medical school application essays

The Warwick Medical School Blog has the aim of offering information about medicine and medical school to students, staff, and practitioners. As such, the blog contains articles like Making virtual patients a reality with eViP, which discusses a platform for medical training with the use of virtual patients. The blog is rather simple and straightforward.

Good things about Warwick Medical School Blog

Perhaps the only good thing about the Warwick Medical School Blog is that its content is relevant. Although the blog doesn’t have much content, the blog entries that it does contain are informative and current. This blog could improve greatly if they could just continue to produce more informative and relevant content to entice readers with.

Room for improvement

There is a lot of room for improvement for the Warwick Medical School blog. Sure, the site does a good job of targeting a specific audience, but it simply lacks content. Some of the weakest blogs on the Internet are those with little content and Warwick’s Medical School Blog is a good example. Little content equates to slower traffic and it gives readers no reason to come back to the site. If a visitor can read all of the content on this site in a single day, then there is no point for that reader to come back for more. Furthermore, the website has a weak design that is frankly quite boring. With no pictures, few navigational links, and an overall drab look, it’s difficult to believe that Warwick’s med school blog has worthwhile content. Unfortunately, a bad combination of little content and a generic web design just won’t cut it. The Warwick Medical School Blog will have to step up its game if it plans to be of any use to medical students, medical staff, and Internet users in general.

The Student Doctor Network, or SDN, is a website that has a lot to offer to health students and health practitioners. With sections on many of the medical fields, including dental, optometry, and medical fields, the Student Doctor Network has loads of information that is invaluable for anyone looking to be a successful doctor. Students can find help from other students and professionals via the member blogs, which includes topics like First Week of Dental School and Cellular and Humoral Immune Responses.

What SDN is doing right

The Student Doctor Network is doing a lot of things right. Not only it is catering to a specific audience, but it also has just the kind of high-quality content that today’s health care students and professionals seek. With such great content, it’s easy to see why visitors would feel compelled to come back to the Student Doctor Network. The website is also professionally designed, making use of great web features such as applets, drop-down menus, and an intuitive layout that is easy to understand. Furthermore, the community aspect of the Student Doctor Network makes it the perfect platform for students to get in touch with healthcare professionals for their opinions, ideas, studies, or just for a good conversation.

What SDN can improve on

Perhaps the only that I don’t like about the Student Doctor Network is the design of the blog page. The blog page has a design that is very similar to a message board. Perhaps it’s a matter of personal preference, but I find message-board designs to be rather cluttered and confusing to navigate around. Still, the good side of having a message-board design is that the members might feel more compelled to actually contribute their thoughts and concerns on the blog. I just wish that the Student Doctor Network carried over its professional design from the website to the blog site.

So, You Want To Be a Doctor? blog is Dr. Daniel Williams? sort of an online publication of lectures and other informative articles and content for medical students and aspiring med students in various fields. The entries are basically downloadable transcripts of his lectures, some of which even have videos and audio files.

What I liked about Medical Mastery

The blog is quite easy to navigate. There are tabs at the top of the pages for those who might want to read testimonials, know more about the blog administrator, inquire about the pricing, and others. At the side bar of the homepage are links to lectures on various topics about medical education, med schools, med admission, and even medicine and medical practice. The lectures are practical information that would really be of great help to students studying medicine and other related disciplines. The most commonly used tags are also displayed on the home page to facilitate easy searches. There is also an option for search so you could easily find lectures or articles that you need.

Each lecture comes with options for downloads of audio files or lecture transcripts. Aside from topics such as MCAT practice tests and test techniques, test anxiety, and med school interviews and admissions, there are also self-help and inspirational articles for med students and hopefuls. There?s this article on MCAT verbal reasoning, which convinced me that the lectures would really be helpful. An entry entitled the “15 Things Every Future Doctor Must Know” lists the articles and lectures that would guide a med student or aspiring med student through the whole “course.”

Suggestions for improvement

Apparently, with the use of videos and mp3 files, the use of media is maximized, although the blog could still do with more photos for a more interesting read and browsing. A little more spice in the layout and array of entries would also do to avoid making the blog look quite boring.

Your med school application essay is one of the tickets to entering the prestigious medical field. This is why you have to work hard on making your application essay eye-catching. Considering that the admissions panel has to read hundreds or even thousands of essays, make sure that you catch their attention with the first few lines of your essay. You really have to exert effort in making your introduction as creative as possible. Below are the reasons you have to make an excellent introduction.

Boring intros make readers skip going over the entire essay

The admissions officers read piles of essays. In some cases, they just browse over the entire essay. Others may just read the first few lines of the essay and just continue reading if the intro is promising. If the intro is boring, chances are, the admissions officers would not waste their time reading the personal statement till the end.

