Home › View all posts by Michelle Finkel MD › Page 87
Blog Archives

Physician Burnout Report 2018

Posted on by by
Medscape has published its 2018 Physician Burnout Report. (You may have to sign in to view.) Congratulations to my field of emergency medicine for moving down from #1 on the list of burnout specialties a few years back to #6 this year. (The rate of burnout was a scary 45% for emergency physicians. To find out why, check out this piece.) Among all physician respondents, 42% reported burnout.
The lowest rates of burnout were found in plastic surgeons (23%), dermatologists (32%) and pathologists (32%). Medscape attributes this fact to these specialists’ decreased likelihood of working under emergent conditions. (The highest burnout was among critical care doctors at 48%.)
A higher level of burnout was reported in female physicians (48%) compared to male (38%).
In a different approach to the question, those specialists who reported they were very to extremely happy at work were ophthalmologists (37%), orthopedists (35%), and plastic surgeons (35%).
Tags: ,

Paralympic-Medalist Physician Asks to be Recognized for her Tremendous Abilities, Not her Wheelchair

Posted on by by

Check out this well-written New York Times piece by Dr. Cheri Blauwet, an American wheelchair racer (Paralympic and Olympic medal winner) and physician in PM&R. I’m sure Dr. Blauwet’s assertions are true about bias among patients, colleagues, and admissions officers: In my career, I’ve met very few doctor colleagues with overt physical disabilities.

Tags: , , ,

Tomorrow Belongs to Those Who Can Hear it Coming

Posted on by by

That’s right: Tomorrow, May 1 is the day before the official open date of AMCAS 2019. (Okay, I know that sounds confusing, but originally the AMCAS open date looked to be May 1 and is still posted as such in multiple locations. As it turns out, it is May 2.) So, at 9:30am EST on Wednesday, you can start inputting your data.

Because of rolling admissions, submitting a complete application early in the cycle has distinct advantages at many schools.That doesn’t mean you should submit suboptimal written materials; it means you should start early enough (now, at the latest!) that you are offering your best work.

Rolling admissions means that a school takes applications in the order in which they are received and makes decisions about interviews and then acceptances, accordingly. So, as times goes by, there are fewer interview and admissions offers remaining to be made.

If your application is not complete, your candidacy may not be evaluated early when there are more opportunities for interviews and admissions. So, if you have not already, get started immediately. It could make a huge difference in your available opportunities.

Tags: , ,

Making a List and Checking it Twice: The Fellowship Match Checklist

Posted on by by
The 2018-9 Fellowship Match process is heating up. The NRMP recently posted a brief but useful fellowship match check list with links to important dates for all fellowship matches.

As many of you may know, the range of time frames varies tremendously among the different fields – from abdominal transplant surgery (now) to adolescent medicine (autumn) – so it’s worth taking a look at this information even if you just matched for residency, believe it or not.

Tags: , ,

DNR

Posted on by by
Recently, I was socializing with an old friend who reviews residency applications for his academic program. We were discussing personal statement errors (don’t worry – we chatted about nonprofessional topics too), and he told me that he and his colleagues have a term for candidacies that are represented by bad written materials: DNR, or Do Not Rank.

Make sure your candidacy is not hamstrung by bad writing. Avoid common personal statement errors that can bomb your application. Good writing takes a lot of time, so make sure to start early. AMCAS is opening on May 1, so medical school applicants should be completing their essays and experience descriptors. Residency applicants should be starting an outline for their personal statements and a draft of their experiences.

Contact me (soon) for help.

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: