lets just start from the top.
1) Do I have to pick a science major?
The answer is no. Any major that you wish to take in college, so long as it is a bachelor's. There are plenty of non science majors that get into the top schools as well as the bottom, though it seems to me that less get into the top than into the bottom. I would say that being a non-science major can be a blessing and a curse. It is most definitely true that majoring in a subject like interpretive dance is going to make you stand out and interesting. However, this is only going to benefit you if you can still compete in terms of science GPA and MCAT scores with your science major competitors. Being a nonscience major means that you are only going to be taking the science pre-requisites for medical school, unless you go out of your way that is. This means that your science GPA is dependant on only a few classes compared to someone who took analytical biophysicalchemistry and all of its pre-reqs. If you ace those courses, that is to your benefit, but if you get crunched on even one, it will make a bigger dent in your science GPA. As for the MCAT, you will have had less training in this kind of analytical thinking, and you will be a lot more rusty at it too. This means you are probably going to have to work even harder to make the grade. That being said, if you do, your nonscience major is going to put you at an advantage on paper. I recommend either taking a science major and non science minor, or vice versa in order to get the best of both worlds. I would NOT recommend taking a science major and minor, because this is redundant. Minors, in my opinion, are only valuable if they are highly different from your major, unique, or fill a significant gap in your education. Taking a Chemistry major and Biology minor isn't that helpful.
2) What major will help me most on the MCAT?
Major salt shaker alert here, but my personal belief is that biochemistry or a similar major is the most helpful. This is because the MCAT is primarily chemistry and biology. The biological sciences is all biology and organic chem, where as the physical sciences is half general chemistry. This means that a good half of the MCAT is covered continuously by your major. Cell Biology, taken your sophomore or junior year, is an enormous advantage, second only to animal physiology, in Biological Sciences. Physical chemistry, taken in the junior year at my school, is a huge review of general chemistry. Biophysical chemistry reviewed some physics, and biochemistry takes a good pot shot at the organic chem and biology covered on the MCAT. If you could find a major that was dubbed Biophysicalchemistry, that might even be better, since you'd get more physics. I didn't really find any courses that were a big boost on verbal reasoning, but I have heard that reading things like the Economist are useful.
3) Should I take the Pre-Med major offered at my school?
Some schools still offer this major, though it is being phased out at many schools. I strongly urge you against taking it. For one, it is an absolutely useless major if you change your mind or are not accepted to medical school. It is also a relatively easy major that basically just covers a little more than the normal pre-med requisites. I have heard that medical admissions folk don't like it for that reason, and because it is felt that it shows a lack of interest in science and a bit of desperation. Get a Biology degree. I have seen dozens of them at interviews, but I have never seen a pre-med major at one.
4) Is Nursing/Pre-nursing/Physician Assistant a good pre-med major?
No! These are absolutely off limits if you can help it. It shows a lack of commitment in your desire to be a doctor. Basically it tells the admissions committee that your back up is to go into this field, rather than being willing to improve yourself and reapplying next year. For this and probably other reasons, adcoms seem to have a serious dislike, and if you get an interview they will definitely ask you about this and your commitment to medicine. I've never seen one of these majors at an interview either. I would also recommend checking with AMCAS if it is even possible to major in these. The problem is that you need a BACHELOR'S degree to go to medical school. To my knowledge, most nursing and other degrees are not bachelor's. I doubt that medical schools will make an exeption.
5) Do schools take into mind course load and difficulty of my major?
Yes, just like schools consider the difficulty of your undergraduate university, they also take into account how many classes you took, the level/difficulty of them, and how well you did. I have heard that a medical school course load is comparable to 25-30 credits a semester. Being able to take 22 credits and do well will be noted. Also, if you took a really tough major, they will take this into account when comparing you to more fluffy majors. However, there are limits. Don't expect a 3.9 in a fluff major to be beaten down by a 3.4 in a hard one.
Above all, I suggest that you pick a major that you like. You will do better in it, make more connections with professors for research and letters of recommendation, and you will be more passionate about it when it comes up at interviews. Do something you love in undergraduate, just like you should only do medicine if you love it.
