We are continuing our series on fourth-year students pursuing creative, slightly nontraditional paths to achieving their long-term career goals, this time with MS4 Manaahil Rao. She will be taking a gap year in between med school and residency. What will she be doing? How does she hope this experience will help her as a physician? And will she really come back to clinical training? Listen in for answers to all these questions and more. The road to being a physician is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor, as you'll hear in this episode.
After our episode featuring SOM alum Dr. Alice Chen's career at the FDA and NIH, MS4 Chloe Snow reached out to us to share that she, too, would be choosing a nonclinical path after medical school. In Chloe's case, she'll be pursuing a career in management consulting. She shares how she came to this decision, what she'll be doing, and how to embrace a career path that may be a little bit different from what everyone else is doing. Spoiler alert: she is so excited for what comes next! Her experiences and wisdom are relevant to any major life decision, clinical or otherwise.
Imagine being a 4th year student and deciding that you're not going to pursue a clinical career. How much courage that would take, especially when everyone around you is applying to residency programs. Today, we get to meet Dr. Alice Chen, a UMSOM graduate who found herself in this exact position several years ago. She shares her story in this episode, including how her career has evolved since med school graduation, as well as incredible advice when it comes to making any major life decision. This episode is part of our ongoing series on SOM alumni who pursued fulfilling, fascinating, nontraditional careers after graduating from medical school.
Life is full of difficult decisions. So is a medical career. From specialty choices to residency program rank lists to job possibilities, the road of hard decisions can feel endless. Dr. Nikki Southall recently made a difficult choice in her career, and she shares her approach to decision-making with us. Let's gather some information, lean on the wisdom of others, and get comfortable with some discomfort.
One of the most requested topics for this podcast is how to pick a specialty. In this episode, our last of 2017, we begin a conversation about how to choose a career path. Our guest is Dr. Beth Lamos, an endocrinologist and future faculty member in the OSA! Also in this episode: a personal announcement from our host and producer, Dr. Frayha. Wishing all our listeners a happy holiday season and a joyful, healthy 2018!
Dr. Nirav Shah wears many hats: course director, fellowship program director, pulmonologist, intensivist, and researcher, not to mention husband, father, and an active member of his community of friends and family. His path to medicine started off with a major setback, and his positive attitude and work ethic have propelled him forward ever since. In this episode, we'll get to know Dr. Shah and learn about his career decisions, important mentors who've helped him, and how he finds meaning and joy in his life.
The road to fulfillment – personal and professional – is filled with surprises. Dr. Devang Patel, an Infectious Diseases physician and preclinical course director at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, had many unexpected a-ha moments along his career path. At each twist and turn, he was open to possibility. He embraced new adventures and learned as much as possible from different mentors. He shares with us how he made major life decisions and followed his passion along the way.
Life as a med student and then physician is full of big decisions. Should you stay where you are? Or should you go someplace different? We’re starting a new series about this special fork in the road, where we’ll learn how physicians make these choices in their own lives. The first person we’ll hear from is Dr. Bob Shin, a neuroophthalmologist and MS expert who just went through a major career change himself. His advice about decision-making is funny, wise, and down-to-earth. Find out why he doesn't recommend following in his footsteps.