Toss Up Tuesdays: Medical Education

I've been asked so many times about where I am in my medical education and how med school and residency works, that I figured I'd just go ahead and quickly explain it here for anyone who has wondered about it before. Ok, so here's how it all works:

During undergrad, a student who wants to become a doctor has to take a slew of classes that medical schools generally required their applicants to complete. Collectively this track of courses are referred to as "Premed" and students taking those courses are often called "Premed Students".

MYTH #1: Premed is a major.
In reality, at most colleges and universities Premed is not actually a major. I believe there was a time when it was fairly common for there to actually be a Premed major, but nowadays in most places it's nothing more than just a list of courses that medical schools require applicants to fulfill before they can be considered.

Premed coursework generally consists of some meshwork of math, biology, chemistry, physics, and possibly psychology. My personal Premed track included: Trig, Algebra, Calc I, Biology I and lab, Biology II and lab, Chemistry I and lab, Chemistry II and lab, Organic Chemistry I, Organic Chemistry II and lab, Human Biochemistry, Physics I and lab, Physics II and lab, and Brain & Behavior (psychology).

MYTH #2: All medical students major in a science.
Because of all the biology and chemistry, most Premed students do go on to major in the biological or chemical sciences since it's simply easier to do so, but it is not a requirement. I'm the perfect example of this: my majors were Geography and Environmental Studies, both from the College of Social Science. I have friends at the med school who majored in everything from English to Construction. It's definitely less common though.

The next step in continuing medical education is to take the MCAT and to achieve a competitive score. Most Premed students who plan on entering medical school directly from undergrad (this represents a majority, but not a very large majority) take the MCAT sometime between their junior and senior years. A competitive score is considered to be about a 26 and above depending on where you're looking to go (schools like Harvard, UCLA, and Yale would be substantially higher).

Then comes the actual applying to schools and waiting to hear back. The schools review all the applicants and weed down the potential pool of students based on grades, MCAT scores, and application factors such as their essay. They then invite a percentage of those applicants to come to their college and interview for admission. It can be a very daunting situation as so much hinges on the responses to some very difficult questions posed by the interviewers, but should a student make it through that and be selected, all of their years of hard work have paid off! And earned them even more years of hard work...

MYTH #3: Medical schools is extremely difficult.
True.

Medical school is unlike any other difficult challenge I have ever undertaken in my life. I cannot even begin to describe what it's like and the amount of hours that go into studying for it, so I won't try. Instead I'll focus on the order of things. Med School is 4 years long. All colleges are a little different in the structure of their coursework, but they all generally include the same classes.

At FSU specifically, the first 2 years are oriented more towards bookwork and the second 2 are more clinical in nature. Although I do need to mention that the school does do a good job of making sure that we (1st and 2nd years) spend at least about 4 hours a week out in a clinical setting to gain experience. Classes include Human Anatomy, Neurology, Microanatomy & Histology, Physiology, Medical Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Medicine & Behavior, Health Issues, and each semester, Doctoring.

At the end of 2nd year, each medical student has to take Step 1 of the USMLE Board Exam. It's an insanely difficult 8 hour exam, which you have to pass to continue on. Since I haven't taken it yet and it really scares me as it approaches this summer, I'm going to stop talking about it in 3... 2... 1.

At FSU, students leave the main campus in Tallahassee and spend their final 2 years at a regional campus to which they were assigned. (This involves a lotto process which takes place early 2nd year.) Regional campuses include: Pensacola, Tallahassee, Daytona Beach, Orlando, Sarasota, and Ft. Pierce. There's also something called "the Rural Track" which allows students to spend their 3rd year over in Marianna. This is what I'm doing. Those students then have the option to spend 4th year at any of the regional campuses. (I'll be returning to Tallahassee.)

As mentioned before, 3rd and 4th year are much more clinical in nature. During 3rd year, students rotate between blocks (mostly at a hospital) during which they work with doctors in various primary fields of medicine including Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, OBGYN, and Psychiatry. After this, they take Step 2 of the Boards and then proceed onto 4th year which is more elective in nature and can involve taking coursework at various medical facilities across the country. At the conclusion of 4th year, they take Step 3 of the Boards... a two day, 12 hour written and 4 hour practical exam... can't wait for that one.

Towards the end of 4th year, students go through the match process which is a national process of pairing students with residencies across the country in the field of medicine they wish to practice. It's a complex system which involves a national database, a computer, USMLE scores, preferences, and a whole host of information that somehow spits out a card, and that's where you go. Obviously the better the scores and other factors, the better the match. Students who don't perform too well don't get matched, and honestly, I'm not entirely sure what happens at that point...

Anyways, residency varies based on what field a doctor is entering. I believe the shortest are just 2 years while the longer ones are 4-5. During this, residents (as they are now called) work in a medical setting and receive pay (although not nearly as much as they do once they're finished) all the while completing even more coursework and taking various exams. After this, some residents who wish to specialize in a specific field (for instance, GI or Cardiology) must complete an additional clerkship, which involves even more training and more years.

MYTH #4: I actually have time to be doing this.
Um... 

Head spinning? Mine too... and you know what that means, I've completely run out of time for this and have to get back to studying. I hope this cleared up the whole process for anyone who ever wondered!

-JT