1) Do I have to pick a science major?
The answer is no. Any major that you wish to take in college, so long as it is a bachelor's. There are plenty of non science majors that get into the top schools as well as the bottom, though it seems to me that less get into the top than into the bottom. I would say that being a non-science major can be a blessing and a curse. It is most definitely true that majoring in a subject like interpretive dance is going to make you stand out and interesting. However, this is only going to benefit you if you can still compete in terms of science GPA and MCAT scores with your science major competitors. Being a nonscience major means that you are only going to be taking the science pre-requisites for medical school, unless you go out of your way that is. This means that your science GPA is dependant on only a few classes compared to someone who took analytical biophysicalchemistry and all of its pre-reqs. If you ace those courses, that is to your benefit, but if you get crunched on even one, it will make a bigger dent in your science GPA. As for the MCAT, you will have had less training in this kind of analytical thinking, and you will be a lot more rusty at it too. This means you are probably going to have to work even harder to make the grade. That being said, if you do, your nonscience major is going to put you at an advantage on paper. I recommend either taking a science major and non science minor, or vice versa in order to get the best of both worlds. I would NOT recommend taking a science major and minor, because this is redundant. Minors, in my opinion, are only valuable if they are highly different from your major, unique, or fill a significant gap in your education. Taking a Chemistry major and Biology minor isn't that helpful.
2) What major will help me most on the MCAT?
Major salt shaker alert here, but my personal belief is that biochemistry or a similar major is the most helpful. This is because the MCAT is primarily chemistry and biology. The biological sciences is all biology and organic chem, where as the physical sciences is half general chemistry. This means that a good half of the MCAT is covered continuously by your major. Cell Biology, taken your sophomore or junior year, is an enormous advantage, second only to animal physiology, in Biological Sciences. Physical chemistry, taken in the junior year at my school, is a huge review of general chemistry. Biophysical chemistry reviewed some physics, and biochemistry takes a good pot shot at the organic chem and biology covered on the MCAT. If you could find a major that was dubbed Biophysicalchemistry, that might even be better, since you'd get more physics. I didn't really find any courses that were a big boost on verbal reasoning, but I have heard that reading things like the Economist are useful.
3) Should I take the Pre-Med major offered at my school?
Some schools still offer this major, though it is being phased out at many schools. I strongly urge you against taking it. For one, it is an absolutely useless major if you change your mind or are not accepted to medical school. It is also a relatively easy major that basically just covers a little more than the normal pre-med requisites. I have heard that medical admissions folk don't like it for that reason, and because it is felt that it shows a lack of interest in science and a bit of desperation. Get a Biology degree. I have seen dozens of them at interviews, but I have never seen a pre-med major at one.
4) Is Nursing/Pre-nursing/Physician Assistant a good pre-med major?
No! These are absolutely off limits if you can help it. It shows a lack of commitment in your desire to be a doctor. Basically it tells the admissions committee that your back up is to go into this field, rather than being willing to improve yourself and reapplying next year. For this and probably other reasons, adcoms seem to have a serious dislike, and if you get an interview they will definitely ask you about this and your commitment to medicine. I've never seen one of these majors at an interview either. I would also recommend checking with AMCAS if it is even possible to major in these. The problem is that you need a BACHELOR'S degree to go to medical school. To my knowledge, most nursing and other degrees are not bachelor's. I doubt that medical schools will make an exeption.
5) Do schools take into mind course load and difficulty of my major?
Yes, just like schools consider the difficulty of your undergraduate university, they also take into account how many classes you took, the level/difficulty of them, and how well you did. I have heard that a medical school course load is comparable to 25-30 credits a semester. Being able to take 22 credits and do well will be noted. Also, if you took a really tough major, they will take this into account when comparing you to more fluffy majors. However, there are limits. Don't expect a 3.9 in a fluff major to be beaten down by a 3.4 in a hard one.
Above all, I suggest that you pick a major that you like. You will do better in it, make more connections with professors for research and letters of recommendation, and you will be more passionate about it when it comes up at interviews. Do something you love in undergraduate, just like you should only do medicine if you love it.
Question 3: This application cycle is stressing me out, what can I do?
