Super Star Blogs!

Finding Joy in Medicine

If you’re like most premeds, you’re a little concerned about what your lifestyle will be as a doctor. Surely, you’ve heard all the horror stories about doctors getting divorced, being unhappy, working 80+ hours a week. You love the idea of caring for human life but hate the idea of being miserable outside of the hospital. Can you have your cake & eat it too? To tell you the truth, I never understood that phrase. If I have some cake, of course I want to eat it! Well, I’m hear today to tell you that yes, you can have a great lifestyle and practice medicine. I’d say that most of my doctor friends are very happy with where they are in life. I know I am!

Media perpetuates negativity. It’s only been in the past 10 years or so that we’ve been hearing stories about how horrible it is to be a doctor. That lie is probably spreading so much because of social media. My reality is that being a physician is great. I wake up everyday excited that I get to care for patients. It’s one of the greatest joys of my life. However, as a doctor, that’s not all that I get to do, there’s so much more.

People ask why I chose to stay in academic medicine. “Don’t you want to make more money, why didn’t you take the private practice gig???” For me, it’s about so much more than the money. You can be happy in private practice or academia, you just need to find what fits you. My professional mission statement is to “Develop tomorrow’s leaders in medicine.” Achieving that brings me joy. While I can do that in private practice, it’s much easier for me to accomplish it when I’m surrounded by students and young doctors on a regular basis. It’s also important to understand that I am more than a doctor, and you will be too. I’m a person of faith, a husband, a dad, a son a sibling, a friend, a teacher, a coach, an innovator, an author, etc. It’s the culmination of all these things that make me wake up every morning excited to take on the world.

So, when considering if medicine is the right career for you, the first question to ask yourself is, “What is my professional mission statement?” Identify your professional purpose and find a career that will allow you to accomplish that purpose. Start with the end in mind. Don’t stress about the work hours, or medical school loans, or politics of medicine. There are ways to address all of those things. Your primary job is to identify your God-given mission. Once you know what that is, THEN figure out how you’re going to take it on!

For those of us doctors who have a clear understanding of our mission, being a physician is a dream come true, however it’s still just a part of who we are. We are more than doctors and know what we want out of life. To be happy, you must tend to all areas of your life that need attention.  That means finding a way to spend time in those areas.  Money is NOT everything.  I make the trade between money and time everyday.  Understanding the importance of spending time with people will make you happy.  Understanding that medicine is about helping people, will make you happy.  To find joy, your mission must focus on other people!  That’s the secret!

Do you have a professional mission statement? If so, please share it with us here. If not, spend some time thinking about it then share.

Five Questions to Ask Your Interviewer

Week 45 of  the PreMed Mondays book covers 5 questions for you to ask your interviewer.  A great way to really impress your interviewer is to be prepared to answer their question, “So what questions do you have for me?”  In this episode, I’ll go over 5 key questions that you can ask your interviewer.

Click HERE to register for our 3rd annual Application Boot Camp Webinar Series in partnership with SNMA

Premeds, find affordable services designed to help you get accepted into medical school at www.PreHealthMarket.com.

Click HERE to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes!

Do not let people tell you  other wise 

I often been told that I cant docertain things because I’m not smart  enough. I started  to believe  them . I told my self that I would never get to my dream and I was nothing. one day I woke up and talked to a friend and told them  how I felt and they told me you wont know until you try. I thought about it and thought about it and then it hit me I came a long way a lot of up and downs. I am smart and strong enough to follow my dream. I maybe discouraged sometimes and it may take me a while to get back on the right track to reach my dream but that ok. I will get there and I will succeed. I wont stop and I wont give up till I get to the top.  Don’t let people tell you other wise you are smart and talented person. done let people get to you there are people out there that want to see you succeed and they are rooting for you. we are here to talk premed star has helped me believe  In myself and its a great way to meet people who is passionate about the same thing as you. I hope this encouraged you. 

