The Pre-Med Podcast

Episode 20: Welcome to the MCAT Podcast series, where Doctor Dan will cover the actual science material required for the MCAT. Starting off with an overview of Biological Sciences topics, we'll get increasingly more specific as time passes. Biology for the MCAT Classes of Organic Molecules Four major classes of organic molecules found in living organisms are carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and nucleic acids. Condensation Reactions Though these classes of molecule have different structure and function, they are built up of many similar building block molecules bonded together. In each case, building block molecules are combined by the removal of water, and this is called "condensation reactions." Condensation reactions are reversible. The complex organic molecules can be hydrolyzed into the simpler building blocks molecules with the addition of water. The basic building block molecules of carbohydrates are the simple sugars or monosaccharides. Disaccharide Bonds When two simple sugars are bonded together, a disaccharide is formed. When many simple sugars are bonded together in long chains, a polysaccharide is formed. Starch, glycogen, and cellulose are examples of polysaccharides. The carbohydrates are an important energy source for all organisms. Lipids, the fats, and fat-like substances tend to be insoluble in water. Fats are made up of two building block molecules – glycerol and fatty acids. Phospholipids are derived from the fats. They are important constituents of cell membranes. Peptide Bonds The basic building block molecules of the proteins are amino acids. Amino acids are bonded together to form a protein by condensation reactions. The resulting bond is the peptide bond and the chains produced are polypeptide chains. The primary structure of each protein is the sequence and type of amino acids making up the polypeptide chains. Because hydrogen bonds form between one amino acid and another, the chain assumes a stable regular shape known as the secondary structure. These regular molecules may in turn be folded into complicated globular shapes by weak attractions between the different R groups within the chain, thus forming the tertiary structure of the protein. Nucleotide Bonds Some globular proteins are made up of two or more polypeptide chains held together by weak bonds. The way these chains fit together determines the ordinary structure. Because the conformation of a protein depends on weak bonds, it is easily altered causing a change in biological function. The building block unit of nucleic acids is the nucleotide, which is made up of a five carbon sugar attached to a phosphate group and to a nitrogen-containing base. Nucleotide units are joined together through condensation reactions between the sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate group of the next. There are four different nucleotides in each nucleic acid. It is the different sequences of the nucleotides that encode their hereditary information. The two types of nucleic acids, DNA and RNA, differ in their basic make up and in the number of strands in the molecule. We will be discussing this in greater detail later. Free Energy and Enzymes Chemical reactions that release free energy are exothermic or exergonic. Reactions that require the addition of free energy are endothermic or endergonic. In living systems, an exothermic reaction is usually coupled with an endothermic reaction. Although exothermic reaction proceeds spontaneously, initiating a reaction may require an activation energy. Chemical reactions can be speeded up by heat, by increasing the concentrations of the reactants, or by providing the appropriate catalyst. In living systems, the catalysts are enzymes. Most enzymes are highly specific and each can interact only with those reactants or substrates that fit spatially and chemically into the active site of the enzyme. Since the formation of the enzyme

