Home › View all posts by Michelle Finkel MD › Page 121
Blog Archives

Evidence-Based Decision Making Regarding Your Planned Specialty

Posted on by by

For those first-, second-, and third-year medical students who are trying to pick a specialty, remember to start with the facts: The NRMP published Charting Outcomes of the MatchResidency Applicant to give applicants an idea of what characteristics successful 2014 Main Residency Match candidates had. While sobering (the mean Step 2 score for successful radiology U.S. senior applicants was 249), the information is valuable as you approach the decision-making process.

If you’re early in the process, you can strategically plan your candidacy for success. If you’re later in the process, you can decide whether you have the characteristics necessary to pursue a successful Match process.

Tags: ,

Doctor, Shut Up and Listen

Posted on by by

female doctor with older womanThis recent NYT piece by Nirmal Joshi is interesting, and as someone with a human biology background, I’m a big fan of improving patient-doctor communication.

But the author fails to address a critical factor here – oppressive patient volumes. In the Emergency Department (ED), a physician must balance the time she’s spending with each patient with the wait time that many others are suffering without having had the privilege of seeing a doctor yet. And crushing patient volume is not just an ED problem. A primary care friend of mine told me she has to see one patient every 15 minutes to keep on schedule. She points out that just getting a thorough history from a new, elderly patient and counseling on preventive care can take all of that time.

Tags: , , ,

Match Ranking may be emotionally hard, but it’s strategically easy

Posted on by by

For those of you who are starting to think about your Match rank lists, please remember that you simply rank your first choice first, your second second, etc. The Match algorithm is mathematically quite complicated, but because the process always begins with an attempt to match an applicant to the program most preferred on the applicant’s rank list, your best bet is not to try to “game” the system.

For example, I’ve had applicants tell me that they plan to rank a less preferred institution higher because that program has more residency slots. That’s a no-no. The applicant will actually be harming him/herself with that strategy.

Here’s a less-than-one-minute Guru on the Go© video “NRMP Ranking to Avoid a Spanking” to emphasize your optimal ranking strategy.

 

Tags: , ,

Taking the Fifth

Posted on by by

medical school interview questionsIf there were one reason not to accept you, what would it be?

When a faculty member asks you this tough question in an interview, her motivation might be to determine whether there is a weakness in your application that she is missing. Or she may be assessing how you manage stressful situations by posing a question that is unpleasant.

While you need to be honest throughout the entire application process, you do not need to volunteer information that might harm you.

You can say, “While every candidacy has room to improve, I think I have a strong application.” Then you can use the question as an opportunity to mention the strengths of your candidacy.

Contact me for Mock Interviews. I still have January slots open as of this writing.

Tags: , ,

David and Goliath

Posted on by by

Here’s a short, fun piece by an emergency medicine program director positing that being from a humble background might provide an advantage to those medical students and residents who choose emergency medicine.

Tags: ,

About Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital. She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more

Receive FREE Insider Medical Admissions Tips.

Sign Up

Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on The Visible Voices podcast: 

 

Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on the White Coat Investor podcast:

Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on the FeminEm podcast: