Lack of Empathy: A Med School Dealbreaker?

Listener Mo wrote to us at [email protected] to ask us if a lack of interest in dealing with the foibles of patients--with their anti-vaccine beliefs, their non-compliance with treatment, and reliance on the latest internet fads--means he should reconsider his med school dreams. Lucky for Mo, Kaci McCleary, Irisa Mahaparn, and newbs Melissa Chan and Dabin Choi were on hand to propose some paths forward for non-empathetic med school applicants, as well as outlining some of the less obvious areas empathy comes in handy they might want to think about. There isn't a lot of wiggle room in this area...but there's a little, and maybe Mo can squeeze into those cracks and come out with an MD on the other side. Is the ubiquity of IV saline an example of institutional inertia? And in response to this article, the gang explores the institutional and systemic barriers that AMCAS and some schools' admissions committees have erected against disadvantaged students. Are you a disadvantaged applicant worried about your grades, money, and connections? Tell us your story at 347-SHORTCT anytime, visit our Facebook group, or email [email protected].