Episode 19: Would you like to have an entire MP3 series dedicated to the MCAT? Well, that's what I'm working on right now. Listen to this Renal Physiology lecture for a sample of what's to come! Renal Physiology A. ECF/ICF ECF (1/3) = extracellular fluid of two compartments – vascular (1/3) and interstitial (2/3) ICF (2/3) = intracellular fluid compartment Example: how many liters of isotonic saline do you have to infuse to get 1 liter into the plasma? 3 Liters (2/3:1/3 relationship); 2 liters in interstial space, and 1 L would go to the vascular space; it equilibrates with interstial/vascular compartments. B. Osmolality = Measure of solutes in a fluid; due to three things: Na, glucose, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) – urea cycle is located in the liver, partly in the cytosol and partly in the mitochondria; usually multiply Na times 2 (b/c one Na and one Cl). Normal Na is 135-140 range, times that by 2 that 280. For glucose, normal is 100 divide that by 18, let’s say it’s roughly 5, so that’s not contributing much. BUN:  located in the liver, part of the cycle is in the cytosol and part of it is in mitochondria. The urea comes from ammonia, that’s ammonia is gotten rid of, by urea. B/c the end product of the urea cycle is urea. The normal is about 12; divide that by 3, so we have 4. Therefore, in a normal person Na is controlling the plasma osmolality. To measure serum osmolality: double the serum Na and add 10. C. Osmosis = Among intracellular, intravascular, and interstitial spaces, 2 of these 3 are limited to the ECF compartment. One can equilibrate between ECF and ICF across the cell membranes – urea; therefore, with an increased urea, it can equilibrate equally on both sides to it will be equal on both sides; this is due to osmosis. B/c Na and glucose are limited to the ECF compartment, then changes in its concentration will result in the movement of WATER from low to high concentration  (opposite of diffusion – ie in lungs, 100 mmHg in alveoli of O2, and returning from the tissue is 40 mmHg pO2; 100 vs. 40, which is bigger, 100 is bigger, so via diffusion, O2 moves through the interspace into the plasma to increase O2 to about 95mmHb). Therefore, in diffusion, it goes from high to low, while in osmosis, it goes from low to high concentration. 1. Hyponatremia Example: In the case with hyponatremia – water goes from ECF into the ICF, b/c the lower part is in the ECF (hence HYPOnatremia); water goes into the ICF, and therefore is expanded by osmosis. Now make believe that the brain is a single cell, what will we see? cerebral edema and mental status abnormalities via law of osmosis (the intracellular compartment of all the cells in the brain would be expanded) 2. Hypernatremia Example: hypernatremia – water goes out of the ICF into the ECF, therefore the ICF will be contracted. So in the brain, it will lead to contracted cells, therefore mental status abnormalities; therefore, with hypo and hypernatremia, will get mental status abnormalities of the brain. 3. Diabetic ketoacidosis Example: DKA – have (1000mg) large amount blood sugar. Remember that both Na and glucose are limited to the ECF compartment. You would think that glucose is in the ICF but it’s not. You think that since glycolysis occurs in the cytosol therefore glucose in the ICF (again its not) b/c to order to get into the cell (intracellular), glucose must bind to phosphorus, generating G6P, which is metabolized (it’s the same  with fructose and galactose, which are also metabolized immediately, therefore, there is no glucose, fructose, or galactose, per se, intracellularly). So, with hyperglycemia, there is high glucose in the ECF, so water will move from ICF to ECF. Therefore, the serum Na concentration will go down – this is called dilutional hyponatremia (which is what happens to the serum sodium with hyperglycemia). Therefore the two things that contro

