Archive for October, 2008
Site Move
Posted by medaholic in Uncategorized on October 31, 2008
I have registered a new domain name. This blog will no longer be open source medicine, though the idea will still remain. It should take 2-3 days to get all my posts moved over to the new site. It should be exciting. But first, I have a midterm to study for. Thanks everyone for all the support so far, I promise I won’t disappoint.
Rehauling the Site
I’m going to take a small break in writing to redo / redesign this blog. Here’s a general outline of things to do.
- Get a Domain Name + Hosting – There’s just not enough control and personalization using a wordpress hosted site. I will be looking to buy a domain name and get some hosting done within the next month, which leads me to my second point…
- Change Blog Name – This is something I don’t want to do, but is inevitable. One reason being opensourcemd.com is already taken but more importantly, I want a site name that really captures the spirit of collaborative health care. Something that really highlights Medicine 2.0. Also, opensourcemd is just too long of a name to be memorable. Hopefully, I can think of something that is under 8 letters long. Any suggestions / ideas would be greatly appreciated.
- Design the Site - What kind of layout do I want, what features should I include, how can I make this user friendly. Unfortunately, this will require me to brush up on my rust html, css, javascript and learn some new skills too. But just like any other job, if you’re not learning and constantly improving yourself and your skillset, you’re going to be left behind.
- Define a Direction – There are tons of medical blogs out there, many of them chronicling the journey through medical school. I don’t want this blog to be just about a personal journal to record stuff, though I do intend to write some personal posts. I want to create more in-depth timeless articles that people will derive real value from. Whether you are a pre-med student, a med student or just the general public, I want you to find the content useful and applicable to you. So over the next month, I will be shaping my vision and direction for this blog.
- Get Ideas – This is similar to point 3. I will be planning out what type of content I want to write about, what niche and audience I will be writing for. The workload is picking up at school and I want to be efficient with my time. By coming up with 25+ ideas / drafts of articles, I can be more productive with my work.
That’s the general gist of things to come. I’ll probably spend a good portion of that time thinking up 2 and 3. A good domain name can go a long way. It should be memorable, clever, short and descriptive of this site. Thanks for reading so far, whether you’re a returning user or somebody who stumbled upon this blog, thank you. Your viewership matters to me and it inspires me to write.
Medical School Pass Fail Grading System
Posted by medaholic in Medical School on October 16, 2008
I’ve just finished writing my first medical school exam and though the material wasn’t overly difficult, I’m glad it’s done with. A pass is a pass. On to more interesting topics and relevant topics. It’s safe to say that the honeymoon of medical school is officially over. No more medical school is a “walk in the park.” The sheer amount of memorization is beginning and it doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon, if ever.
At first, I was a skeptic of the pass/fail system. The common saying is “What do you call a student who graduates at the bottom of their medical class?” The Answer: “A Doctor!” Wouldn’t a pass fail grading system breed mediocrity. Why would anyone want a surgeon that only answered 75% his medical exam questions correctly? But I’m finding that’s not the case. The type of people that make it into medicine aren’t just motivated by marks alone. We like to learn, tackle challenging problems and push ourselves. The more interesting the materials covered in class, they more inclined we are to study.
The pass fail system ultimately is a good thing for medical students. It reduces competition (backstabbing) in the classroom, unnecessary stress and reduces an examsmanship approach to learning, where people study with the sole purpose of scoring points. It creates a partnership of trust between classmates and teachers; there is a common goal of quality education. Studies have shown that schools with the pass fail system have better class dynamics and that has been no significant difference found in board scores.
I believe the AMSA sums it up quite nicely when they say, “The type of student who makes it to medical school in the first place—a successful, motivated achiever—will learn in any kind of system; will learn despite the system.”
Too Many Smart People
Posted by medaholic in Medical School, Thoughts on October 11, 2008
My dad often says, “Being smart is not enough; there’s just too many smart people in the world.” Although I’ve had this statement repeated to me uncountable times while growing up, I am finding it to be truer everyday. Often it is the simplest words of advice that take a lifetime to fully understand.
Everyday, I am surrounded by bright minds. Medical students are the cream of the science student crop. They are the high school students who are capable of post-secondary education. They are the students who excel in their university academics, who ace the MCAT and who still have time to pursue extracurricular activities. All medical students have a certain level of “smartness.”
