Residency - Dr. Mursi, MD

Everything about residency, including experiences, tips, and tricks on how to be better and do better.

Residency/

My Amazon Purchases for My New Apartment!

Hi, you beautiful people!!! Welcome (welcome back) to my blog!

I am really excited to move into my own apartment and kinda “start life” as a new and upcoming resident. Who knows what the future brings and what will happen and how things will happen, but I am excited!! It is exciting to prepare for it and at the same time be in the present and enjoy the process!!! So, if you are also in the same boat and looking for similar things maybe, here is my on-going list of my AMAZON purchases for the new apartment! I will continue to update this list, so come back again in the future to this very post and you will see new added items as I purchase them!

I hope you guys find this helpful! And be sure to check back when you are looking for more items as I will update this very post as I shop for more stuff! I will have this post pinned on top of my main page when it gets updated as well! Happy shopping!

PS. check out my chit-chat YouTube video where I do my hair and talk about residency preparation, breaking cultural rules and about the #blacklivesmatter movement!

Much love,
Mursi

Medicine Life/

Step 3 CCS Strategy

Studying for Step 3 CCS and you have no idea how to begin?

First you need a source. I personally use UWorld Step 3 CCS interactive cases to practice. You can purchase it on their website. To use it you must log in on your laptop/desk top and cannot not access it on your iPhone. Once you purchase and log in through their website, launch Step 3 CCS and then click on the “Interactive Cases” tab. This will present you with 51 cases. Launch the first one, and now you BEGIN!!

I created a schedule based around these cases. In 21 days you can get all of the 51 cases DONE (and over 900 UWorld questions)! Check out my YouTube video on Step 3 Study Schedule to get you set up and running. Or you can read about it here on my blog by clicking here.

Now, let’s begin on how to tackle Step 3 CCS cases.
You can also listen to me explain all of this in a YouTube video. Click here to watch my youtube video on Step 3 CCS Strategy!

The Strategy

1. Basic information
You are presented first with basic information on your patient. This includes age, gender, medical history, social history, etc. After reading the vitals and the thorough history of present illness you will already have a good idea what the potential diagnosis will be

2. Emergent or non-emergent?
After reading through the HPI, you must decide which one it is. If emergent, you need to do emergency orders before doing the physical exam. You give vital signs, and this will give you information on their hemodynamic stability.

Emergent (Life-threatening situation)
Pulse ox
Oxygen
IV access +/- NSS
+/- Cardiac monitoring
+/- BP monitoring
+/- EKG (12 -lead)

Non-emergent (not life-threatening): Directly go to physical exam

3. Physical exam
Complete physical exam:
— If stable and pt has a broad generalized signs and symptoms, do a complete physical exam.

Focused physical exam:
— If unstable, ALMOST ALWAYS FOCUSED. You do not want to waste your time doing unnecessary physical exam. You will get points taken off if you do complete when it is unnecessary and you cannot waste time.

— If stable and complaint is pretty focused to an organ system, then you do more focused exam. For example, pt comes in with what seems to be a UTI, then you are not going to need a breast exam, neuro exam completed.

4. Orders: Labs/Studies
Geared towards diagnosing and excluding differential diagnosis. You will either order them Stat or Routine. Depending on the emergency, you can decide which is necessary. Usually if in the ER, its Stat. At the office, it is usually Routine.

Images (US, XR, CT, MRI, Echo)
Blood work (CBC, BMP, Blood culture, TSH levels)
Urine (UA, Ketone, Urine toxicology)
Pregnancy (serum/urine b-HCG – qualitative vs quantitative)
Others (Cardiac enzymes, EKG, biopsies)

5. Locations
Depending on the situation, if they are coming to your office, you can send them home while their test results come in. Make a follow-up appointment in 1-2 weeks and then move to next orders depending on your test results.

