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Choosing a Specialty and a Life

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During the winter season, I spend time talking to a lot of residency applicants about their future specialty choices: Want the majority of your time to be in the operating room or in the clinic? Like procedures?

But another fair and reasonable approach is to consider lifestyle. A recent New York Times piece noted that 50% of physicians are burned out. Burnout is particularly severe among emergency physicians and critical care doctors.

As you go through your third-year clinical rotations ask yourself if you can find a role model who fits – not just your professional goals – but your personal ones. Ask to meet individually with faculty members for their opinions on their fields’ pros and cons.

Considering the growth in patient volume and the continued dearth of physicians, it’s critical to determine whether you can see yourself happy in a busy, lifelong career in a particular field.

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Inside a Residency Director’s Mind

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Residency Interview If you were a program director (PD), you’d be trying to avoid two big headaches, as you assessed a residency candidate:

1) Will this person be competent and collegial? A PD does not want to get complaints from patients, faculty, or other services about his/her residents.

2) Will this person leave the program prematurely? A PD does not want to scurry around to fill an open call schedule or residency slot.

As you approach you interviews, consider how you can demonstrate your competence and collegiality (academic success, strong evaluations, extracurriculars that demonstrate teamwork) and commitment to the field and residency program (research projects in the specialty, knowledge about the program and city). Ensuring the PD knows you are not going to cause him/her headaches is half the battle.

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Residency Match Registration Opens Soon

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Here’s a quick reminder that the National Resident Matching Program’s (NRMP®’s) registration opens on September 15 at 12pm EST. This means that you can start assigning your application to training programs at that time. Getting your application in early is helpful, but having strong written materials is critical.

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Medical School and Residency Interviews – Power Posing

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As medical school and residency interviews approach, I want to remind everyone about Amy Cuddy, the Harvard faculty member who speaks about the psychology of power, influence, and nonverbal communication. Her research shows that a “fake it until you make it” philosophy and “power posing” practices improve your performance in interviews. Cuddy’s TED talk has been viewed over 27 million times.

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Getting Into Residency: Put a Ring On It

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Many of you already know about the Insider Medical Admissions’ Guru on the Go© video shorts – a free, stop-motion animation series that provides critical advice in under one minute for medical school and residency applicants. I received some great feedback last year after rolling these out, including a nod from the NRMP® itself. Check out this brand new getting into residency video called “Put a Ring on It.” Also, take a peek at the Insider Medical Admissions Guru page for more shorts.

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About Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more

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Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on the White Coat Investor podcast:

Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on the FeminEm podcast: