MEdIC Series: Season 1 Annual Review

Dear MEdIC readers: It’s been quite a whirlwind this year for the MEdIC team, and we’re so excited to announce that we’re taking a (much needed) summer hiatus this month to refresh. Tune in when we start “season 2” in late September!

In an effort to continually improve the series, we would love to invite you to participate in our first annual audience evaluation of the MEdIC series. We want to make sure we always strive to meet the needs of our audience, and we would like you to help us by telling us about how you’ve experienced or used MEdIC this year. Please share a bit about your experience in the following form.

(more…)

By Brent Thoma, MD MA|2026-06-16T16:06:02-07:00Sep 5, 2014|MEdIC series|

Most Followed #FOAMed Women on Twitter

In 2014 we published a list of the Most Followed #FOAMed Twitter Users (FOAM = Free Open Access Meducation). One observation, keenly pointed out by Dr. Nikita Joshi (@njoshi8), was the lack of female representation on the list. Separately, Dr. Esther Choo (@choo_ek) published a blog post entitled Women in Emergency Medicine Who Give Great Talks. As a follow up to our original post, here are the most ‘followed’ women on Twitter in the FOAM world.

(more…)

By Bryan D. Hayes, PharmD, DABAT, FAACT, FASHP|2016-11-11T19:22:34-08:00Aug 30, 2014|Medical Education, Social Media & Tech|

EM Match Advice: Interviewing Strategies

With interview season rapidly approaching in a few months (Nov-Feb), we gathered a few of our favorite program directors to discuss interviewing tips. Thanks again to Dr. Mike Gisondi for spearheading this innovative and helpful resource for medical students.

(more…)

By Michelle Lin, MD|2026-06-16T16:05:59-07:00Aug 29, 2014|EM Match Advice, Podcasts|

EM Match Advice: The EM Rotation, ERAS, and Am I Competitive?

Today launches a series for senior Emergency Medicine (EM) medical students, created and expertly facilitated by Dr. Michael Gisondi (@MikeGisondi) from Northwestern. In this series, he recruited an amazing panel of program directors from around the country, who have kindly volunteered their time to share their insights and expertise. In these podcasts, you get a sense of each panelist’s personalities while they outdo each other with behind-the-scenes advice and stories, which would normally be shared only at the institutional level. Our podcasts are a unique must-listen for medical students interested in and applying into EM.

The EM Rotation

Dr. Gisondi facilitates a great discussion about the EM clerkship rotation featuring esteemed residency program directors Dr. Lainie Yarris (Oregon Health Sciences University), Dr. Maria Moreira (Denver Health), and Dr. Jan Schoenberger (LAC-USC), with the occasional outburst/question by Dr. Michelle Lin (UCSF-SFGH).

References

Mahadevan S, Garmel GM. The outstanding medical student in emergency medicine. Acad Emerg Med. 2001 Apr;8(4):402-3. PMID: 11282680.
AAEM Rules of the Road for Medical Students (2003), a free PDF.
Davenport C, Honigman B, Druck J. The 3-minute emergency medicine medical student presentation: a variation on a theme. Acad Emerg Med. 2008 Jul;15(7):683-7. PMID: 18691216.

Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS)

Dr. Gisondi (Northwestern) facilitates a great discussion featuring star residency program directors Dr. Gene Hern (Highland-Alameda), Dr. Laura Hopson (Univ of Michigan), and Dr. Josh Broder (Duke), with an occasional question by Dr. Michelle Lin (UCSF-SFGH).

