Carol Chen

## **How to Enter the Medical Field and Succeed in University**

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> ### **Finding a Career in the Medical Field**
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> #### **Job Prospects in the Medical Field:**
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> 1. Casey, Quentin. “Careers.” *Looking for a Career in Health Care? Choose your Field Carefully*. Last modified. June 9th, 2014. http://business.financialpost.com/executive/careers/looking-for-a-career-in-health-care-choose-your-field-carefully
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> This article thoroughly describes the prospects of certain medical fields in America; the jobs that are getting more competitive and difficult to find nowadays are the jobs related to neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, cardiac surgery, and anesthesiology. For instance, Antony Raikhlin, tells his story about how difficult it was for him to find a job in radiology. This site really made me rethink what types of medical fields I should consider for my subject post and what I should major in in the future.
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> 2. Government of Canada. “Service Canada - People Serving People.” General Practitioners and Family Physicians. Last modified September 2nd, 2014. http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/qc/job\_futures/statistics/3112.shtml
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> > This website illustrates the current job prospects for a list of general practitioners and family physicians by outlining the labour pool growth and current demands for physicians. Currently, the demand for physicians have been growing due to new immigrants, increasing numbers of seniors and new diseases. This site informed me about how Canada really needs more doctors and allowed me to think about how I can potentially fill that role and help society.
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> #### **How to Enter the Medical Field:**
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> 3. Oxford Seminars. “Canadian Medical School Profiles.” *Oxford Seminars*. Accessed November 20th,2015. http://www.oxfordseminars.ca/MCAT/mcat\_profiles.php
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> > This website presents detailed graphs and statistics for medical school GPA requirements, tuition and admission statuses in Canada. These statistics help me to plan out the grades and money that are needed to go to medical school. One chart that I found especially useful was the University of Toronto Medical School, which I plan to apply to in the future:
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> University of Toronto
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> | **Application Deadline:** | **October 1, 2015 (4:30 PM ET).**Note:This is the deadline for OMSAS to receive your initial transcripts and academic documents.
> | **First-Year Class Size:** | 259 (approximately 3,000 applications received annually).
> | **Tuition:** | $23,930.50 (Year One – Domestic Student)
> | **Admissions:** | At least three years of study towards a degree, academic transcripts, MCAT scores, brief personal essays, autobiographical sketches, three letters of reference.
> **Average GPA:** 3.94 (2014). Minimum GPA of 3.6 / 4.0 on the OMSAS scale.
> **Average MCAT:** MCAT 2015 minimum scores of 125 in each of the four sections. If you have written the old MCAT, minimum scores of 9 in each of the three sections (the writing sample score will not be used).
> | **Prerequisite Courses:** | Two full-course equivalents (FCE) in any life science.
> One full-course equivalent (FCE) in any of social sciences, humanities, or a language.
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> 4. Shehata, Kerolus. “Slideshare.” *The Art of Becoming a Doctor*. Accessed November 30th, 2015. http://www.slideshare.net/kerolus/the-art-of-becoming-a-doctor?qid=b2eecd28-1366-4328-8014- 32c79e63e182&v=default&b=&from\_search=3
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> > Shehata’s presentation depicts a clear outline of the work ethic and characteristics of people who are most likely to become doctors, such as perseverance, dedication, hard work ethic, and compassion. The slides also give advice to university-level students about the grades needed, what to expect and how to achieve their goals. Shehata’s slides informed me about the characteristics I need to develop in order to become a doctor, such as learning to solve problems strategically and communicating effectively with different people.
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> ### **How to Succeed in University:**
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> #### **How to Achieve High Grades:**
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> 5. Santos, Diego. “Exam Time.” *Midterms: What You Need to Know to Succeed.* Last modified November 19 2013. https://www.examtime.com/blog/midterms/
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> > Diego’s page provides detailed steps of how students should prepare for midterms and exams to achieve the highest grades possible in university, offering tips on how to organize materials, study at the best place, and memorize key information. This site helped me to prepare for my upcoming final exams efficiently a month in advance, where I can learn my study styles and learn to overcome procrastination. What I found most useful were the sections describing the "Study Planner Tool" and "Mind Map Tools," which allowed me to plan my schedule to study for my finals:
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> https://www.goconqr.com/en/study-planner/
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https://www.goconqr.com/en/mind-maps/
6. Grohol, John M. “Psych Central.” *10 Highly Effective Study* Habits. Last modified December 4th, 2015. http://psychcentral.com/lib/top-10-most-effective-study-habits/

> Psych Central explains ten most effective study habits for university students to achieve the optimal grades: having an optimistic mindset, studying in a quiet space, bringing only useful study material, rewriting notes, practicing with friends, making a schedule, taking breaks, keeping healthy and knowing the expectations for the course. This site helped me to study effectively even during chaotic schedules by thinking positively about my study habits and learning to have a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
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**How to Find Balance between Academics and Extracurricular Activities:**
7. John Hopkins University. “School Life Balance.” *Johns Hopkins University*. Accessed November 30th, 2015. http://jhsap.org/self\_help\_resources/school-life\_balance/

> Johns Hopkins’ student life site advises students on how to manage conflicting demands of school, work and family by suggesting how to be a high achiever and enjoy time with friends at the same time. Some advice that they give include This blog allowed me to realize how to be notice the symptoms of stress and learn how to take time to relax, such as exercising and having social time with friends. One element I found particularly useful was a list showing how one can realize the symptoms of stress:
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Signs of Stress Overload

* Anxiety or panic attacks
* A feeling of being constantly pressured, hassled, and hurried
* Irritability and moodiness
* Physical symptoms such as stomach problems, headaches, or even chest pain
* Allergic reactions, such as eczema or asthma
* Problems sleeping
* Drinking too much, smoking, overeating, or using drugs
* Sadness or depression

8. Gill, Jackasmal. “Forte Foundation.” 4 Ways to Balance Academics and Extracurricular Activities. Last modified November 13th, 2014. http://business360.fortefoundation.org/1799/4-ways-to-balance- academics-and-extracurricular-activities-2

> Gill’s blog describes four main ideas on how to balance academics and extracurricular activities:
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> 1) Prioritizing academics before doing extracurricular activities
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> 2) Developing a schedule one can follow
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> 3) Choosing the most important extracurricular activities
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> 4) Taking breaks when necessary
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> This blog opened my eyes to realize the importance of choosing the right extracurricular activities that should lead me to success and how to schedule time efficiently. I learned how to create a good schedule that I can follow and how to prioritize my time with the extracurricular activities that I have.
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