Getting into Med School with Subpar Scores

It doesn’t seem very fair when you look at it on paper but there is a lot more to an applicant than numbers. So how does John get into medical school with a 3.2 GPA and 500 MCAT while “Mr. 4.0 GPA”, Chris over here doesn’t get in? There are many reasons why this may be the case but at the end of the day, John likely was vouched for while Chris was lost in the 50,000 plus applicant pool. This is all about the “N” in Dr. Dale’s Premed G.R.I.N.D. technique. It is very easy to get stuck on the numbers but sometimes schools see something in a student which makes them confident that that student will be a great physician. In fact, sometimes it only takes 1 person to believe in you and vouch for your success. Because some schools will only interview students above a certain GPA cutoff, it is important that students with low scores find a way to present themselves to schools. These are a few tips, John used to get the edge over the higher scoring Chris:

The applicant pool. It is not always those with top scores who are selected.

1. Attend National Conferences

I personally missed out on this one. As a premed, I was so focused on my books and extracurricular activities that I didn’t take time to attend any national conferences. I didn’t know that there were scholarships one could get to attend and present at these conferences. Some students had sponsors assist them with their trips. I have since been to a number of these conferences and have been amazed by the growing number of premeds that attend them every year. I have yet to hear a premed student tell me that attending a national conference wasn’t one of their best experiences. It is not good enough to just attend the conference and hang out with your friends. Use these conferences to spark connections with physicians, recruiters, med students and your peers. I’ve met a number of students on this site at conferences and many have stayed in touch.

2. Befriend Med Students

Medical students can be your biggest proponents on your premed journey if you allow them. As a medical, student I had a few premeds who slowly became my friend. I supported those that I genuinely liked and a couple of them eventually made it to medical school even with poor grades. I was able to give them advice that helped them tremendously. I informed them of the right staff to talk with and important functions to attend. A few premed students would show up to our soul food Sunday brunch held by our SNMA organization (which I served as Vice President) and some would show up to our annual “meet the faculty” event held at the home of an attending. There was no better way to network than this.

3. Attend Mission Trips

I never took advantage of this as a premed student but I rank this towards the top on my list of premed extracurricular activities. This is an amazing way to gain clinical experience and also a great way to network with a medical team. The best way to learn about yourself and for others to learn about you is when you are placed under stress working with those who are less privileged. There are few ways to get hands on experience and really feel like a doctor than going on a mission trip. It will hopefully reinvigorate you and allow you to form unbreakable bonds. The doctor you work with will be an excellent person to write a solid letter of recommendation.

4. Speak to Recruiters

Recruiters want to hear from students. They want to chat with students of diverse backgrounds that fit well with their program. After years of mentoring premed students, we witnessed way too many awesome premeds fail to make it to medical school. Many times those students could not make it to conferences to meet with recruiters and network with doctors. This is why we put in the blood and sweat creating this website so students can connect with recruiters, showcase themselves and learn about their schools. Many students have taken advantage of this and I hope others do the same. Whether it is at a conference or online, recruiters want to be reached. They don’t bite. They just may offer you amazing opportunities you could not get elsewhere.

5. Visit Schools

Would you believe that a student on this site contacted a recruiter and landed a personal tour date? The student was able to visit the campus and learn about it before applying to medical school. It was a great experience and that student left a strong impression on the recruiter. Why not sit in on a grand rounds session, attend morning conference or even a med student lecture if you are allowed. This is the way some premeds go above and beyond. This is how John made it to medical school while Chris spent his time in the library all day.

Whether your scores are stellar or not, as a premed you are in a pool of 53,000 applicants with amazing credentials. These tips can be the difference between getting into medical school and being buried in the pile. Don’t just sit back and expect your numbers and experiences to get you in. Be proactive, make the connections, and start today.  

Do you have any other tips for your peers? I would love to hear from you?

5 Interview Questions to Prepare For

Week 44 of  the PreMed Mondays book covers 5 interview questions to prepare for.  There is an infinite number of questions that can be asked during interviews so it’s not possible to prepare for every single one.  However, there are a few that you should always be ready to answer.  For example, why do you want to be a medical doctor?  In this episode, we’ll cover 5 interview questions that you need to be prepared for!

Premeds, find affordable services designed to help you get accepted into medical school at www.PreHealthMarket.com.

Click HERE to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes!

Diverse Medicine Recruitment Center

We are excited to announce that PreMed STAR is transitioning to Diverse Medicine Recruitment Center.  As our community has grown, it continues to increase in diversity and the interest and concerns of our members is becoming more evident.  To meet your needs, we are placing a greater emphasis on providing opportunities for development and recruitment to individuals from diverse backgrounds.  Here’s what you can expect!!

