Category Archives: Medical School

Published:Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Updated:Wednesday, March 14, 2012 21:03

The process of applying for medical school could seem somewhat overwhelming for prospective students. To help alleviate some of this stress and help students better prepare for applications, The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) will be hosting their second annual Medical School Process Made Easy event on Saturday, March 17 in the D.P. Culp Auditorium. This event will provide a step-by-step guide to applying for medical school. It was really a success last year, said Casey Lawson, chair of the event. We had a little over 100 students show up. This year we have kind of expanded it where its not just ETSU. The admissions director of ETSUs Quillen College of Medicine has sent out emails to neighboring schools, Lawson said. Students from Western Carolina, Virginia Intermont, Carson-Newman and King have all signed up. Registration is free and is open to all students who are interested in attending. The event is able to host up to 200 students, and spots are still available. We want to make sure we have enough resources to make sure we can manage what we need to do, Lawson said. This event will include mock interviews, a dress and appearance seminar, an application workshop, and a current events seminar. The AMSA and Captain Carlson of the U.S. Army will sponsor a free lunch for those who attend. Doug Taylor, dean of admissions, will also be speaking to talk to students about what people see when an application is being viewed. It really helped a lot last year and we got some really great feedback, Lawson said. We want to get some surveys after this time to get some more feedback and see what we can improve to make it better. Hopefully this will continue. Medical School Process Made Easy will be open to anyone considering medical school as an opportunity to see if the student is really dedicated enough to do all the things they have to do, but it is primarily targeted for people who are set on going, said Lawson. If youre serious, you need to have the information ahead of time so you can prepare. Josh Eckelberry, biology major with a concentration on biochemistry, attended the event last year and highly recommends it for anyone considering medical school. Its been a big help working on applications. It makes you realize what it takes Even if youre not premed, its really helpful for an job interview and having interview skills. They have a nice workshop with that. It was a big help, and kind of an eye opener. The event begins at 12:30 p.m. in the Culp Center Auditorium, but attendees should arrive at noon to talk to the medical schools, which will be set up at that time. Everyone will be set up in the Atrium, and the event will last until approximately 7 p.m. In the last 45 minutes of the event, a medical school committee members and staff and student will be on stage to answer questions. To register, go to http://www.etsu.edu/cas/mpa/default.aspx.

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AMSA hosts medical school made easy event

Released: 3/15/2012 12:00 PM EDT Source: Mayo Clinic Expert Available

Mayo Clinic Experts Available to Discuss Tools to Identify Medical School Burnout

Newswise ROCHESTER, Minn. Medical school students around the country will learn their fate this Friday, March 16, on what is known as Match Day. This is a much-anticipated day that reveals not only where they will work after medical school, but what medical specialty they will pursue. Match Day is filled with excitement and celebration there are hugs, cheers, high fives and tears, but there is another aspect of becoming a resident that medical schools, hospitals and veteran physicians are increasingly paying attention to: The road to becoming a resident is not easy and can lead to burnout ranging from emotional and physical exhaustion to depersonalizing patients.

There has been a growing recognition of burnout among medical students and such distress can have a big impact on their quality of life, professional development and patient care. Mayo Clinic experts have developed an index that screens medical students to identify burnout, symptoms of depression, sleepiness and fatigue. Studies using the index have provided evidence of reliability and validity using the tool to identify severe distress in medical students.

Mayo Clinic experts, Lotte Dyrbye, M.D., associate director, Department of Medicine Program on Physician Well-Being, and Tait Shanafelt, M.D., director, Department of Medicine Program on Physician Well-being at Mayo Clinic, are available to talk about the index and ways for students to identify burnout and ways to promote personal well-being and professional satisfaction to foster a high quality of care for patients and a high quality of life for themselves throughout their medical careers. Dr. Dyrbye and Dr. Shanafelt have conducted several studies on physician burnout, most recently examining the causes and consequences of prolonged stress among oncologists.

Match Day reveals the results of a two-way selection process: matching the top preferences for residency programs among medical students with the needs of residents among residency programs throughout the United States. The Match Day event also marks each participant's progression from student to practicing physician.

### About Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.org/about/ and http://www.mayoclinic.org/news.

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Match Day and the Long Road to Becoming a Medical Resident

Considering medical school? Use these pointers and suggestions to help you determine if a career in medicine is right for you.

Smart Choices

Embarking on the path to become a doctor is a lengthy process. It takes a total of at least 11 years: 4 years of college; 4 years of medical school; and at least 3 years of in-hospital training. (Some programs require up to 8 years of residency and internship training.)

The medical school applicant pool continues to increase, up to 43,919 in 2011 from 42,742 in 2010, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Prospective students submitted an average of 14 applications each for the 2011-2012 school year, for a total of 609,312 applications to medical schools.

[See the Best Medical Schools rankings.]

Getting In

It's important to build a base of knowledge during your undergraduate academic career. Medical school applicants should have a strong background in math and science, especially biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics. Being a doctor also requires good people skills, and a solid foundation of liberal arts courses such as humanities and social sciences helps, too.

Extracurricular activities like volunteering at a local hospital or medical clinic may make your application stand out, according to the AAMC, and can also be a good way to develop professional relationships that may lead to medical school letters of recommendation.

About 90 percent of medical school applicants apply during their junior year of college and start medical school right after college. Others take time off after graduation or go through an early admissions or accelerated program while they are still undergraduate students.

Insider Tip

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Medical School Tips for Success

Gala dedicated to raising funds for medical scholarships

UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Foundation of UMDNJ will host their annual Student Scholarship Gala, welcoming alumni and friends to celebrate and raise funds in support of medical education, at 6:30 p.m. on April 21 at The Heldrich in New Brunswick.

