Title: Scrub Notes: A Medical Student Blog

How To Schedule Air Travel / Flights For Residency Interviews

Published on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:11:00

You've taken USMLE Step 1. You've figured out how to choose a medical specialty. You got the recommendation letters, slaved over the personal statement, and submitted ERAS. Finally, it's time to sit back and wait for those interviews to roll in. But wait, there's one big question to be answered.How are you going to schedule dates, flights, hotels, and rental cars for all those residency interviews?There are several ways to go about answering this question, but the key is to have a plan. Here is read more..

A Medical Holiday Gift Guide / Wish List

Published on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:31:00

Ah, the winter season. A time for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali, and other holidays I am forgetting. A season of giving. But, alas, what to give?In the past, I've written about practical gifts and must have gifts for medical students and health professionals. This time though, it's just going to be a wish list, plain and simple. Most of it is medically-related, sometimes a stretch, but honestly, some of it just good stuff one might want to have. C'mon, you (or your recipient) is in medica read more..

First Year Medical Student Resource Guide

Published on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:48:00

One of the most difficult parts of the first year medical school is distilling a large volume of information into easily digestible parts. Here are some links to online resources you might find helpful.A Beginner's Guide To Medical SchoolBooks For First Year Medical StudentsEponym FinderFirefox Tips For Studying MedicineHow To Buy A StethoscopeHow To Study AnatomyMedical Images OnlineMnemonic FinderTips On Studying And Surviving The First Year of Medical SchoolVirtual Human Anatomy GuideWikipedi read more..

The Basic Science Medical Education Dilemma

Published on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:02:00

This is a guest post by John Wetzel from Wiki PreMedFor medical education, the question is not only what to teach and what to leave out but also how to teach it. Alfred North Whitehead in his famous essay 'Science in the Modern World' described a situation in which the explosion of knowledge in modernity made the 'Renaissance Man' no longer possible, and that to be effective, a modern person had to content themselves with being a specialist, and this was in the 1920's! I think this predicament read more..

How To Study First Year Medical School Anatomy

Published on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:25:00

Anatomy is a fundamental part of any medical student's education, and usually it starts early on in the first year. The education is usually a mix of didactic lectures as well as time spent in an anatomy lab, dissecting cadavers. Some have suggested switching to a method of instruction utilizing technology for prosections, avoiding the need for cadavers, but most medical schools still have a formal anatomy lab.How does one make the most of their time studying in anatomy lab? Studying the materi read more..

Tips On Studying And Surviving The First Year Of Medical School

Published on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:59:00

In my continuing series on posts for first year medical students, I decided to write a post on study tips and strategies for first year students. Of course, some of these tips could apply to any student, but there is a definite adjustment that has to be made for studying medical knowledge. Some of these things I learned from friends; some, from my own mistakes. Hopefully you can incorporate them into your own study strategies to be a successful medical student.Study every single day - Being a go read more..

What Is The Best Stethoscope To Get For Medical School?

Published on Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:15:00

Continuing my beginner's guide to medical school for first year medical students and following up on my post on what books a first year medical student should buy, I address that timeless medical school question: what stethoscope should I get? Many factors go into the purchasing decision. As a disclaimer, I should note that I have owned a Littmann Cardiology III stethoscope for the past few years and am quite happy with it. I have even recommended it as a gift for medical students (as that is ho read more..

Books For First Year Medical Students

Published on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:01:00

While I am sure your classes will provide you with curricula and suggested texts to read, there are several textbooks that any first year medical student should consider buying as part of their long-term collection of books. Looking back at some of my book purchases, it is shocking to see the books that I omitted and the ones I blew hundreds of dollars on only to have them collect dust.What Books Should Every First Year Medical Student Own? There is no definitive list of books, of course. But, I read more..

