Step 2 CS, Part Three: Winners and Losers Edition

Last winter, I started a series on USMLE Step 2 CS. In Part One, I reviewed the history of the exam, from its humble origins in the first NBME exam to its more recent rebirth from the Clinical Skills Assessment for international medical graduates. In Part Two, I covered medical student resistance to the test […]

Virtual Interviews: Winners and Losers Edition

Today, the Coalition for Physician Accountability – the alphabet soup of organizations overseeing medical education and physician practice in the United States – issued an important statement. Among other things – such as strongly discouraging away rotations and delaying the ERAS opening until October 21 – it recommended that all interviews for the upcoming residency […]

The Last Lecture

Every year, graduating students at Eastern Virginia Medical School select faculty to present their last lecture of medical school. It’s an incredible honor to be selected. Heretofore, EVMS students have had the good sense to choose more eminent professors to give their Last Lecture – but the Class of 2020 chose me. Of course, thanks […]

On Toilet Paper and Application Caps

Whenever we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re all gonna have at least a few horrible memories burned into our minds. This thing is going to take something from everyone – and from some of us, it’s going to take everything. The gravity of the crisis makes most of the things I’ve been writing about […]

The lecture that never got to be

Last fall, I was asked to give a talk at a meeting of program directors. The topic? How to make the Match process work better for students and programs. And you’d better believe, I was excited to do it. And then, COVID-19 hit… and the meeting was cancelled. But if you think a viral pandemic […]

#USMLEPassFail: A brave new day

Well, it happened. Beginning as soon as 2022, USMLE Step 1 scores will be reported pass/fail. I’m shocked. Starting around two weeks ago, I began hearing rumors from some well-connected people that this might happen… but I still didn’t believe it. I was wrong. The response thus far has been enormous – I haven’t been […]

The Match, Part 3: On Proposals and The Fight for A Student Optimal Match

In Part 2, we began our review of Match algorithms. We covered the original match algorithm; how it encouraged students to submit dishonest rank lists; and the student revolt that led to a better matching process. It was a good time, and if you haven’t read it yet, you’re gonna want to get caught up […]