Match Stats for IMGs

24,034 PGY1 spots offered in 2012 Match

Of 11,134 IMGs in the 2012 Match, 4,886 (43.9%) matched

6,828 IMG, not U.S. citizens, 2,775 (40.6%) obtained first-year positions

4,279 U.S. citizen IMG, 2,102 (49.1%) matched to first-year positions

Although majority of PGY-1 positions in the are filled through the Match, a significant number of IMG applicants obtain positions outside of the Match or pre-matched (as high as 2400 in past years)

Lecture Notes - Eating for Weight Loss

Seems so simple to eat right, until we start that migration in the back and forth loop called the grocery store. I'm struck by how little there is to eat that is really good for you and that was emphasized by a great talk I hear tonight on eating for nourishment, weight loss, health and longevity.

Besides working out every single day to assist the body musculature to burn calories and circulate nutrients, it's important to know what you have to have and what you can't have in your consumption.

Proposed possible "program" diet for weight loss (when added to exercise) with dense nutritional value:

Daily eats: nuts (Brazilian and almonds mostly, roasted ok, salt free best), dark greens (kale, turnip, dark lettuce, etc), carrots, green tea (loose coffee pressed with a small hit of agaves to sweeten, hot or cold, Japanese), whole grains (soluble fibers in oatmeal, barley, tabouli, quinoa, and brown rice) and fruits (darker, purple the better; blueberries, strawberries, grapes, melons, papaya etc)

3x per week: Oily fish (sardines, mackerel, tuna, wild salmon, black cod or rainbow trout; U.S. and fresh or frozen best; no Asian seafood), yogurt (mostly milk products and bacteria, limit extras, organic Greek), sweet potatoes (grilled, roasted, baked or dehydrated), avocados, broccoli, cauliflower

1x per week: red meat (includes chicken and pork), white starches (breads, rice, potatoes, etc), desserts, ETOH, almond milk (unsweetened)

NEVER, EVER: canned soups and stews, processed foods, fast foods, "diet" anything (especially diet drinks), regular milk (accomplice food for other foods like cookies and cakes), added granular sugar, added "processed" salts

Then benefits of loosing weight are tremendous and potentially can improve cardiac disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, sleep apnea, cancers, etc., etc.

"Better to smoke and eat better than to eat horribly and not smoke" might be a slight stretch, but we are increasingly what we eat and it's really high time we integrate this in a significant way into our culture and our practice of medicine.

X-ray Eyes, Hands, Shoulders...

(Radiologist): "I feel like hell. My shoulders and wrists are killing me..."

I've been a scut-dog. I was one of the junior staff of a hospital radiology department (for a short time) whose sole job was to serve the senior physicians with whatever they needed. And in radiology, that meant chasing films, finding films, locating jackets, checking in and checking out films and at the most critical time...find a lost film, STAT!!

Then it was necessary to put the film on a large, floor to ceiling box with rollers to "view" the film. It could take minutes, hours sometimes to have a film read and reported to the person ordering the x-ray test. It felt like so, so much work. And it was.

Zipppppppppppppppp...

Fast forward to today. I sit in a dark room, reading radiographs with a senior at lightening speed. And we sit for hours. No chasing films, no looking for jackets, no checking or checking out....those days are long gone. No more long term x-ray storage, processing, chemicals or accounting. We read hundreds of images today that would have taken weeks before. The efficiency of radiographic interpretation and the technology is one of the greatest revolutions in my long medical career. Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) have taken over imaging. It's all about the computer.

 

Now, a radiologist can generate so much work, they can barely keep up with the demand. Computer overuse syndromes are so common among radiologists that some wonder about the value of the average $384,421 per year salary they can receive in exchange for the lifetime of pain in the shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands. The pace is fantastic and it's truly amazing to watch a modern radiologist "whir" through the day.

I walked away today, as other days, with a total "oh wow" experience and an ah ha moment that I could never sit in a dark room, for hours and hours on end, with little human contact, reading radiographs with little insightful information about a patients history, physical exam or differential diagnosis. And a little carpal tunnel to boot.

(Radiologist): "I feel like hell. My shoulders and wrists are killing me...but for $8,000 a week, I'll figure out a way to make this work"

Humbled, again

What a great day of learning!!

It's difficult to go very far in medicine, and not encounter people who are way more smart; filled with retained information, facts and experiences. It seems to happen regularly for me, but sometimes it's just more profound than usual.

Such was the other day, standing at the X-ray box.  And while it's not really a "box" anymore (my grasp at historical anchors), the experience is no less profound. Maybe more so given the technology and "wow" factor.

But the impressive thing to me is that I'll never have those 20-30 years of experience that create profound insight into a craft. That daily slog through medical care, and moreover, dealing with the failures and complications, brings a level of knowledge and skill that cannot be duplicated any other way.

And when one person who has attained this pinnacle shares it with me (or pimps me), I am so, so humbled. And so sad that I there aren't enough days in my career left to attain that. I should have started earlier is the only answer, but "shoulda" doesn't really cover it enough.

In any endeavor in life, practicing the craft is everything to becoming truly facile with the information and application. It's true of fine furniture makers, and true of physicians. The practice is what it's all about. And the more you practice, the more you have to give.

Great knowledge is learned at the X-ray box...uh, I mean the triple screen, color, high definition PACS display unit with the IPad controller and animated 3-D integration technology.

Matched

It's simple. It's straightforward. It's almost inane.

"Congratulations, you have matched".

That's mostly what it said and now we just wait until Friday to hear of the "where" of the equation. There's no telling where it'll be or when it'll start, but knowing that this phase is over is wonderful to know. It's been a strange, at time difficult, amazing journey so far these past 4 years, but it's literally the beginning of the second 1/2.

This is likely going to be an amazing time filled with new learning, new levels of responsibility and renewed view of the past, present and future. It's the thing we have been working for and what it's really all about.

But like any "match", it could be just the beginning of a new fire.

It's the Eve

So here I am, starting a new rotation and waiting on match results to find out where I'll be doing my residency, if any. It's frightening and exciting all the same. Nearing the end of the educational experience of medical school and holding the expectations of being able to move forward with great hope.

The rotation is radiology. Sitting in the dark, with another human being, for hours on end... reading the shadows. The unit secretary said it was "going to the dark side"...literally. But in those shadows is a crucial skill that many take for granted. X-ray, CT, MRI and U/S are extensions of the physical exam to peer inside. I'm excited about it.

Yet, sitting in the dark with another human seems so wrong too.

Good Black Monday Morning

"It's the morning of the match and all through the apartment, not a creature was stirring, not even a zatch."

Ok, so I'll never win any literary awards. But I sorta feel like a zatch at this point.

This is the day, like the NFL draft, that the world of medical students dread and anticipate. For the past 9-12 months the application process, interviews, paperwork etc have the activity level up. It peaks today with the announcement of what these last years of medical school have been all about...matching student preferences with residency program needs, wants and wishes. Today, we'll all get emails from the national match program saying you matched or you didn't.

I believe there are nearly 50,000 people vying for 24,000 some odd positions this year. Knowing that, some will not "match" and will enter the supplemental application process or SOAP for unfilled positions. Then on Friday, the world will hear of "where" we will actually go and train for the next 3-7 years (depending on specialty). But for now, I can only be sure my email and wireless work so I can get the Black Monday message at noon today.

If I "survive" it's a match. If I don't, drive thru at McDonalds seems like a good alternative.