A Beginner's Guide To Medical School

Published on Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:49:00

Welcome Class of 2013! By now most of you are a few weeks into the medical school experience. Hopefully you have had time to settle into your new surroundings, make some new friends, and perhaps learn a thing or two.You may have also noticed that medical school requires a different approach to studying. The way I look at it, to get into medical school, you had to be broadly talented, doing well in many subjects and perhaps especially well in one or two. The emphasis was more on being able to app read more..

Books For Internal Medicine Core Clerkship / Rotation And Shelf Exam

Published on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:59:00

Along with the surgery rotation, the internal medicine rotation is arguably the most important rotation you will take during your clinical training in medical school. Of course, if you choose to specialize or go into another primary care field like pediatrics, those rotations will count a great deal. However, every student will be greatly benefited by doing well in medicine and surgery. The grade you receive on this rotation is on par with your surgery grade and second only to the USMLE Step 1 s read more..

How To Work Up Hyponatremia

Published on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:36:00

Hyponatremia is not an uncommon finding among patients, especially hospitalized ones. There are many etiologies of hyponatremia, so it is important to understand the concepts behind sodium and water balance. Unlike some other lab abnormalities which may have various causes but one treatment, the treatment for hyponatremia can differ quite a bit depending on the cause so it is very important to determine the root cause of a low sodium level.What is hyponatremia?Hyponatremia is defined as a sodium read more..

A Quick Guide To Reading A Chest X-Ray

Published on Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:31:00

Check out this post on The Radiology Blog about reading a chest x-ray:Let's say you are trekking in the Himalayas and suddenly become short of breath. Even though you are on your way to Annapurna Base Camp in a remote corner of the world, you would most likely be taken to a local clinic and have a plain film chest x-ray taken of your chest to help determine the etiology of your dyspnea, just like in any other part of the world. This post is not a comprehensive account of how to read a chest x-ra read more..

7 Quick Stories From Medicine Wards

Published on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:14:00

My first month of internship is coming to an end. I did a month of medicine wards. The hours are long, but it's been interesting. Here are a few quick tidbits from my month:One patient was a little too happy that I attempted to say hello to her in her own language. As I began to examine her with my gloved hands and stethoscope, I said "Hello" in her language. She suddenly lit up, grabbed both my hands with her own, said "Hello!!!" and proceeded to kiss my gloved hands. Sadly, I think this was ac read more..

10 Tips To Survive Wards

Published on Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:21:00

Wards often cause much consternation for medical students, interns, and residents. This post will be half humorous, half serious, but hopefully all helpful. These are going to be practical tips about your workflow. If you're worried more about looking good on rounds, might I suggest First Aid for the Wards. You might also want to check out:Pocket Medicine: The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Internal Medicine250 Biggest Mistakes 3rd Year Medical Students Make And How to Avoid ThemFirs read more..

Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) Training

Published on Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:25:00

Regular readers of this blog have probably surmised from my posts (or lack thereof) that I am starting residency now. Part of the prerequisites to starting internship is Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) certification. Therefore, I recently took an ACLS course and became certified.The ACLS course I took was structured to be taught over 2 days, from 8 AM to 5 PM. At the end of the course, there was a practical and written exam. If we passed those, we received our certification, stating read more..

Medical School Graduation

Published on Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:51:00

I graduated from medical school this past week. Thank you to everyone who supported me along the way and congratulated me at the conclusion. And, thanks to you readers for being there along the journey, hopefully learning a bit when I fell and laughing with me when I rose again.As for my absence from this blog, it's easily explained: fourth year! I was fortunate enough to get some time off after match day and travel. I spent several weeks in India, visiting family all over Rajasthan and Maharash read more..

USMLE Step 1 Advice For Those May / June Test Takers

Published on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:02:00

Back in January, I devoted this blog to posting all the advice I had for USMLE Step 1. For my medical school, that was the time during which many people were taking Step 1. However, I realize that many people end up taking the exam in May and June. In case you missed a post, here is the entire list of posts containing my USMLE Step 1 Advice:25 Things You Should Know About Your USMLE Step 1 Exam DayHow To Relax While Studying For USMLE Step 1How To Register For USMLE Step 1My USMLE Step 1 Study S read more..