Episode 18: Over 6 years of Pre-Med Advising put online in one place! Doctor Dan organizes all of it and thoroughly describes how you can use this information to gain advantage over your competition. ************************************** [blip.tv ?posts_id=2295076&dest=-1] Ever feel lost in the Pre-Med grind, not knowing what to do next? Have specific questions about the medical education process and get mixed answers all over the web that leave you feeling more confused and alone? Chances are one of the hundreds of people I've coached since 2004 have asked me the same questions! This podcast explores my new website's organization. It will be released soon, don't worry - and you can join for only $12 ! (UPDATE: it's released here --> Medical Support Community). I took all of the how-to video tutorials, email questions and survey responses and organized them all into the 15 Sections below. The only way to access this information is on the new site: http://medical-mastermind-community.com/podcast/speed-reading-for-medical-school 1 Getting Started ARTICLES: •    Overview of the medical education process •    16 Step PreMed Guide •    Daniel Williams’ story •    Importance of journaling •    SAMPLE interview journal AUDIO: •    The medical education process •    What med school is really like 2 Premedical Decision Making ARTICLES: •    Admission requirements •    Canadian med student career choices •    Deciding on a career in medicine •    ECFMG certification fact sheet •    ECFMG information booklet •    Four reasons to avoid medical school •    Med school affects undergrad choices •    Seven osteopathic competencies •    UK med student career choices •    US med student career choices AUDIO: •    Admission rates •    Admission requirements •    Deciding on a career in medicine •    Four reasons to avoid medical school •    Osteopathic medical training 3 Organizing Your Experiences ARTICLES: •    Address label templates •    Checklist for getting organized •    Email accounts •    Legal documents •    Master application binder •    References •    Transcript checklist •    Transcript request template •    Work history template 4 Building Character Into Physician Training ARTICLES: •    Arrogant doctors hurt patients •    I DON’T KNOW – The three most important words in medical education •    Six habits of highly respectful physicians •    Words as scalpels •    Ethics •    Euthenasia •    Human subjects research training •    Medical futility •    Neurenberg •    Suicide •    Ethics Movement •    Tarasoff case VIDEO: •    Becoming the genuine article 5 Components of the Application ARTICLES: •    Academic honors •    SAMPLE Application summary sheet •    Certifications •    Extracurricular activities •    Letters of recommendation •    Composing a letter of recommendation that captures the applicant as an individual •    Dr Williams’ medical school application •    Military experience •    Research •    Research commentary •    Student organizations •    Volunteer activities AUDIO: •    Letters of recommendation 6 Writing Your Memorable Application ARTICLES: •    Checklist for the personal essay •    How to write personal essays •    SAMPLE personal essay •    Practice vision essay •    SAMPLE research description •    SAMPLE MD PhD interest letter •    SAMPLE Secondary application questions VIDEO: •    Packaging your story •    Essay tips 7 Choosing Your Top Medical Schools ARTICLES: •    100 years after the Flexner report •    Admissions – insider report •    Al

Episode 23: Doctor Dan outlines Phase 1 in the Evolution Of A Physician-In-Training, part of his work/life balance initiative that seeks to prevent burnout among medical students and doctors. SEE THE FULL REPORT HERE: Evolution of a Physician In Training: Effects of the medical education pipeline on personal and professional development. Daniel M. Williams, MD The 5 phases of a physician in training are general categories that describe the professional and psychological changes that students can expect to face. These have been organized into a Medical School Mindmap full of 179 peer-reviewed, scientific articles that describe the processes necessary to become the consumate physician. The Phases are as follows: Standing At The Precipice: The Premed Syndrome Adaptation Assimilation The Let-Down Reemergence This area of research is meant to provide the foundation for a Health and Wellness Initiative among physicians. Physician Health is a top priority with Dr. Daniel Williams and each area is broken down inside the Medical Mastermind Community that has grown up around this ideal. Here is an excerpt from the original draft: Phase 1: Standing at the Precipice Premedical students engaged in the early medical education pipeline frequently share similar goals and ambitions. The most commonly described premedical student traits are hard working, competitive, motivated, goal-oriented, altruism, and prestige-seeking (22-24). Fairly early in their premedical experience they begin to learn of the imperfection in the system. A number of frustrations faced by these bright, enthusiastic students begin before even entering medical school. The challenges face by these future physicians can be categorized as follows: Selection Bias. Learning that affirmative action exists without understanding the need for diversity can be a shock (143,145,156). Academic Preparation. Realizing their undergraduate premedical and M.C.A.T. preparation may not actually predict how competent they will be as physicians can be disheartening (46,45,48). Premedical Advising. Many students encounter premedical advisers, though wonderful guidance has been published for decades (11,15,17). Admissions Criteria. The paradigm shift being birthed in premedical curriculum, which seeks to broaden one’s humanities background and foster empathetic relationships, is taking a surprisingly long time (4,6,27,28,30,31). The transition period as more medical schools are changing their admissions criteria and interview process can leave the premedical student confused about what is important in their preparation (184). Because these sytstem-wide messages that contradict their altruistic nature, it is not surprising that the majority of students matriculating into medical school already have a well established ethical framework that is difficult to mold (26). Further, two of the most historically trusted sources of information flat fail the premedical student attempting to learn about medical education. First, institutions of higher learning remain hyper-focused on grade point average though is associated with mere surface learning in medical school and the “MCAT Myth” of requisite rote memorization had been debunked by the mathematical application of Bloom’s Taxonomy (46). Second, nationally syndicated journalists yield influence in the ranking of “top medical schools”, but their method are ill-conceived; are unscientific; are conducted poorly; ignore the value of school accreditation; judge medical school quality from a narrow, elitist perspective; do not consider social and professional outcomes in program quality calculations; and fail to meet basic standards of journalistic ethics (32). Sadly, the more idealistic and altruistic the nature of the unsuspecting premedical student, the greater the expectations in their career, and the greater the disappointment that comes in later phases in their evolution. If we

