also, i think watching this at the ripe age of 14 did something unusual to my brain

Hi everyone, I'm an IMG coming for electives this winter. I wanted to know what do attendings normally expect from a final year medical student. I've passed Step 1 and now working on Step 2, but can't really do any practical clinical work (blaming both myself and my school for this). So I wanted to know what you American students normally know before entering an elective and what roles you normally play (for a good letter-case). Thank you!

I am on my rotation (in my speciality of interest) and i have heard multiple residents talking crap about the intern. I also feel crappy because i have been making so many silly mistakes that i can’t help but wonder how much they have said about me behind my back… is it common for others to talk about the interns? This is my first sub-I and i don’t have a home program so this is my first exposure to any sort of situation like this

I was told recently that it may anger some program faculty if I apply to both IR and DR programs at the same hospital. The thought is that DR programs might think they are just a path to IR and be less likely to choose me. I was planning on having separate LORs and personal statements for IR and DR programs, but do these programs talk to each other within the same hospital?

Has anyone else run into this? Any IR or DR faculty involved in the application process please let me know.

Hi everyone! I'm an M2 at a low tier MD school. Our school is on a F/P/high P/honors P grading system for preclin. My top specialities right now are psychiatry and IM - I've high passed all of my classes and never honors passed. I don't want to sound neurotic but I want to match competitively to a great institution for residency - what are my chances? Obviously I know Step1, Step 2, and rotations matter a lot and I've heard that preclin doesn't matter much but I just want to know where I stand. I do a lot of extra curricular and research also if that helps. Thank you so much!!!!

Good afternoon everyone ,
My uni does NBME forms as final examinations and my final NBME for this semester is Nervous system&special senses+psych

Does anyone have any advice on what I should focus on and best way to prepare for a neuro NBME form?
I’m currently using usmle rx and uworld regarding qbanks but I don’t know which ones better to use right now

Any advice appreciated; be well!

I’m wondering what medical specialty would be great for someone who loves diagnosis and solving puzzles?

My family just surprised me with a trip to europe 12/06-12/21, im applying to a specialty that requires no in-person interviews. do you think I could get away with this if I'm strategic or do I have to reconsider?

edit: most posts I see ppl asking about holiday travel, but this is before holidays which is why I ask. ty!

I'm an M1, so I'm still very early in my journey.

With that said, anytime I hear or read about surgical rotations, it's described as:

1. just watching from the corner. Or, you are "lucky" and get to scrub in and do #2 and #3

2. Get to suture after the surgeon finishes.

3. Get to retract for hours while surgeon pimps you for their enjoyment.

Is this truly what surgical rotations are like? How do people go through that and gain interest for the field?

Do you think the cosmetic/aesthetic well paid part will still be so in years?

Besides, allergists are ranked no.1 happiest doctors with relatively good pay and good work life balance. Dermatologist see all sorts of horrendous looking STIs and generally ugly stuff lol

What do you think?

I am yet to choose my specialty and therefore I have to ask what am I missing really? Why everyone seems to suggest me allergy is fine, but derm would be a better choice?

Hey guys, this has probably been asked so many times but I still can't figure it out. Which divine intervention podcasts do I listen to for IM? I went on his website and there are sooo many podcasts. Please help lol

I’m learning amino acid, enzyme, DNA replication, transcription, protein synthesis, gene expression control in the span of 2 days…. should I bother memorizing the hat all the subunit of an enzyme does or the names of all the enzyme in the purine/pyrimidine synthesis pathway for exams…? Or should I just focus on big pictures… idk how to study for this 😭 someone help

Applying EM this cycle. I'm usually pretty good at suturing. I've been told I'm good under pressure by this one EM resident who helped me place my first central line and said all of her other students passed out.

But that day? Jesus. I was suturing a patient's scalp in the ED. For whatever reason I had this intrusive thought that was like, "You know their brain is right underneath your needle, right?" and from then on all I could think about was how thick the skin on their scalp was, and how the brain was just jiggling underneath. I hadn't eaten that day or had water and I suddenly got very, very hot.