So, I admit that this winter has been a bit of a pain, because I have had free time. What did I do with it? Worry, like any good pre-med. I worried about getting in to this school or that, regretted doing one thing or not doing it, wondered if I had done something or another where would I be right now, etc. For all of you worried about getting into your top choice, or even into a medical school, I'd like to share a story my father shared with me.My father graduated from Wayne State Medical School with honors about 30 years ago. He applied to ortho surgery residencies, and was flat out rejected everywhere during the Match and Scramble. Distraught, he was speaking with a friend about his application. His friend read his Dean's letter, and asked why my father had repeated a whole semester of medical school.
My father had not repeated a semester.
Turns out, the Dean's letter was not his. There had been a mixup, and my father had gotten someone else's letter with the same last name (In addition, that guy also got my dad's picture spot on the graduation wall, which I noticed when I interviewed there). This guy had failed his clinicals, and had overall done pretty poorly. This devastated my father, because despite all of the apologies that the Dean's of Wayne offered, there was nothing that they could do. All the residency spots in ortho were taken, and my father's military service contract was activated.Eventually, my dad wound up in Trauma. He's been practicing it since then, and he's loved it. In his 30's, his hips began to wear out because of a defect. He can barely stand for prolonged periods of time. If he had done Ortho, he would no longer be able to practice without surgery and rehab. In the end, he landed what he needed to be happy and to provide for his family. He hammered into me that it wasn't what he had wanted or hoped for. In the end, though, he ended up where he needed to be. It helped me out, and I hope it helps some of you out too.
My father had not repeated a semester.
Turns out, the Dean's letter was not his. There had been a mixup, and my father had gotten someone else's letter with the same last name (In addition, that guy also got my dad's picture spot on the graduation wall, which I noticed when I interviewed there). This guy had failed his clinicals, and had overall done pretty poorly. This devastated my father, because despite all of the apologies that the Dean's of Wayne offered, there was nothing that they could do. All the residency spots in ortho were taken, and my father's military service contract was activated.Eventually, my dad wound up in Trauma. He's been practicing it since then, and he's loved it. In his 30's, his hips began to wear out because of a defect. He can barely stand for prolonged periods of time. If he had done Ortho, he would no longer be able to practice without surgery and rehab. In the end, he landed what he needed to be happy and to provide for his family. He hammered into me that it wasn't what he had wanted or hoped for. In the end, though, he ended up where he needed to be. It helped me out, and I hope it helps some of you out too.
Question 2: What should I look for in a University for Pre-Med
A shout out to all of you pre-pre-meds (high schoolers) out there, since its that time of the year where a lot of seniors are looking at universities. I'd just like to preface this with a big
SALT SHAKER ALERT!
What I am about to say is my thoughts on the topic. Some of what I mentioned is highly contested throughout the pre-med community, and plenty people go separate paths to end up in medical school.
I think the biggest things to get into medical school, aside from GPA and MCAT scores, are that you have had interesting and meaningful experiences in:
1) Community Service
2) Medically related volunteering/work
3) Research (most important for those wanting to go to a research heavy school)
Everything else that you do outside of these three areas is what makes you unique, interesting, and can only improve your chances. I personally feel that one of my strongest features when applying was my dancing experiences. These three things, especially 1 and 2, are critical to many schools, because it shows both a tendency towards compassion and charity, as well as provides you with a basis to prove why you want to go to medical school. Because of this, here are my personal recommendations on selecting a school.
1) Has a research program that is large enough to sustain undergraduate participation.
Look for schools that have undergraduate thesis projects, undergraduate fellowship positions, etc. A school with Research 1 designation is great, because that means there are tons of research projects going on. If you never publish or present a paper, that's fine. However, doing so can be a major boost, especially if you are author or co-author, or even 29th author of a paper that makes it into a major journal like Nature. It does not necessarily have to be medically related research, but I would recommend it if you are contemplating MD/PhD.
2) A moderately well known school.
