personal statement medical school

The TV drama Grey’s Anatomy is one of the popular television shows in the US today, which focuses on surgery. Viewers who have a limited background in the medical profession will probably get confused when they watch the show because of the differing titles of the doctors. Why are Meredith and her friends called “residents,” while George remains an “intern”? Why does everyone call Dr. Webber “chief”? For the sake of the confused non-medical viewers, here is a glossary of common hospital staff terms.

Medical interns

Medicals interns are first-year residents who have recently graduated from medical school. Because they are still medical interns, they still have to gain hands-on medical experience; so they are allowed to scrub in for some minor surgical procedures.

Medical residents

Medical residents are the medical students who manage to pass their medical boards and intern exams. Further, medical residents are legally recognized doctors who practice medicine with the supervision of attending physicians. In addition to practicing medicine, medical residents also teach and supervise duties of medical interns.

Attending physicians

Attending physicians are doctors who have finished training for their medical specializations. They are the “doctors in charge” in their respective sub-departments. Attending physicians are fully responsible for the medical care of their patients as well as the clinical performance of their medical residents. Equally, attending physicians teach interns and train residents in teaching hospitals. These are done for the purpose of becoming better medical practitioners.

Chief attending

In every institution a boss is needed. In a hospital setting, the chief attending is the big boss. The chief attending is an attending physician who takes care of the overall organization of the whole hospital department. In the case of Seattle Grace Hospital surgical department, that role is given to Dr. Richard Webber.

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What qualities make doctors successful? Maybe medical doctors or even medical students themselves will have difficulty in answering when asked this question. Some may say their outstanding grades, others their excellent choice of a medical school and others their determination. These are all contributory factors toward being a successful doctor. Getting categorical answers entail additional reading and research; but if you are curious enough, here are some tips to start reading and help you become a great physician someday:

Successful doctors are excellent communicators

Active interaction with colleagues and other members of society is inevitable as well as important in medical practice. In a sample case: Dr. Cristina Yang of Grey’s Anatomy. Dr. Yang graduated with top honors from Stanford Medical School and received her PhD from Berkeley. She has excellent surgical skills and is like a walking medical textbook. Dr. Yang however is not at ease talking with her patients or able to handle well the delivery of terrible news. In this case, people skills are missing. In medical practice, a balanced medical aptitude and social skills is a must if you want to be a successful doctor. Patients are people and need special care during their unhealthy times; treating with sensitivity is necessary.

Successful doctors are keen observers

Doctors need to be observant during treatment of diseases and disorders. Some symptoms may be small or light but can be even more serious. Malaria for example starts with a tiny mosquito bite, and cancer begins with a small malignant tumor. Being keen on details is very important in medical practice as it will help you easily identify the cause of an illness of a patient or related problem. Having an eye for your patient’s situation will help you save lives. In medical practice, you have to stay alert and observant at all times before things get worse. Being vigilant helps you build a successful career in medicine.

Successful doctors are time management experts

Yes, time management is very essential to medical practice. Time management skill starts right when you enter medical school and not during medical residency only. Starting to practice time management skills during medical school does not only help you study well and get more sleep but also to build and excellent medical career. Getting well organized will help you avoid laziness and tardiness, your class schedules will be planned earlier and get you to bed on time as scheduled.

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The toughest thing to manage is being in two serious commitments at a time – marriage and medical school. These are considered tough as they both carry the same weight in needing 100% dedication and responsibility. What would you expect when you fall into a situation as this? Do you have coping mechanisms to perform both responsibilities at the same time?

Juggling spousal responsibilities and medical school work

Being a married woman and attending medical school is a very complicated situation to be in. Duties of being a wife at home and to your husband are expected of you while you are equally expected to do well in medical classes. This can really be difficult for you and would need to find some coping mechanism to reduce some of your menial load and get doing more significant responsibilities in medical school. If you can afford it get some household help. It is very helpful to plan ahead for these multi-tasks if you have had the chance as it will help you unload most of lighter responsibilities to get the chance to accomplish heavier ones.

Balancing marriage, medical school work, and parenting

Parenting is the most complicated duty to juggle with medical school. It takes a lot of energy and will power to be able to take care of your children, maintain your marriage and at the same time. You must find a way to learn how to turn your difficulties into an asset. Managing your time skillfully and having the discipline to stick to it is a powerful tool for you to succeed. Being able to identify coping mechanisms and finally making it happen will head you on to success. With your time off in medical school, spend quality time with your spouse and child. What matters most is you have time for your family in any way possible.

