The OSA Insider

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.

The Affordable Care Act - and what might happen to it - has been all over the news lately. In this episode, we explain the basics of the ACA, some of its successes and challenges, and what the future might hold for health care coverage in the United States. This is part 1 of an ongoing health policy conversation featuring Dr. Norman Retener, a hospitalist and medical educator at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Come for the important topic; stay because Norman makes it fun and easy to understand.

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.

Four years ago, we learned that the USMLE Step 1 exam would become graded on a Pass/Fail basis, rather than each student receiving a 3-digit score. We covered this change in episode 54 of The OSA Insider, featuring an interview with national expert Dr. J. Bryan Carmody. This change went live in January 2022, and we can't help but wonder: where do things stand today? Why did this switch to P/F happen in the first place? Are things better? How are med students feeling about Step 1, anxiety-wise? And how is the UMSOM responding to the current moment? Dr. Nirav Shah and Dr. Devang Patel answer all of these questions and more in their conversation with host Dr. Neda Frayha.

Resources:

• UMSOM OME page on USMLE Prep
• The Pass/Fail Effect: A Longitudinal Study of USMLE Step 1 Performance Over a Decade

What do you do if you need help with something in medical school, or you have a question about life in Baltimore, and you don't quite feel like asking a faculty member? That's what the Peer Support Network is for. Two almost-fourth-year students, Alanna Stefano and Nicol Tugarinov, share everything you need to know about the Peer Support Network - what it is, how to become involved, how peer support leaders are trained, the kinds of questions they're happy to help with, and so much more.

Resource:

The Peer Support Network from the OSA Academic Handbook