Home
Office
ER
Wards
ICU

6. Are you admitting them to the ICU or the Ward?
If you are admitting them, then you must think of the following orders to always put in. Watch my YouTube Video on Step 3 CCS strategy where I talk about all of this.

IV access (most likely already have this ordered)
Fluids
Diet (NPO, cardiac diet, regular diet)
Activity (bed rest, head of bed elevated, )
Symptom management
— Morphine, NSAIDs, or acetaminophen
— Nausea – Zofran, Phenergan
— Antidiarrheal – loperamide
Vitals (Q1, Q4, Q8)
Tubes (NG, Foley catheter)
Urine output
LMWH or pneumatic compression

7. Treatment
This will depend on what is needed for that particular case. However, when you need to do surgery, you have to order specific orders prior to the surgery every time. And remember to consult the specific specialty before treatment is made, unless an empiric abx is required.

Surgery pre-op orders
PTT/PT/INR
Blood type and cross
If female and pregnant, Rh type should be done as well.
Abx (cefazolin)

8. Reassess – Check in with the patient
You will do an interval follow-up and a focused physcial exam to check in on the patient when they are admitted or when they return for a follow-up exam at your office. This will let you know if they are getting better or they are getting worse.

9. Screening and Counseling
Always look to see if you need to order any screening tests depending on the age and lifestyle. And in just about every single case you will counsel.

Screening examples: pap smear, colonoscopy, mammogram (etc)

Counseling examples: smoking, exercise, medication compliance, alcohol limitation, seat belt, etc.

And that is it you guys! This is a great check list to go through as you are doing the cases! It helps to get through the cases smoothly and making sure not to forget anything. You do not necessarily do all of this in this order. You might need to transfer them to the ER after they came in to the office before doing any orders, etc.

I am providing an image or pdf here for you guys in this post to save. You can use it to look at as you go through the cases and over time you should get the hang of it and do it without needing to look at it! A quick cheat sheet.

Best of luck!!!
Mursi

Mental Health/

8 Ways to Use Hateful Comments As Your Fuel to Success

You think you are your own worst critic, but I think the internet could beat you at that. We all know that the internet can be brutal! Here are 8 ways you can use hateful comments as your fuel to success:

1. Learn, learn, LEARN from the criticism by evaluating yourself.

DO NOT let the hate become your definition. DO NOT allow it to get in your head and heart, but listen to what they have to say. Use it to evaluate your wrongs and change yourself for the better. Remember, you are human and you are capable of making mistakes. You are also capable of learning and growing from those mistakes. Recognize when you have done wrong and this will empower you to be better.

2. Be more accepting of others based on this experience.

When you experience hate first-hand, you know the feeling of being treated horribly. Use this to vow that you would never treat someone like you have been treated. Always remind yourself that everyone is going through something and that lashing out is never the answer. Accept people for their flaws and provide them lessons through kindness. You will gain empathy which you can then use to help others going through a similar experience. You can motivate them and provided them support.

3. Be kind and humble even when they only have hateful words to share.

Taking the time to validate your every move simply is another invitation for criticism from the wrong people. Most likely, hateful people will continue to hate and nothing you say will change their minds. Hateful comments always stem from something, whether it was a trigger from a hurtful experience from their past or anger that has grown in them. People will only take the time to write out comments to hurt you because they are hurt themselves. Trust your path of growth. You will be better off than to validate yourself to them.

4. Learn to control your anger.

This is challenging when people say things about you after, for example, only seeing a 12-second video of you and defining you by it. It can make you really angry because they had all the opportunity to look into who you are but instead they utilize one content and spread hateful assumptions of who you are as a whole. Whether they are big youtube stars or wanting to be influencers (clearly I am still hurting from my own experience). You can’t change the past but you can take advantage of their actions by learning to control your anger and using this lesson throughout life. Stay calm and know you are worth more than their words and assumptions of who you are.

