This Q&A has been edited for clarity.

What if the figurative terror faced by medical students was turned into literal, tangible horror?

Phillip Anjum, a third-year medical student at The Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio, wanted to find a new way to demonstrate the stress, anxiety, and isolation experienced by medical trainees. Drawing upon his background in film, he made History of Present Illness, a horror short that tackles med student burnout in a more visceral way.

We spoke with Anjum about what he hopes school administrators and others in medicine take from his project, as well as his experience of balancing filmmaking with becoming a doctor.

The first 2 years of medical school are rough. I don't think anyone has a smooth ride. I wanted to represent that in a way that was unique and also not in a way that is constantly sugarcoated by medical schools. I think all medical schools suggest that, when you come there, you are taken care of. You have your classmates and your advisors, and everyone is supporting you and you get through it. But when you actually get there, you realize that medical training in general is a very isolating experience.

I think there's no way that you can get around that, and I think the sooner that you realize that and develop ways to deal with the stress and anxiety, the sooner you can be successful in your training.

We all feel lonely. I think there's a lot of fear of physicians expressing their insecurities, expressing their shortcomings and saying, "I'm stressed. I'm depressed." I think I just wanted to get that out there through the film and say that everyone is struggling in some aspect. That's the biggest thing I wanted to capture.

Writer/director Phillip Anjum and actress Caitlin Wilson discuss a scene from the film.

Yes, that part always made me nervous! I think it's important to be critical of the administration, of your teachers, at times. I have had advisors who I love, people that I can talk to. That's not the point. The point is that especially with the COVID pandemic and with the ongoing protests there is definitely a feeling that support from the administration is lacking at certain times when we need it the most.

I wanted to make something that was critical and more than just saying something in an email. I think emails and words get brushed aside a lot more easily than a video piece that's speaking to someone emotionally. I wanted to say, "This is what it feels like. This is what it looks like when you're not there for a medical student."

I think, from the students, it's gotten pretty universal praise. Every single medical student or resident who has watched it has said that they have felt pretty similar at times. I've also gotten a lot of comments that every medical school seems to have a scary basement, which is a little bit unnerving...

In terms of the administration, I've kind of avoided spreading it too far, just because of the fear that it is critical. I've gotten a bit more measured responses from administration. I think there's a hesitancy from students to produce anything that's critical.

Medical schools could do a much better job of simply taking what the students say and then implementing that. I think a lot of our classmates feel that administration just doesn't listen. They say that they'll do something but then they don't actually do it. I would say more follow-through.

Actors Stephen Manos and Caitlin Wilson in a scene from History of Present Illness.

I do have a bigger project on the way. It's about the fourth year of medical school. It's almost the exact opposite of this short. History of Present Illness is a horror film. It's about feeling isolated. It's about feeling like you are on your own.

This other film, tentatively called A Place For Us, is about two medical students who are about to graduate. They're looking back on the people and the doctors that they have become. That one is more of a drama. It comes from a place of strength. It's meant to be a foil to History of Present Illness.

I think, for all doctors and providers, it's so much more important nowadays to have an awareness of your media presence. People need to be aware of how you can use a photo on Instagram or a TikTok video to your advantage in terms of providing clinical care, clinical information, and also just good PR. I mean, we've seen throughout this pandemic I won't go into specifics about anything political but there's definitely been a lot of back-and-forth from providers and non-providers in terms of advice about the coronavirus. I think that with better PR and better communication, you can swing what people listen to.

I feel like I'm urged to choose something medical, but... I'd recommend two films that really influenced me. One is Moonlight, which I really just love. In general, whether you're a provider or just whoever you are, I recommend that movie. It covers a lot of topics, like racial disparities, disadvantaged populations, healthcare insecurity, drugs, and just everything. It's a beautiful film.

Speaking of beautiful, the other one that I really love is the movie Biutiful. Both of those films are about men who struggle with who they are and what they want to do with their lives. I think that's something that speaks to me.

Editor's note: History of Present Illness was first published on in-Training.

Ryan Syrek, MA, is the section editor for medical student and resident content at Medscape.

Phillip Anjum is a third-year medical student at The Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio. He enjoys making films and spending time with his wife.