If you are still single, better to wait before getting married until you have graduated or during residency before having a family. As much as possible avoid things that will complicate your studies. A baby deserves more time for caring the same as starting a family thus it is always wise to plan out when to get into marriage when planning to get into medical school. This is a fair way to treat your family, your career and yourself. So control your time and do things one step at a time.

In case it cannot de avoided, plan your steps and manage your time with the discipline needed. Besides, you will need an inspiration and a warm and sweet affection from your supportive partner when coming home after a stressful day in medical school.

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Most medical students who apply for admission to medical schools are science majors who spend college years studying organic chemistry or comparative vertebrate anatomy to prepare for medical school. What then will happen if you majored in political science or journalism but realize your skill and interest lies in a medical career? Is it still possible to get into medical school?

Yes, you can definitely get into medical school. With a science major, however, you can enter medical school with the accomplishment of certain requirements as prerequisites to qualify for admission. If you are a non-science major, bear in mind that you will need passing marks in the required science courses for medical school prior to filling up that medical school application form.

Science courses required in medical school

Science subjects are required for enrollment to medical school, which you need to take up in college if you’re a non-science major. The science courses required for medical school include physics, biology, chemistry, and mathematics. Most medical schools also require applicants to take up basic psychology units to be able to qualify for enrollment. This is because basic psychology prepares a medical student for medical psychology, more so if you want to pursue a career in psychiatry. Non-science subjects such as English, humanities, and social sciences are also necessary to get into medical school.

Personal statement tips for non-science majors

In medical school admission, science majors have an advantage over non-science majors. This is true since science majors have dealt with actual dissection and other laboratory work in their lessons. This is where the challenge comes in - how will a non-science major like you be able to increase your chances to getting accepted to medical school? To increase your chances, you need to prepare and submit a well-written personal statement. The personal statement is a written appeal to the medical school admission evaluators expounding why you are worthy to become a student in medical school. Your objective is to convince the evaluators that your non-science major is essential to medical practice. Take time to recall your lessons in college and strategically associate them with medical practice.

Although science major is still preferred as pre-medical degree to get you into most medical schools, it doesn’t mean that non-science majors are not accepted. If you have finished history or fine arts but are determined to enroll to medical school, don’t give up. In the end, hard work and perseverance are success factors in medical school.

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Are you still undecided on what medical specialization to pursue? If so, it is wise to start checking your options now. To be able to select a medical specialization that fits your interest and enhances your skill, planning and assessing are necessary just like preparing your personal statement medical school. One basic thing is to check out how tight the competition is. You can find below a list of some of the most competitive medical specializations. Read on to help you decide the best choice.

Neurosurgery

Neurosurgery may appear easy but this medical specialization is actually one of the toughest fields in medical practice. Neurosurgery involves the treatment of the nervous system which is the person’s control unit. The risks are high in this field as a slight mistake may damage one part of the brain and can totally affect the whole body. A small mistake in neurosurgical operations can lead to coma, paralysis, brain damage, psychosis, or even death. Despite the many risks, medical practitioners take up neurosurgery as medical specialization.

Dermatology

Obsession to physical beauty makes dermatology as a medical specialization that is highly competitive. Even ordinary people endeavor to get the most pleasing physical beauty. More so in the movie industry where skin care services are highly in demand. Thus, despite dermatological services being expensive, dermatology remains very popular because people from the middle- to high-income level basically want to look attractive and physically beautiful. This medical practice however, is not limited to wart removal or skin whitening services. It includes the treatment of skin diseases like impetigo, acne, dermatitis, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, melanoma and eczema. Because of it being one of the most sought-after medical specializations today and the huge potential earnings, medical students go for it.

Even if the competition in neurosurgery and dermatology is tight, it is not a reason for leaving it out in your list. If you believe you are brave enough to insert an electrode into people’s brains or to remove tissue from people’s eyelids, then you are worth becoming a specialist. Remember that you will ultimately decide on your medical career and not others; if you have stated you will do anything to go through the challenges in medical school, then it’s time to prove it to yourself.