I personally would recommend limiting your choices to one of the top 200 or so schools. You want a school that has had a decent number of pre-meds, because this increases the chances of an admissions committee knowing something about the opportunities available at your school. It also increases your chances of getting good advising from a pre-med office. I am a member of the faction that believes that prestige is not a significant factor in the admissions process. Having gone to a public school that isn't even ranked in the Top 100, I have interviewed at a number of the Top 20, 10, and 5 schools. I personally believe that your own merits outweigh the name of your school significantly. This is not to say that I believe a 3.5 is the same as one school than another. Admissions committees often have "experts" on a given school, or look at statistics like the average GPA and MCAT score of pre-meds in past years. Thus, a 3.5 at Princeton might be more impressive than a 3.5 at John Doe public school, simply because the average GPA and MCAT score at Princeton is a 3.5/33, and a 3.5/28 at John Doe. Clearly, it was harder to earn a 3.5 and 33 at Princeton than a 3.5 and 33 at John Doe (though, the equal MCAT scores would somewhat minimize this). Suffice it to say that a 3.5 and 28 at Harvard isn't going to beat out a 3.8 and 31 at John Doe, all other things being equal. This being said, I feel that opportunities at the more prestigious undergrad schools outside of academics are excellent. However, I feel that any big public school like OSU, ASU, etc will have similar opportunities by virtue of their sheer size. Any school that made it in the top 200 should have enough of everything for you to succeed if you are good enough. If you are good enough at one place, you are good enough anywhere, so long as you aren't handicapped.
3) A School with a medical school or that is near one.
The inside man always has an advantage. If you went to Harvard College, you will have a stronger shot at Harvard Med. This is because you have three years to build relationships with the medical school, do research under doctors affiliated (and thus get letters) with the school, and become an expert on that school. The opportunity to work with doctors at any medical school probably increases your chances everywhere. There is always the chance that they will be recognized, and its a great way to get insight in academic medicine.
4) Go to a school near a reasonably sized city.
Cities have a lot going for them by virtue of their huge populations. There are all sorts of activities available in research, community service, and just fun things that will make you a more well rounded and interesting person. Being near a city means you will also be near at least a few good hospitals or clinics. This saves you on travel time and ease of access, as it is likely students from your school have already built connections with nearby schools.
5)If you want to get into academic medicine, I strongly recommend some form of teaching or tutoring.
Showing that you have an interest in teaching and academia is best done through these sort of activities. They are also very likely to give you some excellent talking points about being a life long learner. Overall, teaching is just a great extra curricular, and it will probably help you relate to interviewers (many who are academic physicians).
SALT SHAKER ALERT!
What I am about to say is my thoughts on the topic. Some of what I mentioned is highly contested throughout the pre-med community, and plenty people go separate paths to end up in medical school.
I think the biggest things to get into medical school, aside from GPA and MCAT scores, are that you have had interesting and meaningful experiences in:
1) Community Service
2) Medically related volunteering/work
3) Research (most important for those wanting to go to a research heavy school)
Everything else that you do outside of these three areas is what makes you unique, interesting, and can only improve your chances. I personally feel that one of my strongest features when applying was my dancing experiences. These three things, especially 1 and 2, are critical to many schools, because it shows both a tendency towards compassion and charity, as well as provides you with a basis to prove why you want to go to medical school. Because of this, here are my personal recommendations on selecting a school.
1) Has a research program that is large enough to sustain undergraduate participation.
Look for schools that have undergraduate thesis projects, undergraduate fellowship positions, etc. A school with Research 1 designation is great, because that means there are tons of research projects going on. If you never publish or present a paper, that's fine. However, doing so can be a major boost, especially if you are author or co-author, or even 29th author of a paper that makes it into a major journal like Nature. It does not necessarily have to be medically related research, but I would recommend it if you are contemplating MD/PhD.
2) A moderately well known school.
I personally would recommend limiting your choices to one of the top 200 or so schools. You want a school that has had a decent number of pre-meds, because this increases the chances of an admissions committee knowing something about the opportunities available at your school. It also increases your chances of getting good advising from a pre-med office. I am a member of the faction that believes that prestige is not a significant factor in the admissions process. Having gone to a public school that isn't even ranked in the Top 100, I have interviewed at a number of the Top 20, 10, and 5 schools. I personally believe that your own merits outweigh the name of your school significantly. This is not to say that I believe a 3.5 is the same as one school than another. Admissions committees often have "experts" on a given school, or look at statistics like the average GPA and MCAT score of pre-meds in past years. Thus, a 3.5 at Princeton might be more impressive than a 3.5 at John Doe public school, simply because the average GPA and MCAT score at Princeton is a 3.5/33, and a 3.5/28 at John Doe. Clearly, it was harder to earn a 3.5 and 33 at Princeton than a 3.5 and 33 at John Doe (though, the equal MCAT scores would somewhat minimize this). Suffice it to say that a 3.5 and 28 at Harvard isn't going to beat out a 3.8 and 31 at John Doe, all other things being equal. This being said, I feel that opportunities at the more prestigious undergrad schools outside of academics are excellent. However, I feel that any big public school like OSU, ASU, etc will have similar opportunities by virtue of their sheer size. Any school that made it in the top 200 should have enough of everything for you to succeed if you are good enough. If you are good enough at one place, you are good enough anywhere, so long as you aren't handicapped.
3) A School with a medical school or that is near one.
The inside man always has an advantage. If you went to Harvard College, you will have a stronger shot at Harvard Med. This is because you have three years to build relationships with the medical school, do research under doctors affiliated (and thus get letters) with the school, and become an expert on that school. The opportunity to work with doctors at any medical school probably increases your chances everywhere. There is always the chance that they will be recognized, and its a great way to get insight in academic medicine.
4) Go to a school near a reasonably sized city.
Cities have a lot going for them by virtue of their huge populations. There are all sorts of activities available in research, community service, and just fun things that will make you a more well rounded and interesting person. Being near a city means you will also be near at least a few good hospitals or clinics. This saves you on travel time and ease of access, as it is likely students from your school have already built connections with nearby schools.
5)If you want to get into academic medicine, I strongly recommend some form of teaching or tutoring.
Showing that you have an interest in teaching and academia is best done through these sort of activities. They are also very likely to give you some excellent talking points about being a life long learner. Overall, teaching is just a great extra curricular, and it will probably help you relate to interviewers (many who are academic physicians).
Question 1: What should I read to prepare for medical school?
So I get this question a lot from both pre-meds and those who I lovingly dub pre-pre-meds (high schoolers). The bottom line is, you can not prepare for medical school on an academic level. Cramming a biochemistry or anatomy book into your skull is not going to significantly improve your performance in medical school. Chances are, most of what you read won't be covered, or will be covered from such a different angle that your knowledge could be cumbersome. I recommend a different kind of reading. Rather than trying to study for medical school classes, try studying medicine and doctoring from a more philosophical and social perspective. The bonus of doing this is that it will help you better decide if you want the kind of life that most doctors have had, and it will prepare you mentally for the things that others have experienced before you (both good and bad). It probably won't hurt your interviewing skills either by letting you talk intelligently about the Art of Medicine (which is all they are looking for, in my opinions. If you got an interview, they probably thought you were smart enough to tackle the Science, but whether or not you fit into a school's idea of how a practitioner of the Art should be is what will make or break you- Salt Shaker Alert!).
On this note, some recommended reading. My all time favorite book is On Doctoring. It's a compilation of poetry, memoirs, and philosophies of various doctors over several hundreds of years. The first editor's name is Richard C. Reynolds, if you are having trouble finding it.
Other than that, any good memoir book will do (though I warn you some of the books are a little pretentious in my opinion). Some of the most highly acclaimed books that I know of are:
The House of God, and other books written by Samuel Shem/Stephen Bergman
Better, by Atul Gawande
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, by Oliver Sacks
There are dozens of others out there, and if anyone else has some recommendations feel free to let me know.
On this note, some recommended reading. My all time favorite book is On Doctoring. It's a compilation of poetry, memoirs, and philosophies of various doctors over several hundreds of years. The first editor's name is Richard C. Reynolds, if you are having trouble finding it.