I am amazed at the talent of my classmates. One has run multiple marathons and triathlons. Another has worked for the United Nations. Others have completed their PhD’s and are called doctors already. Watching my classmates assimilate large amounts of information in a short period of time for a test is proof of their gifted abilities. I sometimes feel insecure in medical school amongst all these smart people, like an imposter who slipped through the cracks of the admissions committee into medical school. And compared to the doctors and professors who frequently “pimp” the class with obscure questions, my confidence in my abilities is often shaken up. However, being smart and talented IS NOT everything.
Growing up, I was always curious as to how successful people got to where they were. How do athletes win championships and musicians write bestsellers? This curiosity naturally made the biography books – especially autobiographies – a favorite genre of mine. I read up on the lives of great thinkers, pivotal leaders and famous doctors trying to find a common thread to their success. And to my surprise, being smart was not a crucial element. They all acknowledged that their talents and brains gave them a slight advantage over other people, but much like my father, they also acknowledged that there are also many smart people.
A video I’d like to share is from TED talks on success. (For those who haven’t heard of TED before, go check it out, there are a lot of great lectures to view on just about anything) It sums up nicely what I think is needed – on top of being smart – in order to become a good doctor. Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6bbMQXQ180]
The Sorting Hat of Medical School
Posted by medaholic in Admissions, Application, Pre-med on October 10, 2008
It’s always strange to see things from a different perspective. Especially if sitting in front of you is
1 Dean of Medicine
4 Administrative Staff
5 Medical Students
3 Faculty Members
8 Practicing Physicians
1 Dean of Science
Dear Readers, I successfully infiltrated medical school’s mystery black box. I have entered the premed’s jury room. The sorting hat of medical school. Being on the admissions committee will be interesting…
How to Self Study For the MCAT
Can You Study for the MCAT by Yourself? – Have you ever thought taking an MCAT prep course offered by Kaplan or The Princeton Review (TPR) totally unnecessary? Not only are they expensive, they are also time consuming, inflexible and may not be the best option out there for you. There MUST BE a better way to study for the MCAT. Instead, why not study for the MCAT by yourself using your own schedule and preferred learning system?
My Story – I prepared for and wrote the MCAT without ever enrolling in a TPR course or Kaplan course. In fact, I had not taken organic chemistry prior to the MCAT and I did not have any biochemistry background. I also lacked many classes that would have been useful for the MCAT such as genetics, cell biology, anatomy, and especially physiology. In fact, I wrote the MCAT after only one year of university classes.
I had 2.5 months in the summer to prepare for the test. I worked full time in research during the day (40 hours/ week) and studied in the evenings. I spent absolutely no money, other than the registration fee, to prepare for the MCAT. I was also in the first administration of the computer-based-test (CBT).
Despite all these unusual circumstances, I still decided to self study and prepare for the MCAT on my own. Although I had so many factors against me, I was fortunate enough to achieve a balanced score of 36Q (97th percentile) and be admitted into medical school.
Now, I am not trying to boast about my accomplishments or make others feel bad about their own score, but instead I want to show others how I was able to successfully prepare and score well on the MCAT, despite forgoing any help from test prep companies.
I want to point out that not all prep courses are bad, and many students find them beneficial. I was unable to take one when I decided to take the MCAT, so I had to study on my own. Having said that, studying on your own has many benefits and I hope you will consider this as a viable option.
The benefits include a flexible schedule based on your specific strengths and weaknesses. You don’t have to show up to class and sit through lectures that might not help you. You control the pace of the learning; speeding up if you are familiar with the material or slowing down on difficult concepts. You can study wherever, whenever and however you like. Best of all, you save a big money ($1400-1600: the average tuition for a prep course). So with this all in mind, I will outline the steps you need to know to study for the MCAT on your own.
1. Learn about the MCAT and Register
What is the MCAT? – Before you begin to study for the MCAT, you have to know what the MCAT is. The format, subjects tested, and criteria of what a good a MCAT score is should be researched. Learn all you can about the test and how you can prepare for it. Read the official AAMC website and ask people who have taken it already about what’s it like, how they prepared for it and any additional tips or pitfalls to avoid. A simple google search will provide with you with more than enough resources for the basics of the MCAT.
Democratic Healthcare
Posted by medaholic in Health Care, Thoughts on October 1, 2008
Just a short post, I am currently working on a big article that should be up within the next few days. Today, I read something interesting in the New York Times that reflected this concept of open source medicine and collaborative health care that I have been trying to define.
Patients aren’t learning from Web sites — they’re learning from each other. The shift is nothing less than “the democratization of health care”- The New York Times
They have a whole special edition on decoding our health and how information technology is playing a more and more important role. It’s a worthwhile read. Sorry, I couldn’t come up with anything more original today. Busy day at school, I guess it’s expected.