  1. Increased culture driven content.  The truth is, diversity drives excellence.  This has been well studied from the sciences to business.  As a matter of fact, we know that diversity helps increase the bottom line in business.  That being the case, it’s essential that we include culturally relevant content to edify our members.  Many organizations are scared to address such topics, however our mission is to develop tomorrow’s leaders in medicine.  Leaders don’t run from challenging discussions and because that is true, we understand that it is in the best interest of our community to provide the necessary content to prepare you to engage in these topics.
  2. Expanding beyond premeds.  Our intent has never been to limit the resources in this community to premeds alone. Unfortunately, the name PreMed STAR has done just that.  Achieving optimal health outcomes is a task that goes well beyond doctors.  Physician Assistants Nurse Practitioners, etc. are critical in this mission and just like those who will have MD or DO following their names, these individuals are drastically lack the resources to be successful.  Furthermore, just because a student gets into medical school doesn’t mean that they’ve got everything figured out from that point on.  Honestly, it only gets harder and more support is needed!  We are equipped to provide some of that support, therefore feel obligated to do so.
  3. Increased services and products.  Finally, with the introduction of Diverse Medicine Recruitment Center, we will provide more services to help develop our members into leaders.  Our intent here is to offer affordable services that our students can take advantage of and see meaningful results from their utilization. For example, quite a few of you have already taken advantage of the PreHealth Market.  Such things help level the playing field for individuals with limited financial resources.  By doing this, we are able to ensure some of our best students don’t get left behind simply because they lacked the resources to succeed.

We want you all to know that we are here to help you succeed!  There are plenty of resources in our community to help you do just that.  In the end, our goal is to ensure that you all become leaders in the medical field with hearts of servitude!  You all will be the ones responsible for ensuring a bright future in health for our nation and world.

5 Things to do in Preparation for Interview Day

Week 43 of  the PreMed Mondays book covers 5 things to do in preparation for interview day.  Hands down, this is one of the most inquired about topic.  The truth is, if a school gives you an interview, they probably think you’re a good enough student to succeed at their institution.  It’s your job now not to blow the interview.  Better yet, it’s your job to set yourself apart in a positive way.  In this episode, I’ll teach you 5 things that are critical to do in preparation for your interviews!

Premeds, find affordable services designed to help you get accepted into medical school at www.PreHealthMarket.com.

A Day in the Life of an AQuity Scribe – Spike

You will learn 5,000 new words in your first year of medical/PA/NP school and, depending on how long you scribe, you may well learn a significant chunk of these. And yet, this is not the most important thing you will learn as a medical scribe. The most important thing you will learn is the back and forth, the ebb and flow, the taking and recording of medical history. Even in this day of advances in imaging and laboratory testing, the medical history is still what is used to make a correct diagnosis 75-80% of the time. You will not learn most of what there is to know about history taking during your time as a scribe, because you will not have learned the data needed on which to base your history taking, but if you pay attention to what questions your provider is asking, and how the patient answers those questions, you will be well served in your future career. As a medical scribe you will learn to do what healthcare providers have learned to do, namely, to record in the medical record not so much what is said as what is meant. You will learn, in other words, to synthesize, to translate, as it were, from a two-person dialogue which often rambles into a coherent story. That story is the history.

I start my shift well before the provider is scheduled to begin work and do what he or she will do. I review and take notes about each patient scheduled and then look over the medication and problem lists. I ask myself why the patient is taking a given medication, then note which problems are chronic or acute, and finally decide which problem(s) may be most important to the health of the patient. For patients who are returning to discuss results of laboratory or imaging results, I make sure I have already made copious notes about the results. For patients who are returning for followup visits for recent onset, acute illness or for more chronic conditions, I always look back over prior visit, ER, and consultant notes to review the nature of prior diagnoses and symptoms, and will keep these in mind as today’s visit begins to flow.

At the end of the patient visit, in conjunction with the provider, I make sure all diagnoses in the assessment section are correct, with resolved problems no longer appearing on the active problem list, and that all diagnoses and medications have been addressed in the plan/discussion section. My scribe attestation signature goes at the bottom of the note only after I have proofread what has been entered, after which I release the note for the provider to review. Then on to the next patient!