Episode 22: Save time, learn different study techniques, relax with a system that you trust will work for you - Dr. Dan explains how you can get his Speed Reading Course for Medical School absolutely free. Name: Email: Which are you? Pre-Med Medical Student Need help? We respect your email privacy. Hi there! I apologize for taking so long to announce my new Medical School Podcast formally. There have already been a lot of episodes posted there - not to mention the FREE Speed Reading Course for Medical School! Here are the topics that have been posted at the new Medical School Podcast. * Medical School Admissions Committees - an expert interview with Dr. Wayne Shelton * Test Anxiety - an expert interview with Bara Sapir of Test Prep New York * Two additional episodes with Dr. Brett Ferdinand, author of Gold Standard MCAT: MCAT Study Techniques and AAMC MCAT Practice Tests * PreMedical Program - a grant-funded initiative to deliver MCAT, USMLE, and PreMed DVD Courses to students regardless of discrimination on the basis of gender, age, race, or socioeconomic status * Sources of Stress in Medical School and Residency * Surviving the Third Year of Medical School * USMLE Prep And to come... * The MCAT Myth * Speed Reading for Medical School Enjoy. This marks the end of the majority of podcasts on this channel. Visit the Medical School Podcast to keep up with me. Doctor Dan

Episode 21: Interview with neurolinguistic programming expert Karen van Hook and test anxiety expert, and founder of Test Prep New York, Bara sapir. Because no two people read the same MCAT passage exactly the same, it's important to harness your internal dialogue to interpret passages, stay calm, and score higher - all at the same time. To learn more, visit www.testprepny.com. There are only a few more episodes of expert interviews that will appear on this site. The continuation will be on www.Medical-Mastermind-Community.com To get more Test Anxiety training and management instruction, join the CD of the Month Club, which also included Medical Mastermind Teleconferences with Doctor Dan. Enjoy, Dr. Dan

Episode 20: MCAT Prep like you've never heard before. Dr. Ferdinand and Dr. Dan discuss the MCAT from a physician's point of view. With both doctors actively coaching premedical students, their synergy on this subject is nothing short of a Mastermind! Dr. Ferdinand’s tells us about his not-so-secret performance on the MCAT and about his fatal error during planning his MCAT that caused him to not be able to even take the exam! Listen to ALL of the expert interviews on the Medical School Podcast. [More...] The Association of American Medical Colleges administers the MCAT, accredits allopathic medical schools in the U.S., and manages the medical school application service. The trend over the past 2 decades has been to emphasize thinking, organizing information, and problem solving rather than rote memorization. In this episode, we two physicians discuss exactly why that is, what you can do to prepare, and ultimately whom you can trust when it comes to such an important exam – yourself! Future episodes will cover * Dr. Ferdinand’s 6 Steps to MCAT Preparation, which is remarkably similar to my 5-Step study method. * Dr. Ferdinant’s interview with the "Father of MCAT Books" (Dr. Flowers) * How a mastermind community can help premeds AND medical students Listen in to learn more...