For more news follow Medscape on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube

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The Horror of Medical School Captured on Film - Medscape

Only about 41% of applicants to U.S. medical schools who sought admission for the 2019-2020 school year matriculated, according to official statistics released by the Association of American Medical Colleges.

That's one reason why medical school admissions experts advise applicants to get a realistic perspective of their credentials before deciding when and where to apply.

Glen Fogerty, an associate dean of admissions and recruitment at the University of Arizona College of Medicine--Phoenix, encourages med school hopefuls to look up statistics on the MCAT scores and GPAs of admitted students at their target schools.

"Past that, they could also review previous class profiles and see if these medical schools provide any type of overview of clinical or research experience or the type of extracurricular activities their students participated in," he wrote in an email. "Now, with this said, I would recommend that applicants gain the clinical, research and extracurricular activities that are meaningful to them and not try to fit into any medical school profile. Following their own path will serve the applicant best as the person will then find the medical school that is the best match for them as well."

[Read: Why It's Hard to Get Into Medical School Despite Doctor Shortages.]

One resource experts recommend applicants use to estimate their chances of getting into medical school is an MCAT-GPA grid published by the AAMC. The grid notes the acceptance rates among premeds with various combinations of GPAs and Medical College Admission Test scores using aggregated data from the 2017-2018 through the 2019-2020 admissions cycles.

For instance, the grid shows that 87.8% of applicants to U.S. med schools who had both an MCAT score that exceeded 517 and a GPA that surpassed 3.79 were accepted.

"Metrics like GPA and MCAT scores are often where students start to assess their competitiveness for medical school, but there's more to it than just metrics," wrote Dr. Renee Volny Darko, founder and CEO of admissions consulting firm Pre-med Strategies Inc., in an email. "Life experiences play an important role in establishing a student's ability to compete. Extracurricular activities such as employment, volunteering, clinical experience, research, and shadowing doctors are where students can not only showcase themselves to admissions committees, but also solidify for themselves that medicine is worth pursuing."

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Darko says there are situations when it makes sense for a prospective student to wait a year to apply to medical school to allow time to improve his or her candidacy. "Sometimes being patient and deferring the application is the best strategy," she says. "It gives time to become more competitive and the applicant doesn't have to explain previous rejection from medical school."

Medical school admissions officers urge premeds to remember that numbers are not the only component of their application that matters.

"Most medical schools these days use what we call holistic review, which means that they put an equal emphasis on the academic record and the experiences that the candidate has had and, finally, the personal attributes of the candidate," says Dr. Quinn Capers IV, vice dean of faculty affairs and professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.

He says med schools care about candidates' communication skills, collegiality, teamwork abilities and how well they take feedback. Capers recommends that med school hopefuls apply to no fewer than 16 schools to maximize their admissions chances.

Capers says that, in past eras, medical schools focused primarily on academic factors, such as GPAs and MCAT scores, but now these schools have expanded the number of factors they consider when making admissions decisions.

"You have to have a strong academic record, but in addition, you also have to have a strong record of experiences that show you want to help your fellow man, and you have to be able to prove that you have the attributes that we want to see in medicine," he says.

Capers adds that his school evaluates the quality of prospective students' extracurricular activities, including leadership experiences, health-related activities, research and community service. A lack of community service experience can be a deal breaker in the admissions process, he says, since that type of experience is something that medical schools specifically look for.

[Read: 4 Activities That Make Strong Medical School Candidates.]

David Lenihan, president of Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, says he looks for well-rounded individuals who have done something interesting in college beyond studying hard and doing well in courses. Lenihan, who has a Ph.D. in neurosurgery and electrophysiology, says he appreciates when premeds have participated in extracurricular activities such as sports, band or drama.

"A well-rounded student makes a much better doctor in the long run, and I believe that it's that well-rounded student that's more likely to go into areas of need and practice," he says. For example, Lenihan says he was intrigued by a candidate who was a concert violinist, because the activity was memorable, distinctive and required commitment.

He suggests that students with passions outside of their schoolwork can bring those up during their medical school interviews in order to distinguish themselves. Candidates who pursued a nonacademic project while preparing for the MCAT could discuss how they maintained a balance and juggled those two commitments, he says.

Lenihan also notes that students should look for schools that have a strong academic program in whatever medical specialty they are most fascinated by, whether it is rural medicine or psychiatry, for example. He also advises that students should look for med schools with mission or vision statements that align with their personal goals. "They'll pick up on that, and that will help improve your odds," he says.

