Professionalism and I: A Controversial Publication

In Editorial, Opinion by Brent Thoma9 Comments

I was on my way home from work last night when I checked twitter. 13 mentions in an hour – that’s kind of crazy (for me anyways). What could have sparked that? It took me a second to piece together the conversation. When I did, I found that Eve Purdy, a medical student, twitter-friend and colleague of mine, had posted a link to an article that I had written more than 4 years …

Interview Inducing Elective Behavior

In Mentorship by Brent Thoma2 Comments

  In response to my post on reference letters (The Reference Letter Triple Crown), one of my favorite bloggers Facebooked me the following request (note, she also plays the “Would you rather” game!): I would rather lick a public toilet seat than have to ask someone for a reference letter. I apparently went into the wrong profession to have that personality trait. Any tips on getting over the awkwardness?? As I’d rather she …

The Reference Letter Triple Crown

In CaRMS Guide, Mentorship by Brent Thoma12 Comments

Interviews for the Canadian Residency Matching Service (CaRMS) are over and they were as difficult as ever. One thing nobody appreciates on the medical student side of the CaRMS equation is how difficult it is for the programs to come up with our rank list. The applicants this year were spectacular and ranking them was more difficult than splitting hairs. Fortunately, the depth of the applicants makes us confident that we will be …