Medical School Admissions: Medical School Interviews – No Interviews Yet?

Are you still waiting for a medical school interview invite? If so, it’s time to get to work. Here are some suggestions:

1. Call each school that you have applied to and returned a secondary application. Ask if your application is complete and if all interview invites have been given.
2. Call each school that you have applied to and not received a secondary from and ensure the school has everything it needs prior to sending a secondary application. Also inquire about whether any more secondaries will be sent out (quite unlikely at this stage in the interview process but it doesn’t hurt to ask).
3. Contact your undergraduate or post-baccalaureate pre-med advisor and update him/her on your situation. If there is a particular school that you are interested in and have not received an interview, some pre-med advisors will make a call on your behalf.

For step-by-step advice on how to get into medical school including interview tips, check out The Medical School Admissions Guide: A Harvard MD’s Week-by-Week Admissions Handbook. If you’d like a mock interview with Dr. Miller, please visit www.MDadmit.com/solutions, e-mail info@MDadmit.com, or call 415.939.5251.

Medical School Admissions: Medical School Interviews – Thank You Notes

Thank you notes often raise many questions for medical school applicants:

*Do I have to write thank you notes to every interviewer?

            - Yes, if you would attend the school if accepted.

*Should I write hand-written notes?

            - Yes
*Can an e-mail serve as a sufficient thank you?
            - No. Such an important communication should not be sent to someone’s already
              very full e-mail inbox.

For step-by-step advice on how to get into medical school including interview tips, check out The Medical School Admissions Guide: A Harvard MD’s Week-by-Week Admissions Handbook. If you’d like a mock interview with Dr. Miller, please visit www.MDadmit.com/solutions, e-mail info@MDadmit.com, or call 415.939.5251.

Scrubbing the Dirt (Volume I)

Scrubbing the Dirt: Accepted

Interesting article on health and education

How the crisis of healthcare and education are related:
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/11/crises-healthcare-education-related.html

MDadmit Cool Case of the Week Answer

Case#1: 50yo female from Eastern Europe presents to the Emergency Department with three weeks of intermittent double vision, trouble walking, and R arm uncoordination. She had an outpatient CT of her head that showed no abnormalities and could not initially undergo a MRI because she had an IUD in place. The IUD has been removed and she now presents to the EED because the symptoms are getting worse. On exam, her vital signs are stable. Positive findings include a cranial nerve III palsy of the left eye, R arm and leg ataxia, and marked gait ataxia. She also has trouble finding words. A MRI/MRA is performed emergently that shows a ring-enhancing lesion in the midbrain. What could the lesion be? What is the diagnosis?

Answer #1: Neurocysticercosis

MDadmit Cool Case of the Week

This blog has been focused on providing tips to help you get into medical school. Don't worry, those tips will still be published weekly. But I've decided to spice things up a bit here on the MDadmit blog and include a Cool Case of the Week. Something to get you even more excited about the fascinating field you are about to enter. I'll send out the case on Wednesday at 9am and ask you to guess the diagnosis, treatment, etc. I will then provide the answer on Thursday at 9am. Have fun with it!

Case#1: 50yo female from Eastern Europe presents to the Emergency Department with three weeks of intermittent double vision, trouble walking, and R arm uncoordination. She had an outpatient CT of her head that showed no abnormalities and could not initially undergo a MRI because she had an IUD in place. The IUD has been removed and she now presents to the EED because the symptoms are getting worse. On exam, her vital signs are stable. Positive findings include a cranial nerve III palsy of the left eye, R arm and leg ataxia, and marked gait ataxia. She also has trouble finding words. A MRI/MRA is performed emergently that shows a ring-enhancing lesion in the midbrain. What could the lesion be? What is the diagnosis?

Medical School Admissions: Join the Discussion

Hello MDadmit blog readers! Dr. Miller here. I just wanted to invite you to comment on this blog. Feel free to ask questions, give opinions, and join other pre-meds in the discussion. I will personally answer any questions posed and look forward to hearing from you!

Medical School Admissions: Medical School Interviews - Take Notes

Everyone seems to bring a schnazy leather legal pad on interviews. But have you ever seen someone actually taking notes? Why bring it if you don’t use it? There’s no need to take notes during the actual interview, as that may seem pretentious. But definitely jot down your thoughts after each interview.

Making note of:

 1. Interview date
 2. Interviewer name and title
 3. Topics discussed
 4. School positives
 5. School negatives
 6. Overall gut reaction

Taking 5 minutes to log your thoughts will be helpful in keeping the details of each school straight in your mind and remembering specifics to put in thank you notes. These notes can also be very helpful when you are making your final decision of where to attend medical school.

For step-by-step advice on how to get into medical school including interview tips, check out The Medical School Admissions Guide: A Harvard MD’s Week-by-Week Admissions Handbook. If you’d like a mock interview with Dr. Miller, please visit www.MDadmit.com/solutions, e-mail info@MDadmit.com, or call 415.939.5251.

George Washington PA School Professor Resigns

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/gwu-professor-resigns-accused-of-not-teaching/2011/11/08/gIQASJQt0M_blog.html

Book Review: The Medical School Admissions Guide: A Harvard MD's Week-by-Week Admissions Handbook

A recent review of Dr. Miller's The Medical School Admissions Guide: A Harvard MD's Week-by-Week Admissions Handbook: "Suzanne Miller's book on the med school admissions process is exceptional. Dr. Miller masterfully articulates the important points of the med school applications  process. She hones her expression into a concise and authoritative language that  provides you with details that you will not read anywhere else. Although the book is steeped in good advice, I particularly value the section on the  secondary applications. Dr. Miller provides over 40 essay prompts categorized  into 10 major themes that will allow you to complete much of your secondary applications  before you even begin to apply. I cannot tell you how valuable this information is... secondary  applications are very time consuming, but if you follow Dr. Miller's advice, they will be  as easy as cutting and pasting your pre-written essays. This is a book for the general applicant, as well as for the elite applicant. As a  graduate of an Ivy League school, my home school dedicates enormous resources  into pre-medical advising. However, Dr. Miller's book surpasses the advice that  I received from my school's career services by leaps and bounds; so much so that  I purchased a copy of her book and mailed it to my home school's career services. This book will propel your application into a new level of excellence, not to mention  save you enormous time in the process. Buy this book!"

Caribbean Schools Pay Big Money to Use U.S. Hospitals

I haven't made up my mind about the big money that Caribbean (Off-Shore) medical schools like St. George's and Ross pay to get their students experience in US hospitals, mostly in New York.

Here's an article from the New York Times about just how much money is changing hands. What do you think?

Scrubbing the Dirt (Volume I)

China

Hey everyone!

Check out MDadmit's very own Dr. Suzanne Miller as she blogs about her Chinese adventure!

Click here to view the post.

Need more? Take a look at her personal blog.