By:  Alison Case, MD, AMSA Education and Advocacy Fellow Within the last week, a number of news outlets reported the results of the Flexibility in Duty Hour Requirements for Surgical Trainees (FIRST) trial, carried out in more than one hundred general surgery training programs across the U.S.  Headlines such as, “Longer Surgical Resident Shifts Pose…

AMSA PremedFest is officially a wrap! The festival, held in partnership with Kaplan Test Prep, was hosted by the AMSA pre-health chapter at Hillsborough Community College in Plant City, Fla., on Saturday, January 30. Over 200 pre-health students participated in 20+ sessions and heard from inspiring speakers like Patch Adams, MD, and Gary Rose, MD….

Unique extracurricular activities We all know that extracurricular activities are an important component of your AMCAS application. The standard medical school application will include clinical shadowing, medical volunteering, and a leadership position in a group or club—experiences that, though essential, don’t always help you stand out as an applicant. One thing admissions officers love to…

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and AMSA Jefferson chapter would like to introduce the #PAPSNAP! #PAPSNAP is a Cervical Cancer Awareness social media campaign, proposed by Keri Bergin of Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC) at Jefferson University AMSA, aimed at destigmatizing gynecological appointments.  Those who need routine exams with a gynecologist are encouraged to…

By Kelsey Lyon, OMS II Welcome to 2016! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could freeze in time that moment at 12 AM on January 1, 2016 when we were celebrating with friends and/or family the start of a new year. Unfortunately, time must go on and with the start of a new year brings…

You may know the phrase, “you are what you eat.” It’s a truism you’ll especially want to keep in mind while enduring the rigors of your MCAT preparation. The importance of healthy eating Many pre-meds ask what they can do to improve their overall diet and avoid neglecting their health while studying. Most of us…