Aug. 16, 2011
Recipes and Road Maps — Guides to Becoming a Doctor
by Linda Brodsky
No matter how high your grades in chemistry and biology, no matter how solid your MCAT scores, no matter how many activities you join, you still might be missing the important “stuff” to become a doctor. So while you are writing your kick butt essay, think about where you are going to find the right amounts of these 6 ingredients that one needs to become a really good doctor...
Jan. 11, 2011
What Kind of Doctor Do You Want to Be?
by Linda Brodsky
Before becoming a medical student, even before applying to medical school, from the very first moment you proclaim “I want to be a doctor,” you hear the same question repeatedly. What kind of doctor do you want to be? The simplest answer would be, “A good one. A kind one.” You might get a chuckle and perhaps some relief from prying minds, at least temporarily. But that question will quietly nag you through your long and difficult journey until it is finally decided.
Nov. 05, 2010
Medical Anthropology — Dana Starts the PhD of her MD, PhD
by Linda Brodsky
Dana’s PhD is in medical anthropology. Never heard of it? Neither had I until Dana found one of her several passions. It all started in college, at Barnard, when she took an anthropology course. She loved it. And she also loved biology. And she wanted to become a medical doctor. And she found a way to do it all. She is becoming a medical anthropologist. She will study and advance the knowledge of the many ways in which “culture and society are organized around or impacted by issues of health, health care, and related issues.”
Jun. 22, 2010
It’s Not Only What You Know
by Linda Brodsky
Dana is finishing her surgical clerkship this week. Has it really been eight weeks? It went by so fast. Well at least for me it did. I don’t know about Dana, because she has surfaced for air (and some time talking on the phone) only a few times during these past several months.
May. 06, 2010
Dana Is A Surgical Clerk!
by Linda Brodsky
What’s a clerkship? It’s the first educational experience when a student doctor spends her days (and nights) involved entirely in patient care. Each clerkship is based on a major area of medicine—pediatrics, general surgery, surgical specialties, obstetrics/gynecology, internal medicine, psychiatry, and in some schools neurology and family practice medicine.
Apr. 06, 2010
Become a Doctor, Travel the World
by Linda Brodsky
One of the best kept secrets about being a doctor is that you can get to travel beyond the four walls of your office, the operating room, and patient rooms in the hospital. Doctors go to conferences to learn, to present research and to share knowledge. And we learn from each other over conversations that cannot be duplicated by teleconference, books, journals, videoconferencing or even Google.
Mar. 11, 2010
Doctors are Not Only Scientists
by Linda Brodsky
Our friend Rosalee Washington asked, “Should I major in something that has to do with science if I want to become a doctor?” This is a really good question. Do all doctors need the same skills? The same talents? Have a certain personality?
Jan. 26, 2010
Tests, tests and more tests
by Linda Brodsky
No one likes taking tests. Unless you are really well prepared and know the answers to all of the questions. And then it can be fun as an affirmation of your hard work, perseverance, and mastery of the material.My first big, important, life-changing test occurred in the 8th grade. The DATs—tests to help you figure out what career you might be good at. Don’t remember what the “D” stood for. On this 6 part test, I scored in the 99th percentile in spatial relationships, mechanical thinking, ...
Dec. 10, 2009
From Generation to Generation--The Only Constant Thing in Life is Change!
by Linda Brodsky
Yes, my daughter the doctor-to be, if it were only our career choices that created confusion and uncertainty! How your words (and your angst) resonated with me and my own daily struggles in caring for patients. Even after a lifetime of practice (nearly 30 years), not a day goes by that I don’t feel humbled by a problem I cannot solve or a patient I cannot heal.Learning to deal with the confusion created by the rapidly changing science of medicine which needs to be practiced on the ever changing ...
Nov. 10, 2009
On the Launching Pad
by Linda Brodsky
Does anyone remember the scene in the movie Bye, Bye, Birdie, when the MacAfee family learns that Kim is going to be on that really big show, The Ed Sullivan Show? Does anyone remember how, transported to a scene in heaven, likely cloud nine, they sang, in four part harmony, “We’re Gonna Be On Ed Sullivan!”Not a totally unbelievable scene for a family in the 1960’s. It was exciting to have a TV, much less to be on it. Back then the media consisted of print newspapers, magazines, ...
Nov. 09, 2009
Mentors Can Be Found Everywhere, You Just Have to Know Where and How to Look!
by Linda Brodsky
The first mentor ever mentioned is found in Greek mythology. When Odysseus begins his journey, his son, Telemachus, is left in the care of Mentor, for guidance and protection. The story unfolds with the goddess Athena intervening and assuming the form of Mentor in than she could encourage Telemachus to assert himself and take charge of his role in the lives of his mother Penelope and father Odysseus.Is it an accident that the very first mentor in literature is both a mortal man and a female god? I ...
To access older blog posts, navigate via the archive links in the sidebar at left.
ADVERTISEMENT
MOST POPULAR
BOOKS BY OUR GUESTS
PITCH A STORY
Got some science you want to share?