References

Hayden SR, Hayden M, Gamst A. What characteristics of applicants to emergency medicine residency programs predict future success as an emergency medicine resident? Acad Emerg Med. 2005 Mar;12(3):206-10. PMID: 15741582.
Breyer MJ, Sadosty A, Biros M. Factors Affecting Candidate Placement on an Emergency Medicine Residency Program’s Rank Order List. West J Emerg Med. 2012 Dec;13(6):458-62. PMID: 23359215. Free PDF.
Green M, Jones P, Thomas JX Jr. Selection criteria for residency: results of a national program directors survey. Acad Med. 2009 Mar;84(3):362-7. PMID: 19240447.
Katz ED, Shockley L, Kass L, Howes D, Tupesis JP, Weaver C, Sayan OR, Hogan V, Begue J, Vrocher D, Frazer J, Evans T, Hern G, Riviello R, Rivera A, Kinoshita K, Ferguson E. Identifying inaccuracies on emergency medicine residency applications. BMC Med Educ. 2005 Aug 16;5:30. PM?ID: 16105178. Free article link.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall: Am I Competitive

Dr. Gisondi (Northwestern) kicks off a great conversation and debate about knowing how competitive you are, as an applicant. This panel features star residency program directors Dr. Andrew Perron (Maine Medical Center), Dr. Madonna Fernandez (Harbor-UCLA), and Dr. Kevin Biese (UNC Chapel Hill), with comments by Dr. Michelle Lin (UCSF-SFGH).

References

NRMP Match Results and Data 2014 (PDF)
Crane JT, Ferraro CM. Selection criteria for emergency medicine residency applicants. Acad Emerg Med. 2000 Jan;7(1):54-60. PubMed PMID: 10894243.
Girzadas DV Jr, Harwood RC, Delis SN, Stevison K, Keng G, Cipparrone N, Carlson A, Tsonis GD. Emergency medicine standardized letter of recommendation: predictors of guaranteed match. Acad Emerg Med. 2001 Jun;8(6):648-53. PMID: 11388941.
Lotfipour S, Luu R, Hayden SR, Vaca F, Hoonpongsimanont W, Langdorf M. Becoming an emergency medicine resident: a practical guide for medical students. J Emerg Med. 2008 Oct;35(3):339-44. PMID: 18547776.

Listen to all the episodes of the EM Match Advice Series

By Michelle Lin, MD|2026-06-16T16:05:55-07:00Aug 20, 2014|EM Match Advice, Podcasts|

10 Tips on Writing Your First Grant

If you are a junior faculty looking to do research in an academic setting the question will inevitably arise: How do you get funding? You may have a fantastic research idea, but without money to back it, it is hard to get anywhere. Funding is becoming more difficult and more competitive to obtain. This guide will present 10 tips to help you through the daunting task of applying for and writing your first grant.

(more…)

By Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD, MBA|2026-06-16T16:05:49-07:00Aug 7, 2014|Academic|

SimLIFE-EM Challenge: Add to the conversation

Debriefings in medical simulation are meant to be the bow on top of the gift that is medical simulation. It is the ultimate delicious dessert, served after a grueling dinner course. All analogies aside, debriefings are meant to drive home the teaching points, to gain a deeper understanding of medical resuscitation as a group, and create mental frameworks of the approach to various patients. But this is often easier described than actually done. We here at ALiEM paired with Dr. Henry Curtis to come up with a creative way of developing debriefing skills and gain deeper understanding of mental frameworks.

(more…)

By Nikita Joshi, MD|2016-11-07T12:40:10-08:00Aug 4, 2014|Medical Education, Simulation, Tox & Medications|

MEdIC Series: The Case of the Absentee Audience – Expert & Community Commentary

This month for the ALiEM MEdIC Series, we presented the Case of the Absentee Audience, which depicts a lecturer who experienced a particularly challenging problem with her audience – absenteeism. Her audience was both physically and mentally absent, and as such, the cause of much frustration. In keeping with our mandate with the MEdIC Series, we launched this case last week and waited for the crowd to speak up and help us solve the case. (And boy, did they EVER!) We also asked two esteemed colleagues to prepare some expert consultations on the case. Continue reading to see what everyone had to say.

(more…)

By Teresa Chan, MD, MHPE|2026-06-16T16:05:53-07:00Aug 1, 2014|MEdIC series, Medical Education|