Surviving Medical School / Edition 1

by Robert Holman Coombs

Overview

Based on years of studying and working with medical students Surviving Medical School offers an orientation to the hectic, anxious area of medical education and practical advice for thriving in that environment.

Topics covered include: students' expectations in relation to intellectual and emotional capacities; career doubt and alienation; clinical experience; physician fallibility, internships; and professional practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761905295
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	03/10/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

As a young man, Bob served two years in Virginia and North Carolina as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Afterwards he continued his studies at the University of Utah, where he majored in sociology and philosophy, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1958. There he met the love of his life, Carol Jean Cook, who was Bob’s right arm throughout his distinguished career at UCLA. Bob and Carol Jean were married in May of 1958. Bob then served in the Army and earned a master's degree from the University of Utah in 1959, followed by a Ph.D. in sociology from Washington State University in 1964. He and Carol Jean lived in Washington, Iowa (Iowa State University), and North Carolina (Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University), before settling in the Los Angeles area, where they raised their seven children.

In 1970 Bob joined the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA and the Neuropsychiatric Institute, now the Jane and Terry Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior. For 35 years he conducted research, published articles and books, served in administrative and service capacities (including the IRB Committee), taught classes, and provided marriage, family, and grief counseling.

Table of Contents

Anticipation
Are My Expectations Realistic?
First Year
Am I Smart Enough?
Student Diversity
Who Are All These People?
Second Year
Do I Really Want To Do This?
Relationships
Am I Married to Medicine?
Third Year
Who's the Real Doc Here?
Challenging Issues
What if I Make a Mistake
Fourth Year
Will I Ever Know Enough?
Graduation
What Happens Next?

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Dwayne A. Ollerich, MS, PhD (University of Kansas School of Medicine)
Description: This book provides an accurate account of the developmental passages encountered by medical students during their professional education. Practical ways of dealing with the numerous stresses experienced during this time are also described.
Purpose: The purpose is to give voice to the experiences and thoughts of medical students in order to provide "accurate expectations" for other medical students as they progress through medical school. The author also describes his own experiences with medical students to enhance the book.
Audience: It is written for medical students at all stages of their professional education. It would also serve as an excellent resource for pre-medical students, faculty, counselors, student affairs officers, and for the families of medical students.
Features: It features quotations and vignettes from the experiences of medical students to emphasize the topic under discussion. Each chapter closes with a highly informative, thoughtful and empathetic section called "Insights" written by Dr. Bernard Virshup. The medical school experience is augmented in the last chapter with brief descriptions of residency, medical practice, and even retirement.
Assessment: This book is extremely well done and will provide an excellent resource for medical students and for those who teach, advise, and support medical students. It makes clear the numerous developmental hurdles that most medical students must clear on the way to becoming physicians.

Doody's Review Service

4 Stars! from Doody

This book provides an accurate account of the developmental passages encountered by medical students during their professional education. Practical ways of dealing with the numerous stresses experienced during this time are also described. The purpose is to give voice to the experiences and thoughts of medical students in order to provide ""accurate expectations"" for other medical students as they progress through medical school. The author also describes his own experiences with medical students to enhance the book. It is written for medical students at all stages of their professional education. It would also serve as an excellent resource for pre-medical students, faculty, counselors, student affairs officers, and for the families of medical students. It features quotations and vignettes from the experiences of medical students to emphasize the topic under discussion. Each chapter closes with a highly informative, thoughtful and empathetic section called ""Insights"" written by Dr. Bernard Virshup. The medical school experience is augmented in the last chapter with brief descriptions of residency, medical practice, and even retirement. This book is extremely well done and will provide an excellent resource for medical students and for those who teach, advise, and support medical students. It makes clear the numerous developmental hurdles that most medical students must clear on the way to becoming physicians.

Dwayne A. Ollerich

Uses interviews with medical students to address everything from premed syndrome to graduation, including typical challenges and insecurities that face students in each of the four years of medical school, cultural diversity in school and out, making mistakes, looking forward to residency, having a practice, and retirement. The author stresses the importance of balancing professional excellence with personal and social well-being. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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