Global Health Residency Track

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine has started an innovative Global Health Residency Track (GHRT) for those interested in global health. The GHRT is a two year program where participants take classes in the Master of Public Health Program and participate in field work. Anandaraja, Hahn et al outline the curriculum for this program and the core competencies in Academic Medicine. This program is an interesting option for those medical school and residency applicants with interests in public and global health.

Click Here to read the abstract.

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Caribbean Medical Schools: Is There Is A Difference?

A study by van Zanten and Boulet published in Academic Medicine examines the quality of the medical education in the Caribbean. The report finds tremendous variability is both the quality of undergraduate medical education and in the performance of students.

Performance was assessed based on country. The countries with the highest percentage of students passing the USMLE Step 1 on the first attempt were Grenada (84.4 %) and Dominica (69.7%). Countries with the lowest pass rates were Saint Lucia (19.4%) and Antigua/Barbuda (22.9%).

If you decide to attend medical school in the Caribbean, choose wisely. With 56 schools from which to choose, it can be confusing. There are different accreditation and review processes that will affect the education and experience you receive.

Click Here to read the abstract.

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Facebook: Do Admissions Officers Look?

An article today in the Wall Street Journal reports on the results of a survey submitted to admissions officers of 500 highly selective colleges. The survey asked if admissions officers looked at social networking sites to help them evaluate applicants. 10% of respondents said they did look at sites such as Facebook and 38% of those said that this negatively impacted their views of the applicant.

While a similar survey has not been sent to medical school and residency admissions officers (as far as I know), these results are intriguing. It is best to keep your Facebook and MySpace pages clean. Assume that admissions officers are looking. To be safe, post photos that you would use on your application and only write about things that you would be comfortable discussing on interviews. Also be sure to use privacy settings so posts can't be viewed by the general public.

Along the same lines, make sure you have a respectable email address since most communications with schools and program directors are done via email.

This article is available free online for 7 days: Click Here to read the article.

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Residency: When Should I Interview?

"Dr. Freedman: When is the best time to schedule my interviews for residency?"

I have received this question numerous times even though interview season hasn't even begun! There is no perfect answer to this question and, if you ask 10 people, you will receive 10 different responses. There is one article in the literature that shows no correlation between interview date and rank position: Click Here to read the article.

If you have the luxury of choice, schedule one or two "safety program" interviews early in the season. It is my personal opinion to save the best for last. I always found it refreshing, especially at the end of a long interview season, to have a terrific applicant who was a pleasure to meet and interview. When we concluded our season and ranked applicants, it was easier to remember those applicants who interviewed later in the season and I was often "fuzzy" about applicants who interviewed in the middle of the season.

The bottom line: there is no magic formula here. Stay in touch with programs (especially those in which you are interested) so they don't forget you. Don't "can" or memorize responses for your interviews and do whatever you can to stay energetic throughout the season.

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ERAS Application: When To Submit

Clients are calling me asking when to submit their ERAS application. For the majority of residency programs composed of US medical school graduates, most programs begin reviewing applications in early to mid October. Some programs won't review applications until November 1st when Dean's (MSPE) letters are released.

When I reviewed ERAS applications as a residency admissions officer, I used various "data filters" to sort applications based on certain criteria. I never used a filter to sort applications based on submission date. It is important to submit your application as early as possible but, if you haven't done so already, don't panic. Most programs haven't even downloaded applications yet for review.

IMG friendly programs may start reviewing applications earlier in the season because they don't typically await the release of Dean's letters.

Medical School Admissions: Holistic Review

I encourage everyone who is applying to medical school now or in the near future to read a publication by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) called The Roadmap To Diversity: Key Legal and Educational Policy Foundations for Medical Schools. This report outlines the mission of the AAMC Holistic Review Project. Not only is this important to read from an admissions standpoint but you will also sound smart on the interview trail if the topic comes up!

Click Here to access the report.

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Medical School Diversity

An interesting article today in The Journal of the American Medical Association examines the importance of diversity in the medical school student body when educating students to serve the needs of our society. With the new emphasis on a holistic approach to medical school admissions (see my blog entry of July 2nd, 2008), this article is apropos. While one must consider if students who are interested in diversity, cultural competance and helping underserved populations gravitate towards medical schools that are committed to these ideals, the findings suggest that greater student body diversity (both racial and ethnic) provides students with skills to best serve a diverse population.

Click Here to read the article.

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The University of Central Florida: Very Selective

The University of Central Florida (UCF) has received 2,703 applications as of August 22nd for its inaugural class of 40. This means that UCF will accept one of every 67.5 applicants which makes it more selective than Yale, Harvard and Duke.

All 40 members of the inaugural class will receive $40,000 scholarships that have been funded by Orlando community donations totaling $7 million.

Click Here to read the article.

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