Last years inaugural gala raised more than $205,000 in support of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School students.

The scholarship gala will bring together alumni, faculty and friends of the medical school, to support our medical students who are being challenged by increasing tuition rates, said Dr. Peter S. Amenta, dean of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Three individuals will be honored for their dedication to promoting medical and scientific education, research, philanthropy, care and community health.

HarveyA. Holzberg, president emeritus at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

(RWJUH), will receive the Meritorious Service Award for his leadership and dedication to improving health care in New Jersey. As a leader in health care administration, and president and CEO of RWJUH for 15 years, Holzbergs work laid the foundation for todays medical center.

Dr. Donald Rose, class of 1980, clinical associate professor of orthopedic surgery, New York University School of Medicine, founding director, Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, will receive the DistinguishedAlumniAward for his accomplishments in sports and dance medicine, as well as arthroscopic surgery. He is a nationally and internationally recognized specialist in the field of dance injuries, having founded the world-famous Harkness Center.

Dr. Stephen F. Lowry, former professor and chair, Department of Surgery, and senior associate dean for education at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, will receive the Honorary Alumni Award posthumously, for his work in advancing medical research and mentoring. Lowry, who passed away in June 2011, epitomized the academic physician scientist. His research accomplishments were rivaled only by his ability to develop and mentor other physicians and scientists.

In an age of increasing tuition costs in medical schools across the country, it is more important now than ever to support physicians of the future, said Dr. George F. Heinrich, vice chairman and CEO of the Foundation of UMDNJ. This gala will provide us with a wonderful opportunity to show these future doctors that we encourage their efforts as they work toward realizing their own dreams of helping those in need.

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Gala dedicated to raising funds for medical scholarships

The Alpert Medical School slid six spots in research, but moved up four spots in primary care in the annual U.S. News and World Report rankings of the nations top graduate schools released Tuesday. The report released rankings for graduate programs in computer science, engineering, humanities, medical education and the sciences.

Medical schools are ranked in two main categories expertise in primary care for patients and research. In an improvement from last year, the Med School moved from 28th to 24th in primary care. The Med School was ranked 35th in research, a drop from its ranking of 29th place last year. Under the research category, the Med School was ranked 9th in the alcohol and drug abuse research category.

Med School administrators pay some attention to the rankings, said Ed Wing, dean of medicine and biological sciences, but he added that the Med School is not driven by them. We want to pick the best students, and we dont just go by the numbers, Wing said.

The Med School works on criteria that factor into ranking decisions such as attracting high-profile faculty, seeking federal funding in research and accepting students with high Medical College Admission Test scores, Wing said, but he added we dont go overboard with it.

The U.S. News rankings place a great emphasis on a universitys financial resources, resulting in higher rankings for colleges with larger endowments like Harvard, according to Wing. But he added that the Med School has made progress in recent years when compared to larger institutions.

Were still a new medical school and still growing our research profile, Wing said, adding that the University actually outranks Harvard in terms of funding from the National Institutes of Health per faculty member. The administration is focused on attracting the best faculty members available while pushing for greater federal funding for research, Wing said.

Wing pointed to the annual variability of the rankings as proof of their role as only a rough indication of a universitys strength.

Sometimes its hard to figure out why theres variability, Wing said. Its been very widely criticized by deans of medical schools.

The report also ranked many of the Universitys other graduate programs highly, including ranking computer science 20th, economics 19th, English 13th, history 17th, math 14th and engineering 46th, one lower than its ranking of 45th last year. In certain sub-fields, the University scored high rankings, including a score of 5th in applied math.

The University does not consider improvement in rankings an impetus for changes at the grad school, wrote Peter Weber, dean of the graduate school, in an email to The Herald. He called the rankings one of many tools available to prospective students, but wrote students should focus on the individual training environments at respective schools. Weber highlighted the graduate schools close mentoring of students and described the open curriculum as key to the Universitys success. Brown has a collaborative, flexible environment with strong support and training for graduate students, Weber wrote.

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Med School rankings rise in primary care, fall in research

Surrounded by relatives and friends, seniors at LSU 's and Tulane 's medical schools Friday will learn where they'll go for postgraduate training. On Friday, which is known asMatch Day in medical-school circles, LSU seniors and their entourages will gather at the Sugar Mill, 1021 Convention Center Blvd., and the Tulane contingent will be at the River City Ball Room at Mardi Gras World, 1380 Port of New Orleans Place.

Each ceremony will start at 11 a.m., the moment when medical-school seniors across the country will rip open white envelopes containing information that could chart the course for the rest of their lives.

The life-shaping aspect comes from this fact: Studies have shown that most doctors wind up putting down roots where they do their residencies.

Because of that factor, the numbers from LSU are regarded as indicators of the state's future supply of physicians becauseLSU's medical schools in New Orleans and Shreveportaccept only Louisiana residents. Of the 178seniorsin last year's match at LSU's New Orleans campus, 104 -- 58.4 percent -- landed Louisiana residencies, as did 60 of the 108 Shreveport seniors, or 55.6 percent.

Tulane does not have a residency requirement. Last year, nearly one-fouth of its medical graduates -- 44 out of 178 -- stayed in Louisiana.

This year, there will be 177 Tulane students in the match, 171 from LSU's medical school in New Orleans and 109 from LSU's medical campus in Shreveport.

Match Day got its name because it is the culmination of a computer-driven matchmaking process. After medical-school seniors interview at hospitals where they would like to go, they and the people with whom they speak rate each other. The information is fed into a computer, which produces the resultsthat go into the envelopes.

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LSU, Tulane medical school seniors learning residency destinations