Doctors, like people, are all different. Why must we admit medical students based on a cookie-cutter approach that assumes all doctors must be the same? We did that 3-4 decades ago and we trained highly introverted physicians with no people skills who don’t like sick people. I’d take a gal who trained as a painter with a stellar bedside manner over the biochemistry major who treats me like an idiot any day that ends in -day, provided they are both competent clinicians. Sometimes I think medical school interviewers think that every candidate needs to be like them.
Great read, I will be cheering for you. As a traditional gamer, I’m glad I was open to new identities & fought to keep old ones (eg 10pm soccer games before med school exams). I suspect the power of the pen will be protective in preserving yours. Fwiw the grind of always learning more - even if it doesn’t *yet* expand a life or literary perspective - is worth it. Medicine is so hard, and so rewarding.
I'm glad this gentleman got into Cornell. But I guess I'm more concerned about the pre-med students who go to a state university because they can't afford a prestigious Ivy League school, and apply straight out of college because they can't afford a gap year,
It is such a shame that wanting to become a physician now entails carefully buffing one’s CV to demonstrate interests that one doesn’t really have — interests that have nothing to do with being a good doctor.
It only gets worse when medical students compete for residencies: it has become so difficult for programs to differentiate applicants based on grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities, that programs have resorted to counting publications - in medical school! (See Rachel Wolfson’s work: https://academic.oup.com/academicmedicine/article/98/10/1185/8344889 - “Residency Program Directors’ Views on Research Conducted During Medical School: A National Survey”)
More power to the exceptional undergrads who don’t fit the cookie cutter description of the so-called “ideal” med student. Medicine will be much better off for them.
In this era of focus on “diversity”, yours is the type of diversity among med school applicants that we could use more of.
Publications by first year med students are useless bunk that no potential doc should aspire to, and no med school program should prioritize. And most of the science stuff is something you can teach any half-motivated monkey, not to mention it’s literally what the 4 years are meant for.
So although the counterfactuals are unknowable, I think you will be well served by your grounding in the humanities and be well-positioned to pick up the “art” of medicine. Plus it makes you a far more interesting person than a kid who stared at jars during all their free time in undergrad.
Pradz , I can tell you right now from the perspective of someone close to the end of her career that extra hours in the lab during your younger years is not what gets you through the rest of your life and your career with your mind and soul intact . I did the same as you - chemistry degree with everything else not required focused around Italian language , art history , and instrumental music . Someone broke up with me in college because he thought I “ read too many novels “ - good riddance . I just had a great conversation with a patient in triage ( who happened to teach piano ) about strategies in approaching a Brahms intermezzo - it really helped facilitate my care for her ( she relaxed ) and I got a free piano lesson . At 3 am on call and tragedies you can’t fix are going down you will call on the humanities , not a research paper , to give you solace . All the best to you - Cornell is lucky to get you .
This is a great essay, and I hope it encourages other pre-meds to follow their unique, God-given interests on their path to medical school. It sounds like Mr. Sapre will be a great, well-rounded doctor.
Who wouldn’t take this brilliant young man? I just hope the next 7+ year grind doesn’t burn him out. From his writing I’d bet on him succeeding. The best to him.
God bless him and I wish him great success, but it’s all a lie! I mean the so-called embrace of humanities by top med schools. I went to such a program too, very similar background, and these people - as shown most clearly to the world during Covid, but apparent before then in a million other ways - are soulless group-thinking robots.
If they are even remotely aware of any of the great literature about medical ideas, from Hawthorne to Wilde, it is only to mine it for the bad guys’ most dystopic ideas, without so much as a moment’s thought of the consequences.
As I wrote long ago about a debate in which Dr Prasad was a lonely voice of reason:
“One of the enduring questions in modern medicine is whether our leading minds are pig-ignorant or outright evil. We have so many classic works of literature illustrating the moral dangers of scientific hubris. Yet doctors keep walking up to flashing neon doorways marked “Hubris! Hubris! Hubris!” and entering without a moment’s pause. Is this real life, or a Bad Idea Jeans commercial? I can’t figure it out: have our nation’s smartest doctors never heard of these books, or do they read them only to get ideas about terrifying new doorways to enter?“
I hope this essay is read by many future applicants - as well as current students and educators. The padding of CV’s with papers and abstracts does no service to one’s ability to be a doctor, which is as much about art and caring as about science. I shared a similar path to you - my experiences and interests continue to serve me well as a doctor. Best of luck!
Really nice essay. Definitely resonated with me, as I came to medical school with similar interests! Over the years, I’ve found the medicine stuff progressively more interesting, some of my more arcane humanities interests progressively … obscure (and at times, pretentious). But I don’t regret the untraditional pathway one bit.
Good for you...
Drive on!
Doctors, like people, are all different. Why must we admit medical students based on a cookie-cutter approach that assumes all doctors must be the same? We did that 3-4 decades ago and we trained highly introverted physicians with no people skills who don’t like sick people. I’d take a gal who trained as a painter with a stellar bedside manner over the biochemistry major who treats me like an idiot any day that ends in -day, provided they are both competent clinicians. Sometimes I think medical school interviewers think that every candidate needs to be like them.