Popular Posts In 2009 (So Far)

Published on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:03:00

I'll be enjoying a much deserved MS4 vacation over the next few weeks, but hopefully I'll be able to get in a few posts. As things have been slowing down, I decided to peruse my blog stats for the year thus far. The traffic to this site has shifted a bit, with more people coming here searching for informaiton on USMLE Step 1, but Dale Dubin remains popular as ever. Anyway, here are my top 9 in '09 (so far):Pope's Blessing Vs. Claw HandHow To Write A History/Physical Or SOAP Note On The Wards D read more..

USMLE Step 2 CS Books And Study Strategy

Published on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:46:00

Three days ago, I took USMLE Step 2 CS. The CS stands for Clinical Skills. Unlike the other exams, this one is not computer-based and instead involves live, standardized patients. Relative to USMLE Step 1 or even USMLE Step 2 CK, preparing for Step 2 CS is a much shorter, much more straightforward process. Since Step 2 CS is graded on a pass / fail basis, the goal here is also much simpler: pass!USMLE Step 2 CS Exam FormatThe basic format of Step 2 CS is a patient encounter. A patient encounter read more..

Match Day Gift Ideas

Published on Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:02:00

What is Match Day?For those of you who are not aware, Match Day is the day that U.S. medical students (and foreign medical graduates applying for residency positions in the United States) learn where they will be going for internship and residency the following year. The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) is the entity that coordinates the Match Day process. It begins in the summer of the previous year, when students begin filling out the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) ap read more..

USMLE Step 2 CK Books And Study Strategy

Published on Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:37:00

I recently took USMLE Step 2 CK, which explains my absence from blogging on here. While I do not have my score yet, I figured I would share my study strategy as well as the books and resources I used to prepare for the exam. Relative to USMLE Step 1, preparing for Step 2 CK is a much shorter, much more straightforward process. Of course, people may have different goals and needs for their Step 2 score, but I think for most people it ends up being a test you simply have to pass to continue with y read more..

25 Things I Learned From Studying And Taking USMLE Step 1 and 2 CK

Published on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:05:00

Excuse my absence the last few weeks, but I was busy studying for USMLE Step 2 CK. Going through review books and practice questions, I came to realize that I had learned many important stereotypes and other truisms from this exercise, of which I'd like to share a few with you. Anyone who visits Connecticut gets Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi infection).Anyone who visits Arizona has coccidiomycosis.Young African American female? Lupus.Young African American without Lupus? Sarcoidosis.Farmer read more..

Would More Medical Students Choose Primary Care if They Received Specialist Salaries?

Published on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:34:00

This is a guest post by James over at poorMD.com Fewer and fewer medical students are choosing to go into primary care fields despite the emphasis and growing need for more internists and family practitioners. When choosing a medical specialty, medical students have many factors to consider: lifestyle, personality match, competitiveness, length of training, and salary (compensation) are some of the major considerations. Let's break down each of the considerations a poor medical st read more..

Choosing A Medical Specialty

Published on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:16:00

It seems like in every class, there are two groups of people. The first group seems like they were born with a scalpel or stethoscope in hand, claiming to have known they wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon or pediatric rheumatologist since practically the day they were born. The other group is on the other side of the spectrum: they weren't sure about medical school, weren't sure how to pick their rotations, weren't sure what to specialize in, weren't sure where they were headed in general. This read more..

Medical School Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

Published on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 07:18:00

Valentine's Day is coming up soon, and even the medical students in your life need some love. Actually, if you believe the reports, medical students are much more depressed than the average population, so they probably need the love more than most. As you may recall from my past effort in this area Practical Gifts For Medical Students: A Holiday Gift Guide, I like getting gifts as much as the next guy, but I prefer a practical gift, one that I will use at least on a monthly basis. Not only are s read more..