Post by drdrizzle on Mar 24, 2007 10:01:45 GMT -5
One of the easiest things you can do is submit an abstract for the ACP (American College of Physicians. That the most important organization for internists. Practically every internist is a member) The start of every third year medicine clerkship Dr. Szerlip usually encourages us to send in an abstract. But he says no one listens. In fact, he told me that the main reason that he makes you write a clinical vignette is that he hopes some of you will send it in. But hardly anyone does. And I don’t understand why either. I sent in two and both were accepted at the National ACP Meeting at the student level. When you interview, they make a big deal about it. But I laugh on the inside, b/c it took me hardly any work at all. They like it b/c it shows you have some interest in scholarly activities and that you are really interested in internal medicine. In my opinion, at the student level, the ACP takes practically any case. I think they are just encouraging you to be interested in IM. However, I was told by the program director at UAB, who sits on the board that selects student abstracts, that it is competitive. At the resident level, it is VERY competitive, I have heard, probably b/c people are trying to get fellowships.
This is how it works: all you have to do is send in a abstract aka clinical vignette. Similar to the format that Dr. Szerlip makes you guys write. The deadline for the state and national meeting is in oct/nov so taking medicine early your third year will be your only chance that year. Check the ACP website for details. But you can do it your fourth year. A girl a year ahead of me did it her fourth year. She is now at Beth Israel Deaconess for medicine. So really it takes only a half a day’s work to write up a 750 word abstract. They will take anything at the state meeting. But always send it to the national meeting too. I choose only the national meeting (Dr. Fincher is president of the Ga chapter and wasn’t happy about that). Then in a few months you will hear from them. Only if it is accepted do you then start making a poster. So the only investment you have to make is to write a abstract. That’s it. That’s why its so easy. Doing a poster will take you a couple of full days, but you dont have to worry about that until you know you are going. I got like $750 from the school and GA chapter of the ACP. The national meeting was in philly that year and it was great. They have special lectures geared towards students that give advice on things we care about. They also had a residency fair. And then I pocketed like $150 left over. The poster are judged. If you chosen a finalist that’s even better.
Im a third year, and this is my first day on the wards, how do I know if I have a good case? Simple. Your attendings or residents will tell you. When you present your patient on rounds, if they say anything like, “that’s interesting, I haven’t seen that very often” or if it’s a case they have to read up on b/c they don’t know too much about it, alarm bells should off. Your patient doesn’t have to have a once in a lifetime pathology. It can also be a different spin or a unique aspect of management on a common problem. That’s why doing medicine rotations at MCG vs the VA is better. You are more likely to see interesting pathology. It will not be hard to find a case on your month there. On my month, I sent two to the ACP, and the other student sent one to the Ga ACP and got it published. The MOST important part of all this is that you have to recognize that you may have something worthwhile while the patient is in the hospital, preferably on the first day of admission or as soon as an interesting complication develops. Spend like a half hour researching the case if you are not sure. Then you have to get a COMPLETE H&P. After researching, ask the patient all the things you didn’t know to ask. The judges will ask you difficult questions. For example, “I read that eating a lot of carrots is associated with this condition. How do you know your patient didn’t get this by drinking a lot of V-8?” Then you can reply, “Because I asked her!” Pictures are important and they look good in a poster or publication. Go home for lunch and grab your camera THAT day. You may have cured her by the next day. Get copies of H and Ps, MRN #s, CT images etc, and patient’s phone number for follow up. Then just wait to see what happens. All this may seem like a lot of work, but if you like IM, it will be very exciting. Get permission from your attending before you start writing your abstract. After all, it is his/her patient. But don’t expect much help. You don’t need it anyways. Work on your vignette as soon as you can so you can get feedback from the resident. And he/she might see that you put some work into this and might want to send it for publication. That’s a bonus. But you can send it to the ACP even if sent for publication. Also get a chief resident to read over it and help you when you need to finally send it out. They will be happy to do it and medical student education is part of their job.
MCG usually has like one student get a poster accepted every year. I think we can easily get more. The school would be very happy esp Dr. Fincher.
This is how it works: all you have to do is send in a abstract aka clinical vignette. Similar to the format that Dr. Szerlip makes you guys write. The deadline for the state and national meeting is in oct/nov so taking medicine early your third year will be your only chance that year. Check the ACP website for details. But you can do it your fourth year. A girl a year ahead of me did it her fourth year. She is now at Beth Israel Deaconess for medicine. So really it takes only a half a day’s work to write up a 750 word abstract. They will take anything at the state meeting. But always send it to the national meeting too. I choose only the national meeting (Dr. Fincher is president of the Ga chapter and wasn’t happy about that). Then in a few months you will hear from them. Only if it is accepted do you then start making a poster. So the only investment you have to make is to write a abstract. That’s it. That’s why its so easy. Doing a poster will take you a couple of full days, but you dont have to worry about that until you know you are going. I got like $750 from the school and GA chapter of the ACP. The national meeting was in philly that year and it was great. They have special lectures geared towards students that give advice on things we care about. They also had a residency fair. And then I pocketed like $150 left over. The poster are judged. If you chosen a finalist that’s even better.
Im a third year, and this is my first day on the wards, how do I know if I have a good case? Simple. Your attendings or residents will tell you. When you present your patient on rounds, if they say anything like, “that’s interesting, I haven’t seen that very often” or if it’s a case they have to read up on b/c they don’t know too much about it, alarm bells should off. Your patient doesn’t have to have a once in a lifetime pathology. It can also be a different spin or a unique aspect of management on a common problem. That’s why doing medicine rotations at MCG vs the VA is better. You are more likely to see interesting pathology. It will not be hard to find a case on your month there. On my month, I sent two to the ACP, and the other student sent one to the Ga ACP and got it published. The MOST important part of all this is that you have to recognize that you may have something worthwhile while the patient is in the hospital, preferably on the first day of admission or as soon as an interesting complication develops. Spend like a half hour researching the case if you are not sure. Then you have to get a COMPLETE H&P. After researching, ask the patient all the things you didn’t know to ask. The judges will ask you difficult questions. For example, “I read that eating a lot of carrots is associated with this condition. How do you know your patient didn’t get this by drinking a lot of V-8?” Then you can reply, “Because I asked her!” Pictures are important and they look good in a poster or publication. Go home for lunch and grab your camera THAT day. You may have cured her by the next day. Get copies of H and Ps, MRN #s, CT images etc, and patient’s phone number for follow up. Then just wait to see what happens. All this may seem like a lot of work, but if you like IM, it will be very exciting. Get permission from your attending before you start writing your abstract. After all, it is his/her patient. But don’t expect much help. You don’t need it anyways. Work on your vignette as soon as you can so you can get feedback from the resident. And he/she might see that you put some work into this and might want to send it for publication. That’s a bonus. But you can send it to the ACP even if sent for publication. Also get a chief resident to read over it and help you when you need to finally send it out. They will be happy to do it and medical student education is part of their job.
MCG usually has like one student get a poster accepted every year. I think we can easily get more. The school would be very happy esp Dr. Fincher.