Great article! I wish you the best. Dr. City, I think you just met your new best friend.
Sorry Dr. Cifu. Auto correct gets me every time!
Great read, I will be cheering for you. As a traditional gamer, I’m glad I was open to new identities & fought to keep old ones (eg 10pm soccer games before med school exams). I suspect the power of the pen will be protective in preserving yours. Fwiw the grind of always learning more - even if it doesn’t *yet* expand a life or literary perspective - is worth it. Medicine is so hard, and so rewarding.
I'm glad this gentleman got into Cornell. But I guess I'm more concerned about the pre-med students who go to a state university because they can't afford a prestigious Ivy League school, and apply straight out of college because they can't afford a gap year,
It is such a shame that wanting to become a physician now entails carefully buffing one’s CV to demonstrate interests that one doesn’t really have — interests that have nothing to do with being a good doctor.
It only gets worse when medical students compete for residencies: it has become so difficult for programs to differentiate applicants based on grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities, that programs have resorted to counting publications - in medical school! (See Rachel Wolfson’s work: https://academic.oup.com/academicmedicine/article/98/10/1185/8344889 - “Residency Program Directors’ Views on Research Conducted During Medical School: A National Survey”)
More power to the exceptional undergrads who don’t fit the cookie cutter description of the so-called “ideal” med student. Medicine will be much better off for them.
I enjoyed your Referendum and your perspective. About 30 years ago I pondered some of the issues you explore. Check out http://userwebs.inreach.com/famdoc/artfulscience.html
In this era of focus on “diversity”, yours is the type of diversity among med school applicants that we could use more of.
Publications by first year med students are useless bunk that no potential doc should aspire to, and no med school program should prioritize. And most of the science stuff is something you can teach any half-motivated monkey, not to mention it’s literally what the 4 years are meant for.
So although the counterfactuals are unknowable, I think you will be well served by your grounding in the humanities and be well-positioned to pick up the “art” of medicine. Plus it makes you a far more interesting person than a kid who stared at jars during all their free time in undergrad.
Good luck with your training.
Pradz , I can tell you right now from the perspective of someone close to the end of her career that extra hours in the lab during your younger years is not what gets you through the rest of your life and your career with your mind and soul intact . I did the same as you - chemistry degree with everything else not required focused around Italian language , art history , and instrumental music . Someone broke up with me in college because he thought I “ read too many novels “ - good riddance . I just had a great conversation with a patient in triage ( who happened to teach piano ) about strategies in approaching a Brahms intermezzo - it really helped facilitate my care for her ( she relaxed ) and I got a free piano lesson . At 3 am on call and tragedies you can’t fix are going down you will call on the humanities , not a research paper , to give you solace . All the best to you - Cornell is lucky to get you .
This is a great essay, and I hope it encourages other pre-meds to follow their unique, God-given interests on their path to medical school. It sounds like Mr. Sapre will be a great, well-rounded doctor.
Who wouldn’t take this brilliant young man? I just hope the next 7+ year grind doesn’t burn him out. From his writing I’d bet on him succeeding. The best to him.
God bless him and I wish him great success, but it’s all a lie! I mean the so-called embrace of humanities by top med schools. I went to such a program too, very similar background, and these people - as shown most clearly to the world during Covid, but apparent before then in a million other ways - are soulless group-thinking robots.
If they are even remotely aware of any of the great literature about medical ideas, from Hawthorne to Wilde, it is only to mine it for the bad guys’ most dystopic ideas, without so much as a moment’s thought of the consequences.
As I wrote long ago about a debate in which Dr Prasad was a lonely voice of reason:
“One of the enduring questions in modern medicine is whether our leading minds are pig-ignorant or outright evil. We have so many classic works of literature illustrating the moral dangers of scientific hubris. Yet doctors keep walking up to flashing neon doorways marked “Hubris! Hubris! Hubris!” and entering without a moment’s pause. Is this real life, or a Bad Idea Jeans commercial? I can’t figure it out: have our nation’s smartest doctors never heard of these books, or do they read them only to get ideas about terrifying new doorways to enter?“
https://gaty.substack.com/p/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-is-not
Anyway, good luck - but watch your back!
I hope this essay is read by many future applicants - as well as current students and educators. The padding of CV’s with papers and abstracts does no service to one’s ability to be a doctor, which is as much about art and caring as about science. I shared a similar path to you - my experiences and interests continue to serve me well as a doctor. Best of luck!
Really nice essay. Definitely resonated with me, as I came to medical school with similar interests! Over the years, I’ve found the medicine stuff progressively more interesting, some of my more arcane humanities interests progressively … obscure (and at times, pretentious). But I don’t regret the untraditional pathway one bit.
I have seen great doctors from marginal programs.
I have seen marginal doctors from great programs.
The real Doctor is within YOU.