Highly ranked research-focused medical schools tend to seek students with sterling academic statistics and scholarly achievements, Lenihan says, since a core component of those schools' missions is to train leaders in the academic sphere of medicine, such as medical school professors and physician scientists.

In contrast, Lenihan says his primary objective is to recruit med students who have the potential to become great clinicians, and he argues that premeds with 4.0 undergraduate GPAs aren't necessarily the ones who will be most effective at treating patients.

Dr. G. Richard Olds, president of St. George's University, an international academic institution with a campus in the Caribbean, says the most common mistakes in the med school admissions process are either not applying to a sufficient number of schools or not applying to the most appropriate types of schools. Olds says it's crucial to apply to a wide range, including reach, match and safety schools.

Residency and citizenship status are also an important factor in the medical school admissions process, particularly at state schools that have a strong preference for admitting in-state students, says Dr. McGreggor Crowley, a medical school admissions counselor with the admissions consulting firm IvyWise.

"Some states are uber-competitive, like California and Massachusetts, where the large populace of state citizens makes admission to their medical schools quite challenging ... In states where the population is smaller, and the pool of qualified applicants is proportionally smaller, competition can be a bit less severe, and out-of-state residents may have better chances," Crowley wrote in an email. "National citizenship status is also important, and international citizens, even if they matriculate in American colleges and universities for their undergraduate degrees, are still at a disadvantage in the selection process."

[Read: How to Find U.S. Medical Schools That Accept International Students.]

Crowley says prospective students need to do an honest self-assessment to figure out whether they are competitive for medical school and whether they should apply now or later.

"Some students, however, may never be in a position to submit a very strong application to medical school, and those are the students I enjoy working with the most," he says. "Helping them to understand their core interests, talents and opportunities outside of becoming a physician is very rewarding for me, because being a physician is not for everyone, and there are a plethora of careers that a student may find even more rewarding once they begin to investigate them."

However, Dr. Louis Levitt, executive vice president and secretary of The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics, suggests that his own life story of applying four times to medical school until he got in shows what is possible.

Levitt notes that he eventually graduated in the top 5% of his medical school class at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, which was previously known as the Medical College of Virginia. He also won admission to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, a selective and prestigious club for high-achieving medical students, residents, faculty members and alumni.

"I'm at the end of my career at this point, but when I look back on it, I would never do anything different other than medicine," says Levitt, an associate professor of orthopedics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and a clinical instructor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine.

"You know, every day, I go to work and I can make people feel better and have an impact daily on people's lives. ... If I had tried to do anything other than this, I would have been a miserable human being, I think. So ... my persistence paid off for me. It may not pay off for other people, but it certainly did for me."

Searching for a medical school? Get our complete rankings of Best Medical Schools.

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What Are Your Chances of Getting Into Medical School? - Yahoo News

Students Write White Coat Ceremony Oath Pledging to Serve as Agents for Social Justice

*Students Available for Interviews*

Newswise (New York, NY October 15, 2020 - The White Coat ceremony represents a rite of passage, launching first-year medical students on their formal careers in a gathering of faculty, colleagues, and family. In this era of social distancing, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinais White Coat ceremony takes place via Zoom on Tuesday, October 13.

But why become a doctor now, in a pandemic, when providing care can be potentially life-threatening to the clinician? Incoming students describe what makes them want to help and heal, and the oath they have written togetherat this unprecedented time in the history of American medicineas a guide to their future careers as physicians.

Candida Damian, who is Black/Guamanian and was raised in Alabama, never went to the doctor as a young girl because her single mom could not afford health insurance. All I knew about doctors was what I saw on TV, she says. I wanted to work and care for patients at an intimate level. It was in nursing school that I gained the exposure I needed to realize that I not only wanted to change careers to become a doctor, but I needed to do it so I could provide the level of care necessary for my patients.

Candida says that inequities in health care have always been there but are just more visible now, making this a critical time to join the profession. My deepest ambition as a doctor is to ensure that everyone, no matter who they are, has access to health care. As a Black /Guamanian future physician, who will represent diverse and under-resourced communities, it will be my duty to use my voice to advocate for change and to remove the barriers that I experienced as a young girl," she says.