Episode 19: Premedical Solutions that work, changing priorities as a physician, levels of Pre-Med commitment, and how to get the "I'm going to be a doctor" mentality. In this interview with Randy Freeman, a Premedical University DVD Home Study Course graduate, we delve into 4 major areas: How to get the "I'm GOING TO be a doctor" mentality Levels of Pre-Med sophistication and commitment Can you change your priorities later down the road, as a physician? Premedical Solutions that work - study for the MCAT while in undergrad! The American Medical Student Association will again promote my next live, 2-day conference on July 18-19, 2009. Several things will happen at this Medical School LIFE Conference: The new Medical Mastermind Community site is now launched and explained in this podcast! 102,000+ Medical Students and Pre-Med Students are invited to watch the conference via live-streaming or phone in Finally 3 major topics will be covered at this Burnout Prevention seminar: How To Survive And Thrive In Medical School Advanced Pre-Med Seminar Single Payer Solution For Health Care Reform. Registration includes the Pre-Med DVD Home Study course and residency/med school application homework is required prior to the conference date in order to maximize you individualized coaching sessions. This conference is sure to be hoot! Thanks for your support, Doctor Dan

Episode 17: What do people really score? And, how to interpret practice tests so you can accurately predict your score on the real MCAT. [blip.tv ?posts_id=2212060&dest=-1] ******************************************************* Announcements: * CD of the Month Club is now in it's 21st month. The infrastructure for mass production is now in place. Check out the new MCAT podcast interviews with GOLD STANDARD MCAT author, Dr. Brett Ferdinand The Medical Mastermind Community is now live! Call me on our next pre-med conference call! ******************************************************* A future doctor recently told me she made a 16% on a full-length Kaplan Practice MCAT. While that sounds bad, let's put that score into perspective and look at how overall core knowledge deepens - specifically, how that is reflected in practice test scores. We'll also delve into how to predict what score you'll make on the actual MCAT. This was my answer: "I sincerely understand your frustration and experienced it myself after taking the Kaplan course and my grades averaged out to be the same, having taken the MCAT 3 times. As a premed adviser now, I get this question a lot. You are not alone." You have a multi-part topic, so let me take each item in turn: 1. What do people actually make on the MCAT? What is the MCAT cut-off? Please give me real numbers! It's on a bell curve so if you've taken statistics you know that they can separate out the elite by keeping people away from the 100% correct end of the spectrum. In fact, 60% raw correct answers can actually be solid and each test is weighted differently. See, each test is drawn from a bank and each question is weighted for it's own usefulness. There are a significant amount of test questions that are being assessed as keepers, but are not part of your grading. Here is where you can find the most recent REAL MD MCAT scores in Texas, Osteopathic MCAT Scores, and AMCAS MCAT Scores. 2. Do practice MCAT tests commonly show low scores? [Better yet, do these low practice scores really reflect how well I'll do on the real MCAT?] ANSWER: A full-length practice MCAT form a reputable source, such as Kaplan, AAMC, or Princeton review are reasonable reflections of how well you'll do on the real thing. How to interpret your performance on these tests is actually more useful in real life. As a rule of thumb, scoring between 60-70% is actually average and approaching a solid score. Let me be clear, I'm not talking about little quizzes because the sample size of questions does not give you an accurate representation of your body of knowledge. Only pay attention to full-length, timed tests. I recommend you do between 3-7 of them, until you consistently get your overall average over 60% correct. If you expect to ace the MCAT you'll want closer to an 80% average. 3. Is there another way to prepare for the MCAT? ANSWER: The best way I teach people to prepare for the MCAT is to start learning the material from the first day in undergraduate, if possible. Buy a respected review book and take notes in it while in undergrad and taking those classes. Write down revelations and pearls of wisdom as you begin to get insight into the different prerequisite disciplines - keep the book near you and review it periodically. Too many people only "review" for the MCAT, which often means RELEARNING material form 1.5 years ago or more and this is a tremendous waste of brainpower, not to mention the added stress has been shown to decrease long-term memory (cited resource is a meta-analysis). ******************************************************* Residency Spotlight: Surgery After 4 years of medical school, General Surgery takes 5 years. Many people sub-specialize after that and go to fellowships. Fellowships may be in GI Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, Trauma, or transplant. There are some training programs that are surgical which do not require a General Surgery residency fir