5. Ignore negative opinions of you.

Not everyone will like you and not everyone will agree with you. That is okay. We all have our own thoughts, mindsets, opinions, and interests. Focus on the positive. Be around positive people with a growth mindset and not people with constant negative opinions. Block hateful comments that provide you little value.

6. Love yourself including all of your flaws and failures.

People will use your past to attack you and bring you down, for example, use your past failures. They may use it to define you and attack your character. BE PROUD of your failures as they are the beautiful life-lessons that build you to be the warrior that you are. Do NOT conform to anybody’s beliefs. Again, love yourself for all your flaws and failures which are leading you to greatness.

7. Use their hate to motivate

Let their words sink in enough to push you forward. For example, people may tell you you are not good enough, you are not worthy. Use these negative comments to motivate you to learn and strive for success. You do not need to prove anything to anyone but yourself. Utilize their hate to fuel your fire to success. Work hard to be the best you can be.

8. Truly, Move-forward

What has happened has happened. It is in the past. It cannot be changed. If you did something wrong and you were criticized for it, learn from it, accept that it happened and move on. Learn from this very experience. You truly have gained so much from it and you will only see it with time. Don’t let it spiral you down a hole of depression and self-hate. People on the internet can care less about what happens to you, but your loved ones and the followers that support you, care a hell of a lot. Move forward! Focus on the good of it, the lesson. People will now learn through you.

Medical School/

Choosing My Medical Specialty

Oh. My. Goodness! Identifying what medical specialty best fits my interest, my priorities, the lifestyle I want, turned out to be very difficult. It is such an important decision and to make it correctly felt like a ton of weight on my shoulders. During third year of medical school, you are taking core rotations but these are NOT the only options. There are a variety of things that you can do with medicine, like sports medicine, hematology, pathology (I will be making a post soon on all the specialities you could go into). We are expected to know what speciality we want by the end of third year, without even having the opportunity to explore other specialties. For example, depending on what school you attend, you might not have emergency medicine as a core rotation, so you would have to wait until your fourth year, once you begin electives to see if that is the speciality for you. Also, other specialties like dermatology, anesthesiology, and so much more, you would have to wait until fourth year to check those out. Medical schools that allow you to do 1-2 weeks of rotation in an elective in-between your core rotations, THEY ARE DOING IT RIGHT!!! This only makes sense, because you might choose a specialty that you think you like but only to find out it isn’t what you thought it was or you aren’t passionate about it.

Something you can do during your summers and times off in basic sciences, is to observe different specialties. In between my basic sciences I observed a dermatologist and a family physician. This was good because the dermatology observership taught me that I needed something far more interesting than skin. Family medicine observership taught me I wanted to not only take care of children, but also adults. This was very helpful. I wish I had done more. All you need is a week really. So, begin to line them up!

Anyway, so, I had to work with what I had and only half way through fourth year did I figure out what I was passionate about. I actually also made a YouTube video sharing the speciality I choose, if you would rather hear me talk about it (click the link). It all worked out in the end, but my story is different and I really hope that you find out your passion sooner because you will need to know by September 15th (towards the beginning of your fourth year) what you are interested in so you apply to that residency program.

How I chose my specialty

During premed years I thought I wanted to be a pediatrician. I love kids and this just felt right. I shadowed a lot of pediatricians and it confirmed that this was the specialty I loved. However, during my FM observership in-between my first and second semester of basic sciences in med school, I realized I want to treat adults as well (this is why you should do as many observerships as possible!!). By the end of second year I knew I did not want pediatrics and dermatology. As I was studying I loved learning endocrinology, cardiology and GI. I kept that in mind and I actually ended up gearing my fourth year electives towards these interest. I did endocrinology and cardiology electives. I had a GI elective set up but I canceled it because I realized what specialty I wanted and instead did sub-I and electives in that specialty.

Once third year began, I began to ~~cross off~~ things that I did not want for sure. Click the links provided below if you are interested to learn about the rotations as well as tips on how to study for the shelf exams and the sources I used.

