Education

It’s this simple: The medical school admissions system is bloated and reinforces implicit and systemic biases leading to further social inequity. Medical schools across the country are going through thousands of applications and making literal life-changing choices for these students. Introducing randomization into the admission process would simplify and address the built-in issues in this…

I came from Malaysia dreaming of completing my residency in the U.S. and becoming a nephrologist. Luckily, I interviewed for programs before COVID-19 shook the world, and I began my residency at Yale University Bridgeport Hospital in June 2020. Having just reached my target score for the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) after graduating…

When the COVID-19 pandemic came to the United States, it required drastic changes in medical education curricula across the nation, with the majority of learning opportunities transitioning to the virtual setting. As our nation enters the ninth month of this public health crisis, it is necessary to reevaluate the current system and curate the innovative…

For applicants seeking to match into a competitive specialty, it can be challenging.  In fact, it’s not uncommon for programs to receive over 100 applications for a single residency position.  To sort through that many applications, many programs use filters. One type of filter is a USMLE “cut-off” score:  applicants who don’t score above a…

It’s 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning in September of my second year of medical school. My brother, father, and I are chucking the used wood from our construction site into a U-Haul, prepping the wood for its ill fate of an indoor dumpster. Hundreds of miles away, many of my classmates are either still…

The other day I was in the main hallway outside of our radiology reading rooms, which is lined with picture frames of all the residency senior classes dating back to the 1980s. I’m new to the institution, so it was nice to see all the prior residents. I found myself wondering what they were up…

Over and over again, I find myself repeating the same words to myself as I watch the sunset over the Sacramento River on my dreary commute back from my job in clinical research: hope over fear. It was with hope that 2020 began—a catalyst year in which we had the wind at our backs and…

COVID-19 has revealed once again how short our nation is of doctors. Early in the pandemic, several governors called on retired physicians to return to the workforce. Medical schools allowed students to graduate ahead of schedule and begin working and training in hospitals. States loosened licensing restrictions to allow physicians from other locales to practice…