So You Want to go to Medical School? Tori Whitlow, MS 3 University of Maryland School of Medicine March 28, 2012
20 years of School* Potomac Falls High School, class of 2005 St. Mary’s College of Maryland, class of 2009 University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2013 *and then there’s residency…
Residency Training Intern = post-graduate year 1 (PGY-1) Resident = PGY-2 through PGY-? – Chief Resident: resident in final year of residency training or year after residency training – Resident on Research Sabbatical (surgical)
Residency Training: How Long? 3 year residency: Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine 4 year residency: OB/GYN, Psychiatry, Pathology, Combined Residency – EM/IM – Med/Peds – EM/Peds – EM/FM
Residency Training: How Long?! 5 year residency: – General Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Otolaryngology – Anesthesia, Dermatology, Neurology, Ophthamology 6-7 year residency: – Neurosurgery, Plastic Surgery, Urology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Vascular Surgery – Diagnostic Radiology, Radiation Oncology
Fellowship Training Fellow: physician who has completed residency training in a specialty and is training within a subspecialty 2-3 year fellowship: Medicine, Pediatrics, OB/GYN 1-2 year fellowship: Surgical Specialties
Applying to Medical School College GPA MCAT scores Coursework Work and experiences – Clinical, volunteer, leadership, research Letters of Recommendation Personal Statement Essays
Class of ,808 total applicants 539 interviews conducted 347 acceptances offered 159 new entrants Average GPA: – Science = 3.67 – Overall = 3.71 Average MCAT: – Verbal Reasoning = – Physical Sciences = – Biological Sciences = 10.75
Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) Most reliable resource on medical schools – GPA and MCAT data for each school – Class profiles – Education costs – Data on applicant volunteer and research experience
My College Coursework Biology and Psychology major Neuroscience minor Prerequisite courses: – Biological Sciences with lab – General Physics with lab – Inorganic Chemistry with lab – Organic Chemistry with lab – English
My Clinical Experience St. Mary’s Hospital student volunteer – Behavioral Health and Women’s Health Units Clinical technician at Loudoun Hospital – Intensive Care Unit Physician Shadowing – Surgical Oncologist, Neurosurgeon, Radiation Oncologist
My Volunteer Experience St. Mary’s College Judicial Board St. Mary’s Hospital student volunteer coordinator Honors societies
My Leadership Experience Member of the executive board: – St. Mary’s Advising Students in Health (SMASH) – Psi Chi – Omicron Delta Kappa Biology teaching assistant
My Research Experience U.S. Geological Survey, Stable Isotopes Lab Independent Research Project: – Genetics laboratory – Microbiology laboratory Directed Research in Psychology St. Mary’s Project in Neuroscience
Medical School: What to Expect Year 1 Structure & Development Cell & Molecular Biology Functional Systems Neuroscience Introduction to Clinical Medicine I “The Last Summer” Year 2 Host Defenses & Infectious Diseases Pathophysiology & Therapeutics Introduction to Clinical Medicine II USMLE Step 1
Medical School: What to Expect Year 3 Core Clerkships – Internal Medicine – Surgery – Family Medicine – Neurology – Psychiatry – Pediatrics – Obstetrics & Gynecology Year 4 Sub-Internship Rotations Elective Rotations Rural Medicine Rotation Away Elective Rotation(s) USMLE Step 2 – Clinical Knowledge (CK) – Clinical Skills (CS)
My “Last Summer” Backpacking in England and Scotland Medical mission trip to Costa Rica and Nicaragua with International Service Learning
University of Maryland Medical Center: Face Transplant! 36 hour surgery on March 19-20, 2012 at Shock Trauma Center at UMMC Multidisciplinary Team – Plastic, Reconstructive, and Maxillofacial Surgery – Transplant Surgery
Face Transplant 37 year old who lost his lips and nose and was left with only limited movement of his mouth after a gun accident in 1997
“We utilized innovative surgical practices and computerized techniques to precisely transplant the mid-face, maxilla and mandible, including teeth and a portion of the tongue… the transplant included all facial soft tissue from the scalp to the neck, including the underlying muscles to enable facial expression, and sensory and motor nerves to restore feeling and function…” – Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez
Face Transplant Most extensive full-face transplant to date! Anonymous donor gave organs to save 5 additional lives over 72 hours at UMMC – Liver – Heart – 2 Kidneys – Lung
Questions?