Stephen McCroskery suffered for years with untreated sleep apnea before it was noticed by his brother on a visit home from college. The diagnosis, delivered by a tactful physician, would set him on a path into medicine. The doctors style was so gentle, says Stephen. While I did have a weight problem, the way he suggested that I lose weight helped me understand my diagnosis and the need to lose the necessary weight to control the sleep apnea. It had been wreaking havoc in my life for years, he says.

Stephen begins medical school with a running start, having graduated from the Icahn School of Medicines Master of Science in Biomedical Science (MSBS) program. While studying for his Masters, he worked in the lab of Peter Palese, PhD, a world-renowned microbiologist who oversees a lab committed to understanding viruses, their makeup, and how they spread.

While working on a universal influenza vaccine, the lab has also pivoted to understanding the Sars-Cov2 virus and developing a vaccine candidate. We are hopeful it will go to clinical trials. One thing we like about this vaccine is that it would be manufactured in chicken eggs, making it much less expensive to produce and therefore more accessible to countries that are not as wealthy as the United States, he says. Unfortunately a lot of people dont believe in vaccines. In light of this, I want to advocate for science and medicine and give my patients the best information on which to make the best decisions for their health.

Jerrel Catlett says the pandemic served as a major turning point in his life and career. I would sayas an African Americanthe pandemic has made me acutely aware of how vulnerable my community is, he says. Teaming up with three other Icahn students, he developed an anti-racism discussion series open to faculty, physicians, and hospital administrators across the Mount Sinai Health System to engage in small group conversations focusing on how anti-Black biases and prejudices manifest in medical practice and research. I feel more empowered now because we are gaining the literacy and language to describe what is happening around us, and identifying ways to be a part of the solution.

He wants to be a physician-scientist in pediatric oncology. Prior to embarking on the MD program at the Icahn School of Medicine, he worked at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. However, it was the young patients he met conducting research in childhood bone tumors who started him on a medical career. I was incredibly moved by the kids I met while shadowing at Dana-Farber, he says. The extent to which they seemed to be aware of the impact of their disease on themselves and their families at such a young age was heartbreaking, but they are among the strongest people I have ever met. Knowing them made me really want to help.

Calista Dominy represented one of 18 writing groups working together to write the oath to be recited by her classmates at the White Coat ceremony. Crafting the oath is an annual process to reflect the sentiments and promises of the class of 140 incoming students.

Her group wanted to focus on empathy and humility. We wanted to use the word ally to reflect that we as doctors must be on the same level with our patients, she says. Weaving into the oath a strong commitment to fighting the inequities that surround us became a collective priority. I think we all really feel an incredibly strong commitment to social justice as a collective group. This year, for the first time, the oath references current events, including police brutality.

The schools commitment to social advocacy was one of the prominent reasons she was drawn to Mount Sinai. My eyes have been open to several injustices as a woman who is half Filipina. In my search for a medical school, finding an environment committed to racial justice was extremely important. I am so happy to be at Mount Sinai now because the hospital and the school are really doing as much as they can to eradicate racism, especially in medicine, and especially now.

Suvruta Iruvanti works as a volunteer at Mount Sinais clinic for the uninsured, the East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership (EHHOP), helping patients who require specialized care or financial assistance navigate the hospital system. Removing barriers and helping under-resourced patients obtain care has long been a career priority. As an undergraduate pursuing simultaneous degrees in Molecular and Cell Biology and Business at the University of California, Berkeley, he led a team of students into the northern Himalayan region of India to set up a clinic that would provide dental care for rural residents, many of whom had never seen a dentist.

Having studied prostate and ovarian cancer at the Broad Institute, he is interested in the possibilities of medicine to uncover new treatments for patients with advanced stage diseases. The why in disease has always intrigued me and propelled me toward medicine to find answers, he says.

Suvruta, who took on the role of scribe in writing the school oath, says the writing process was remarkably smooth as groups came together to submit contributions, then collaborated on editing through remote tools. Zoom is definitely a different modality, but we are still moving at the same pace even though we are not physically together.

One of the positives of a virtual White Coat ceremony, he says, is that he can invite as many family members from as many far-flung locations as he wishes to witness his big moment, via Zoom.

