Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Session 40 In today’s episode, I talk with Hanna about MD/PhD programs, along with the many other dual-degree programs such as MD/MPH, MD/MBA, and more.…

Tired, overworked and sleep deprived are all words used to describe interns and residents working the hospital. It has long been thought to be a right of passage for physicians, handing the torch down to the next generation. Long hours, 36-hour shifts were common place more than 25-30 years ago during your medical education.

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Session 38 In today’s episode, I talk with Dr. Vineet Arora from FutureDocsBlog.com about the do’s and don’ts of writing your personal statements. These tips…

Eat When You Can, Sleep When You Can, Don't F&*k With The Pancreas <- Tweet this!  Allison and I are back at the microphones talking about life as a new 3rd year medical student.   This is why YOU went to medical school to begin with. YOU want to treat patients, not just read about disease that you think you have now.

Some craziness is happening around here. This week Allison interviews me about my job as a flight surgeon. I get a lot of questions about what a flight surgeon is, and what we do on a daily basis.   I can tell you one thing. A flight surgeon DOES NOT operate on a plane!   We are basically family practice doctors for pilots and other essential personnel involved with flight. We are also occupational health doctors and preventive medicine doctors all wrapped into one.

Dr. Polites is back with us again to talk about how to go about fixing a poor start to a premed career. If you remember, Dr. Polites joined us back in session 23.   Dr. Polites and I try to create scenarios that students may be in, whether it is a poor GPA or low MCAT score, so he/she can listen to the advice Dr. Polites has to offer.   If you have a good GPA and low MCAT, should you retake the MCAT? Should you try to retake the test with the hopes of raising the score? We talk about that!   What about getting a C in a course - should you retake the course? For the AMCAS application you have to average you grades. For the AACOMAS application you us the LAST grade, even if you do worse.

The world of Twitter is very confusing to most. I even thought it was the weirdest thing when it came out. I signed up for a personal account very early on and never used it, because I never knew it's power.   Fast forward to last year when I created an account for Medical School HQ and actually began learning how to use it. It's crazy how you can truly reach out and touch (tweet) anybody in the world (as long as they are on Twitter!).   One of the earlier people I saw on Twitter, sharing advice and retweeting fun pictures and stories of other premeds was @PremedPrincess_. She's a premed twitter star with over 9,000 followers (as of this publishing).   I reached out to her to find out who she is - or I guess at the time, I didn't even know if she was even a she. You never know in todays internet world. 65 year old Billy Bob from the middle of nowhere could have been having a blast being a Premed Princess :)!

Allison and I talk about what it was like transitioning into medical school the first year. Some of the obstacles, frustrations and what worked for us, what didn't and how we survived!   We talk about how we chose what to do with our first summer during medical school (typically your only free summer during medical school).   Take a listen for a lot of fun conversation!