2 minute read
The Wilderness of Medical School
As the Phoenix area continues to explode in population, its medical programs are growing to match it. For medical students, the metropolitan area is an attractive place to live, but we are also drawn here for the wide variety of specialties and medical institutions the region has to offer. After the first two years of laser-focused studying via didactics, self-study, and preparations for board exams, be it USMLE or COMLEX, clinical rotations in the latter half of our schooling are a whole new world. The board study blinders finally come off and we can stretch out a bit, remembering what it is like to function in the real world again. It is finally a chance to apply our hard-earned book knowledge to real patients. The clinical years are our time to not just get our feet wet but to jump into the deep end, explore the many avenues of medicine, and see where we fit into the medical world. Unfortunately, these two years can just fly by and suddenly decisions must be made regarding specialty and residency, sometimes before all options of interest have been explored. Personally, I can attest to the fact that my third year has been like a roller coaster: exciting, mildly terrifying at times, with unexpected twists and turns, and suddenly it is nearly over before I realized.
At this point, faced with arranging audition rotations and residency applications that will pave the way for our futures, the funny thing is that there are many students still unsure of what kind of physician they want to be. Medicine has grown at an incredible rate and there are more specialties than ever before, all with their own challenges both professional and personal, and it is impossible for students to explore them all before being faced with the big decisions. And now the waters seem muddier than ever for those of us wading through this process with the imminent ACGME merger looming ahead. The unified ACGME Match will apply to both students from MD and DO schools.
And this, Dear Physician Reader, is where you come in. Nothing in this article so far is news to you. In fact, the story may seem quite familiar. The experience and wisdom practicing physicians have gained throughout their medical journey, all the way
from school to residency and beyond, is an invaluable resource to students who are finding the start to their own path. We, the students of the Phoenix region, ask you to lend us a helping hand. Please welcome students into your practice. Give them the opportunity to learn by doing and solidify all that book knowledge with action. Become a mentor, a trusted voice and friendly ear to aspiring physicians who are excited about the future but perhaps a little lost on what comes next. Sometimes the early years of medicine feel a bit like cutting your own path through the wilderness, and who would say no to a guide who has cut their way through it before?
By Morgan Reeve, OMS III, A.T. Still University, sa195201@atsu.edu
