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Resources for medical students and residents

Practical advice written by physicians, residents and students — matching, board exams, clerkships, interviews, letters of recommendation, personal statements and staying well while you train.

Residency Training, 4 min read

How Do I Increase My Chances Of Matching In PM&R?

Lyn Weiss, MD is the current chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at NYU Langone Hospital - Long Island, and professor Rehabilitation Medicine at the NYU Long Island School of Medicine. Dr. Weiss was previously at Nassau University Medical Center wher…

March 24, 2021
Residency Training, 2 min read

How Do I Match In Radiation Oncology?

Radiation oncology has become one of the tougher matches in the United States. It has the advantage of being mostly an outpatient practice; usually, little or no hospital management supervision, rare calls from patients after hours, few emergencies, and in gen…

Phillip Hynes, MD; Radiation Oncologists, Graduate of Mayo Clinic Radiation Oncology Program, Medical Student Mentor and Preceptor, March 24, 2021
USMLE® & COMLEX® Test Strategies, 3 min read

How Do You Score Well On USMLE®, COMLEX®, Shelf, and Board Multiple Choice Tests?

All of us have been taking multiple-choice tests for years before getting into medical school or residency training. If we were not good at them, we probably would not have made it into medical school. However, the further you go in your training, the stiffer …

Nicholas Lorenzo, MD, Neurologist, AOA UNMC, Co-Founder www.emedicine.com, www.pearlsreview.com, and The McGraw-Hill Pearls of Wisdom Board Review Series, March 24, 2021
USMLE® & COMLEX® Test Strategies, 2 min read

How Does Your USMLE® Step 1 and 2 Score Stack Up?

The USMLE® Step 1 and USMLE® Step 2 are the first and second board exams offered by the United States Medical Licensing Examination. They are arguably the two most important exams a medical student will complete as they typically determine your chances of obta…

Consensus opinion provided by Jesse Cole, MD; Nick Lorenzo, MD; and Bill Gossman, MD, March 24, 2021
Interviews, 10 min read

Tips For Surgical Residency Interviews

Once you are invited for an interview, you have passed the first and most important screening test. It means your scores and written credentials are acceptable and you are one of the chosen few to be given a precious interview. Now you have to master the inter…

March 24, 2021
Extracurricular Activities, 6 min read

What Is The Significance Of The Impact Factor On Medical Publishing?

Matthew Geiselmann is a third-year medical student at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine and the research coordinator at Fusion Medical Education BioSkills Lab in Hicksville, NY. Matthew’s primary interest is in Orthopedic Surgery. Adam D. Bitterman, DO is a…

March 24, 2021
Clerkship Rotations and Electives, 12 min read

How Do I Do Well In Clerkship and Elective Rotations?

As a former medical student and now resident physician, I have seen that the medical students who do the best in clinical clerkship rotations often have a lot of the same habits, mindsets, goals, and strengths. Doing well in your clerkships has less to do with…

Joan Noelker, MD, MACM is an Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Education for Emergency Medicine (EM), and Director of Undergraduate Medical Education for EM. She has an MD from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and a Masters of Medical Education from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Dr. Noelker completed her residency training, including a chief resident year, as well as a medical education fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis (Wash U). She served as Assistant Program Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency at Wash U for 4 years before transitioning primarily to undergraduate medical education (UME) work. She works clinically in the emergency departments at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Children’s Hospital, and Barnes-Jewish West County Hospitals 60% of the time, and the remaining 40% is divided between curriculum development for the new Wash U Gateway curriculum (0.2 FTE), curriculum development for UME rotations in EM, teaching residents and medical students, and educational research. Dr. Noelker is also a member of the Wash U medical school and Wash U EM residency admissions committees. She has interests in simulation in medical education, transitions within medical education, undergraduate and graduate level medical education and dissemination of emergency medicine core knowledge through speaking engagements., March 23, 2021
Residency Training, 12 min read

How Do I Increase My Chances Of Matching In Emergency Medicine?

For me selecting emergency medicine was a last-minute decision. I did an elective in emergency medicine at UNMC in September of my senior year, doing an emergency medicine elective, I suddenly realized that this was my chosen field. Even back in 1988, despite …

S.H. Plantz, MD; FAAEM; Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine (retired), March 23, 2021
Residency Training, 6 min read

How Do I Increase My Chances of Matching In Family Medicine?

Family medicine is a growing field, with the number of residency positions available in the United States increasing every year for the last 11 years. In the 2020 match, 13.7% of the positions were for family medicine, while the national goal based on need for…

Elizabeth Lawrence, MD, FAAFP; Associate Director, USF/MPM Family Medicine Residency; Medical Director, Turley Family Health Center; Associate Professor, USF Dept of Family Medicine; Clinical Assistant Professor, FSU Dept of Family Medicine; Diplomate, American Board of Obesity Medicine, March 23, 2021