Surgery rotation was my favorite of all the core rotations, however, I knew that was NOT the lifestyle I wanted. I wanted to have a life outside of medicine (this also means that I do NOT want to marry a surgeon either). ~~Surgery~~.
(Click here for tips on how to do well on your surgery rotation! and Click here for surgery rotation update experience where I vent a little)
Ob/GYN was another favorite, however, I knew waking up 3 in the morning was not something I would learn to love. I LOVE women’s health, but dealing with a very unpredictable schedule would only increase my anxiety that I am trying to take care of. ~~OB/GYN~~
(Click here for tips on how to do well on your OB/GYN rotation and sources to use, and Click here for high-yield topics you must study! — These are two separate links for content to help you with getting the best experience).
Psychiatry was eye-opening. It was beautiful to see how someone with uncontrolled schizophrenia change to being “normal” once they were properly medicated. This rotation made me realize the importance of drugs that I once looked at as a problem. However, it also taught me that I wanted more medicine based specialty. Also, I don’t think I am strong enough to listen to pain and sorrow that I could not eliminate straight away or even within time. I hold on to pain subconsciously, so I don’t think I could handle so much — I am working on it. ~~Psychiatry~~.
(Click here for tips on how to do well on your psychiatry rotation (and high-yield topics you must study!)
Pediatrics is another rewarding speciality. I love putting a smile on a kid’s face. They are like a clay that still needs to be molded and I wanted to make an impression in their life. I was always told that parents are the ones you really deal with. This is so very true, but I liked that challenge. I believe to have this ability to comfort people, so I think I would have done well. However, I also want to see adults and treat adult patients as well. ~~Pediatrics~~.
(Click here for tips on how to do well on your Pediatrics rotation (and high-yield topics you must study!)
Internal medicine was my very first clinical rotation and it was my back-fall residency selection. I used it as my cushion to fall back on. I learned about becoming a hospitalist and that was what I held on to as I crossed off everything else. Endocrinology was another thought, but to specialize into any specialty like pulmonology, endocrinology, cardiology, etc, you need to do 3 years of IM and then a fellowship in that specific specialty. Therefore, I had time to figure what fellowship I would want to go into. I did a sub-I and electives in IM. I loved how much medicine was involved, and I also loved working in the hospital setting. This felt to be the one, however, I kept becoming disheartened as I saw patients on the floor with diseases that could have been prevented. It became more and more important to me to teach and help patients learn about their disease and avoid returning to the hospital for exacerbations in the future. Eventually, I realized that I really want to be at the forefront of preventative care. I want to teach my patients BEFORE they get the disease and if they have the disease then to manage it so that they never end up in the hospital. ~~Internal medicine.~~
(Click here for my first vlog of my IM rotation and Click here for my second vlog of IM rotation)
Family Medicine was a core rotation I absolutely loved. I felt connected with the patients, some of which I saw again in their f/u appointments within the 6-week rotation. I loved teaching and connecting and making them laugh. It wasn’t just patients with health problems, but also patients needing check-ups. It wasn’t just children, but people of all ages. I could see more of a specific population, like adult females or geriatrics if I wanted to. I liked the flexibility. I liked the relationship I was forming. And I liked the lifestyle. During the rotation itself, I thought about this specialty, but it didn’t really hit me until I did internal medicine elective rotations that it would turn out to be my passion. I was ignoring family medicine for the wrong reasons, like the stereotype it had as well as the salary. Family Medicine felt like the perfect fit for me and finally the light bulb went off!! My heart was set and I got so excited for the future!!!
Emergency Medicine is another specialty that I am still interested in, however, I do not want to do this for the rest of my life. It is still something I am going to consider. As a family medicine physician you can do EM in certain areas and if you have a fellowship, you can do it in more areas. I like dealing with crazy situations, but I didn’t know if this was for me forever (also burn out rate is high). SO as the only speciality, it got crossed out, but as an addition, it is still something I am considering. I will find out during residency if this is it. This also holds true to gearing towards women’s health as well during/after residency. Emergency Medicine.
Endocrinology was too specific for me and after doing an elective in it, it felt boring. I would definitely get REALLY good at it, but I would also get so bored over time. ~~Endocrinology~~.