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About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai is a national and international source of unrivaled education, translational research and discovery, and collaborative clinical leadership ensuring that we deliver the highest quality carefrom prevention to treatment of the most serious and complex human diseases. The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of the Top 20 Best Hospitals in the country and the Icahn School of Medicine as one of the Top 20 Best Medical Schools in country. Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are consistently ranked regionally by specialty by U.S. News & World Report.

For more information, visithttps://www.mountsinai.orgor find Mount Sinai onFacebook,TwitterandYouTube.

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Why I Want to Be a Doctor Now: Med Students Discuss What Makes Them Want to Help and Heal - Newswise

KINGSTON, R.I. October 16, 2020 Lisa Iezzoni, M.D., a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, will speak Tuesday, Oct. 27, as part of the University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium, Challenging Expectations: Disability in the 21st Century.

Iezzoni, who is based at the Health Policy Research Center, Mongan Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, will give the online lecture, Healthcare Disparities for People with Disability at 7 p.m.

The link to the lecture can be found on the day of the event in the colloquium schedule, next to Iezzonis name. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Her early career focused on risk adjustment methods for costs and clinical outcomes and assessing quality of care. She wrote and edited Risk Adjustment for Measuring Health Care Outcomes, now in its fourth edition.

Iezzoni has conducted numerous studies for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, National Institutes of Health, the Medicare agency and private foundations. Since 1998, her research has focused on improving the experiences of and health care quality for adults with disabilities.

Her book, When Walking Fails, was published in 2003, and More Than Ramps: A Guide to Improving Health Care Quality and Access for People with Disabilities, co-authored with Bonnie L. ODay, appeared in 2006.

Iezzoni also spends much of her time advocating for people with disabilities. Representing the Boston Center for Independent Living, she chaired the Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee for the U.S. Access Board from 2012 through 2013. Iezzoni is a member of the National Academy of Medicine in the National Academy of Sciences.

Gianna Carderelli, a University of Rhode public relations major and intern in its Department of Marketing and Communications, wrote this press release.

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Harvard Medical School Professor Lisa Iezzoni to speak at URI Oct. 27 on health care disparities and disability - URI Today

ANN ARBOR, Mich. Michigan Medicine is notifying 1062 patients about an email that may have exposed their email addresses and health information to others.

Emails containing information about an Inflammatory Bowel Disease event were sent to patients in late September without the blind copy function being used to hide email addresses, so patients email addresses were visible to all recipients.

The patient information involved is limited, as the email only included an email address and an invitation for the event. The data did not contain addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, credit card, debit card or bank account numbers so the risk of identity theft occurring is extremely low.

General medical records were not in the information that was emailed.

As soon as Michigan Medicine learned of the error, no additional emails were sent. Separate emails were sent to explain the error, and included a request that the recipients delete the prior email.

Affected patients were mailed letters Oct. 16 notifying them of the breach.

Patient privacy is extremely important to us, and we take this matter very seriously. Michigan Medicine took steps immediately to investigate this matter and is implementing additional safeguards to reduce risk to our patients and help prevent recurrence, said Jeanne Strickland, Michigan Medicine chief compliance officer.

To prevent future errors like this, the department involved will be adopting different processes for sending emails to patients.

Michigan Medicine officials believe the risk of identity theft is low because of the limited information involved. However, it is always recommended to monitor patient insurance statements for any transactions related to care or services that have not actually been received. Patients were sent a list of suggested steps to protect against identity theft.

Affected Michigan Medicine patients are expected to receive letters in the mail notifying them of this incident within the next few days. Patients who have concerns or questions may call the University of Michigan IBD Program at 734-647-2964 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or email debratan@med.umich.edu.About Michigan Medicine: At Michigan Medicine, we advance health to serve Michigan and the world. We pursue excellence every day in our three hospitals, 125 clinics and home care operations that handle more than 2.3 million outpatient visits a year, as well as educate the next generation of physicians, health professionals and scientists in our U-M Medical School.

Michigan Medicine includes the top ranked U-M Medical School and the University of Michigan Health System, which includes the C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital, Von Voigtlander Womens Hospital, University Hospital, the Frankel Cardiovascular Center and the Rogel Cancer Center. Michigan Medicines adult hospitals were ranked no. 11 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report in 2020-21 and C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital was the only childrens hospital in Michigan nationally ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties analyzed by U.S. News and World Report for 2020-21. The U-M Medical School is one of the nation's biomedical research powerhouses, with total research funding of more than $500 million.

