Decidedly Un-Boring Insiders Guide to a Life in Medicine (#DearPreMed)

These editorials were assembled originally in response to a Globe & Mail article that came out on July 15, 2014.  Other very good responses emerged as well, but the BoringEM editorial team launch a 1 week event to aggregate reflections from all across the educational spectrum from various learners & physicians from across Canada. Together, these documents form an organized series of personal reflections that shed light on both the good and the bad within medicine.  Each has been pre-publication peer reviewed by our editorial team, and we hope they represent interesting and unique views of our profession for interested pre-medical students.  (To be honest, they’re probably also good for medical students to read while they are prepping for CaRMS, since most are reflections by emergency medicine community members.) Each piece is a stand alone article written by a single member of the medical community, and represents their views on life in the medical profession.  Some parts are hopeful and optimistic, but others reveal the darker sides of medicine.  As you read them, keep in mind that they are only one opinion. We urge you to get out there and seek out others from practitioners or mentors.  Remember, your experiences will not be the same as ours.  Along your journey you will form your own opinions and your own approaches.

  1. Think medical school is for you? You might be right. Written by Eve Purdy (@purdy_eve), a 4th year Medical Student.
  2. Think medical school is for you? #DearPreMed. Written by Teresa Chan (@TChanMD), a Junior Attending.
  3. Think medical school is for you? Not easy but worth it. Written by Heather Murray (@HeatherM211), a Senior Attending.
  4. So you think Medical school is for you? Good for you! Written by Alim Pardhan (@alimpardhan), an emergency medicine residency Program Director.
  5. Think medical school is for you? Be Brave by Sarah Luckett-Gatopoulos (@SLuckettG), an emergency medicine resident.

Here are additional opinions that floated across the Twitter-sphere responding to the original Globe & Mail Debate article:

– The Globe & Mail response commentary by two Canadian Medical Students (Nina Nguyen, Matthew To)

– A blog post by Chantal Mendes (@Chantal_Mendes) from the @AlmostDocs blog.