As medical students, we are torn: can we express political opinions? Will it affect my residency application? Will future patients see it and decide to seek out a second opinion with a physician who is opinion-less on political issues? We take an oath to be inclusive, to treat everyone equally regardless of race, gender or religion. How do we defend that oath but still remain neutral?
With the advent of the opioid epidemic, drug overdose has become the number one leading cause of accidental death in the United States. Additionally, substance addiction is associated with increased suicide risk and increased incidence of comorbidities. How can we help?
Before medical school, I frequently collaborated with a business partner in Germany. I often wondered how my German counterparts had a zest and vigor that my U.S. coworkers could not emulate. I do know my European colleagues were offered a very generous vacation package, and they weren’t afraid to use it.
The former high school teacher in me says there is room for improvement in medical school pedagogy. In fact, I have noticed some high-yield and easy-to-implement teaching “hacks” that would improve overall instructional practice and student understanding if they were consistently instituted by each professor during every lecture.
Designing and making with patients would flip the current dynamic of medical education, making us feel empowered to solve problems in healthcare even at this early stage in our career. Fueled by patient engagement and creativity, medical making could produce many dividends for the future of high-quality, patient-centered care.
Summer “break” has become a well-known critical time for students to strengthen and polish their applications to medical school. The question is: Is the competitiveness of medicine forcing more and more students to do internships that are unpaid, unproductive, and unhelpful just to check that last box on their resume?