Originally posted here:
Michigan Medicine notifies patients of email information breach - University of Michigan Health System News

Seniors at the University of Georgia are gearing up to apply for graduate school programs as their final year on campus draws to a close. While this semester isnt what they thought it would look like, neither is the process of applying to postgraduate programs.

From law school and masters degree programs to physicians assistant school, UGA students are maneuvering their way through COVID-19s hurdles to continue their academic careers. With no certainty about fall 2021, applying to upper-level schools and programs has been more uncertain than ever.

UGA Graduate School DeanRon Walcott said the number of fall 2020 applications increased by 9%.

Walcott said changes were made to applications for COVID-19 based on the specific programs requirements.

For example, international students were permitted to submit final transcripts after registration, and some programs extended application deadlines, Walcott said. The popular language learning app Duolingo was added as an English proficiency test for international students as well, Walcott said.

Some graduate programs and schools have announced their plans for the return of students for fall 2021 while still keeping precautions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of the medical schools senior biology major Shea Fincher applied to will require faculty, staff, students and visitors to wear face coverings while inside campus facilities and buildings along with required social distancing inside each classroom.

Kassie Hogan, a senior majoring in biology and psychology, explained some of the major differences in applications this year as opposed to other years.

Normally schools require GRE scores, but this year none are, Hogan said. As for the lengthy interview process, Hogan said interviews will also likely be conducted over Zoom.

Some schools are waiving the Graduate Record Examination for summer and fall 2021 and or spring 2021 because of COVID-19 complications. Some of these schools include Auburn University, The University of Alabama and Florida State University, according to Study.com.

Jenna Swaboiwicz, a senior communication sciences and disorders major, also said the absence of a GRE requirement was the biggest change this year due to COVID-19. However, Swabowicz opted to take the GRE at home, a new option in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Having to take it at home with online proctoring software was completely new to me, and after the fact, having to find out which schools were still requiring it, which would consider it but not make it mandatory and which wouldn't even look at it presented a new boundary, Swaboiwicz said.

Swabowicz also said many schools held modified Zoom information sessions to promote their graduate programs. COVID aside, I think this was a really great way to get students across the country to learn about each program, Swabowicz said.

Fincher said that all of her interviews for medical school will be conducted online as opposed to normally traveling to schools for interviews.

Virtually attending interviews instead of traveling to schools helps my budget, but I believe virtual interviews can be a disadvantage in getting to know a person like you can during a normal interview process, Fincher said.

Similarly, Swabowicz said the process for choosing schools to apply to was very difficult without any in-person component of touring.

Deciding which schools to apply to without in-person information sessions and campus tours was definitely daunting, Swabowicz said.

Hogan said that the optional GRE test is the only lenient part of the application process this year as opposed to previous years.

I think it has been harder [to complete the application during COVID-19] because usually you can go to advisors or career centers and ask questions and even talk to your programs of interest, Hogan said.

Fincher said the medical school application was more difficult this year because of opportunities missed due to quarantine and COVID-19 precautionary measures.

I believe this application was harder amid the COVID-19 changes because different research and volunteering opportunities of mine were canceled or postponed over the spring until further notice, Fincher said.

This forced Fincher to find new non-contact volunteer opportunities to still have a competitive application for medical school.

Overall, I believe the application process has not changed in rigor, but instead it has adapted through the COVID-19 pandemic to better understand applicants during this stressful time, Fincher said.

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How UGA students are applying to grad schools amid COVID-19 - Red and Black

Dr. Caleb Skipper poses for a photo in North Dakota Medicine, the University of North Dakotas School of Medicine and Health Sciences Fall 2020 magazine.

A 2005 Rugby High School graduate credits experiences from his hometown with shaping his work as a medical doctor and researcher.

Dr. Caleb Skipper and a team of University of Minnesota infectious disease researchers made news on the healthcare front last spring when they tested the effects of a controversial treatment for COVID-19.

Skipper said the idea to test hydroxychloroquine, a medication commonly used for malaria, on patients exposed to the novel coronavirus came to his team when they found themselves stranded in the United States and away from their work in Uganda.