Episode 15: PreMed Video Blog - watch in "Video Podcasts" on your iPod. [blip.tv ?posts_id=2133240&dest=-1] Hi! I hope you enjoy the fact that I'm switching to video. You can still just listen on your iPod if you prefer, but I'll be showing you tons of on-screen tutorials. You can see the video version by looking in the Video Podcasts section of your iPod directory (scroll through the videos...). The MCAT questions, DVD course and FREE E-book are now available through the Medical Mastermind Community only. Ive launched a community website for all the fans that have built up around this movement in the past 2 years! Cheers, Dr Dan

3rd Annual Medical School LIFE Conference will be May 29-30, 2010. The first one was a weekend series for the American Medical Student Association chapter at the University of Houston. Out of those conferences, the Pre-Med DVD Course was build as a sort of basic training. The following year charter members of the Medical Mastermind Community met for a weekend conference in which we led a Service Learning Project. The result was a grant proposal submitted to the National Institutes of Health to enrich students' medical education journey and encourage service to the medically underserved. All 200 of the peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles were posted inside the web site for members only. They outline every facet of the medical education journey and correspond to the 5 Phases in the Evolution of a Physician in Training, which is my Physician Wellness Initiative. The idea is to increase awareness, receive validation, and try suggestions from others to find relief. So, just read the articles as you face the different ups and downs along the way. All of the medical school exams were also uploaded to the website. Previously they were only available as part of the CD of the Month Club, but we found it was inconvenient not knowing which tests covered specific material. The web outline breaks down each block exam by the topics covered on each set of tests. You can check out the navigation without logging in. Facebook 30-day challenge. If you'll make a video about the Medical School Podcast or Speed Reading for Medical School course, I'll give you a free, 30-day account tot he Medical Mastermind Community online - a $27.99 value. This includes our biweekly conference calls, from which video archives are now all updated.

Episode 16: New medical mastermind community starting. Also volunteering, premed clubs  and committees may help you. [blip.tv ?posts_id=2139067&dest=-1] Call me, Doctor Dan, in one of our Medical Mastermind Support Groups and discover how to stay true to yourself during rigors of the medical education marathon. Check the Medical Mastermind Group Schedule and login information. Hope to talk to you on the next call. The "medical education process" covers the whole gamut from thinking about becoming a doctor, through the prerequisites, MCAT, and application, and never really ends in residency, fellowship and with continuing medical education as a practicing physician. Do you have what it takes to be a lifelong learner? Better yet, how many people really encourage you to follow that dream? My guess is that you're like the hundreds of students I have coached, and that you've had some degree of discouragement along the way. While there are many reasons for this, the only thing that matters to the motivated pre-med and medical student is getting through it - sanely! Well, that my friend is exactly what the Medical Mastermind Community is all about. This video describes a hint of what the upcoming community is all about. If you want to learn more, sign up at MedicalMastery.com on the Early Notification List and be included. In the meantime, seek out existing pre-med clubs, medical student organizations, Healer's Art courses or hospital volunteer offices for support. If someone brings you down, stresses you out, or discourages you from accomplishing your dreams - get away from them! Yes, this may mean friends and family. They'll come around later when you're successful, believe me. You need new friends. Just like the saying "you are what you eat", you think like those with which you spend your time. Hope this was an encouragement and sparks some self-care interest. The medical education process is a substantial percentage of your adult life - don't forget to live! Doctor Dan

