Category: MSPress Announcements

Categories
General MSPress Announcements

The Medical Student Press Journal is live!

The Medical Student Press Journal team is delighted to announce that Volume 4 Number 1 is now live! You can access the journal here: https://goo.gl/4JuY6g

 

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Lance-Adams Syndrome: A Case Report, Alec Rezigh, Kayla Riggs

 

ESSAYS

Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Stethoscope with a Song, Geoffrey D Huntley

Learning Together: How Interprofessional Education Can Strengthen Health Care Professional Relationships and Improve Patient Care, Braydon Dymm

Improper Statistical Analysis: A Cause of Poor Translation of New Biomarkers into Clinical Practice, Justin Barnes

The Curation of Creative Hospitals, Shella Kirin Raja, Lilah Raja
CREATIVE WRITING
DIG FAST, Puneet Sharma

Young Patient X, Logan William Thomas

The Watchman, Daniel Wang

The Longest Journey, Lauren DeDecker

 

VISUAL ARTS/DIGITAL ARTIFACTS
The Teaching Dead, Alexandra Wood

Categories
General MSPress Announcements

New Year Wishes, 2016 Blog Highlights

Wishing all of our readers and supporters a new year blessed with good health, fulfillment, and joy. Thank you to all of those toiling as healthcare workers and defending the right of the pursuit of health for all. May this year be filled with teamwork and  innovation within medicine all towards the goal of alleviating human suffering and illness.

This year, the MSPress continued to enrich medical student dialogue with our various publications.  

Here are my favorite blog pieces from 2016:

The Doctor as the Advocate by Gunjan Sharma

Meaningful Community Involvement by Roy Collins

The Policy on Policy: Why Medical Students Need to Learn About Healthcare by Leigh Goodrich

Thank You for Being a Patient: A Reflection on Gratitude and Its Place in Medicine by Jordan Metsky

Frankenstein: A Tale for the Modern Age by Gunjan Sharma

Storytelling and Patient Advocacy by Ashley Franklin

A Farewell to Oliver Sacks by Josip Borovac

Other highlights include:

The MSPress Journal, Vol 3

The Free Clinic Research Collective, Vol 2

The Medical Commencement Archive, Vol 3

As a final plug, remember that the deadline to submit application to join the executive MSPress board is Jan 30th.

 

Cheers!

Categories
General MSPress Announcements

Call for MSPress Team Member Applications!

The Library of Babel Illustration by Erik Desmazieres
The MSPress Call for Applications 
Executive Team applications due by Dec 30th. These roles include: 
  • Executive Editor (in line to become Editor-in-Chief)
  • Medical Commencement Archive Associate Editor
  • Free Clinic Research Collective Associate Editor
  • MSPress Journal Associate Editor
  • MSPress Blog Associate Editor & Copy Editor
General Team applications accepted on a rolling basis. These roles include:
  • Editor
  • Blogger
  • Peer Reviewer
VISIT THE MSPRESS TEAM APPLICATION HERE: http://themspress.org/team-application.html
Categories
General MSPress Announcements

Call for MSPress Team Member Applications!

The MSPress Call for Applications 
Executive Team applications due by Dec 30th. These roles include: 
  • Executive Editor (in line to become Editor-in-Chief)
  • Medical Commencement Archive Associate Editor
  • Free Clinic Research Collective Associate Editor
  • MSPress Journal Associate Editor
  • MSPress Blog Associate Editor & Copy Editor
General Team applications accepted on a rolling basis. These roles include:
  • Editor
  • Blogger
  • Peer Reviewer
VISIT THE MSPRESS TEAM APPLICATION HERE: http://themspress.org/team-application.html
Categories
MSPress Announcements

100th MSPress Blog Post

We have reached the 100th MSPress Blog post! This publication established the MSPress as an active international publishing group. The first MSPress piece published was posted via our blog on March 30th, 2014, kick-starting the scholarly expression of medical students worldwide.

Since then, the MSPress Blog has grown tremendously. Beginning with two medical students, we are now a team of over 80 editors, writers, and reviewers. What started as a collaboration between the University of Rochester SOM and University of Central Florida COM, now also includes schools such as: Johns Hopkins, Brown, Cardiff (UK), Case Western, Cornell, Georgetown, and the University of Zagreb and University of Split (Croatia).

Our platform has enabled medical students from across the world to collaborate and express their talents, experiences, and passions in a broad array of fantastic publications. A few MSPress Blog pieces that exemplify our diverse works include:  Stephanie Wang’s reflective “Poem about Pain”, and Gunjan Sharma’s plea for more humanity in dealing with patients in “Dear Doctor“, Aryan Sarparast’s exuberant and perceptive slam poetry video on imposter syndrome, and Tony Sun’s pieces drawing parallels between Moby Dick and medical school. The quality of the MSPress Blog is in a large part due to the dedication and passionate work of Dr. Marija Kusulja, The MSPress Blog Associate Editor. Thanks to Dr. Kusulja and the rest of our team, our posts are reaching an ever expanding audience!

