Hello everybody. I've recently gotten an invite to do an AI through VSLO at my top choice IM program. The only concern I have is that it's for my last choice timing (November), which will mean that I won't have the option of getting a rec letter from the program, and I will be playing the weird dance of taking interviews while on the service. At the end of the day, I'm super grateful and will take whatever they'll give me.

What is y'all experience and thoughts about emailing the admin to ask if there is a possibility of doing the rotation earlier? Or have I already been filtered out of those earlier rotations by nature of me being offerred this specific date? Just looking for some feedback on the approrpriate ettiquite.

Following up on my last post.

I have spoken to the university but unfortunately there is little they can do to help. There are no scholarships available for me, research will result in a clash of schedule, and there are no loans available for me. I took on 3 jobs to allow me to let ends me and saving some money up, but the sum seems insurmountable… I don’t know how long I can last doing this but I really want to do this. I don’t want to regret not being able to finish medical school.

I am a 32 year old woman currently on my OBGYN rotation with a bunch (6) men (ages 25-29). They are all from another university. This rotation is 6 weeks and its only week 1 and I don't think I can take 5 more weeks of their shit. I have never been spoken over, interrupted, disregarded and ignored as much as I have with this group of men. Every time my preceptor ( A man ) asks a question and I answer it the other men in my group will interrupt me and try and correct my statements. My preceptor is old and english is not his first language so he doesn't really notice. When it comes to surgery days one boy in particular will "distribute" the surgeries in private and completely skip me. This same "boy" keeps ignoring me when I speak, won't even look at me except for when he is trying to correct me with a smirk on his face. I don't know if it's just cultural (they are all southeast asian) or if its their arrogance but I can't keep putting up with this. They leave me out of everything. If I ask a question in the group chat they will read it and just ignore me. I've brought it up to one of them (the least arrogant) and he kept saying oh don't take it personally. How do I deal with them?

Hello friends, I have a question that might be stupid but I’m going to post it anyway.

I am a 31 year old male. I was a special forces medic in the Army with 3rd Special Forces Group. While I was in the military, I got degrees in biochem and molecular biology with minors in physics and sociology. I had a perfect GPA. My goal was to go through med school on the military’s dime, but an unfortunate training accident struck me in the form of a parachute malfunction. I fractured T11-L1, have bilateral knee replacements, and I fractured my bilateral tib-fibs.

When I got out of the military I went through an insane custody battle so I chose to go the nursing route and got my BSN and MSN in clinical leadership. I’ve worked my way through the nursing ranks pretty quickly, due to my special forces background, and I’m now a flight and ground transport nurse. In that time, though, I’ve gained 4 children for a total of 6 (2 from my first marriage, 2 by adoption, and twins from my second marriage), my second wife passed away about 9 months ago due to a drunk driver hitting her, and obviously due to my injuries I’ve had my own medical issues.

Now that I’m a single dad of 6, I’ve noted that my children will all be 18 or older when I am 45-46. Is it worth giving med school a shot in my mid-40s? Should I go the NP route since I’m already in nursing? Should I just stay on the helicopter/ambulance? Need some advice. Thanks.

Hi everyone,

I desperately need advice regarding my COMLEX 2 study plan. For some background, I took Step 1 twice last year and failed both times. I ended up passing COMLEX 1 and decided that I would stick with just COMLEX for the level 2 exams. I'm really nervous since level 2 is scored and I want to be a relatively competitive applicant. I did average on my shelf exams, but am struggling to continue that trajectory into board prep.

I've been doing 40 UWorld and 40 TrueLearn questions a day and trying to supplement with Boards and Beyond for any topics I don't understand. I've been doing this for almost a month now with no improvement. I've been scoring in the 45-65% range and I am startING to get frustrated that I am not seeing any growth. I don't know if it's an issue with the way I review questions or a fundamental knowledge lacking.

What recommendations do y'all have for me? How do you guys review questions? HOW DO I DO THIS?!

Thanks in advance!

I got some mercury spilled out of the sphygmomanometer , is there a way to refill it?