So, what speciality did I choose? Family medicine!

It has the flexibility I want, the broad spectrum fo medicine that I need, the special doctor-patient relationship that I can form! I can do so much with it, including preventative care which is what I REALLY WANT TO BE APART OF! It also has the best lifestyle that I think I will really enjoy. It feels perfect.

This was a long post! I hope that it helped you some way, some how!!! Check out my YouTube channel on all my clinical rotation experiences!! I linked videos above as well as related posts. Let me know if you have any questions! Please, subscribe to my YouTube channel if you find it helpful!

Much Love,
— Mursi

Medical School/

Medelita Scrubs and Lab Coat Review

Hi! You are looking to see if it is worth the money to invest in a Metelita Scrub set and/or white coat. Here is my honest review and you can also check out a haul I made so you can see how they look on.

Click HERE to check out my YouTube Haul of the scrubs and white coat. This is not a sponsored video nor is this blog review.

Break down:
1. Scrub set
2. White Coat
3. Customer service/Interaction with the team.

Metelita has only a few selection for tops and bottoms, however, they are the kind most people gear towards. I love the classic look of a v-cut neckline and although for my scrub bottoms I like the skinnys, I do love their standard leg scrub bottoms as well. I have several scrubs sets and the one I am gearing towards currently are my Metelita scrub sets! I am absolutely in love with the look of the scrubs and ESPECIALLY the comfort. It could literally sleep in them!

As for the Medelita Lab Coat, I like how it makes me feel, meaning it has this boss feel when I wear it. However, it feels super sturdy and heavy. I tried ironing it several times, and it doesn’t look that much better than before. They could definitely go with making it more comfortable. I have used a few different lab coats, and this by far feels the least comfortable. The one I was sent was the Rebecca Slim in size 6. I am NOT discouraging you from getting one. They are still nice, but if comfort is the number one goal, you might do well with a possibly a different pair or a lab coat from Jaanuu. In terms of the size for the Metelita Lab Coats, if you are a size 4, I should get size 6. If you are a size 6, try the size 8. They are nicely fitted for the most part, but if you want to wear a sweater, then you need some room, so going a size up will give you that room.

I genuinely think this brand is filled with a great team of people that want to provide the best products. They are genuine in their work and style. I think that is a very important part of purchasing anything from anyone. You can proudly wear the scrubs knowing not only are you comfortable in them, but you are supporting a great company. Wear things you are proud of. So, the question was, is it worth it? The scrubs: 100%. The lab coat: 85%.

I don’t believe I have a discount code for them, but I will update this post if I do get a discount code. This will provide you guys with some savings if you choose to buy it. And it might compensate me with a very small amount of money as well (who knows).

Check out my Jaanuu Scrub haul and blog post review!

Medical School/

How to Look On-point For Your Next Interview

I think the hottest look is a woman in a suit—BOSS BABE, am I right?! When wearing a suit, whether you are a guy or girl, you just look so much presentable and people just give you this automatic respect. It is like doctors in white coats, automatic respect.

There are three rules to choosing the right suit for you:

You have to look at yourself in the mirror and say “HAWT DAMN, I LOOK AND FEEL GOOD!”. This is absolute. Why? Because in order to bring out the confidence that the suit wants to provide for you, you have to FEEL it. If you feel it to be too tight or too lose, or just not well fitted, KEEP LOOKING. You want to find that suit that makes you feel confident. The suit doesn’t do all the work, it needs you.