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Aside from the pressure and stress of medical school and residency, doctors confront another rigid challenge in their medical career – to select medical specializations. Listed below are some of the most popular medical specializations:

* Plastic surgery

Plastic surgery is one of the most popular medical specializations. Medical students need to understand however that it is the specialization that it is also one of the most difficult to excel in. This is because it involves enhancement of physical assets and reconstruction of physical deformities, which are complex medical procedures. Plastic surgery is a highly techical field and is always coupled with a lot of risks that can include paralysis and death.

In spite of the complexity and risks involved, the popularity of this medical specialization stems from the undeniable obsession of people to enhance their physical beauty. So, plastic surgeons will never run out of patients.

* Pediatrics

Pediatricians, aside from diagnosing signs and symptoms as well as checking possible infections, provide medical care to maintain the total health of children in all aspects. Treating children is not that simple especially if your patients cannot really say what and where it hurts. By the pediatrician’s experience, the pediatrician makes his or her diagnosis.

Aside from enjoying the treatment of children as patients, the popularity of this medical specialization is due to the fact that parents will definitely pay any amount for their children’s safety and health.

* Obstetrics and gynecology

This medical specialization is perhaps the most popular medical specialization among female doctors, but it is also open to male doctors. This medical specialization remains close to every female doctor’s heart due to its focus on parts of the anatomy that are found only in women. It deals with ensuring medical care for the reproductive health of pregnant including non-pregnant patients.

The basic fact that women get pregnant and babies are born every day assures the proliferation of medical practitioners on obstetrics and gynecology.

In the end, do not make the mistake of choosing a specialization because of its popularity or even based on the amount of salary involved. Choose a medical specialization that matches your skills, personality, and interests. If you’re not a “people person” and your dexterity is topnotch, you may want to be a surgeon.

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The learning process doesn’t stop with your graduation from medical school. As new breeds of disease evolve and technology advances, the learning process needs to continue. Thus, doctors, especially the newly graduates, need to learn more about professional medical practice. To respond to this situation, various medical experts began to set up teaching hospitals. The teaching hospitals are medical institutions that provide medical care to patients and also clinical training to interns. Read on to get an idea on best teaching hospitals in the USA that you could consider.

Johns Hopkins Hospital

Johns Hopkins Hospital gave birth to the development of popular medical specialties such as pediatrics, neurosurgery, endocrinology as well as urology. Significant discoveries and several medical breakthroughs have been made in Johns Hopkins Hospital. These include the identification of the three polio virus types, the discovery of restriction enzymes, and the operation of the first blue baby. Johns Hopkins Hospital strives to preserve and continue its legacy in the field of medicine and health care. It invests further in the proper training and education of its medical practitioners. Do you need proof its success? For eighteen years, John Hopkins Hospital was consecutively recognized as the best medical institution and teaching hospital in the USA.

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

Aside from getting recognition for its overall medical services and programs, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center joins Johns Hopkins Hospital in the list of top medical institutions and best teaching hospitals in the USA. Its teaching hospital gained praises for outstanding medical specialties, low mortality data, great medical practitioners and advanced medical technology. Want to know the secret to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center’s success? Its success is due to provision of effective clinical education and training program for its interns as well as other medical residents.

Massachusetts General Hospital

The Massachusetts General Hospital, aside from being the oldest medical institutions in the USA, is also one of the best teaching hospitals. It has the biggest annual budget for hospital-based research program with US$400 million. The Massachusetts General Hospital medical staff are dedicated to finding new ways to improve medical clinical practice and develop medical innovation, through affiliation with Harvard Medical School.

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The student-teacher ratio contributes to the effectivity of transferring knowledge by the teacher to the students. This refers to the number of teachers compared to the number of students in a specific academic institution. The ideal student-teacher ratio is between 10:1 and 15:1 to attain such a goal. Below are some examples of medical schools with low student-teacher ratios.

Washington University School of Medicine

The Washington University School of Medicine as a medical school maintains a low student-teacher ratio. This is done by admitting only a limited number of students to the St. Louis, Missouri medical school. With this system the school can preserve the quality of education to its medical students and keeping a higher standard for its graduates. By limiting its annual enrollees, the Washington University School of Medicine is capable of providing equal opportunities to each medical student.

Harvard Medical School

The Harvard Medical School employs over 10,000 faculty members to educate its medical students. With this much number of teachers, Harvard Medical School has one of the lowest student-teacher ratios in the country. Hard Medical School is a well-known medical school and would like to keep its rapport in preserving the school’s academic excellence. Each medical student is assured of the opportunity to become great medical practitioners with the faculty providing sufficient guidance and quality education. According to many experts, aside from having a low student-teacher ratio, the Harvard Medical School is also the number one medical school in the country at present.