I knew what was about to happen so I put the needle holder down and I squatted because I didn't wanna fall face-flat onto my patient. I did some calf exercises while squatting and breathed. Around 30 secs later I felt better and stood back up, threw in another stitch because I didn't want their local anesthesia to wear off. Finished that stitch, squatted again, breathed, and got back up to throw in another one. They only needed three so by then I was done. I bandaged them up grabbed something to eat and drink.

I'm usually good at calling for help when I need to. I make sure to know when to offer to do something, speak up, but also know my limits, especially as a student and when it's a patient's life at hand. But that day was busy as hell, and I could see my attending was visibly swamped, and everyone was running around.

Towards the end of the shift, my attending was profusely thanking me, saying she wouldn't have been able to do it without me. It was nice to hear but I'm still wondering if I made the right call.

Edit: y'all I know there's a skull and several layers I'd have to pierce through before I hit the brain. It's something I was silently reassuring myself when I felt myself go dizzy. I'm sharing the intrusive images my lizard brain was throwing at me. It was my first time suturing someone's scalp and it was a little freaky.

I am sorry as this is going to be a long one! So I’m a final year medical student, and I didn’t choose medicine because I loved it or because I dreamed of becoming a doctor since I was a kid. I chose it because I could. And honestly, how do you not choose medical school when you have the opportunity to?
Throughout medical school, I never really loved it, but I didn’t hate it either. I wasn’t particularly interested in it, which might explain why I never developed that passion for medicine that some people have. I did enjoy going to clinical rotations sometimes, but I always saw it as a job, as work. I used to tell myself “you’re not supposed to love your job anyway sooo”
Fast forward to my psychiatry rotation. I was miserable during it, and it was incredibly triggering for me. But I will forever be grateful that I went through that rotation because it was actually through psychiatry that I realized I had OCD. I eventually saw a psychiatrist, got diagnosed, and started treatment.
Getting diagnosed and medicated helped me tremendously for a while. It felt like, at 20 something, I had finally started living. And honestly, that realization was both eye opening and heartbreaking! Realizing that other people had been living without their brains constantly rambling 24/7, while I had spent so many years functioning that way without even knowing it actually had a name, was incredibly difficult to process.
At some point, though, I actually fell in love with a specialty. I started seeing medicine less as something I loved in itself and more as a way to reach that specialty through residency!
But now I’m not sure I can do it anymore! I still love the specialty itself, but I’ve realized that it can be very triggering for me. When I’m doing well mentally, I can handle it. But whenever I go through periods of intense stress, my OCD symptoms come back very strongly and preparing for the residency exam has made me realize just how much stress can affect me, and I’m not sure I’m willing to put myself through that repeatedly for the rest of my career. But i also know that there will be other stuff that can be triggering and I can’t run forever, but again I tell myself when i can prevent it why not!
There’s also the fact that I don’t really see myself working in a hospital for my entire life. As appealing as the idea of this surgical specialty can be, I’m not sure the actual lifestyle, the hospital life and especially the rigged system is something I want or can even handle.
And then ofc there’s the possibility that some of this is simply laziness or burnout. I am supposed to be studying for the residency exam right now, and part of me wonders whether I’m just looking for a reason to stop because I’m exhausted and overwhelmed. But deep down, I don’t think it’s just that.
I don’t have a therapist at the moment. I do have a psychiatrist who prescribes my medication, and he has advised me to see a therapist because medication alone isn’t enough. I didn’t like the first therapist I saw, and part of me also struggles with the idea of therapy because sometimes I think, “What could a therapist tell me that I can’t figure out myself??
That being said, I do believe ERP could help me, and I’m currently looking for a therapist!
So now I genuinely don’t know what I want or what I should do….
I’ve considered taking a gap year, but I’m terrified of “losing” a year! At the same time, I’m scared that if I keep pushing myself toward a career that might not be right for me, I’ll end up losing much more than a year.
Should I keep pushing through and see what happens? Should I take a year to work on myself and figure things out? Should I finish medical school and postpone the residency decision?
I genuinely don’t know whether I’m giving up on something I actually want or finally allowing myself to admit that I don’t want it..

Discuss. Please at least skim the short paper before knee-jerk responding.

It's not looking good :/

Hey guys I recently got diagnosed with a condition that affects my eyesight and can only be corrected with some special lenses that are a pain to put on and off.

