Archive for the ‘medical school’ Category

Medical School – Important Tips for Student Well-Being

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

Going through medical school can be quite hectic.  Everybody knows that it’s practically impossible to get through medical school without sleepless nights of studying.  The stress and difficulties that you face while you’re in medical school can easily cause mental, emotional, and physical breakdowns.  The tremendous pressure that many medical students have to deal with is enough to make anyone’s life difficult.  If you are having a hard time dealing with medical school, then you should check out some of these tips on medical student well-being:

Get help from your school

One of the first places to go for help is your school.  Some schools have student well-being programs that are aimed at helping students deal with the major stresses and strains of medical school.  Here are some of the ways in which your school can help you:

-  Get counseling from a guidance counselor or from a student well-being program

-  Get help settling your health insurance as a medical student

-  Talk to your teachers or classmates about the stress and difficulties that you are enduring

-  Ask for recommendations, referrals, or resources on student well-being

Keep your relationships strong

Some students tend to get so caught up with their studies that they end up neglecting some of the relationships that they have with others.  It’s important to keep strong relationships with your friends, family, and colleagues.  Having good relationships is a reminder that you are not alone in dealing with the burdens of medical school.  Make sure to always set aside time to socialize and spend time with the people that matter the most to you.  The last thing you would want is to have a degree in medicine, but no friends or relatives to share your success with.  Some even find that having strong spiritual relationships, such as their relationship with God, helps greatly in dealing with the hardships of medical school.

Be in good shape

Another aspect of life that some medical students tend to neglect is their physical condition.  As a student of medicine, it is important to realize how essential physical health is to your emotional and mental well-being.  Keeping your body in good shape will help keep your energy levels high and the exercise can be a form of stress-relief.  Remember that part of having a good work-life balance means taking good care of your mind, soul, and body.  

Pick up a hobby or recreational activity

While you are in medical school, it can be difficult to separate your academics from the rest of your life.  It helps to have a hobby or a regular, recreational activity that can take your mind off of all the work that you do.  Try to find something that you enjoy doing, like painting, biking, playing an instrument, reading books, or getting into photography.  Not only will a hobby help you get away from work, but it can also enrich your personality and your life-experience.  Just knowing that you have other things going on in your life, aside from medical school, will help your well-being.

Best Medical Schools in World

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Going to medical school is not an easy job. On your behalf, it requires a serious commitment and an involvement on all levels of the person, intellectual,financial and emotional. What is cost of medical education, the cost of obtaining a medical degree can be $300,000 at the most including living expenses. In fact, the average medical graduate accumulates as much as $100,000 in debt.

Medical school ranking is very important aspect for medical and health related students. In World, there are lot of medical schools which are known for world-class facilities, top-notch faculty and numerous research publications. However, there is no medical school, famous or not, who has a monopoly on providing an unbeatable medical education. Basically medical school ranking is separated into two lists.

1- best medical schools in terms of research

2-best medical school in terms of primary care

In Research category we have schools which show capacity to invest in and produce medical knowledge while primary care refers to the training of medical students regarding precisely that treating and caring of patient and primary care.

Before actually sharing the list of medical schools here it is important to mention that it is possible that some excellent medical schools may be missing in this list. You should keep in mind that it’s a matter of ranking and what characteristics are used to make it. It does not mean that if a school is ranked low in this medical schools list, the doctors coming from these schools are not good and qualified.

Here are the lists of best medical schools in World and United States, for research and primary care separately.

Best 10 medical schools (primary care)

1. University of Washington

2. Oregon Health & Science University

3. University of California San Francisco

4. Mich. State U. Coll. of Osteopathic Medicine

5. University of Minnesota Duluth

6. University of California San Diego

7. University of New Mexico

8. University of Wisconsin Madison

9. University of Iowa (Roy J. & Lucille A. Carver)

10.University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Best 10 medical schools (research)

1. Harvard University

2. Johns Hopkins University

3. Washington University in St. Louis

4. Duke University

5. University of Pennsylvania

6. University of California San Francisco

7. Columbia U. College of Physicians and Surgeons

8. Stanford University

9 University of Michigan Ann Arbor

10. Yale University

The most prestigious medical school in the United States is probably the Harvard Medical School.It was founded in the eighteenth century. This school has produced Nobel Prize winners, spearheaded the development of the most modern technologies and pioneered breakthroughs in almost every aspect of medicine health and science. It is said that their acceptance rate is very low (round about 5%) and students need an average MCAT score of 11.7.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is another excellent research medical school. It was founded in 1893, it also boasts of the same honors and qualifications like Harvard medical school. Another top medical schools are Duke Medical School and Stanford University.

You can find out more about the Best Medical Schools as well as much more information on everything to do with online medical health schools and programs at http://www.healthonlinedegree.com

Winning Tactics for Choosing the Best Medical Schools

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Students who are planning to apply for admission in a medical school in the near future will always be looking to filter out their list of schools to apply for. The application and admission process can be tedious and time-consuming at best, so having a list of the best medical schools important. Targeting only those schools will save you precious time and effort that can be spent elsewhere. Here’s a look at some important factors in choosing the best medical school.

 

The institution that a student chooses makes a lot of difference in the future, particularly in terms of career networking. Technically speaking, the more prestigious and credible your medical school is, the better your chances at employment once you become a licensed doctor.

 

There are several factors in choosing the medical school that is right for you, but the biggest and deal-breaking factor is the curriculum. Interviewing other students and visiting the school itself can ascertain a school’s style and curriculum. Students usually have a choice between traditional approach, which relies heavily on lectures and is composed of a number of distinct courses in different disciplines, or, the newer, non-traditional techniques being employed by a number of schools, such as the PBL or problem-based learning, which decreases the amount of lecture time and focuses more on group exercises and case studies. In choosing based on curriculum, a student needs to rely on preference and subjective opinion, since there is no clear-cut advantage between the different styles of teaching.

 

The next factor that a student should consider in choosing medical schools is the finances. It is common knowledge that the top medical schools can be expensive, and the quality of education is correlated with the amount of fees a student needs to shoulder. However, schools have their own financial aid packages. Institutions have their own financial aid procedures and it becomes a choice of which ones a student can handle.

 

The next factor in choosing the right school for you is their location. The farther a school is, the more expensive and tedious the application and interview can be. However, this factor is only temporary because if a student is willing to bear with these things and manages to get accepted, he can choose to stay in a dormitory or a nearby apartment.

 

As far as personal factors go, it involves introspective choices such as whether the school is in close proximity with family members, which allows regular visits, or whether the climate in the area is a bit harsh for the student’s health, and may even include factors such as the school’s societal functions and if the student likes it. This part is largely dependent on the student himself.

 

Last, but certainly not the least in factors to be considered is the school’s reputation. A school’s name matters a lot especially in the future as a medical school graduate starts to look for career opportunities. The name of the school on your diploma will also greatly help during the residency match process. In fact, some Duke students recall receiving interview offers literally within minutes of submitting their applications electronically. This is confirmed by many residency program directors.

 

Ultimately, the choice still rests on student preference, and while not relying on the above can land you in some of the best medical schools that are not in the top list of institutions, whether or not you will succeed still relies on your skill and determination.