To Be...A Spartan MD

The Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (CHM) has announced a new Rural Community Health Program (R-CHP) partnership with Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital . Ludington, on the northwest coast of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, becomes the sixth Rural Community Health Program site. Partnered with hospitals across northern and mid-Michigan, the program is designed to provide students with enriched clinical experiences, rural public health leadership opportunities, and small town lifestyle experiences that will encourage alumni to establish practices in Michigan's rural communities. Rural communities participating in the R-CHP program have been selected based on exemplary educational and clinical opportunities within each community. Once selected for the Rural Community Health Program, MSU’s medical students will spend up to six months at the hospital learning clinical skills and gaining experience with the varied roles of a rural physician. “We have t...

Much like our beginnings , the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (CHM) is again rethinking and reshaping the medical school experience.  Change, in the best interest of our students and communities, has been a challenge CHM proudly embraces time and again. In the early 1960s, reports had demonstrated the need for a medical school in Michigan focused specifically on serving the state's population through direct involvement in community health care. That was the foundation for the College of Human Medicine to become the nation's pioneer community-based medical school in 1964. A formal philosophy of enabling clinical training within community hospitals materialized. CHM also went on to develop "focal problems," a precursor of Problem-Based Learning (PBL). The college is the first to have a medical ethics unit as well as the first to offer a bio-psycho-social model of curriculum. Since its creation, in fact, the college's curriculum h...

It doesn't take a philosophy major to understand that change is constant. Some changes are serious and life-altering; others, not so much. In the world of science, new discoveries and knowledge add foundational context from which the future of medicine must learn to incorporate and adapt.  Higher education communities have raised concerns about whether or not premedical curricula have kept up with these changes; what seemed to work yesterday may not be what works tomorrow . Many medical experts agree that an undergraduate education should not be geared towards only getting students into medical school; instead, these years should be dedicated to creativity within an intellectually stimulating liberal arts education. Congruent with this mindset is the concept that prerequisites (or for that matter any scripted course of undergraduate study) should not be so overwhelming that the applicant seems pressured to emphasize (major in) science in lieu of other academically rigorous...

Letters of evaluation are an important part of the ACMAS application and thus, the med school admissions process. Per the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) , "A recommendation letter or letter of evaluation is a letter in which the author assesses the qualities, characteristics, and capabilities of the person being recommended/evaluated." Admissions committees can learn a lot about an applicant beyond their metrics. Effective letters offer professional perspectives on an applicant's many diverse attributes and personal qualities. Truth is, the majority of medical school applicants from year to year have competitive grades and scores, so letters give insight into each individual's unique strengths and experiences. In addition, letters of evaluation can highlight one's commitment to medicine through their service, research, and academic pursuits. Also helpful is the fact that other health professionals, academics, and/or mentors can vouch for...

The MSU College of Human Medicine (CHM) hosts a number of special programs for students with a variety of ambitions. This fall, CHM will also give students the option to pursue a new certification. The Medical Partners in Public Health Certificate is an option for College of Human Medicine students to gain clinical training in underserved community settings, with an emphasis on clinically relevant population level prevention and wellness. Physician graduates of the MD-PH program will be able to apply public health principles as well as evidence and theory to better understand how to improve the health and well-being of their patients and the communities to which they belong. This certificate complements the public health content in the CHM curriculum , enhancing the training with formal knowledge and skill in the core public health disciplines of epidemiology, biostatistics, health behavior and health education, public policy and administration and environmental health. In...

It's graduation week for our seniors! But before the students put on their caps and gowns, the newest crop of Spartan M.D.'s are busy preparing for the next portion of their lives—residency. The results of the 2016 residency match process are in for the MSU College of Human Medicine (CHM) graduating class. The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) reported results for CHM, which included early, advanced, and military matches. As tradition, fourth-year students were joined by family and friends on "Match Day" across our community campus es to celebrate and learn where they matched . The NRMP or, "The Match," places applicants for postgraduate medical training positions into residency programs at teaching hospitals throughout the United States. The NRMP is a private, non-profit organization established at the request of medical students to provide an orderly and fair mechanism for matching the preferences of applicants for U.S. residency pos...

The summer before I started medical school at the College of Human Medicine (CHM), I often wondered what I was getting myself into. What will med school be like? What will I learn? Will I be able to keep up? Would I still have a life? Will I embarrass myself in front of a bunch of medical professionals? What don’t I know that I need to know? With (almost) two years of medical school down, I would tell all those who are about to matriculate (along with my past-self) to calm down. Relax. You will learn all that you need to know when you need to know it. You will be able to keep up. It may be hard, but it’s doable. Sure, it can be draining at times, but med school is still incredibly rewarding. You will be pushed, but you will grow. So before you begin classes, the biggest thing you can do before starting med school is prepare while simply enjoying the process. Here are five pieces of advice to help make the transition to med school a bit easier. Relax and enjoy your last s...