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Daniel Sokol, a senior lecturer in medical ethics, wrote an observation piece in the BMJ this week about interviews and examinations in medical school, making the point that each of these institutions of medical education are critical in the production of ‘good doctors’. This, to be honest, is a concept I’ve always struggled with. I remember people talking in high school about who would and wouldn’t make a good doctor, some people telling me that I would, some people subtly (and nastily) implying ...

Updated 07-12-10 at 07:18 AM by Matt

Tags: ethics, good doctor, interview, musings

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Reflective

Seeing that MSO now has a blog feature I figured it’d be worth writing down something, so here goes. I hope it doesn’t come out complete rubbish.

They say every medical student should have a love outside of medicine. Whether this is true or not I certainly know that I have a passion for something else and it’s something I couldn’t do without – classical music. In fact I know quite a few med students who seem to share this love, so much so that I’ve heard one of the lecturers at the ...

There was an article not too long ago in General Disussion about Asians in the west, and how they are discriminated against in the so-called Bamboo Ceiling effect, whereby Asians are not promoted to management on the basis of subjective traits, which is a current favourite of “examples of racism”, but I believe (at least for Chinese people) there are a few factors other than racism that would account for such a phenomenon, and that the world is falling into the same thinking that led to the thought ...

I'm sure it wasn't the feeling I was meant to get out of my time in an adolescent eating disorders clinic but I couldn't help but be a little bit impressed with their determination. Perhaps it had something to do with recognising perfectionism in these young girls and, oddly, feeling as if I could relate a little bit.

It's no coincidence cohorts in medical school tend to have Olympic or near-Olympic level athletes making up numbers. It's also no coincidence that the young girls in ...

Tags: competitiveness, eating disorders, mental health, perfectionism

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Reflective

Each year as UMAT results roll around the MSO forums are flooded with users anxious to put their results into perspective. Some are jubilant with their success, others desperate with disappointment. As someone who took the UMAT twice and who will be a doctor in a couple of months I'd like to offer some perspective, as much to those who did well as to those who did not.

The UMAT is an exam you take to get into medical school. Any extrapolation further than that, whether it be about your ...

Updated 21-09-11 at 08:34 PM by Matt

Tags: compassion, empathy, reality, results, umat

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Opinion