To Be...A Spartan MD

Graduation for the College of Human Medicine Class of 2018 is this weekend as we prepare to give our best wishes to the next crop of Spartan MD's. Including students who participated in the National Residency Match Program (NRMP), students who participated in the Advanced Match, and students who participated in the Military Match, 96 percent of those seeking residency secured a match this past March. A total 37,103 applicants entered the match for 33,167 positions, the most ever offered in the Match. Both of those figures are record-highs that made the 2018 Main Residency Match the largest match on record, according to the NRMP . The College of Human Medicine (CHM) contributed 163 students to that total. From those who matched, 42.5 percent are entering a primary care residency, the exact same percentage from a year ago for the Class of 2017. While the percentage is the same, there were particular changes to the top six specialties: 1. Internal Medicine (23 graduates...

For many years, third- and fourth-year students in the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine have used their spring break to go on medical mission trips all over the world. This year, dozens of first- and second-year students joined them on trips to Haiti and Cuba, as part of the new Shared Discovery Curriculum , which places students in clinical settings a few weeks into their first year. Jack Wesley, a first-year medical student, said he wasn’t all that worried about giving physical examinations to real patients – checking children’s blood pressure, poking their fingers for blood tests and palpating their abdomens for masses. Nor did he mind spending his spring break in an impoverished country nearly 2,000 miles from home, where he used his newly acquired skills to provide health care for children who otherwise would go without it. “I honestly felt very prepared,” Wesley said. “If there was anything the College of Human Medicine did well, it was preparing...

People might think I’m crazy, but I was actually excited to move to Michigan from California. It was a nice excuse to travel and explore a new place that I might not have otherwise considered visiting. So far, I love it here. You get to actually experience the four seasons. I moved here in late July and Michigan was gorgeous at the time. I left California experiencing 110 degree summer days to temperatures in the mid-80s and 90s. Fall was also beautiful, but it was way too short! The orange/red hues from the leaves changing colors made for some pretty cool picture ops. Winter has been surprisingly wonderful. Some of my classmates, like myself, were ecstatic to see the first snowfall. This rang true for those classmates from out of state, at least. There were definitely a lot of snaps and excitement that day. I had seen a lot video posts on Snapchat of classmates walking through the snow. I was mesmerized by the beauty of it all. Yeah, it gets pretty cold, but you get acclimat...

After receiving the acceptance phone call from Dr. Maurer, College of Human Medicine Assistant Dean for Admissions , it kind of seemed surreal that I had been accepted. That feeling could be from dreams I would sometimes have of being accepted only to wake up realizing it hadn’t happened yet. I know. The waiting game is the worst. It didn’t really hit me that I was going to be a doctor until I received my white coat. That made it real. Since the white coat ceremony, we hit the floor running since the first day of class was the day after the ceremony. There was an adjustment period trying to figure out how best to study the material. It wasn’t that the material was difficult to comprehend, it was just the shear volume! You naturally try to find a balance between personal life and school. I think I’ve developed a good balance now to keep myself sane (although I’m sure my classmates will say that’s debatable). After the first couple months of medical school, I’ve definitely le...

With the introduction of our ground-breaking Shared Discovery Curriculum as well as several new facilities and initiatives, there are a lot of great changes happening to the College of Human Medicine (CHM). It's truly a special time to be here. And no one can better voice what it is like to be at CHM than those within the student body. From time to time, the Office of Admissions has enlisted student representatives to periodically offer an inside look at what studying medicine here is all about. Students at different stages and various backgrounds are given the opportunity to touch on their personal experiences and ambitions. Moving into the new year, we'll be hearing from first-year student, Harminder Sandhu. *** Hi! My name is Harminder. I grew up in a small farm town called Gridley, California, where access to healthcare and resources was very limited. Having experienced health disparities first-hand in my rural community, I have a strong desire to give back ...

With the recent news of McLaren Health's plan to consolidate operations into a new hospital next to MSU , the move expands McLaren's relationship with the university and, subsequently, the College of Human Medicine (CHM). The plan for a new $450 million health care campus will allow both entities to work more closely together on research and increase educational opportunities for students among additional clinical services. "This is an extraordinary opportunity to collaborate with MSU to redesign and elevate health care for a region and the state for generations to come. Our partnership will transform health care delivery to support a world-class medical experience and advance pioneering medical research," said McLaren CEO Phil Incarnati. Norman Beauchamp, Dean of the College of Human Medicine, is also excited about the partnership's expansion and the college's opportunity to help transform health care. The college is proud to see that CHM medical stude...

One of the biggest takeaways of the new Shared Discovery Curriculum is that it quickly places students inside clinics to contribute to real patient care teams. By quickly, we mean the first year. Within weeks, actually. While this is only one facet of the new curriculum , rapidly immersing students in real clinical environments is a big departure from traditional models. Medical schools have delivered their curriculum by way of a "2 + 2" structure for decades. The first two years are predominantly dedicated to learning basic and disease sciences (typically delivered through lectures and numerous exams) followed by two years dedicated to clinical experiences that use observational and apprenticeship methods for learning. With the Shared Discovery Curriculum now in it's second year, each of the college's last two entering classes have joined third- and fourth-year students in the clinic, providing a more authentic trajectory of training focused on progressi...