Thinking about a career in medicine? Are you working towards the daunting path of premed courses and MCAT review? This is the podcast for you. On this episode, we had the opportunity to sit down with Brennon Barajas (MSIII) and Angela Guerra (MSII) for a breakdown into the world of applying, getting in and surviving medical school. Both Brennon and Angela will be the first physicians in their family and describe their hard work and efforts that paid off with acceptance to medical school. Brennon is a third year student at UT Health San Antonio and Angela is a second year student at Paul L. Foster SOM at Texas Tech Health Science Center, El Paso. Angela and Brennon discuss their undergrad days and strategies that help them succeed then and now with the course load and stress of a continuum of standardized test, clinical rotations and the balance of keeping both feet on the ground. From their days working as scribes, an invaluable experience for anyone interested in medicine, to their latest stage of preparing to apply for residency, Angela and Brennon share a down to earth approach to "drinking from a fire hydrant." What makes you a great candidtate for medical school? Thinking about residency, do the challenges ever end? Whether you are in High School or undergraduate school, Angela and Brennon offer their advice of how to approach the process, taking the MCAT, programs and opportunities and the steps to take to streamline your process. You will come away with a great Closeup about the different personalities, the different degrees and the actual fun one can have traversing your four years in medical school. That is right - medical school can be fun!
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 Introduction
03:51 Adjustments from undergraduate school to medical school
07:18 Traditional vs. non-Traditional students and differing backgrounds of applicants
11:04 Other Requirements in medical school, Volunteer work, Community Service
13:49 Teaming up medical students, student wellness
17:21 Medical school, curriculum and USMLE
23:11 Medicine as a career, preparing for medical school, recommendations for
someone who wants to go to medical school
27:52 PreMed, Early Acceptance and Double T program
31:43 The MCAT, studying for the MCAT and the best time to take it.
35:22 What Makes you stand out as an applicant for Medical School?
37:54 Scribing and what is a Medical scribe
47:13 Deciding on a specialty
50:08 Applying for residency
51:45 Research in medical school
55:53 How do you deal with stress?
57:47 Residency, what are competitive fields? What makes you competitive? What is the actual process for applying?
1:00:45 Downtime? Other interests? Time for family and relationships?
1:02:12 Do you have time to work in medical school? Family and relationships?
1:03:57 Summarize biggest challenges in going to medical school, anything you would dodifferently?
1:06:55 Angela and Brennon discuss their plans to apply for Emergency Medicine and why?
1:09:29 What advice do you have for someone who has taken the MCAT and maybe didn’t do as well or didn’t get an interview? Post Baccalaureate Programs
1:12:11 Summary
We sit down with Andres Capra and follow his journey to his career as a Tactical Paramedic. This is a relatively new field where he works as an Austin EMS Paramedic and also trains with Austin PD SWAT/ Travis County Sheriff SWAT teams. His pathway includes becoming a Marine right out of high school, digging ditches for electricians, having his own company building decks and framing houses, and being a college student and a bartender. He originally was interested in becoming a firefighter, but realized he was more interested in the medical side, because that's where the majority of calls happened. Andres explains how he takes lessons learned in one area of work and uses them to help in other areas. We rated this explicit due to the mature and sometimes graphic nature of emergency situations.
Show Notes:
0:00 Introduction
1:39 What is a Tactical Paramedic
4:59 The Tactical Paramedic Team
6:09 What made you choose medicine?
7:32 Anything you can do to standout as a paramedic 8:54 Break Down EMT to Paramedic
11:59 Getting hired and working as a paramedic
16:10 Andres background, high school, Marines
18:48 How did the your prior experiences (Marines and Bartending) help you as a paramedic?
21:41 "So our team." Coming over to Tactical Medic team.
23:08 Characteristics of a good tactical medic candidate.
26:49 Tell us about a notable experience/paramedic call
31:11 Other Cool Assignments: Presidential convoy, RNC
35:08 Continuing Education (CE) training as Paramedic/tactical medic
36:35 What are the challenges of your job both as Tactical medic and street medic?
39:52 What other opportunities are available for someone in your field?
41:22 What advise for someone interested in your field?
44:42 Anything else you wish you had done, prepared, school?