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Category Archives: Medical School

Boys outperform girls for medical school

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Analysis showed the male applicants for medical school did slightly better in the Leaving Cert than female applicants in each of the years under consideration, and also outperformed them in the HPAT test. Photograph: Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland

Boys are outperforming girls academically in the quest for medical school places even though girls generally do better in the Leaving Certificate, according to a new study.

Male applicants for medical school outperform females in both the Leaving Cert and the HPAT exam which was introduced as an additional test for entry to medical school in 2009, the research by UCC scientists shows.

The study, published in the Irish Medical Journal, finds no evidence of a gender bias linked to the Health Professionals Admissions Test (HPAT), which has been criticised in some quarters for disadvantaging female candidates.

Medicine, once a male-dominated profession, has become increasingly feminised in recent years, with women now comprising a majority of medical students. However, since the introduction of HPAT, a multiple-choice test of reasoning and problem-solving skills, the proportion of male entrants to medical schools has increased again. The test counts for about one-third of the points for entry, with the Leaving Cert counting for the rest.

Gender differencesThe UCC team looked at the performance of all applicants for medicine in the years 2009-2011 according to gender. Women accounted for the majority of applications, and the majority of eligible applications once the matriculation requirement and a requirement for a minimum of 480 Leaving Cert points were fulfilled.

The analysis showed the male applicants for medical school did slightly better in the Leaving Cert than female applicants in each of the years under consideration, and also outperformed them in the HPAT test.

Surprise resultThis finding surprised us as it is known that females generally outperform males in such tests and previous female dominance in medical school was secondary to superior Leaving Certificate performance, said Dr Siun OFlynn, head of medical education at UCCs school of medicine.

We wonder whether external factors such as the prevailing economic climate may have influenced applicant behaviour.

It is known that male applications to medicine tend to increase in times of economic uncertainty. Perhaps the apparent security offered by a career in medicine has made such an option more attractive to high academic performing males in Ireland.

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Boys outperform girls for medical school

Medical school program trains doctors for the future of medicine

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Health care in America has changed drastically over the last decade but the way doctors are trained has been the same for over 100 years. Now, some of the nations top medical schools are revamping their programs.

Probably the single biggest reason was trying to prepare students for what health care was going to be like in a decade, Dr. Charles Lockwood, dean of The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine told FoxNews.com. Because if you think the last 10 years have been quite a change, really when we begin to be able to sequence peoples entire DNA, and identify every conceivable illness that they're going to have, and begin to design prevention along those lines it's going to require a very different mindset for docs.

Typically, medical students spend their first two years of medical school hitting the books, but at OSUs College of Medicine, theyre trained as medical assistants in the first six weeks, and within eight weeks, they are seeing patients as health coaches.

Working with patients in a service-type fashion early on in the curriculum is extremely valuable to the students it keeps them grounded in why they came to medical school, Dr. Daniel Clinchot, vice dean for education at OSUs College of Medicine said of the schools new Lead. Serve. Inspire program. Having your patient population that you work with over the course of 18 months is very unique, and I think really is inspiring for many of our students.

Historically, American medicine has always centered around doctors, but a growing shift in health care delivery has put more emphasis on ensuring quality outcomes for patients.

You have to do a lot more teaching of patients, you have to explain their illness, you have to explain all the options available for their therapy, you have to spend a lot of time talking about prevention, said Lockwood. Communication skills are something that are going to be critically important for the future doc, and that's not something we've emphasized before in medical education.

Advances in technology and a focus on prevention are just two of the health care changes that helped shape the new Lead. Serve. Inspire curriculum. All incoming medical students are given iPads and classes are available as traditional lectures, podcasts and e-learning modules.

In a state-of-the-art clinical skills center on campus, students can practice virtual laparoscopy and robotic procedures. And there are four critical care simulation bays with life-like mannequins that can mimic human illnesses and medical emergencies. From a control room outside the simulation area, instructors create scenarios that test the students ability to treat patients under pressure in the emergency room, operating room, trauma center and labor and delivery wing.

I think the best thing about the simulations is that it helps you practice in a lower-stress environments than when you're actually working with patients, Shannon Emerick, a medical student at OSUs College of Medicine, said. You can kind of get the jitters out, and by pretending these are real patients, you can make sure you have everything straight by the time you're working with actual people.

Learning the business of health care is also at the core of the Lead. Serve. Inspire program. Health care economics classes are built into the curriculum, and students also have the option to minor in business or take time off to get their MBA to help them prepare to run a successful practice in the future.

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Medical school program trains doctors for the future of medicine

Medical School Debt Disproportionately Affects African-American Students

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A new report says more African-American medical school students anticipate higher levels of debt than students of other races and ethnicities.

African-American medical school students have significantly higher amounts of anticipated debt than students of other races and ethnicities, according to a report from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health published in the journal PLOS One on Monday.