When coronavirus hit, I had come back to the US for a routine medical conference, Skipper said. That week was the week everything shut down and everything changed. But, since we were (in the United States), my team actually had some infectious disease researchers who were all here, and our stuff was in Uganda, which was shut down like most of the world.

We asked ourselves, What can we contribute while were here in light of whats going on?' Skipper added.

Caleb Skippers senior photo appeared in Rugby High Schools 2005 yearbook.

So, we studied hydroxychloroquine. Youve probably heard of that. We were interested in it because as infectious disease doctors, thats a drug traditionally used to treat malaria, and we had some familiarity with it, Skipper said, noting he had been a part of a team in East Africa studying malaria.

There were some papers that had come out where, when they looked at it, at least in a test tube, the hydroxycholorquine had efficacy against the SARS COV-2 virus (a name for the virus that causes the disease known as COVID-19), Skipper said. It was very early on, and there were no treatments yet, so we rallied together and decided that we were going to launch a randomized clinical trial to study the hydroxychloroquine to see if that could be an efficacious treatment. We actually ended up turning our trial into three independent trials, each asking a different question but all using hydroxychloroquine.

We did try to set up trials to basically remove bias as much as possible. Thats what good scientists should do. We did randomized, double-blinded placebo trials. We actually gave our patients a placebo or hydroxychloroquine. They were blinded (didnt know what they were receiving), and we were blinded as well. Thats the most robust trial you can do to remove bias, Skipper added.

We found basically, in all three trials, looking at whether you can prevent getting the disease after youd been exposed to someone with it, called post-exposure prophylaxis, and another arm was, looking at once someone had gotten the virus, if you gave it early to them in the course, if it could mitigate the disease and prevent them from needing to go to the hospital and ICU.

Skipper said of the trials, We found hydroxychloroquine was no better than a placebo in doing that. Our randomized clinical trials failed to find a benefit.

My specific team are now not doing any active COVID research, Skipper said. Were back to doing HIV/AIDS research. Thats been restarted back in Uganda.

Skipper, whose father, Dr. Ronald Skipper serves as a surgeon for Heart of America Medical Clinic, said medicine has always figured prominently in his life.

Its definitely an influence, for sure. Growing up in Rugby, wed go to the grocery store and someone would come up to my dad and say, Dr. Skipper, thank you so much for helping me. So, growing up, I saw my dad was well appreciated and respected in the community and made an impact on people. That was attractive to me, Skipper said. That was definitely an influence.

An Ohio native, Skipper said, I consider myself being from Rugby because I spent all my formative years there fifth grade through high school.

Skipper said his time in Rugby shaped his life One hundred percent. Like I said, I feel like all my formation as a young man was in Rugby. So, between the different opportunities I had being involved in activities (had a benefit).

Its funny, he added. In a small town, there may not be as much of a breadth of opportunities as there are in a larger city but in some ways those opportunities are more available. There are only so many of you. Even if youre not good at sports, you can be on the teams. So, I have very fond memories of growing up in Rugby and going to school there, and the high school in particular.

Rugby Highs 2005 yearbook features Skipper on several pages; he served on the student council and participated on the schools Science Olympiad team.

I remember Jan Hagen, Skipper said. She was one of the science teachers. She in particular was a really key figure in my interest in the sciences and ultimately going to medical school.

But I think there are a bunch of people in Rugby (who were influential), Skipper added.

After graduating from RHS, Skipper studied at the University of North Dakota, moving to Ethiopia for a year after receiving his bachelors degree.

But I think what really got me particularly into the infectious diseases piece was after college, I went to Ethiopia for a year, kind of out in the middle of nowhere, working on some malaria projects, Skipper said.

Thats what cemented my interest in medicine, but it kind of shifted my focus into infectious diseases, he added.

Skipper said hes returned to his work on HIV and AIDS in Africa now. However, he still thinks of his youth in Rugby often. I feel like Rugby and my high school experience were very pro-family impactful on me becoming the man I am today, he said.

Skipper said he still follows stories about the global COVID-19 pandemic, too.

In Rugby, things seem pretty stable there, he said, referring to the communitys health. But in North Dakota as a whole, the coronavirus isnt being kept well-controlled there. I think, in a small town, people sometimes have perspectives. What applies to a larger city doesnt apply to a small town, Skipper added. In North Dakota, people are very independent, and in my opinion, I appreciate that independence. But at the same time, sometimes Mother Nature throws a curve ball bigger than politics or bigger than what you think the world should be.