We thank you for your continued support as a member of the MSPress community. We look forward to the promising future of the MSPress and the expression of medical student dialogue and research through open-access publishing.

Gabriel Glaun

The Medical Student Press, Co-Founder and Executive Editor

Apply to become a member of the MSPress!

Check out our other innovative projects!

Categories
General MSPress Announcements Public Health Reflection

“Fulfillment in Practice”: Dr. Howard K. Koh, 2015 Commencement Address of the Yale School of Medicine

We are excited to publish the final contributor to this year’s Commencement Archive, Dr. Koh’s 2015 commencement speech to the Yale School of Medicine, “Finding your calling.”

Howard Kyongju Koh is the former United States Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  

Screen Shot 2015-10-06 at 8.08.49 PMDr. Koh oversaw the HHS Office of Public Health and Science, the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, and the Office of the Surgeon General. At the Office of Public Health and Science, he spearheaded programs related to disease prevention, health promotion, the reduction of health disparities, women’s and minority health, HIV/AIDS, vaccine programs, physical fitness and sports, bioethics, population affairs, blood supply, research integrity and human research protections.

Dr. Koh graduated from Yale College and earned his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine. He has earned board certification in four medical fields: internal medicine, hematology, medical oncology, and dermatology, as well as a Master of Public Health degree from Boston University. 

Dr. Koh previously served as the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health, Associate Dean for Public Health Practice, and Director of the Division of Public Health Practice at the Harvard School of Public Health.  

Dr. Koh begins his speech by advising students to find meaning and fulfillment in medicine, regardless of external expectations,

“Please listen carefully to your inner soul so that you can discover your own sacred calling.  Doing so will help you express yourself, not just prove yourself. Doing so will help you determine in your life what is ultimate versus what is merely important.”

He continues by reminding students that patients will be teachers as well, and may be key factors in finding that calling,

“One way to learn more about meaning through your journey is to respect how your patients find meaning in their own. They can teach you in unexpected and profound ways. Sometimes the patients who will educate you the most will be the ones you couldn’t cure, no matter how hard you tried.”

He concludes and advises students to enjoy every step of the way,

“So please pay great attention to how you live your lives, not just as doctors, but as individual human beings.”

Visit the Medical Commencement Archive to read Dr. Koh’s full speech here

Categories
General Mentorship MSPress Announcements

“Going Forth with Compassion” Dr. Ruth Lawrence, 2015 Commencement Address of the University of Rochester School of Medicine

This week, Dr. Ruth Lawrence’s 2015 commencement speech at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry entitled, “Going Forth with Compassion,” debuts the Medical Commencement Archive. This address was a personal favorite to read and a great reminder for those of us still studying in our medical school caves, as well as those starting their life in residency.

Dr. LawrenceDr. Ruth A. Lawrence, MD, is a graduate of Antioch College and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. She is a pediatrician, clinical toxicologist and neonatologist. She is Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Medical Director of both the Ruth A. Lawrence Poison and Drug Information Center and of the Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Study Center. She became the Director of the Poison Center at the University of Rochester in 1958 and wrote on the management of household poisonings with Dr. Robert Haggerty, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and former Director of the Boston Poison Center. She has been a member of the New York State Association of Poison Centers since its founding and has served as its President twice. In 2002, Dr. Lawrence received the Life Time Achievement Award from the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology.

Dr. Lawrence begins her speech with the almost-intimidating reality of graduating from medical school:

“You are about to embark on the most challenging year ever.  Medical school pales by comparison because before you were the student, you were there to learn but it was someone else’s responsibility.  In a few weeks, you will be the doctor of record, what you do may save a life, solve a problem, or change the course of an illness.”

She reminds the class that despite the advances in technology, treatment plans and hospital protocols, and despite the efficiency of a quick reference to “Google,” nothing will ever replace the significance of simply listening to your patient and being compassionate.

“The key to being a good doctor is to really care about your patient.  The science will come and go, but the best doctors understand people, REAL people, and are good communicators. Listen when patients talk, listen completely.”

Dr. Lawrence concluded by reciting a short quote:

The purpose in life is not to be happy, it is to matter

To be productive and responsible

To be honorable

To be dedicated to goals higher than self

To have it make some difference that you lived at all.

Click here to enjoy Dr. Lawrence’s full address.

Categories
General MSPress Announcements

“More Than a Diagnostic Code” Dr. C. Garrison Fathman, 2015 Commencement Address of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Screen Shot 2015-08-26 at 7.47.02 PMThis week, Dr. C. Garrison Fathman’s 2015 commencement address at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis entitled, “More Than a Diagnostic Code” debuts via the Medical Commencement Archive.

Dr. Fathman is a Professor of Medicine in Immunology and Rheumatology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Fathman received his M.D. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1969, completed his residency at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in 1971 and his fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine in 1973.

He is currently the Director of the Center for Clinical Immunology at Stanford and Division Chief of Immunology and Rheumatology, and a former President of the Clinical Immunology Society and the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies.

Dr. Fathman’s primary research focus in molecular and cellular immunology continues to lead the way in discovering the mechanisms of T-cell anergy and the pathophysiology and immunotherapy of preclinical animal models of autoimmune disease.

