Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
thoughts on extracurriculars
So you are applying to medical school (or thinking about doing it) and are wondering what sort of extracurriculars you need on your application in order to stand out. I thought about it from my own experiences, and I also asked a few of my now accepted friends to think of some things as well. Here is what I came up with.
1. Shadowing. This is the biggest part of your works/activities section on AMCAS. You MUST have shadowed a doctor in order to be sure of success. Simply working in the hospital at some volunteer position is not enough. By shadowing, you can actually see what a doctor does through the day. Pushing wheelchairs, while morally rewarding, will not accomplish this. Try to relate this in your application to the reason why you wanted to enter medicine in the first place. If you shadow a doc and are not thrilled, get out while you still can.
2. Volunteering. Heres where pushing the wheelchairs around will help out. You need to show you are committed to community service. Yes, I know that real doctors get paid and most don't volunteer for anything, but it is the principle that you will sacrifice your time for others that is important here. You will be sacrificing 7+ years of medical school and residency to go into a profession of service, so you might as well show the admissions committee you know how to get started. Yes, most volunteer positions are bullshit. Please make note of this, and do not try to over blow the job responsibilities on your application. Don't say you learned about the inner workings of the hospital by volunteering in the E.R., as that would be a bold-faced lie which any admissions officer would probably just hold you in contempt for.
3. Clubs. Again, mostly bullshit. List these if you like, I belonged to about 4 clubs including the pre-med club and didn't list any. Most admissions officers know that these clubs are a joke. Unless you are in a position of leadership (which is still usually pretty easy) I wouldn't mention them unless you have room for it.
4. Sports/ Intramurals. Great stuff here. Obviously I have a tendency to hype this section because of my firm belief these things got me into medical school. So take what I say with a grain of salt I guess. Anyway, sports are great, and yes intramurals are included in this too. You can show through sports that you can be dedicated to multiple things in your life while still maintaining strong grades. Things like hiking, climbing, camping, fishing, etc., if seriously done, can also be included here. These are great for the works section and personal statement of AMCAS, and also are good interview topics. I (and from what I have heard from many others as well) strongly recommend these, both for their help on your application and the fun, social activities they usually are.
5. Hobbies. Serious ones apply only here. Do not put down fishing as a hobby if you go three times over the summer. Put it down if you are really into it and you go often. I put down classic car mechanics, as this is one of my passions when I am home from school. The interviewer will usually grill you on hobbies to make sure they are legit, so again, don't bullshit this section
6. Talents. If you are a power lifter, body builder, wrestler, gymnast, sword swallower, fire breather, etc., and you go to talent competitions for your skills, please include these. These are great and will defiantly set you apart on your application.
1. Shadowing. This is the biggest part of your works/activities section on AMCAS. You MUST have shadowed a doctor in order to be sure of success. Simply working in the hospital at some volunteer position is not enough. By shadowing, you can actually see what a doctor does through the day. Pushing wheelchairs, while morally rewarding, will not accomplish this. Try to relate this in your application to the reason why you wanted to enter medicine in the first place. If you shadow a doc and are not thrilled, get out while you still can.
2. Volunteering. Heres where pushing the wheelchairs around will help out. You need to show you are committed to community service. Yes, I know that real doctors get paid and most don't volunteer for anything, but it is the principle that you will sacrifice your time for others that is important here. You will be sacrificing 7+ years of medical school and residency to go into a profession of service, so you might as well show the admissions committee you know how to get started. Yes, most volunteer positions are bullshit. Please make note of this, and do not try to over blow the job responsibilities on your application. Don't say you learned about the inner workings of the hospital by volunteering in the E.R., as that would be a bold-faced lie which any admissions officer would probably just hold you in contempt for.
3. Clubs. Again, mostly bullshit. List these if you like, I belonged to about 4 clubs including the pre-med club and didn't list any. Most admissions officers know that these clubs are a joke. Unless you are in a position of leadership (which is still usually pretty easy) I wouldn't mention them unless you have room for it.
4. Sports/ Intramurals. Great stuff here. Obviously I have a tendency to hype this section because of my firm belief these things got me into medical school. So take what I say with a grain of salt I guess. Anyway, sports are great, and yes intramurals are included in this too. You can show through sports that you can be dedicated to multiple things in your life while still maintaining strong grades. Things like hiking, climbing, camping, fishing, etc., if seriously done, can also be included here. These are great for the works section and personal statement of AMCAS, and also are good interview topics. I (and from what I have heard from many others as well) strongly recommend these, both for their help on your application and the fun, social activities they usually are.