Great intros create great impressions and make readers remember you

If you have written an excellent intro, the admissions officers would remember you even after reading a lot of essays. This is why you really have to make your introduction creative in order to have better chances of obtaining admissions to the chosen med school.

Intros get readers hooked and make them want to hear out what you have to say

A good intro could also get readers hooked on your essay. And this could make them want to hear out what you have to say. If you have written a great intro, chances are, readers would consider reading the entire page or at least remember your name.

Considering that significance of the introduction, you have to make it interesting and error-free. However, you also have to pay attention to the body and the conclusion of you essay because these are essential parts of your application, where readers will get to know about you.

Related links:

Becoming a Doctor – Application essays about being a doctor
Surviving Med School – Help on med school interview and application
Discussing Interpersonal Skills – All about med school application
Med School Preparations – Getting ready for med school
Admission Essay Tips – Guide to med school admissions

Med Ed Update perfectly fits into my concept of a “professional blog.” It is a collection of news and blog articles about the goings on in the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. The blog caters to the university’s medical education community, keeping its audience updated on the latest news, happenings and issues within, around, and concerning the college. The blog seems to be intended for Carver College of Medicine’s students, faculty, and other people interested in knowing the latest about the college.

Good things about MedCom

The first thing I noticed about the blog is its simplicity that allows for easy navigation. You wouldn’t have to lie idle for a couple of seconds just to figure out how to find the things that you want to find in the blog. Just below the header are two links: one to the article before the one you are reading, and another to the next article. Should you wish to visit the college’s main website, you can click the logo of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine on the upper left hand corner of each page.

The articles or blog entries include pictures to keep each page from being too plain or boring. The blog is composed mainly of news entries about the latest happenings in Carver College of Medicine, but there are also feature articles about some notable people in the medical education community. An example is an article about student Jennifer Miller Meyer, who extends service to an underserved community in Mazatlan, Mexico. There is an option to add a comment at the end of each blog entry.

Not-so-good things about MedCom

If the blog would maximize the Internet’s capacity by making use of other forms of media, it would be better. Perhaps the blog administrators can spice up the blog more by adding videos, sound bytes, and even more pictures to make the blog more hip and interesting.

To be familar with many illnesses, to diagnose diseases, to administer medication, to perform operations. Are these the only things that medical practitioners need to be oriented on so that they can effectively and efficiently fulfill their duties? The answer: there’s one more thing that medical practitioners need to be extremely adept at, and that is people skills. People skills are basically all about the interpersonal skills that a medical practitioner must have. Interpersonal skills, meanwhile, refer to the way a person interacts with another person in an effort to establish a link with him or her.

Why are interpersonal skills very important in the medical profession?

* Interpersonal or people skills create a better relationship between the doctor and his or her patient. When you know somebody very well, you get to trust him more, right? That’s exactly how it works with interpersonal skills. Both of you build trust by seeking to know each other more, with sincerity, and with the sensitivity to let the patient know that, as the doctor, you are always there for your patient.

* Interpersonal skills create a healthier working environment. If a medical practitioner is equipped with people skills, he or she is able to relate better with his or her fellow workers; thus, they get to be not just work mates but friends as well. People skills also help when, for example, the team is doing a major operation – you will be able to understand each other if you know how to relate what you want to say to each other.

* Interpersonal skills enable the doctor to have the patient accept his diagnoses, medication transcriptions, and decisions, be they good or bad. It is also people skills that enable the doctor to climb up the career ladder and be an able leader in the hospital.

Photo Credit : littledan77

Almost every profession has what they call a jargon that is all their own, otherwise known as their very own glossary. How about the people in the medical profession? Do they have a jargon or glossary that’s all their own?

To guide you through, here is a glossary of some of the most common terms associated with the medical field. This glossary will be dealing particularly with the medical hierarchy–in other words, the people who are running a medical institution. Read on:

* Chief attending physician – This refers to the attending physician who handles one whole department in the hospital. Under him are attending physicians, who oversees the performances of medical residents, who, in turn, attend to medical interns.

* Attending physicians – These are doctors who have completed training for their respective medical specializations and are in charge of  specific sub-departments. This means that they perform leadership roles such as maintaining the facilities, training, and facilitating the medical residents under their jurisdiction, and they attend to patients as well.

* Medical residents – Medical interns advance to become medical residents once they pass the medical board and intern exams. Medical residents are doctors who can legally practice medicine provided that they are supervised by attending physicians. That’s because, as of the moment, medical residents do not have a particular specialization yet. Medical residents are also assigned to teach and oversee medical interns.