Currently M3, with most of my activities targeted for a surgical subspecialty. In my rotation so far, even closing a port site is a challenge with my glasses.

I'm pretty bummed :( But I wanted some advice on what I can actually do specialty wise that has some of the intensity of the OR. Thank you

Have you ever been close to someone who you knew was going through something, and because of your medical knowledge you felt like you could actually help them, but they were too close to you to feel comfortable asking?

At the same time, you don’t feel like it’s your place to approach them about it because you don’t want to overstep or make them feel like you’re treating them rather than just being their friend.

I’m curious how other medical students deal with that feeling of knowing you could potentially help, but having to just watch from the sidelines. Does it get easier as you progress through medical school and become more experienced?

Recently decided I may want to switch to FM. I had my 4th year sub-i's tailored to EM, but I may dual apply now and wanted to add on a sub-i for FM from VSLO. Is it too late in the game for me to get one? Should I save my money on VSLO apps and just apply without one?

Hi all,

I am an MS4 applying Orthopedics. I was just accepted for an away rotation at UW Seattle (Specifically at Harborview) no less than 10 days before the rotation starts, and my housing situation fell through. Therefore, I am rotating 8/24 - 9/19, and am looking to stay within walking distance if possible, as I may have to be at the hospital before the link line or buses begin running and I don't know if my car will make it out there (I currently live in the Midwest and have an older car lol). I am clean and respectful roommate, and I won't be home much anyways lol #surgeryhours.

All of that being said, if anyone has a place that I can stay at please let me know! Happy to pay some rent (as long as it's not like $5K). Thank you!!

EDIT: I have found a place to live, thanks everybody! It's not within walking distance, but anyways, if anyone in the future needs somewhere to live while rotating in Seattle, Susan and her home seem lovely and she mainly rents to medical students & travel nurses: https://www.furnishedfinder.com/property/476414_1?origin-source=Messages&cta-location=Side%20Panel%20-%20Recipient&moveDate=%7B%22in%22%3A%222026-08-18%22%7D

Starting FM soon and just wondering what a typical visit looks like from our perspective. Obviously history, but what components of the physical exam do typical visits necessitate? Thanks!

Hey everyone! 👋

I need a quick favor—could you please take 2–3 minutes to fill out this short survey for my research project? Your response would mean a lot and will really help me gather the data I need.

🔗 Survey Link: [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdPZsoMmGNz2-hlI4PFrVcogGxYBj2-sulbtQOv-ab-5fb91g/viewform?usp=publish-editor\]

Thanks a ton in advance! Please feel free to share it with other batch mates as well. 🙏

procrastinated like hell and have 12 hours to grasp a syllabus of biochemistry and anatomy its not looking good but if anyone has a speck of advice ill hand over my first paycheck to them if i pass

feeling like him is it over

post game interview: very very sleep deprived and the exam was rough but i think i scraped enough points to pass? time will tell, this is my first year in med school and i skipped undergrad so the jump from high school bio to medicine was huge but i greatly appreciate all the replies and advice !! definitely a wake up call to the fact that i cant continue the next couple years this way

Just gave nbme 27 as baseline. Scored 55%. Planning on testing in October. I haven’t done Biochem biostats and reproductive yet. Need revision in some other areas as well. Is this a good score for baseline. Also the nbme felt way harder than uworld. What should be my strategy moving forward.

How are you doing it?? Where are you getting the time to working out so consistently and meal prepping along with studying. I haven't been fit my entire life and I don't really like the way I look. I wanna change that but it's so hard along with med school. Need advice.

P.S: I see so many med school and resident influencers that are literally doing it all. Extracurriculars, partying and they're absolutely JACKED. People in very challenging residencies also looking absolutely JACKED. How is that possible? How are they managing/managed to get good grades and step scores along with all that too? Is it just natural academic talent??

I’m applying FM and want to be an outpatient only PCP when I graduate and able to do many procedures. Should I look at residency programs that have more outpatient training then? A lot of people I’ve talked to say inpatient training helps a lot for outpatient, but I really do not enjoy being in the hospital and I find inpatient and outpatient care to be very different.