Dr. Fathman begins his speech by recollecting a somewhat nerve-wracking situation in his medical school rotation and reflecting on the importance of remaining humble in the face of knowledge:

“…you have an abundance of knowledge gained over the years of study already committed to this profession, but a dearth of practical experience. It is critical that as you enter into practice, you maintain a sense of humility in your knowledge as you interact with your patient.”

He continues by describing the dramatic changes in medicine as technology surges to the forefront of patient care, and encourages students to interact with patients physically and emotionally instead of simply recording information into a computer:

“…you must remember that the more skilled you become, the more specialized you become, and the more dependent on technology you become, the easier it becomes to lose your humanity by discarding your compassion and connectivity with your patient. You must continually strive to maintain your compassion and connectivity with your patient. This will allow you to maintain your humanity.”

He closes by reminding student to embrace the uncertainty of science and the opportunities it opens:

“Trust the education you received at this internationally esteemed medical school to help you make the right probability-based decisions, but don’t stop learning; continuing education is a life long requirement of the medical profession.”

Categories
MSPress Announcements

“Building a People-Centered Health Care System” Dr. Richard Gilfillan, 2015 Commencement Address of Georgetown University School of Medicine

This week, Dr. Richard Gilfillan’s 2015 commencement speech at Georgetown University School of Medicine entitled, “Building a People-Centered Health Care System” debuts on the Medical Commencement Archive.

Screen Shot 2015-08-14 at 10.16.35 PMDr. Gilfillan has been a leader in U.S. health care for over 25 years, developing organizations to deliver stronger health outcomes. Gilfillan began his career as a family medicine physician and later became a medical director and a chief medical officer. He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Georgetown University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

He launched and became the first director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) in 2010 and worked with payers and providers to develop innovative models for improving patient care and reducing costs.

He is currently the President and CEO of Trinity Health, the $13.5 billion Catholic health system that serves communities in 21 states with 86 hospitals, 126 continuing care facilities and home health and hospice programs that provide more than 2.2 million visits annually.

Dr. Gilfillan’s speech revolves around the idea of innovating opportunities for bringing health care to as many people as possible in the country.

“Taking the perspective of a person or family being cared for in our system we ask ourselves how would we choose priorities, design the lab, or set visiting hours sensibly? We integrate the resulting ideas into our conversation. Doing this significantly expands our thinking and will lead to better decisions.”

He concludes by advising the graduating class to incorporate five principles into their daily encounters with patients and hospital staff:

“Be humble. Be curious. Be bold.Laugh a lot, enjoy your work, and celebrate your team.And remember that listening well to your patients is the starting point of great patient care.”

Read Dr. Gilfillan’s speech and the rest of the Archive here: The Medical Commencement Archive

Categories
General MSPress Announcements

“The Compassionate Physician Discoverer” Dr. Barry Coller, 2015 Commencement Address of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

This week, Dr. Barry Coller’s 2015 commencement speech at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine entitled, “The Compassionate Physician Discoverer” debuts via the Medical Commencement Archive.

Screen Shot 2015-08-13 at 3.07.39 PMDr. Coller is a respected educator and a leader in hematological research. He graduated from Columbia College in 1966, received his M.D. from New York University School of Medicine in 1970 and completed his residency in internal medicine at Bellevue Hospital and advanced training in hematology and clinical pathology at the National Institute of Health. He is currently the David Rockefeller Professor of Medicine, the Head of Laboratory of Blood and Vascular Biology, Physician-in-Chief of The Rockefeller University Hospital, and Vice President for Medical Affairs at The Rockefeller University. He also serves as the founding Director of the Rockefeller University Center for Clinical and Translational Science. Dr. Coller’s research interests have focused on hemostasis and thrombosis, in particular platelet physiology. He helped developed abciximab which, to date, has treated over five million patients – I’m sure we’ve all heard that drug in pharmacology many times!

Dr. Coller began his address by reflecting upon, what he believes, are the two pillars of medicine: science and humanism.

“The expert physician has a comprehensive and deep scientific understanding of the causes of illness and the rational basis of disease prevention and therapy; the compassionate physician applies that knowledge with sensitivity to the unique needs and circumstances of a single complex individual.”

He further explains that medical humanism has five core elements: the preciousness of human life, respecting and protecting a patient’s dignity, celebrating human diversity, sympathetic appreciation of the complexity of the human condition and lastly, a commitment to social justice, universal access to medical care, and global responsibility.

Of course, a leader in research will not fail to emphasize the importance of furthering science:

“…I appeal to each of you to be a medical discoverer by which I mean applying the scientific method to address a health need… you live in an age of ever faster technologic change, much of which meets the criterion of disruptive innovation, wherein new technology does not simply improve on previous technology, but forces radical transformation.”

At the end of his speech, Dr. Coller concludes with this piece of wisdom:

“Art, literature, poetry, theater, and cinema help you keep the patient’s perspective before your eyes, but nothing is as good as really listening to your own patients, sympathetically hearing their life story, and learning what they have teach you. And nothing is as rewarding.”