(Spike is a retired physician and businessman who now scribes remotely from Arizona for family practice providers in the San Francisco Bay area.)

A Day in the Life of an AQuity Scribe – Spike

You will learn 5,000 new words in your first year of medical/PA/NP school and, depending on how long you scribe, you may well learn a significant chunk of these. And yet, this is not the most important thing you will learn as a medical scribe. The most important thing you will learn is the back and forth, the ebb and flow, the taking and recording of medical history. Even in this day of advances in imaging and laboratory testing, the medical history is still what is used to make a correct diagnosis 75-80% of the time. You will not learn most of what there is to know about history taking during your time as a scribe, because you will not have learned the data needed on which to base your history taking, but if you pay attention to what questions your provider is asking, and how the patient answers those questions, you will be well served in your future career. As a medical scribe you will learn to do what healthcare providers have learned to do, namely, to record in the medical record not so much what is said as what is meant. You will learn, in other words, to synthesize, to translate, as it were, from a two-person dialogue which often rambles into a coherent story. That story is the history.

I start my shift well before the provider is scheduled to begin work and do what he or she will do. I review and take notes about each patient scheduled and then look over the medication and problem lists. I ask myself why the patient is taking a given medication, then note which problems are chronic or acute, and finally decide which problem(s) may be most important to the health of the patient. For patients who are returning to discuss results of laboratory or imaging results, I make sure I have already made copious notes about the results. For patients who are returning for followup visits for recent onset, acute illness or for more chronic conditions, I always look back over prior visit, ER, and consultant notes to review the nature of prior diagnoses and symptoms, and will keep these in mind as today’s visit begins to flow.

At the end of the patient visit, in conjunction with the provider, I make sure all diagnoses in the assessment section are correct, with resolved problems no longer appearing on the active problem list, and that all diagnoses and medications have been addressed in the plan/discussion section. My scribe attestation signature goes at the bottom of the note only after I have proofread what has been entered, after which I release the note for the provider to review. Then on to the next patient!

(Spike is a retired physician and businessman who now scribes remotely from Arizona for family practice providers in the San Francisco Bay area.)

A Day in the Life of an AQuity Scribe – Spike

You will learn 5,000 new words in your first year of medical/PA/NP school and, depending on how long you scribe, you may well learn a significant chunk of these. And yet, this is not the most important thing you will learn as a medical scribe. The most important thing you will learn is the back and forth, the ebb and flow, the taking and recording of medical history. Even in this day of advances in imaging and laboratory testing, the medical history is still what is used to make a correct diagnosis 75-80% of the time. You will not learn most of what there is to know about history taking during your time as a scribe, because you will not have learned the data needed on which to base your history taking, but if you pay attention to what questions your provider is asking, and how the patient answers those questions, you will be well served in your future career. As a medical scribe you will learn to do what healthcare providers have learned to do, namely, to record in the medical record not so much what is said as what is meant. You will learn, in other words, to synthesize, to translate, as it were, from a two-person dialogue which often rambles into a coherent story. That story is the history.

I start my shift well before the provider is scheduled to begin work and do what he or she will do. I review and take notes about each patient scheduled and then look over the medication and problem lists. I ask myself why the patient is taking a given medication, then note which problems are chronic or acute, and finally decide which problem(s) may be most important to the health of the patient. For patients who are returning to discuss results of laboratory or imaging results, I make sure I have already made copious notes about the results. For patients who are returning for followup visits for recent onset, acute illness or for more chronic conditions, I always look back over prior visit, ER, and consultant notes to review the nature of prior diagnoses and symptoms, and will keep these in mind as today’s visit begins to flow.

At the end of the patient visit, in conjunction with the provider, I make sure all diagnoses in the assessment section are correct, with resolved problems no longer appearing on the active problem list, and that all diagnoses and medications have been addressed in the plan/discussion section. My scribe attestation signature goes at the bottom of the note only after I have proofread what has been entered, after which I release the note for the provider to review. Then on to the next patient!

(Spike is a retired physician and businessman who now scribes remotely from Arizona for family practice providers in the San Francisco Bay area.)

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