How to Become a Psychiatrist

The stigma against mental illness is slowly decreasing in the US. More and more, patients seek care for mental illnesses, increasing the need for mental health providers. This leaves curious high school and pre-medical students wondering what it takes to become a care provider for patients with mental illness. Therapy, psychology, social work, nursing, physician assisting, and psychiatry are just a few examples of career options available to those who want to work in behavioral and/or mental health settings. This post outlines the educational steps needed to become a psychiatrist. Let’s start by defining what a psychiatrist does A psychiatrist…

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Tips to Make the Residency Interview Trail A Fun Process

The residency interview trail can be rough. However, if you’re proactive in your planning, the residency interview trail can actually be a lot of fun! (Or at least as fun as job recruiting can be). Below are five tips that can allow you to actually have fun as you interview for residency, based on my experiences with the residency interview trail so far. 1. Don’t schedule too many residency interviews This first tip is easier said than done given the neurotic tendencies of most medical students, but it’s probably the simplest way to ensure that you don’t burn out during the…

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Physicians for a National Health Program: Reflections on the 2018 Annual Meeting

A few months ago, a Penn Med classmate sent out an email over the medical school list serves to inform his peers of the upcoming Annual Meeting of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP). In his email, my classmate noted two key bits of information. First, he described the meeting as a great opportunity to learn about how physicians around the country have formed a coalition in support of a single-payer national healthcare system in the US. Second, he mentioned that there was an opportunity to receive a scholarship to attend the meeting in San Diego. The opportunity to…

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Taking a gap year before medical school

The traditional path to becoming a physician in the US includes 4 years of undergraduate training, 4 years of medical school, and 3+ years of residency and fellowship training. It’s a LONG journey. However, the non-traditional path has become the norm as more and more students decide to take a gap year before medical school. In fact, the gap year has really become gap years as the average age of first-year medical students is now 24. This means that on average, premedical students take a 2-3 year break between undergrad and medical school. Because there are soooo many ways to…

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