The researchers surveyed more than 2,300 medical students enrolled in 111 accredited medical schools during the 2010-11 academic year.Overall, 62 percent of medical students said they anticipated more than $150,000 in debt upon completing medical school. But a much higher percentage of African-American students reported anticipated debt above $150,000, at 77.3, compared to white students, at 65 percent. Meanwhile, a lower rate of Hispanic or Latino and Asian students anticipated debt in excess of $150,000, at 57.2 percent and 50.2 percent respectively.

[READ: How Increasing Medical School Enrollment Affects M.D. Hopefuls]

"The cost of American medical education has increased substantially over the past decade," the report says. "Given racial/ethnic inequalities in access to financial resources, it is plausible that increases in student debt burden resulting from these increases in cost may not be borne equally."

One explanation for lower anticipated debt among Hispanic students, according to the report, is that group of students are likely coming from immigrant households, despite the fact that group has among the lowest median incomes in the United States. Likewise, Asian students are more likely to come from immigrant families, which could explain their lower levels of debt, as "immigrant families may be less comfortable with the American norm of educational loan utilization than non-immigrant families," said co-author Abdulrahman El-Sayed, in a statement.

"At the same time, they may be more willing to offset the costs of their children's graduate education," El-Sayed said.

[ALSO: See Which Medical School Graduates Have the Most Debt]

But the findings also underscore the belief that the high cost of medical school deters qualified minority students from applying and enrolling, especially among African-American students. Since 2004, the report says, the percentage of African-American students enrolled in medical schools has fallen, while enrollment for Hispanic and Asian students continues to rise. In 2004, African-American students represented 7.4 percent of students enrolled in Allopathic schools (the traditional route resulting in an M.D.), compared to 7 percent in 2011.

The report found that compared to the overall population in America, Asian students are overrepresented in the medical student population by 75 percent, whereas African-American students are underrepresented by 100 percent.

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Medical School Debt Disproportionately Affects African-American Students

NY medical schools increase enrollment

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ALBANY New Yorks 16 medical schools have enrolled 120 more students this fall than last year, including the first classes in a pair of three-year programs that allow students to graduate faster and with less debt.

More than half of the 2,424 new medical students are state residents, nearly half are women and 3 percent are international students, according to Associated Medical Schools of New York. Most programs last four years with annual tuition ranging from $30,000 to $50,000.

Demand for physicians has intensified in New York due to its aging population, rising costs, and state and federal policy changes, association President Jo Wiederhorn said.

A new state marketplace, established in response to a federal mandate, is expected to enroll 1.1 million more New Yorkers in health insurance programs over the next few years, increasing the need for primary care practitioners.

New York Universitys School of Medicine has 162 new students, including 16 in its new three-year program who are all offered acceptance into an NYU Langone Medical Center residency program. Their academic year starts six weeks earlier and they spend the summer between the first and second year on a fellowship.

With 168 new students, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons has four who already hold doctoral degrees in biomedical sciences in a new three-year program. Theyll have the same 18-month preclinical training as the others and 16 months of clinical training. Their fourth-year scholarly project will be waived and theyll be encouraged to pursue an abbreviated residency.

The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education enrolled 74 students this year for its seven-year program, all state residents coming directly from high school out of 705 applicants. The City College of New York schools first five years fulfill bachelors degree requirements and the pre-clinical medical school curriculum, followed by two years of clinical training at a collaborating medical school.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center enrolled 188 new students, 80 percent from New York, while SUNY Upstate Medical University enrolled 165, 90 percent of whom are state residents.

Albany Medical College reported 143 new medical students from nearly 9,000 applicants, while Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai enrolled 140 students out of more than 5,000 applicants.

Other schools and enrollments for their Class of 2017 were Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, 183 students; Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, 80 students; New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, 315; New York Medical College, 200; University of Rochester School of Medicine, 102; Stony Brook University School of Medicine, 124; School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, 144; Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, 135; and Weill Cornell Medical College, 101 students.

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NY medical schools increase enrollment

Report: UMass Medical School worker stole $3.4M

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The Boston Globe/September 15, 2013

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) Officials at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have discovered a $3.4 million theft by an employee who died in a December car accident.

School leaders told The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/162f06P ) an internal investigation found that for five years financial analyst Leo Villani siphoned funds from payments intended for the state Medicaid insurance program. It may be the biggest theft by a state employee in more than a decade.

Officials at the Worcester (WUS'-tur) school say Villani made $46,000 a year, but drove a Porsche, collected Salvador Dali paintings and built a large home in Uxbridge. They say he claimed he inherited money.

The school has dismissed one supervisor and disciplined several other workers in response to the theft. It also has called in an outside auditor.

___

Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com

Copyright 2013 Globe Newspaper Company.

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Report: UMass Medical School worker stole $3.4M

Valley medical school progress ‘reason to celebrate'

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BROWNSVILLE Graduation ceremonies are just six years away for the first class of students from the Rio Grande Valley's long-awaited medical school, University of Texas Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa pledged Friday.

The year 2018 will be a very special year for all of us, Cigarroa said at a news conference at UT-Pan American in Edinburg, site of the medical research component of what's currently the three-campus Regional Academic Health Center.