5. Hobbies. Serious ones apply only here. Do not put down fishing as a hobby if you go three times over the summer. Put it down if you are really into it and you go often. I put down classic car mechanics, as this is one of my passions when I am home from school. The interviewer will usually grill you on hobbies to make sure they are legit, so again, don't bullshit this section
6. Talents. If you are a power lifter, body builder, wrestler, gymnast, sword swallower, fire breather, etc., and you go to talent competitions for your skills, please include these. These are great and will defiantly set you apart on your application.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Im Backkkkk
Hey people, just got back tonight, will post something tomorrow. Just letting you know that I am still doing this
Monday, June 16, 2008
More Vacation
Well people, this guy is going on another vacation. Not just any vacation, a real sweet one, 10 days long. I'll be leaving on Thursday, but will put together another piece before I leave hopefully. I am currently getting some books together on biomedical ethics which I will be then be reading accordingly. My first reads into ethics were a few years ago, and included Nicomachean ethics, Utilitarianism, etc. They were alright but pretty boring reads, so I figured I would read into something that I am interested in. On the other hand, it is summer, and reading isn't exactly at the top of my to do list. It's actually around 6th place.
1. Drink beer, but not so much as to get fat
2. Go to the gym
3. Landscape our property
4. Drive my car really fast
5. play XBOX 360
6. Read interesting things
Just so you know, this blog isn't even really on my to do list. I'm just doing over the summer because I was dumb and started it before I was in medical school. Next year I imagine my to do list will look something like this, thus improving the quality of the blog.
1. Study a few hours a night
2. Study a few more hours a night
3. Watch ESPN
4. Eat
5. Read interesting things
6. Do this blog
As you can see, it still isn't up at the top, but at least it'll be on there. Plus I will have much more interesting material to talk about. Anyway, look for something later this week before I leave.
1. Drink beer, but not so much as to get fat
2. Go to the gym
3. Landscape our property
4. Drive my car really fast
5. play XBOX 360
6. Read interesting things
Just so you know, this blog isn't even really on my to do list. I'm just doing over the summer because I was dumb and started it before I was in medical school. Next year I imagine my to do list will look something like this, thus improving the quality of the blog.
1. Study a few hours a night
2. Study a few more hours a night
3. Watch ESPN
4. Eat
5. Read interesting things
6. Do this blog
As you can see, it still isn't up at the top, but at least it'll be on there. Plus I will have much more interesting material to talk about. Anyway, look for something later this week before I leave.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Dudes summer
So, I have recently been doing a bunch of nothing. Beach trip here, camping trip there, some yard work, and some beers at night. Thats been my summer so far. Pretty boring, but it is actually close to being over for me. I move down to school in late July, and start the first week of August. Obviously I will let you all know how that goes, but in the meantime I am running out of things to write about. I could choose to make more articles about pessimistic things, and I surely will in the near future, but right now I feel light hearted. I'd really like to find something positive about the field of medicine to write about, but I realized that I never really learned anything positive about the field of medicine other than that you can help people every day.
The area of medical technology is one that I have been interested in for a long time. Lots of cool things have been developed in recent years (Gamma-Knife, Da Vinci) and are being developed currently (Nanotechnology), and it seems like we have a legit chance to make the same leaps and bounds in the next 20 years we did in the last 20. This is something that I am really excited about. Imagine being able to inject viruses into someone that are programmed to seek out a specific cancer and destroy it. Those same principles could be applied to hundreds of disease pathologies, and could easily do amazing things. The problem is that we need more funding to accomplish this, something that socialized medicine will not give us. The U.S. has been a lead developer of medical technology since its inception, and the main reason for this is that money has driven the market. People will pay big bucks for a Da Vinci surgical robot. If we socialize our system, I have my doubts as to whether or not funding will stay large enough for us to develop that cool, lifesaving nanotechnology.
The cool thing about nanotechnology is that is also brings everyone together (at least scientists). It requires the expertise of Biologists, Chemists, Physicists, M.D.s, D.O.s, etc. to come up with a working model. That sort of collaboration is something that usually is capable of producing awesome things. I hope that people will lighten up on foreigner scientists coming to America to work on these things, including Arab scientists. Those guys really do know what they are doing and they are well trained at the universities over there. They have done great things with the particle accelerator in that section of the world, and Arab science has continued to stay on par with Asian and American science for a long time. I say we get them over here to work on this stuff, and then everyone can see how a group of people come together to tackle a problem where none of the debating is centered on the fact that the other party is of a different country and religion. Scientists debate scientific fact. Most don't care whether someone is black, white, green, or yellow. They just listen to the argument and forget the stereotypes (at least the good ones do this). I hope in the near future something like this will happen, and that it may be able to change the world.