Hi I'm in the 4th year of med college (the system out here where I'm at is grade12 board exams - choose medical school - > 1st 2 years clincials and from 3rd year onwards we have our clinical appointments. I've had difficulties with my mental health, stemming from CPTSD which made it difficult to adjust to the uni life right away (not something that I didn't expect) and I struggled to catch up with my peers a lot. I've been getting through exams having either 1 or 2 repeats and it's affected my self esteem and confidence a lot to the point that I can't even answer when I know the answer. And I've realised that since most of my study methods have been solely focused on getting through exams, ever since the clincial appointments started I've been finding it increasing difficult to keep up with my peers which is not helping with my mental state obviously. I have a year roughly until the main finals and I feel waaay behind my peers that even getting started makes me anxious and has led to procrastinating for hours thinking about the task. Therapy is out of question because of limited funds. Still I have been doing work on myself using resources online and am also trying to explore new active learning methods, which admittedly I find very uncomfortable. Just wanted to vent here in hopes of some encouragement and helpful tips.

Should I withdraw the application and re-submit it? Can they school see that I did this (especially if it hasn't gone to them yet as my school hasn't yet cleared it)?

Am I being insane? I've heard these small things are, yes, dumb but they make it easy for schools to throw out your app bc they have more than enough to go through as is and they'll take any reason to discard an app if they can

My parents are Asian. i got into med school just cause he wants me to and I don’t like making him mad cause he’s always right and i was finally happy am going to pick specialty but he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of doing surgery “unless it’s plastic surgery or ent cause why work very long hours and make less money when you can long for a little and make a lot of money like in derm”! And i was like i don’t really care about the money i just wanna feel fulfilled and they’re both very hard to match into and i don’t wanna work very and end up not matching and being severely depressed cause it happened before with the college. I really liked surgery it was exhausting and i was stressed but i did very well on the shelf exam and i liked working with my hands. After a lot of talking he just said that he invested in me so much financially for me not to do what he wants aka”what he thinks is best for me”. MIND YOU am doing all of this and am still not his favorite daughter😍😍but it’s okay. Have you had any similar experience and how did you convince you parents?

An away rotation I am applying for require this. It's clearly distinct from our board scores, as there's a separate place to upload "Board Score" (and the description for this item says to upload step 1 scores).

All I can think of is that I need to go back and pull all my shelf score reports, combine them into one pdf, and then upload it?

This is what is looks like in VSLO:

https://preview.redd.it/porfr2157rwc1.png?width=1075&format=png&auto=webp&s=08b4448c330ca12f54df51c063992e7d5779db96

Not exactly sure what to do in this instance.

​

Long story short- I have had multiple preceptors for one of my rotations. In order to get honors I need to have 1 evaluation completed from one of my preceptors recommending me for honors, along with my shelf exam score being over a certain cutoff.

I asked one of my preceptors, whom I had worked with a lot, if he would be willing to complete the evaluation with me, and he recommended me for honors. A second preceptor, whom I had worked with somewhat, subsequently submits an evaluation to my school unsolicited, not recommending me for honors. Additionally, the second preceptor checked off a box stating that the evaluation was "not reviewed" with the student.

My exam score was above the threshold to qualify for honors based on my school's evaluation. However, I am not exactly sure how I should go about handling this. Is it worth it to contest the second evaluation? I honestly have no idea why he went through the trouble of submitting it when we only require one preceptor evaluation.

Hey,

I'm at a smaller campus of an existing medical school - my "class" only has about 20 students, and while we are attached to a major university system the town itself only has a level 2 trauma center nearby.

I really love the school and the location and i chose this for myself, but I've found most of my classmates are more interested in primary care specialties. I'm not opposed to this, but I'd like to do my best to be a competitive applicant to surgical specialties in the Western US, even though my school is midwestern.

My campus has good research opportunities, so I'm not particularly worried about that. However, I do wonder about the changes in "reputation" I may have going to a smaller school. Are there any real disadvantages, or am I overthinking this? Do I need to schedule more away rotations at academic institutions? Am i somewhat limited on what i should apply for in residency?

It's possible I'm being neurotic about this. However, I can't help but feel like my experience in med school is maybe a bit less "professional" and less of an "institution". This is great for me, there's no gunners, but just wondering if there are any disadvantages I need to look out for.

Edit: The school is MD

From what I understand, cardiac tamponade refers to an accumulation of excess fluid in the pericardial cavity which prevents the ventricles from relaxing fully and causing an equalization of pressures in all 4 chambers. While constrictive pericarditis/RCM refer to the reduced compliance of the pericardium and ventricles respectively and limit the ability of the ventricles to fill with blood during diastole. All 3 conditions reduce preload.

I can understand why the y descent is absent in cardiac tamponade, but why would cardiac tamponade lead to a steep x descent (ie why would the atria relax to a greater extent?) Along the same line, why would RCM/constrictive pericarditis cause a steep y descent if the ventricles are unable to fill adequately with blood?