RELATED POST: My YouTube Video of a HM Suits & Slacks Haul
Pick the right color – Black, Navy, Grey, Beige. When you select a color, pick one that goes best with your skin color and features. You can never go wrong with black, but for some people navy blue or grey might look even better. So, don’t just reach out for black. See whether the other colors can make you look even better than that black that we think is the ultimate color for interviews —remember, do not wear any dramatic color choices. Keep away from bright colors! I do like me my black suit though. My go-to right now is all black – top and shoes included.
Flats for women = mehhh! I won’t lie I wore it twice for interviews, and both times I didn’t feel as confident. Heels just makes the outfit. It gives it that UMPH! It just makes it look 10x better, really. Now, I wouldn’t say wear freakin’ stilettos! You still want to be comfortable as you walk around. Now, my older sister who is 5’2” used to wear heels everywhere and her skills in heels is on another level. So, she could get away with it, would I recommend it for those types of people then? NO! Don’t wear more than 2 inches max. I think 1.5 inches is the perfect heel height. You are comfortable and looking like a boss babe. Flats, meh, you will still look amazing if it’s the way you have to go.

What purse? I wouldn’t wear major designers like LV. Keep it simple.

RELATED POST: Looking for cute Sweaters? Check out my Sweater Haul

Let me know how your interview season is going!? Best of luck!

Medical School/

RESIDENCY INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Well, hello! Ready for your very first interview? Or another interview that you want to crush!? After going to your first, you will feel the groove of the process and it will get easier and easier. I will say, the nerves sometimes still stick around even on your 8th, but it’s under control and quickly fades.

Here is how I am going to divide this post:

Before the interview
During resident dinner
During the interview
After the Interview

Before the Interview

You need to prepare ahead of time: what you are going to wear, what you are going to ask about, how you are going to get there, where you are going to stay, what time you have to be meeting the residents and where and when do you have to arrive for the interview its self. Get organized! (Check out my youtube video on how to schedule your residency interviews: LINK COMING UP).

What I am going to focus on in this post is the interview and resident dinner in itself. You have to be sure to look at their website and learn about the program if you haven’t done so already. If you don’t do this, you will ask about things that have been answered on their website. And while you need something to ask, it is better to show that you have already looked things up and know a lot of the information. So, instead you can mention that you saw this particular info and ask them “how it works” or “who is involved” or “how you can get involved” or “can you elaborate” etc. Also, during this time of getting to know the program, WRITE THINGS DOWN. These are your notes for yourself that you will look back on when you rank — at least that is what I am doing. I also add to these notes after I have done the interview and give my insight on the program and what I appreciated about it — more on this later. Take a small notebook or a large one, I know a lot of candidates carry one of those portfolio cases. Meh, I just used a small note book that I can carry around. In it I wrote down my notes on the program and then my questions that I wanted to ask.

Keep reading for SOME QUESTION EXAMPLES you can ask during the interviews!

During RESIDENT DINNER

Example QUESTIONS FOR THE RESIDENTS:
— I noticed this program is unopposed/opposed, how are you liking it?
— What is your favorite thing about the program?
— How is the faculty and resident relationship?
— What is life outside of the hospital?
— How often do you guys (residents) get together?
— How is the program about resident wellness? Do they try to integrate resident wellness into the program?
— Do you find the didactics helpful?
— What is something you can change about the program?
— As an intern, do you feel that you are being guided/supported?
— Will you be doing a fellowship? What fellowships have residents of this program gone into?
— What is the living cost in this area?