I would encourage people to take COVID-19 seriously and protect their neighbors by wearing masks and doing small things, he added. I hope people basically look at this as something they have a part to play in as well. They can do the small things to help each other out.

Its such a small inconvenience to potentially provide some benefit, you know? Skipper added.

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Medical researcher credits Rugby High with helping to shape career - Pierce County Tribune

When President Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19, many Americans noticed that his physician had the title D.O. stitched onto his white coat. Much confusion ensued about doctors of osteopathic medicine. As of a 2018 census, they made up 9.1% of physicians in the United States. How do they fit into the broader medical field?

Andrea Amalfitano is a D.O. and dean of the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He explains some of the foundations of the profession and its guiding principle: to use holistic approaches to care for and guide patients. And dont worry, yes, D.O.s are real doctors and have full practice rights across the U.S.

In the years after the Civil War, without antibiotics and vaccines, many clinicians of the day relied on techniques like arsenic, castor oil, mercury and bloodletting to treat the ill. Unsanitary surgical practices were standard. These treatments promised cures but often led to more sickness and pain.

In response to that dreadful state of affairs, a group of American physicians founded the osteopathic medical profession. They asserted that maintaining wellness and preventing disease was paramount. They believed that preserving health was best achieved via a holistic medical understanding of the individual patients, their families and their communities in mind, body and spirit. They rejected reductionist interactions meant to rapidly address only acute symptoms or problems.

They also embraced the concept that the human body has an inherent capacity to heal itself decades before the immune systems complexities were understood and called for this ability to be respected and harnessed.

Doctors of osteopathic medicine D.O.s, for short can prescribe medication and practice all medical and surgical specialties just as their M.D. counterparts do. Because of the focus on preserving wellness rather than waiting to treat symptoms as they arise, more than half of D.O.s gravitate to primary care, including family practice and pediatrics, particularly in rural and underserved areas.

D.O. training embraces the logic that understanding anatomic structures can allow one to better understand how they function. For example, alongside contemporary medical and surgical preventive and treatment knowledge, all osteopathic physicians also learn strategies to treat musculoskeletal pain and disease. These techniques are known as manual medicine, or osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). They can provide patients an alternative to medications, including opioids, or invasive surgical interventions.

D.O.s pride themselves on making sure their patients feel theyre treated as a whole person and not simply reduced to a symptom or blood test to be rapidly dealt with and then dismissed. We say we aspire to care for people, not patients, with an empathetic attitude and an emphasis on making sure those closest to those in their care, such as family and loved ones, as well as other social factors, are all taken into account.

The osteopathic philosophy around prevention and wellness might seem like common sense today, but it was revolutionary. Aspects of osteopathic medicine, including the use of alternative therapies such as OMT, were originally met with skepticism or outright hostility by some medical doctors who questioned their scientific bases. Indeed, in 1961, the American Medical Associations code of ethics declared it unethical for an M.D. physician to professionally associate with doctors of osteopathy.

So with the guidance of the American Osteopathic Association, D.O.s created their own D.O. hospitals, residency and fellowship programs, and four-year D.O. degree-granting medical schools. Instruction around the current science of health and illness is similar between D.O.s and M.D.s its the philosophical delivery of that knowledge thats different.

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Certainly a holistic approach to health is no longer exclusive to D.O.s. In fact, many M.D., nursing, physician assistant and other health professional schools now embrace parts of it as they deliver care. And now, D.O.s and M.D.s often work side by side in medical settings across the country. More recently, the AMA has recently recognized the D.O. licensing exams as equivalent to the exams M.D.s take. D.O.s compete for the same training residencies as M.D.s and, eventually, the same jobs.

Osteopathic medicine is now one of the fastest-growing health professions, with over 150,000 D.O.s and D.O. medical students practicing in the U.S. and internationally. One in four newly minted U.S. physicians in the class of 2019 graduated from an osteopathic medical school.

Osteopathic medicine is now a mainstay of contemporary medical practice, with D.O.s active in all aspects of the nations health care systems.

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What is osteopathic medicine? A D.O. explains - The Conversation US