My best friend who I’ve known for nearly a decade is currently M1 at a T10 med school. I’m also M1 but my school is one of the schools that opted to be unranked.

I was happy that we could start out MD journey at the same time, but since school started she’s been making constant jabs at my school. She’s says things such as “no way an accredited med school would do that” in regards to how the program is set up, what assignments I’ve had to do, etc. I study hard for school but she always talks about how med school is so easy for her and that she easily aces exams without going to class or watching recorded lectures. I don’t really understand how her and her friends have time to go to multiple parties being held every week. She also told me that she heard that the people from my med school are weird which I thought was a random comment to make?

We’ve helped each other through a lot of difficult things in life such as mental health problems or toxic boyfriends, and I was really hoping we could support each other in med school too. Ever since we started med school she’s seemingly been distancing herself from me by focusing all her time on her new friends, her boyfriend, and playing video games for hours every night until anywhere between 3 and 5 in the morning. At this point I’ve basically stopped talking about school because she always seems to find a way to make me feel like my med school is trash and talk about why hers is so much better.

I’ve made a great circle of friends at med school, but I just wish my best friend was more supportive.

Obviously there’s way more to learn than what I already know. But I do miss the days where I was ignorant to medicine. It’s not an anxiety health thing but mostly knowing the truth of how medicine works. How everything is prolonging life and not really curing. How the hospital system works. How most people treating you with life threatening illnesses and diseases are sleep deprived, stressed, etc. and I’m only just a lousy 3rd year. Afraid of what imma learn and figure out later in my career. It’s def not what I expected even in my preclinical years.

What sort of surgical specialties fit this criteria? People usually suggest optho, but I’m frankly not interested in the discipline. Other than that, what specific disciplines would be worth exploring?

so I applied for an away at a California program, received an offer but they could only offer me November spot, is it worth it to go if obgyn interview invites will have already been sent to us before the rotation would begin? would love some advice

Hello,

I was asked by a research fellow to send out a survey to psychiatry resident/fellows/attendings. I really need clout with this guy however, I am kind of a loss to how to go about and get those participants. He needs about 70 person, and I am not sure if there is compensation to conduct the study.

If you have any tips please let me know. I appreciate any advice.

Sincerely,

Medical Student trying to match.

sorry if this isn’t the right place for this, but i wanted there to be a thread to talk about the new OBGYN application changes since the webinar is going on tonight where they’re revealing the new system. so far my main takeaways are more meaningful experiences (12 as opposed to 10) and no more geographic signaling. not sure how to feel about these so i was curious others’ thoughts!

Midtier MD, 2 clerkship failures, orphan so no family support, 230s step, good MSRP just suck at tests and since I was working throughout clerkship year because of financial stress and I didn’t prepare enough for a few OSCEs, I’m on 4 research projects that will just hurt me because it’s in a surg sub. I hope to break even then leave medicine every specialty I wanted is out of reach as I’d hope to be in the OR (surg sub vs anesthesia) anesthesias competitiveness shot up during my medical school career so I’m applying anything that’ll take me.

I'm kinda confused. I know Ca+2 channels are involved in phase 4 and 0 for the pacemaker potential, and phase 2 of the cardiac action potential. But for each of these different action potentials, aren't they L-type voltage gated Ca+2 channels?

Also, I know for Ca+2 induced Ca+2 release isn't that when Ca+2 enters the cardiac myocyte during phase 2 via dihydropyridine receptors (a type of L-type VG channel), and then this activates the Ca+2 channel at the SR which then releases Ca+2 via opening of the ryanodine receptor? Where the hell did non-hydropyridine calcium channels come from or did i make a mistake?

While using a Spanish translator in the urology clinic, you ask a 30 something woman if she has noticed any changes in frequency of urination. She says, “no, but sometimes when I eat too fast, there are specks of cilantro in my urine.” You clarify several times. She is alert and oriented, and yes, cilantro is sometimes in her urine.

This pt has a complex hx including a past hx of metastatic cervical cancer. She has no idea why she is in your clinic, and all you know is “referral for routine monitoring of hydronephrosis”.

The clinic schedules 10,000 pts per day, so you have 2 min to glance over the most recent HPI from hematology, which is a mishmash of temporally disjunct incidents, beginning with a long disposition written like it occurred at yesterdays visit that you later learn is how every note begins going back years.

A 6th year resident tells you, “with a little inference, you have all of the information you need to understand how this woman has cilantro in her urine. It’s actually not that uncommon given one of the surgeries she had. Do you know what a ___ surgery is?”