During the resident dinner, be very much yourself. Throughout the whole interview, be yourself. Enjoy your time. Ask questions. These questions can be more personal and less formal. The really cool residents will let you know, “Hey, ask us anything. We will give you the honest truth. We know what it feels like being in your seat, we did that. So, just relax and ask whatever you want”. Something like that. Pay attention to how they talk amongst each other. You can tell how close they are by how comfortable they are with each other for the most part. Pay attention to how they answer questions. If they are hesitant, they are likely trying to hide their real answer. If they are willing to be honest they will flat out tell you everything without a filter. Pay attention to how tired they look. If they are zombies, most likely you will look like a zombie. Pay attention to their energy, their interest, their complaints, whether they are uptight or easy-going. These are all important because these are the people (unless they are in their last year) that you will be working with. You want to be around people you enjoy working with. This is the most important part of the interview season. For the most part, a lot of the programs will have the standard teaching and etc. but the people make or break the program. Sometimes, you might not get a good feel of the residents because there might only be two of them there. So, the next day when there are more of them around, you can get a better feel. For example, I met two residents during the resident dinner and they were super chill but not really energetic. They were very proper with their question answering. They were really nice though, however, it felt really formal. Then the next day after meeting more of the residents, I got a better picture. So, just keep that in mind.

RELAX. I already said this, but definitely relax and you do not need to sell yourself as this extra-ordinary med student! They don’t care about what you have excelled during medical school, they want to know if you are someone they can be with EVERY SINGLE DAY! So, don’t try to sell yourself to them so hard. Just be who you are and they will appreciate you for that, even if they are different than you. You don’t want to be in a program that is ignorant anyway! So, if they do not like you for who you are, then you will have a hard time there. Even if you desperately want them to like you, don’t show your desperation. Be confident. You are you and you are the only you. So, simply be you. I have seen candidates that are so over the top! Annoying questions, loud-proud, make remarks on so many things, doesn’t shut up; I am totally judging them, but if thats who they are, then who gives a shit in what I think about them. I am still going to make the remark that you should watch your limits, as there are limits to everything. So, me personally, I think being way over the top isn’t often caught all too well. You don’t want to be annoying and over-dramatic, but on the other hand you don’t want to be quiet and shy. You want to find a good medium. Someone that has opinion and doesn’t overly share every time a question is asked. Again, RELAX.

During the INTERVIEW

Example QUESTIONS FOR THE ATTENDING/FACULTY:
— How are the residents evaluated?
— Why did you choose to be apart of this program?
— What do you believe are the strengths of this program?
— What do you believe are the weaknesses of this program?
— Does the program help with loans if residents chooses to stay after residency?
— What are the statistics on first-time board passing?
— How does the program prep their residents to pass their boards?
— Is this program hands on?
— Is this program flexible to making changes for the better for residents, if so, what are some changes that have been made recently?
— How does this program promote resident wellness?
— Are there opportunities to do away rotations/global rotations
— How is the program involved with the community?
— What is the patient population like?
— What is the living cost in this area?
— I am interested in ___ fellowship, how can the program help me get prepared for the fellowship?

BE THERE EARLIER THAN START TIME! This is one of the easiest yet very important thing to do. Don’t be just in time, but be there 5 minutes before. Being late is unprofessional and they will judge you on this, especially if they are a stickler. Just tell yourself you have to be there 15 minutes before you actually have to be there. Be sure to give yourself room to make mistakes getting there, finding the parking lot and traffic. Parking situations are always different. Some are easy but some are a bit difficult to locate or a distant to the building and requires walking. So, for example, you have to be at the lobby at 8:15 AM. You checked before hand the distance and time of travel from your hotel to the hospital/clinic/building. You then check again when you first wake up the time of travel, then add 15-20 minutes to it (10 minutes for potential mistake, walk, locating the parking lot; 5 minutes to getting out of your car, putting on your suit jacket and situating yourself, grabbing gum or mint to freshen up your breath, etc). It is 8:10 and you are now at the lobby 5 minutes before hand! Well done!!! If you are rushing, you will be more anxious then you already might be. So, it is NOT worth it sleeping that extra 20 minutes.

If you are late for reasons you had no control over, call the program coordinator (which means you should have their number already at hand to call, just in case). Let them know! You do not want them waiting for you without knowing where you are, what is going on. I screwed up with one of my interviews—but that will be on another post or conversation.

