Surgery clerkship is well known for its long hours, which leaves little time for shelf exam studying. A normal day on the surgery ward involved waking up around 4 or 5am, getting to the hospital quickly, pre-rounding on your patients, and being ready for 6 or 6:30am rounds with your...

Whether you spent a lot of time preparing for Step 3 or not, the first day for most test takers feels like absolute defeat. But, there is still another day of test taking.

If you are deciding whether or not you should postpone your MCAT, you are not alone! Many students experience the stress and frustration of being in this position, and in fact, it is not uncommon at all.

It used to be that USMLE Step 1 was “the big one”, but with it becoming pass/fail, attention has shifted to Step 2. The first thing my brain went to was: “Step 2 scores will be lower in the coming years”. I say this because Step 1 and Step 2...

Although the recent USMLE switch to pass/fail scoring for Step 1 has been regarded as a largely positive change for most students, some of you may be wondering how this change will affect the overall appearance of your residency application. There are several key components to building a stand-out application...

If you are preparing for your Surgery Shelf, the first and most important piece of advice I can share with you is to start early! Surgery is arguably one of the most demanding and time-consuming rotations you will participate in during your clinical year of medical school, so the earlier...

So, what do residents do when they need to switch programs or specialties for personal reasons? Fortunately, systems and businesses exist to help residents make that transition. 

There are few Shelf exams more difficult than the family medicine shelf. The unique thing about family medicine is that it covers – in some way – nearly every topic that you’ll see in your clinical year. There are components of pediatrics, OB/GYN, psychiatry, internal medicine, and surgery. Of course,...

One of the most asked questions about tackling the MCAT is how to improve your score and reach your target score. Whether you are in the middle of studying and are not achieving the desired progress or just received a suboptimal score and are considering retaking the exam for a...

With internal medicine having the most applicants for residency positions every year (nearly 27,000 from a total of 51,000 applicants in 2021), it makes sense that clerkship students want to excel on their medicine shelf exam. Additionally, many specialties require an internal medicine intern year before starting the field’s core...