Adventures from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
The oral exam. The candidacy exam. The comprehensive exam. There are many names for it, but all pre-doctoral graduate students come to fear it. At different universities, this pivotal exam happens at different points in your Ph.D. At Johns Hopkins, most students will take their candidacy exam after their main courses are finished, but before(...)
Over 3,000 years old, Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions. Calling oneself a Jew draws on a rich history and a continually growing set of religious texts; it is a link to a culture of resilience and a peoplehood that have withstood incredible persecution and social restriction, immigration and assimilation. Thus, for many,(...)
As the population of elderly people in our country grows, and as air travel becomes more accessible, medical professionals will be increasingly faced with emergencies in the air. During medical school, students are given some preparation for these situations should they arise: for example on my third-year ob/gyn rotation, we received a lecture on how(...)
As an undergraduate, I frequently shadowed physicians and remember vividly many moments and anecdotes from those experiences, many of which would go on to shape my future career aspirations. One of my close mentors, a veteran vascular surgeon at the end of his career, once reminisced about his surgical training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital(...)
Seven medical students shuffle through the narrow doorway. One of my classmates steps forward and addresses the patient. “Hello, Mr. M. How are you doing this morning?” Mr. M. does not respond. “Mr. M.? Mr. M.?” The student shakes the patient’s shoulder vigorously. The student feels for a pulse. “I have a pulse, and I(...)
As any graduate or medical student will well-understand, choosing a career direction to pursue after graduation can be a daunting task. What is your dream job? Where would you like to be located? Where do you see yourself in five years? These decisions require careful reflection and research, and importantly, mentorship and advice from professionals(...)
Of the greatest miracles performed by Christ was his healing of lepers, the blind and the deaf. Gregor Mendel, a monk, was the father of modern genetics. Christian missionaries like Mother Teresa saved thousands of people in the name of God. The Christian faith and the art of healing have been connected for centuries, and(...)
Traditionally, medical school is viewed as a continuous four-year educational experience. In reality, the structure of medical education is that of contrasting, dichotomous learning methodologies divided into two sequential stages: preclinical and clinical years. The daily lifestyles, schedules and learning styles of medical students within these two distinct but complementary components of medical school could(...)
“I am Muslim,” says Nimrah Baig, a third-year medical student. Her words do not sound like a label, but rather a bold summation of an entire world that she slowly begins to introduce me to. “My faith is something I live every day. My actions, how I treat others and my goals in life are(...)
No one prepares you for listening to a lecture about how your mother died. Medical students are trained to recognize grief and distress in patients and invite them to talk about it. We are taught the complex molecular physiology behind diseases common and rare, minor and terminal. But we are not trained to see our(...)