As has been the case for hundreds of students since the gala opening of the RAHC in Harlingen in 2002, future doctors will spend their first two academic years at the University of Texas Health Science Center and third and fourth years completing clinical training in the Valley.

The key difference is that students will, from the outset, have applied to a dedicated South Texas admission track. Hopes are high their diplomas will carry the UTHSC-South Texas name.

While key questions remain, such as accreditation and funding for the estimated $40 million to $50 million in annual expenses, Cigarroa said by then the RAHC will have become a more independent entity.

We are beginning the transition of the UT Health Science Center-San Antonio Regional Academic Health Center known as the RAHC into an independent, free-standing, comprehensive and research-intensive regional medical school, with its own president and structure for South Texas, he said.

Plans for a full-fledged medical school for the Rio Grande Valley have been in the works since the early 1990s, when state Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, began documenting how the Valley's fast-growing and historically underserved region needed to better recruit physicians likely to commit to the area.

In addition to previous infrastructure investments by the Texas Legislature and UT System, the Legislature contributes about $11 million annually to support the RAHC's medical and research divisions. In 2011, UT regents invested an additional $30 million for faculty recruitment, a clinical simulation facility, programs in obesity and diabetes, and education in the sciences. In May, the regents endorsed new medical schools for Austin and South Texas.

By committing to graduating students by 2018, UT has given everyone in South Texas reason to celebrate, Lucio said Friday.

I do see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel, he said. For the first time, I feel confident we can accomplish our goals in the next five years.

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Valley medical school progress ‘reason to celebrate'

Valley medical school progress hailed

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BROWNSVILLE Graduation ceremonies are just six years away for the first class of students from the Rio Grande Valley's long-awaited medical school, University of Texas Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa pledged Friday.

The year 2018 will be a very special year for all of us, Cigarroa said at a news conference at UT-Pan American in Edinburg, site of the medical research component of what's currently the three-campus Regional Academic Health Center.

As has been the case for hundreds of students since the gala opening of the RAHC in Harlingen in 2002, future doctors will spend their first two academic years at the University of Texas Health Science Center and third and fourth years completing clinical training in the Valley.

The key difference is that students will, from the outset, have applied to a dedicated South Texas admission track. Hopes are high their diplomas will carry the UTHSC-South Texas name.

While key questions remain, such as accreditation and funding for the estimated $40 million to $50 million in annual expenses, Cigarroa said by then the RAHC will have become a more independent entity.

We are beginning the transition of the UT Health Science Center-San Antonio Regional Academic Health Center known as the RAHC into an independent, free-standing, comprehensive and research-intensive regional medical school, with its own president and structure for South Texas, he said.

Plans for a full-fledged medical school for the Rio Grande Valley have been in the works since the early 1990s, when state Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, began documenting how the Valley's fast-growing and historically underserved region needed to better recruit physicians likely to commit to the area.

In addition to previous infrastructure investments by the Texas Legislature and UT System, the Legislature contributes about $11 million annually to support the RAHC's medical and research divisions. In 2011, UT regents invested an additional $30 million for faculty recruitment, a clinical simulation facility, programs in obesity and diabetes, and education in the sciences. In May, the regents endorsed new medical schools for Austin and South Texas.

By committing to graduating students by 2018, UT has given everyone in South Texas reason to celebrate, Lucio said Friday.

I do see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel, he said. For the first time, I feel confident we can accomplish our goals in the next five years.

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Valley medical school progress hailed

Choose the Right Undergraduate Major for Medical School

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Admissions data suggests that a students choice of major matters less in medical school admissions than MCAT scores.

When I was applying to colleges as senior in high school, I thought that I had to be a "premed" major if I wanted to go to medical school.

I was surprised when most of the schools I planned to apply to did not offer premed as a major. It was at that point I realized one of the essential rules of being premed: you do not need to be any particular major in order to go to medical school.

So if there is no premed major at your school, is there a best major for premeds? Are there any majors that will give you an advantage in the admissions process? Unfortunately, the answer is much more complicated than a simple yes or no.

[Find out when to apply to medical school.]

Why Don't Majors Matter?

The Association of American Medical Colleges has data to suggest that your major simply does not matter when it comes to getting accepted to medical school. According to their data, only 51 percent of students who enrolled in medical school in 2012 majored in biological sciences. That means the remaining medical school matriculants majored in humanities, math or statistics, physical sciences, social sciences or specialized health sciences.

When they broke down the MCAT and GPAs of these matriculants by major, all the categories have essentially the same GPA, science GPA and MCAT score. Matriculants who majored in biological sciences had a mean MCAT of 31 and GPA of 3.69. Humanities majors had a mean MCAT of 31.8 and GPA of 3.66. The numbers for math and statistics, physical sciences, social sciences and specialized health sciences majors were similar.

In a sense, medical schools do not really care what major you choose, as long as you finish your prerequisites and do well in school overall.

No matter what major you studied in college, everyone will learn the same material in medical school, and the majority of the material will be new for everyone. In looking at your GPA and MCAT, admissions committees simply want to know that you can handle the intellectual rigors of medical school.

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Choose the Right Undergraduate Major for Medical School


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