No sir. I didn’t know that a surgeon could do that. That certainly explains why she ignored the question about the frequency of urination.

I’m a fourth year just hanging out waiting for the start of residency, but I still get these bouts of hypochondriasis. It doesn’t make it easier being a young, first-time father.

Three months ago I swore my wife and son were bitten by an invisible bat. Last month I was convinced I had a brain tumor. Last week was gastric cancer, and this week is pancreatic cancer for me and leukemia for my son.

It’s like I look ridiculously deep into every mild symptom or lab value barely out of limit that’s associated with my family and I.

Does this go away with time?

I'm posting this because when I got arrested just before starting medical school (I was accepted before I was convicted so my school never found out), I knew it had the potential to ruin everything when it came down to the match. My record weighed on me so much over the last 4 years to the point where I would have dreams about being asked about it during interviews and going unmatched. I tried to rehearse how I would explain it in interviews for YEARS before I did my first interview, and it was so hard for me to rationalize out-loud. There was so much negative emotion associated with the experience, I would always get the knot in the back of the throat, that feeling you feel when you're holding back crying. There was (and still is to a lesser degree) so much shame and guilt for such a prolonged time added onto the already chronic stress med school puts you through. What I wish I knew beforehand:

1. I saw a school psychologist (they're required to keep things confidential) before I applied for the match, but with the hope of getting an objective professional opinion about how to approach the topic because the very few people I confided in about it, couldn't really tell me the right way to go about it. The psychologist couldn't really give me advice either BUT, I will say, that psychologist made me feel so much better emotionally/mentally. I'm not a huge advocate for my own mental health, but I swear I left that session feeling like a huge weight was lifted off of me.
2. I wanted a competitive specialty, but I also had to humble myself and be realistic. I did feel like I could be happy in a less competitive specialty as well, and I decided to spend way more money then the average person dual-applying to ensure a match. I got one interview in the competitive specialty, 7 in the less competitive specialty. Ended up matching the less competitive field at my 5th choice. I'm at an academic institution in a major city with a decent salary.
3. Only 1 interviewer asked me about my criminal record and it was the PD of the program I matched at.
4. I'm strongly considering applying for a second residency in the more competitive specialty at the end of my 2nd year BUT, I am truly so so happy and excited to start residency in a field I find happiness in. Just knowing that I have the security of a specialty, options open to me and can branch out from here is just ughhhhhh bliss *chefs kiss*

To be short, I was sick for a long time and this made it impossible to review or to get a deep understanding of some contents. I'm afraid to take a low score on my next exam. I don't like studying for too long on the day prior to an exam, but I probably won't be able to study everything I should and so I'm afraid to fail this year. Should I spend almost the whole night studying (like sleeping around 4 hours), or should I study until I'm really tired and then wake a bit earlier to review what I did study up until now.

Thank you in advance for your answer.

My entire app is mainly ophtho-related with ophtho research. I mainly pursued it because it was the most competitive specialty I was interested at the time and it grants you lifestyle and surgery. However I realized that performing microsurgery under a microscope feels too claustrophobic at times. The anatomy of the eye is also not as interesting as some of the general surgery abdominal cases or vascular cases. I also love suturing and knot tying and I don't get much of that in ophtho (aside from oculoplastics which is insanely difficult to match into). Other than that, however, I've thoroughly enjoyed my ophtho rotation otherwise.

I recently finished a general surgery rotation and I genuinely enjoy the OR more than clinic. I don't hate clinic. But I would rather do more OR than do more clinic.

The most concerning thing about switching is the lifestyle. I don't mind the rough residency but I'm more concerned about how attending life will be. Some people reassure me saying that they know general surgeons and vascular surgeons who take a pay cut but work M-F with minimal call and have a life outside of medicine. However, others tell me that this is very uncommon and you would have to give up location considerably to find these positions whereas ophtho is almost universally regarded as lifestyle apart from a high volume retina clinic with call.

As an attending I would much rather choose lifestyle over salary.

I might just be on a general surgery/vascular surgery high because of all the great residents and attendings I've met during the rotation. Any thoughts?

I don't know if it will be like this for 2025 ERAS but I heard that at least for 2024, you get 10 entries on ERAS for all your extracurricular activities.

Since you only get 10, can I group some of my activities and put them into one entry if they are similar?

For example, if I volunteered at homeless clinic A and homeless clinic B, instead of creating two separate entries, can I group them into one entry called "homeless clinic volunteering" and talk about both in the description?

Keep pushing! Some times it gets tough but believe in yourself and keep a good support group. The grass is greener on the other side!!