The article I’m about to recommend is not for the faint of heart.
Alex Mohseni MD wrote a very pointed, compelling piece in a recent Emergency Medicine News called, “Why I Quit Emergency Medicine.” It has created quite a buzz in emergency medicine circles.
It’s painful, but a really great read. Here it is.
The good news is that a greater number of IMGs (International Medical Graduates) matched to first-year positions in the 2013 Match compared to last year’s. According to the ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates® ), 6,311 of the 12,683 IMGs who participated matched, which was an increase of 1,425 compared to 2012. The bad news is that that number only translates into 49.8% of IMGs’ matching to first year positions.
Although international medical schools are a good option for some candidates, it is worth noting these numbers if you are a pre-med considering an international school.
Wow! This past week has been crazy busy. Here we go:
1) Congratulations to all of my residency applicant advisees: I am thrilled by the enormous success the Match brought to these candidates in a variety of fields. (For fun, here is a play list of Match Day videos from medical schools around the country.)
2) The AMSA national conference was a great, great success. “Interview Like a Ninja” sessions were really robust, and we had a full auditorium at my lecture. Thanks to a very engaged audience.
3) Please take a look at my headlining article on the Student Doctor Network home page, “Tales from an Insider….”
Whew! I’m ready for a rest.
I’m sure many of you read last week’s news that NYU and other medical schools will be offering a three-year, accelerated medical school program to eligible applicants
I greeted this news with both encouragement and concern. On the one hand, it’s reassuring that low- and medium-income students who cannot afford the exorbitant costs of a medical education will have the option to pursue their career dreams with less (although still significant) financial burden. Shaving off $20 to $50,000 of tuition and living costs can mean opening up the medical career to those who are understandably terrified of decades of loan repayment.
On the other hand, the NYU accelerated medical students will need to choose their specialties when they apply to medical school. In return, they will be guaranteed a residency slot when they graduate, but presumably, these applicants would have matched successfully to a residency position if they had been in a traditional program. After all, they are being accepted to a strong medical school and are competitive applicants. (NYU expects these students to stay in the top half of their class academically in order to continue in the accelerated program.)
Asking students to pick a specialty prior to even completing one day of clinical rotations begs the question of whether these future physicians will be satisfied in their fields. Studies have shown that doctors who are more dissatisfied provide lesser patient care and are more likely to leave medicine, which will worsen the accelerating doctor dearth.
Take a look here to read the NYT’s article regarding NYU’s new program, and make your own conclusions.
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
