Education
Observing the effects of COVID-19 on the pediatric population
“Everyday, there is a theme to our rounds, and I will ask for your thoughts at the end.” This was the warning our attending physician gave before we went to see our patients on the hospital inpatient floor. As third-year medical students on our first clinical rotation in pediatrics, we were eager to face any…
Read MoreMatch Day: Leaving behind my polished applicant identity and becoming a physician trainee
On Friday morning, I will receive an email that tells me where I will go for residency. I have spent most of the last year preparing for this email. Over the summer, I completed my sub-internships where I hoped to impress members of my chosen field (psychiatry) and secure letters of recommendation. On my consult-liaison…
Read MorePhysician suicide: We need safe spaces to talk about it
Three years ago, I met Dr. Boyce Fish*, the ER physician revived after suicide. I also met Rachel Dawson, wife of Dr. Chris Dawson who killed himself and his two children. We all sat in red ballroom chairs in a room with nothing in it, but it felt full. All the lights were dim, and…
Read MoreLoved ones are hospitalized and alone during COVID
This has been a very difficult year. COVID-19 has rampaged the country, worked hospitals to their breaking point, torn families apart, and kept families apart. The grief seems never-ending. At the beginning of 2020, we watched in horror at the destruction in Wuhan, China, and Italy. We could not fathom what was happening over there,…
Read MoreThe American Rescue Plan Act Greatly Expands Benefits through the Tax Code in 2021
American Rescue Plan: Details and Summary $1,400 Stimulus Checks (Economic Impact Payments) Unemployment Benefits Child Tax Credit Expansion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 The United States has provided about $6 trillion in total economic relief to the American people during the coronavirus pandemic, including the $1.9 trillion that was approved when President Biden signed…
Read MoreHow this medical student adjusted her study schedule for better self-care
Sometimes I ask myself why I chose medicine when things get tiring, and we do the same thing repeatedly with a career with such high demands. I think about how we are missing out on our 20s or 30s, and it’s been making me question life, especially when I feel more like a robot rather…
Read MoreWhere’s the literature in guiding house staff work hour maximums?
In 2003, the ACGME first set a national standard for house staff duty hours, limiting maximum shift lengths from unlimited hours to 30 hours (24+6) for all house staff. With continued concerns about medical errors and sleep deprivation safer, standards were updated in 2011 to reduce maximum shift lengths to 20 hours (16+4) for the…
Read MoreYou competed your rank order list. Celebrate the moment.
I certified my rank order list (ROL), but … What if I messed up? What if I don’t match? What if my list doesn’t get processed? What if I should have ranked programs in a different order? What if, what if, what if … These thoughts, and their associated feelings, are 100 percent normal. Please…
Read MoreA medical student learns to listen with her hands
In my first quarter of medical school, we learned the pulmonary exam. We were told to watch the patient’s breathing, feel for any asymmetries, use our hands to gauge resonance and listen to all lung fields with our stethoscopes. It didn’t seem too difficult. Our instructor demonstrated the exam on one of my classmates, and…
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