Episode 14: Life after the medical school application? How to preempt the unexpected with a surprising amount of foresight! ==================================================== The medical school application is only one phase of your life. In this podcast and blog, I put this event in to the context of the entire medical school application process, give you some things to look forward to and prepare for, as well as direct you to where you can find an entire archive of tips like these all in one place. By the time you submit your medical school application, you deserve a pat on the back. After all, you've completed the MCAT (in most cases), most of the medical school prerequisites and college, and overcome a large part of the mind game - talking yourself out of it. Many people change their mind and a growing trend is for ill informed pre-health advisers, with no qualification to speak on the subject, to discourage attending medical school. From the time you submit your medical school application to the time you start your first day of medical school, there are a lot of activities that take place. Interviews, ranking programs for the electronic match, match day, welcome parties, moving, and shopping. Oh yea, and preparing those closest to you that you're about the be besieged by books and to prepare for some distance. Let's take each of these in turn... Getting an interview is often the hardest part to getting into medical school. More specifically, getting an adequate number of interviews. How many medical school interviews is enough? Most people feel ten is a good number. Why so many? Because they interview 7-10 times more students than they have seats for. After you complete all of your interviews, you log in to the online ranking and matching service and rank the programs in order of your preference (only the ones you interviewed at). If there's a school you don't want to go to under any circumstances, you don't have to rank it in your list even if you interviewed there. An important step is to "certify your rank order list". You can rearrange the list as you decide for weeks, but once you certify it there's no turning back. (I certified mine the day before.) If you don't certify you're not in the match, so don't wait too long. I made a video tutorial on the match application and ranking system. It's the only behind-the-scenes look available and I'll tell you how to get your hands on it at the end of this podcast. In November of 2008, I released Episode 9 and we discussed drastic changes in the match system, primarily those in the Texas system. You can visit that episode in iTunes or MedicalMastery.com. Match day will be memorable no matter what happens. At a certain day and time, usually around February or March, thousands log in to the online ranking service to find out if they've matched and where. The match also occurs in the 4th year of med school and is very similar, but I thought I'd discuss the differences here. This is really similar to a 3-day process, so let's take the events in order: Day 1: Login to see if you matched or not. It tells you YES or NO, not where you matched. Day 2: Those that didn't match are able to view a list of all programs that have unfilled residency positions. Your medical school usually helps you find a program somewhere during a 48 hour period known as the scramble. Day 3: Two days later you meet at your school and usually have some sort of ceremony to find out where you matched. Included in my archives are a Video on residency considerations and an article on program results by specialty. Many medical schools have some sort of Welcome Weekend, or event before medical school that allows you to meet people, loosen up, and get psyched for medical school. In my school we did this the weekend right before it started. This is a very fun time and where you'll meet many lifelong friends. ====================================================