There might be two of you or 15 of you. If there are a lot of you, this is a group interview, where they will take you one by one to interview. The ones not being interviewed will be either watching a presentation, getting a tour, or just sitting around. It all depends. The more organized the program is, the better the experience.

REMINDER: YOU ARE INTERVIEWING THEM JUST AS MUCH AS THEY ARE INTERVIEWING YOU! You want to know WHY YOU SHOULD PICK THEM just as much!!! Be confident. You are there because they were interested in you. They liked you based on what they saw on your application, now let them know that they made the right choice by sending the invite and show them that they should rank you high. The way to do this is to be yourself, answer the questions honestly but well, show them you have what it takes, why you have what it takes and that you would be an essential to their program. ANDDDD, ask them why you should pick them/rank them high — obviously not directly, but indirectly through your questions. Ask them questions to remind them that you are judging them based on their answers too. Know what I mean? Don’t be over the top, but don’t doubt yourself either. Find a good balance between the two.

QUESTIONS THEY ARE DEFINITELY GOING TO ASK

— Tell me about yourself?
— Why did you choose our program?
— Why did you choose this specialty?
— What do you do for fun?

After the interview

You can send them a thank you card, personalized. You can email the program coordinator and than them. You can email the program director and thank them. Some people do, some people don’t. Me personally, I didn’t. I am going to send them a card in January and thank them. I am going to write a card and make it more personal, especially to the programs I absolutely loved. This way I am sending them a reminder and so they didn’t forget about me. Will keep you posted on what I do in the future if you guys are interested in knowing.

Thank you guys for taking the time to read this and I do hope that you found this informative. Keep me in your prayers if you did enjoy this post <3 and found it helpful. That will mean a lot to me!

Let me know your thoughts and if you have questions or helpful tips!

Much love
— Mursi

Medical School/

OnlineMedEd Case X Review

If you are a fourth-year medical student you are very much thinking this: “Omgosh, I am forgetting all that I have studied for the USMLE exams!!”

Dude, I get you. I am struggling to get the motivation to get back to studying mode (USMLE Step 3).

I don’t want to lose all that I have learned! One of my biggest pet-peeve as a 3rd year was hearing 4th-year med students excusing themselves from not remembering concepts because they are done with taking USMLE exams. True that while one is studying it is fresh on your mind, but just because exams are over, it shouldn’t mean you can become stupid — (harsh words, Mursi). It just bothered me so much because we need to know medicine for a living… With that said . . . here I am after just finishing my fourth-year, I am becoming stupid. LOL. Well, at least it feels like I am slowly getting my knowledge drained out of my brain cells.

THIS NEEDS TO STOP. NOW.

My plan to get my shit back together and not be a hypocrite: I have started doing Case X, a newly added study material from OnlineMetEd. Case X is good for 4th years, new residents, older residents, even attendings (why not?). As I am studying for Step 3, I will be adding Case X by doing 1-2 cases a day on weekdays. I want to go thoroughly through each case — this is the plan, for now.

I have done several and here are my thoughts so far on Case X by OnlineMedEd:

Honestly: this is absolutely great so far. This is the real deal. This is the real world studying, no more multiple choices. This is you getting your brain cells working and coming up with reasonings based on your knowledge and problem solving. This is your favorite resident/attending during clinical years making you think by asking you all the right questions. This is you being challenged and then learning from your mistakes. This is you reading well-explained reasoning behind the thought process. It is easy to follow and does not feel overwhelming.

Not all of us can open a textbook and read page to page and feel accomplished. Most of us, I included, can’t even get a textbook opened, let alone go through so much material. Case X allows you to take a case at a time. No overload. Just a section at a time with questions to go with each case.

Let me show you a case here, plus a cool perk.

OME provide videos with each case. This is a great tactic because this gives you that visual to trigger your recall when you get a similar real case in real life. You will remember the steps to make the right diagnosis, go through the right management steps, etc.