* Medical interns – These are fresh graduates from medical school and are on their first year as residents in the hospital. They are not licensed to practice medicine yet because during this time, the results of their medical exams have not yet been released. But just so they can have hands-on experience, medical interns are allowed to assist in some surgical procedures.

photo Credit : flickr.nurse

All doctors have the prime responsibility of caring for their patients. So far, everybody knows that at least most of the doctors in the world today really work hard to fulfill this responsibility. If that is so, then why do some doctors tend to be more successful than others?

Want to know how to be a successful doctor yourself? Check out the following tips:

* Work on your communication skills. Successful doctors are excellent communicators. Never mind the honors and the rewards that come with being an innovator in the field of medicine. If you can’t communicate your ideas well to other people, most especially to your patients, then you remain to be a flop.

Also, successful doctors are great “people” persons. They have the natural ability to feel what a patient is feeling, to sympathize, but remain firm and be able to hold himself together so as to provide the patient with strength.

Thus said, what particular communication skills do you need to work on? Read on:
- how to deliver good or bad news to patients
- how to explain medication to patients
- how to display sensitivity enough for the patient to know that you are sincerely concerned about their health and welfare

* Successful doctors are extremely meticulous about detail. You have to be a keen observer. You should keep in mind that every big disease starts as a small one. It is very important that you are able to pinpoint symptoms and diagnose a disease as they start and are still curable.

* Work on your time management skills. Successful doctor are time management experts. Starting from medical school, learn how to balance your time between schoolwork, family, and friends. You should learn efficient yet effective ways on how to fulfill each task on hand.

Photo Credit : richardmasoner

With the promise of high salary and better career opportunity, many people opt to finish college. Even those who are already married may pursue higher education to build a better career and seek personal recognition. But when it comes to medical school, expect the challenge to be tougher. Aside from sleepless nights that you have to devote for reading textbooks and brushing up on your studies, you also have to think about spending quality time with your spouse. Often, this is where the conflict comes from. The demand for your time can put too much pressure on you. To pull this off, you need excellent time management skills. Below are some tips on how you can pursue a career in medicine while being the good spouse or parent that you should be.

Keeping the household in order

For women, their responsibilities doesn’t end with caring for their husbands; they also need to take good care of the household. Doing household chores is not an easy task to accomplish, especially when you still have to review for a final exam. To help you through with this, why not get help from others if you can afford it? This way, you can have free time for yourself and other more important tasks to accomplish. If you can’t hire one, at least prepare a schedule of the household chores that you have to do. Manage day-to-day activities with ease by allotting specific time for everything.

Balancing medical school work and family life

With the addition of a new member of the family, expect things to be a lot harder for you. Still, being a parent should not keep you from reaching your dreams. All you need is time management, motivation, and perseverance. Have a schedule of activities. Know which comes first with a list of your priorities. Ideally, you should focus on your studies when in med school and on your spouse and child when spending time at home. Do things one step at a time. Best of all, give yourself some time to relax. Even a warm bath can soothe your mind and body. Focus on your goal and find your own motivation.

Photo Credit : @runtaipei

A career in the medical field does not simply mean attending medical school, poring through medical books, or wearing scrubs. You also have to consider which specific medical specialization you are going to build a career on. After all, you also have to help yourself survive and make a living.

Need help in choosing your own medical specialization? You may get your cue from the most competitive medical specializations listed below:

* Neurosurgery – This is medical specialization deals with the nervous system or the brain in particular. It is a highly competitive medical specialization because it is so meticulous. There is no room for mistakes in neurosurgery, as you deal mainly with the central organ of the human body. If you commit even just a single mistake during a surgery, patients on the operating table may suffer from paralysis, coma, psychosis, brain damage, or even death.  Despite the risks, some med students still choose to specialize in neurosurgery because of the challenge and excitement it brings.

* Dermatology – This medical field is mostly concerned with skin care. It is competitive basically because people have been so concerned about their physical looks, especially the condition of their skins. Dermatology is otherwise known as the science of skin care, which covers skin conditions that range from purely cosmetic (skin whitening, skin tanning, wart removal, acne removal) to treatment of skin diseases (melanoma, impetigo, dermatitis, Hodgkin’s lymphoma). Pay is also competitive in the field of dermatology. Aside from numerous skin problems dermatologists have to deal with, they also have to be updated with the latest techniques and technology used in the field of skin care.

Applying to med school

When applying to med school, you may submit medical school application essays that also include the medical specialization you wish to take. State good reasons for your choice and how the field may benefit you or serve a particular interest. Just make sure that your  medical school application essays are brief but engaging enough to hook readers from top to end.  Ideally,  medical school application essays should let readers know more about you through your personal interest, traits, and experiences.

Photo Credit : JND90745