Episode 13: Steps you can take NOW for balance in your medical career. You decide what's important and implement a plan to keep it that way... ==================================================== Announcements: Dropping a hint about my big project...got a high speed internet connection? Also, for simplicity all CD's will be mailed out during the last week of the month. ==================================================== Podcast topic "If you had it to do all over again, what would you do different?" This is a question I get a lot, in different forms. In fact my new big project I'm coming out with in the next few months is exactly geared toward answering this question - in all it's detail. See, feedback from my podcasting has made me realize that my experience with the premed obstacles you face is fodder for you cannon! I get just as excited with you as I coach students and reawaken their dreams of becoming a physician. The biggest tips I can think of to answer this question with brevity are the following: 1. As an undergrad, write out what my life's priorities are. Establish from the beginning and keep the document handy for editing as time passes. 2. Identify what you are and are NOT willing to sacrifice in persuit of your goals. The "I'll do anything" mentality won't be reliable forever. 3. The first year of medical school and then test weeks will clearly have to be priority during medical school. It's four years, but many students schedule easier months during the last year. 4. Much further down the road, do the same thing when considering which residency specialty interests you. Many people change their minds about this over time so stay flexible as you learn new information. 5. Keep your "Life Priorities List" handy as you investigate your career options. Note: you really don't have to do this until the end of the third year of medical school, when you schedule your electives for the fourth year. Biggest tips for residency: 1. Choose something you are passionate about. 2. If possible, don't make any BIG life changes. Of course, who can really plan these things? There's never a "perfect" time to have a family.. 3. Outline reservations you'll have - that is, things you WON'T compromise clearly identified at the outset. As you progress through residency, which can be all-consuming, an indicator that you may need a career change is when you find yourself compromising your life's priorities. ==================================================== QUICK TIP: Sign up for the next Live Premed Advising Webinar when you enroll for the 7-day email course. Limited number of people available for the Tele-Clinic and I may offer this to you for a short while. QUICK REFERENCE: http://premedicaluniversity.com ==================================================== Charity of the Month for March 2009: Habitat for Humanity will receive all donations made in the upper left hand corner of www.MedicalMastery.com. Charity Mission Statement: Decent Housing For All "Through the work of Habitat, thousands of low-income families have found new hope in the form of affordable housing. Churches, community groups and others have joined together to successfully tackle a significant social problem – decent housing for all. Today, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 300,000 houses, sheltering more than 1.5 million people in more than 3,000 communities worldwide." "Since its founding in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller, Habitat for Humanity International has built and rehabilitated more than 300,000 houses with partner families, helping house more than 1.5 million people and becoming a true world leader in addressing the issues of poverty housing." ==================================================== Mission Statement: “Medical Mastery seeks to podcast meaning into medical education by combining faith, high-quality lectures, and charity.”

Episode 12: Ostopathic Medicine Training: What's so special about it? ==================================================== There is more than one way to become a physician: Allopathic and Osteopathic. Today's discussion is about the pathway to doctor of osteopathic medicine (D.O.) In addition to all of the traditional aspects of physician work that you're familiar with, osteopathic physicians theoretically have a few other tenants that they emphasize: 1. The human body systems need to be in correct relationship with one another (really just normal physiology) 2. The musculoskeletal system gets some special attention. I'd like to add a third: the osteopathic physician is taught to take care of the "whole patient". Holistic medicine refers to the taking care of the whole person, i.e., mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Really the only difference is that they can pop your back! They get all the same jobs, direct hospital departments, and go to all the same residency programs. So, why are we talking about them? Because some people don't apply to these programs as a first choice, leaving opportunities on the table for you. In 2007, the average allopathic applicant had a MCAT score of 28 and a GPA of 3.5. An average osteopathic applicant had a MCAT of 25 and a GPA of 3.5. Many residency programs accept the COMLEX exam, but some may also require the USMLE. ==================================================== MEDICAL SPECIALTY SPOTLIGHT: Infectious Disease 4 years of medical school 3 years of internal medicine residency 2-3 years of fellowship training in Infectious Disease Traditionally, Infectious Disease specialists operate as a consult service in the hospital. The main activity is in clinics. The approach is not that the ID doctor is there when someone has an infection, but they are there to help when the treating physician confronts a complicated patient outside his or her expertise. They also hold the purse strings for the hospital's pharmacy by serving on committees that decide which drugs can be dispensed and which ones the hospital will and will not provide. The newer, expensive antibiotics often need special approval from the committee on an individual basis. They're not being mean, their slowing down the evolutionary resistance mechanisms of the microorganisms trying to kill our patients. ==================================================== QUICK TIP: Apply to them first so that you don't forget to do it. Remember, there is nothing second rate about being a D.O. QUICK REFERENCE: National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners http://www.nbome.org/ List of Osteopathic Medical Colleges: http://www.nbome.org/colleges-list.asp