For many international medical graduates (IMGs), the dream of practicing medicine in the United States is both exciting and intimidating. Each year, thousands of IMGs apply to residency programs, and while the process is competitive, success is very possible with the right preparation, persistence, and strategy. Understanding the eligibility requirements,...

As you begin thinking about residency applications, one of the most important considerations — after specialty interest and training quality — is work-life balance. Residency is an intense period of growth, responsibility, and long hours, but not all training experiences are created equal. Many students now prioritize lifestyle, wellness, and...

*The Internal Medicine (IM) Shelf exam is one of the most challenging shelf exams you will take in medical school, primarily because it tests such a broad range of knowledge and clinical reasoning skills. Scoring in the 90th percentile or higher requires a combination of strategic studying, understanding high-yield topics,...

At first glance, the psychiatry shelf exam may seem more manageable than other clinical shelf exams. For example, compared with Internal Medicine or Pediatrics, it covers a narrower range of material. However, success still depends on mastering DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, treatment guidelines, and first-line pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, as well...

A calm, student-centered guide for navigating Match Week with clarity and poise instead of panic.   For many students, the moment they learn they didn’t match is one of the most emotionally jarring experiences of medical school. There’s the initial sting of shock, the sense of falling behind your peers,...

For learning advisors, one of the hardest questions to help students answer is also one of the most uncomfortable: How do I decide whether my student needs private tutoring, and is USMLE tutoring actually worth the cost?   Tutoring is expensive. For many students, it represents a significant financial and...

If you’re currently applying to medical school to become a student, you probably know that you need a competitive GPA, MCAT score, and good extracurriculars to get in. But a few thousand people applying probably know this too…   So how do you stand out as a medical school applicant?...

As an MD/PhD student, I am often thinking about data. What are the trends? Are there differences between my groups? How am I going to graph this? Any solid biostatistician will tell you that making something “meaningful” out of data requires three things: a sufficiently large dataset, reliable outputs, and...

Most medical students don’t start their exam preparation thinking about whether they should get a tutor. In fact, many are confident they can handle things on their own. They’ve made it this far by studying independently, after all. They’ve passed numerous exams and evaluations. They know how to grind through...

For osteopathic (DO) medical students, one of the biggest decisions during preclinical and clinical training is not just what specialty to pursue or where to apply for residency - but now, it is whether to take the USMLE in addition to the COMLEX.   While it was much more common...