Other than that, any good memoir book will do (though I warn you some of the books are a little pretentious in my opinion). Some of the most highly acclaimed books that I know of are:
The House of God, and other books written by Samuel Shem/Stephen Bergman
Better, by Atul Gawande
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, by Oliver Sacks
There are dozens of others out there, and if anyone else has some recommendations feel free to let me know.
The Warm Up
Hey all, and welcome to my blog. You can call me Dancing D, and I would like to tell you why I am writing this blog. It's quite simple really, I enjoy teaching. Now, teaching comes in many forms. You can teach in front of a classroom or teach by example. You can teach as a tour guide, or as a tutor. Teaching, to me, is best described as the transmission of all knowledge. I have always enjoyed being on both the receiving and transmitting end of teaching, and it is for this reason that I am writing this blog (or maybe I just like to talk :D). For the moment, I will focus on common questions, or questions that I am asked. I hope that something you read on this blog is informative, but I offer this warning:
Keep your salt shaker with you!
All topics and questions that I address I will do so to the limits of my ability, knowledge, and experience. However, I am not infinitely aware, and my answers are based on what I have experienced. For this reason, I ask that you take everything that I or any other medical blogger writes with a grain of salt. What I have done to get where I am may not work for you, nor is it certainly the only way to do what I have done. Take my answers as general advice, rather than gospel truth.
So who am I, that you should listen to me? Well, I am a senior at a major public school, majoring in biochemistry and minoring in dance, and I will be attending medical school in the Fall. Where? That will be decided in the coming months, and I will be sure to let you all know when the dust settles. The AMCAS application process is complicated, but that's a topic for another post. I am interested in academic medicine, and I hope that I will someday teach either on a lecture basis or clinically. I have an enormous interest in Medical History and bioethics, and am considering either a Master's or PhD in the field (to be determined by where I go). Because of this, I will most likely come back to these two questions on a number of occasions:
1) What is/makes good medicine?
2) What is/makes a good doctor?
I am also interested in molecular genetics and biology. It is most likely that I will end up doing research in one of these areas. Outside of academics, I love to dance (as you can probably guess). I am particularly fond of ballet, modern, and latin dancing. My first and foremost criteria for medical schools was if there was a nearby latin club! I also enjoy traveling, learning about new cultures and people, and history in general. Other than medical history, my favorite subjects are Roman and Greek history. Hiking and skiing are my favorite summer and winter pastimes, and I'm a lover of Science Fiction (not the laser beam and space ship stuff, though that has a place in my heart too. I'm talking about the stuff used as a forum for political, social, and cultural discussion).
And with that, on to business!
Keep your salt shaker with you!
All topics and questions that I address I will do so to the limits of my ability, knowledge, and experience. However, I am not infinitely aware, and my answers are based on what I have experienced. For this reason, I ask that you take everything that I or any other medical blogger writes with a grain of salt. What I have done to get where I am may not work for you, nor is it certainly the only way to do what I have done. Take my answers as general advice, rather than gospel truth.
So who am I, that you should listen to me? Well, I am a senior at a major public school, majoring in biochemistry and minoring in dance, and I will be attending medical school in the Fall. Where? That will be decided in the coming months, and I will be sure to let you all know when the dust settles. The AMCAS application process is complicated, but that's a topic for another post. I am interested in academic medicine, and I hope that I will someday teach either on a lecture basis or clinically. I have an enormous interest in Medical History and bioethics, and am considering either a Master's or PhD in the field (to be determined by where I go). Because of this, I will most likely come back to these two questions on a number of occasions:
1) What is/makes good medicine?
2) What is/makes a good doctor?
I am also interested in molecular genetics and biology. It is most likely that I will end up doing research in one of these areas. Outside of academics, I love to dance (as you can probably guess). I am particularly fond of ballet, modern, and latin dancing. My first and foremost criteria for medical schools was if there was a nearby latin club! I also enjoy traveling, learning about new cultures and people, and history in general. Other than medical history, my favorite subjects are Roman and Greek history. Hiking and skiing are my favorite summer and winter pastimes, and I'm a lover of Science Fiction (not the laser beam and space ship stuff, though that has a place in my heart too. I'm talking about the stuff used as a forum for political, social, and cultural discussion).
And with that, on to business!
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