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Believing in ensuring the quality of education to its students, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine along with Washington University and Harvard University maintains a low student-teacher ratio. Derived from the name Johns Hopkins medical school, the “Hopkins Model” of teaching evolved. This model is a combination of basic science education and intensive clinical mentoring.

Top medical schools have low student-teacher ratios

Annually, medical schools are ranked and those with low student-teacher ratios also do well in overall top rankings. Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Washington University School of Medicine all managed to get the top 5 spots in the 2008 list. A major reason for this excellence is that the teachers are more comfortable teaching in a small setting and a small crowd. It is easier to learn in a setting where you can share your ideas and be listened to than when you share a classroom in a lecture hall that can have room for almost a hundred people.

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In writing references in the text, the AMA style is the proper format used. The AMA style is developed by the American Medical Association to be used in writing research papers or documents on medicine, science and other health-related subject matters. This style in citing references is used not only by medical practitioners and medical journalists but also by medical students and medical professors.

General guidelines in AMA style

All references are listed according to chronological appearance on the text when enumerated at the end of the paper. If text reference are indicated, each source entry must be numbered appropriately and not with bullets. All the elements of citation must be separated by periods, regardless of the source type.

Element chronology for book citations:

* author’s name
* chapter title
* editor’s name/translator’s name
* book title
* volume number
* book edition
* place of publication
* book publisher
* copyright year
* page numbers

General rules in citing books

In the case of the absence of some of the elements in your source there’s no need to worry, just skip them then follow the same chronology. In book citations, if you need to specify pages of the book, include or directly cite the page numbers. For the author’s name, make sure to follow the “<last name>, <first name>, <middle initial> format.

Element chronology for journal articles:

* article title and subtitle
* journal’s abbreviated name
* year published
* volume number
* supplement number
* page numbers

General rules in citing journal articles

When journals are being cited, the citation is not similar to book citations. You do not need to write down the first name of the writer in the journal article being cited. You only need to follow the format “<last name>, <first name initial> <middle initial>”.

Element chronology for Internet sources:

* name of author
* webpage name or title of article
* URL source
* date accessed

General rules in citing Internet sources

In the AMA style, although now allowed, citing Internet sources is not advisable. To make the citing of the internet articles more appropriate, indicate inside brackets if the internet source is an abstract of a study or an article in an online journal. Remember that it is very important to include the proper notation of the online journal cited in the text all the time.

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In medical school getting invited into a study group is a privilege. Once you get an invite, jump into the opportunity immediately. This is one essential means to meet potential study mates as well as to improve your study pattern and academic performance. With medical school classes being full of stress, study group session is a good way to survive through the pressure and never ending challenges.

No room for procrastination

Study group sessions give you no room for procrastination, which is one of the worst enemies of good study habits. Studying by yourself probably allows you to drag time and head for the movie instead of the library. When you join study groups, it will keep you posted of your study habit and keep you aware that you need to finish studying as the group’s fate also depends on you. In the process it will train you to be responsible and considerate as many people are counting on you as you count on your group mates too. Responsible study group members will support each other’s study habits and move on with better academic performance.

“Two or more heads are better than one”

In a study group, sessions will involve lots of discussions and more ideas are shared. You will be given the chance to facilitate the group session with an assigned topic and will be in charge of explaining the topic to the study group. After giving your explanation, a group discussion will proceed where each member will give his or her comments or ideas regarding the previous topic discussed. This is the basic difference from studying alone and joining a study group. During study group sessions, you get the chance to share your ideas as well as listen to other colleagues. Sufficient ideas generated and collated can serve as a knowledge-base that does not only serve you during tests but also the entire medical practice.

More chances for self-improvement

Aside from good academic performance and gaining new partners, joining study group sessions have other advanages. Study group sessions can turn you into a confident student and make you good at interpersonal relations – a must need for every doctor. These qualities can be gained from frequent delivery of opinions in front of a small study group. Your attention span and memory recall can be enhanced by listening to other people’s opinions or ideas. The study group is a good way of preparing for medical career by enhancing your critical thinking and problem solving skills through assessing both your ideas as well as your colleagues’.

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