The area of medical technology is one that I have been interested in for a long time. Lots of cool things have been developed in recent years (Gamma-Knife, Da Vinci) and are being developed currently (Nanotechnology), and it seems like we have a legit chance to make the same leaps and bounds in the next 20 years we did in the last 20. This is something that I am really excited about. Imagine being able to inject viruses into someone that are programmed to seek out a specific cancer and destroy it. Those same principles could be applied to hundreds of disease pathologies, and could easily do amazing things. The problem is that we need more funding to accomplish this, something that socialized medicine will not give us. The U.S. has been a lead developer of medical technology since its inception, and the main reason for this is that money has driven the market. People will pay big bucks for a Da Vinci surgical robot. If we socialize our system, I have my doubts as to whether or not funding will stay large enough for us to develop that cool, lifesaving nanotechnology.
The cool thing about nanotechnology is that is also brings everyone together (at least scientists). It requires the expertise of Biologists, Chemists, Physicists, M.D.s, D.O.s, etc. to come up with a working model. That sort of collaboration is something that usually is capable of producing awesome things. I hope that people will lighten up on foreigner scientists coming to America to work on these things, including Arab scientists. Those guys really do know what they are doing and they are well trained at the universities over there. They have done great things with the particle accelerator in that section of the world, and Arab science has continued to stay on par with Asian and American science for a long time. I say we get them over here to work on this stuff, and then everyone can see how a group of people come together to tackle a problem where none of the debating is centered on the fact that the other party is of a different country and religion. Scientists debate scientific fact. Most don't care whether someone is black, white, green, or yellow. They just listen to the argument and forget the stereotypes (at least the good ones do this). I hope in the near future something like this will happen, and that it may be able to change the world.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Homeopathy
Reader: Oh no. He is going to talk about Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), and he isn't even in medical school yet. Why should we listen to what he has to say?
Dude: Well, reader, as a certain undergraduate university has recently proclaimed that I know what I am talking about when it comes to matters of Biology and the research that accompanies it, I am going to give my two cents whether you give a damn or not.
Reader: O.K. I guess. Well, what do you have to say?
Dude: I would first like to begin with Homeopathy. Is there a reason I want to start there? No. I just do. It happens to be on the tips of everyone's tounges recently, and with all of these people asking why they should pay for prescription drugs when Dr. Bullshit the Homeopath will cure them with St. Johns Wort, I think the subject deserves my attention.
Reader: Very clever use of sarcasm there, Dude, I think I know where this is going.
Dude: Yea, I imagine you do. First, I would like to begin with you taking a look at the website of the National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, specifically their section on Homeopathy. Keep in mind reader, this is their main website, and is not one that is out there to simply bash them. I would like you to read the fine print about halfway down the page, under the section discussing whether or not Homeopathy works.
Reader: Well, it looks to me like they pretty much say that it doesn't, but some people think it might.
Dude: Exactly. I don't even have to argue with them, as they seem to be already admitting defeat.
Reader: What's all that stuff about dilutions and chemicals though? Aren't prescription drugs just derived from natural chemicals like the stuff Homeopaths use?
Dude: Yes, reader, most of the time they are (some are man-made). Homeopaths use a dilution process with a fancy name to throw people off. They are in fact diluting their "healing" solutions down so far that it has been tough to prove if in fact the "healing" chemical they originally added to it is even still present. Prescription drugs, on the other hand, contain real chemicals that really work. Oh, and they have been proven countless times over to work better than a placebo treatment before they are released to the market. You see, Homeopathy is, at best, people with little scientific training (or bad scientific training) marketing goods that they believe to be beneficial after seeing people on the placebo effect from taking them. At worst, Homeopathy is composed of people with good scientific training that understand the layman nature of the average American, and are appealing to their "fuck the system" sides to make money for themselves. Why go to the doctor when "T.V. Dr." Fuckface can sell you a spray that will relieve all of your aches and pains? Forget the fact that the endorphins released by the placebo effect will push you through that knee injury until your meniscus becomes so damaged your Orthopedic surgeon drops his jaw when you finally go to see him. Forget those reports on Homeopaths luring cancer patients away from their chemotherapy with promises of a cure.
Reader: Isn't there a real basis behind the idea, though?
Dude: Well, yea I think there is. As said before, most of our perscription drugs (and OTC's) are derived from natural remedies. However, lets not confuse Homeopaths with Naturopaths (that is for another time, and no I don't like them either). Simply put, Homeopaths should be ashamed of themselves. I am certainly open to the idea that traditional Western medicine does not in any way, shape, or form have all the answers, but I am convinced that they are looking for them in the right way. Show me a shred of legitimate scientific evidence, and not hearsay, that Homeopathy works and I will take back my position. Until then, please read up on Homeopathy and you will see what it is really all about.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Time Out
Well I will be taking a short summer vacation here in a bit, and so I won't be around for a few days. Look next week for some decent writing on my part. Summer is kind of down time anyway, I know most of the people reading this blog are really going to only be interested in what happens during school. Anyway, read Macho Response while I'm gone, I highly recommend it.
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