Medical Admissions Consulting : Insider Medical Admissions

What Your Personal Statement Reader is Thinking

Michelle Finkel — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:26 +0000

Please take a look at part 2 in my series of expert guest blog entries on the Varsity Tutors blog. This piece (and the one prior) are a good reminder of what to target and what to avoid when writing your personal statement for medical school, residency, fellowship, and post-baccalaureate programs. Also, for “edutainment” take a look at [...]

Emergency Medicine: Can a Sizzling Hot Specialty Burn You to a Crisp?

Michelle Finkel — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:00:40 +0000

Please take a look at my recent guest entry on the KevinMD blog exploring the disconnect between emergency medicine’s immense popularity in the Match and an Archives of Internal Medicine study documenting severe burnout among emergency physicians. (According to the research, emergency physicians experience burnout at a rate of more than three times that of [...]

How Do International Medical Graduates (IMGs) Perform in the Match and How Can that Information Guide Future Applicants?

Michelle Finkel — Mon, 06 May 2013 09:00:08 +0000

I’ve reviewed data here in my blog regarding IMGs’ performance in the 2013 Match, but here are some graphics and additional data published by the ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates). Again, the numbers are a reminder of the challenges IMGs face. Also, for those interested in how IMGs have performed in specific specialty Matches, here is the NRMP‘s (National Residency [...]

Sleep Deprivation is a Form of Torture

Michelle Finkel — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:00:21 +0000

As a resident, I spent one horrific week on my surgical rotation clocking 138 hours in the hospital…and I slept only 6 1/2 of those. By the end of the week, I had decided to quit residency. Fortunately, a good night’s sleep helped me turn that decision around. Pauline Chen MD recently wrote a piece [...]

On Your Reading List

Michelle Finkel — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:46 +0000

Every once in a while I make a book or film recommendation for those starting their medical careers. I recently found an old book that positively influenced me years ago: A Leg to Stand On by Dr. Oliver Sacks. Many of us know Sacks’ popular works (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, [...]

Writing Your Own Residency or Medical School Letter of Recommendation: Is it Ethical?

Michelle Finkel — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:00:54 +0000

It’s not infrequent that an applicant tells me that a letter of recommendation (LOR) writer has asked the candidate to draft his/her own letter because the writer is “too busy.” I notice that medical school and residency applicants are a bit sheepish as they tell me about this arrangement. Have no fear: You are not [...]

IMG Performance in the 2013 Match – Good News and Bad News

Michelle Finkel — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:00:05 +0000

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 [...]

ROAD to Nowhere?

Michelle Finkel — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:00:42 +0000

This New York Times article, “Job Prospects are Dimming for Radiology Trainees” is worth reading. It’s interesting how seemingly outside forces (overused emergency departments) can lead to job losses in another specialty. It’s also worth noting (and troubling to see) that despite declining job openings for radiologists, there is even more competition for many residency [...]

Medical School Personal Statement

Michelle Finkel — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:00:53 +0000

For those of you getting butterflies in your stomach just thinking about the medical school personal statement that you’re going to have to write soon, here is a recent article I wrote on the Varsity Tutors blog.

Busy Week

Michelle Finkel — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:00:16 +0000

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.) [...]