Alumni on the Advice They Wish They’d Received in Medical School

Bliss Chang, MD ’20
Medical training is an ultramarathon made possible by incredible sacrifices — by our family, friends, and our own prime years. The inertia of sacrifice often leads to a slippery slope of sacrifices. It’s important to make these decisions actively and in consultation with those that make the journey possible for you. Remember that a life without anything good is bad, and that there is compound interest on earlier life experiences, too!

Ann Durbin, PhD ’16
Take advantage of the extracurricular groups to learn about career paths outside of academia. There is a whole world out there!

Kathy Glatter, MD ’93
Don’t stress about your future. You will definitely have success if you were talented enough to get into HMS. Focus on yourself and enjoy the learning process. Be kind to yourself and to others.

Charles Maletz, MD ’82
I wish we had received some minimal information about the economics of the health care industry and how this would affect our careers.

Mary McCarthy-Tiella, MSc ’21
Your contribution always matters, so speak up in whichever way you can. HMS is rich in diversity, and you are part of that cultural tapestry. Be confident!

Cheryl Warner, MD ’79
My era, the late 1970s, was a time of optimism. There was new federal funding for internal medicine residencies that were primary care focused. The dean of HMS, Robert Ebert, together with two young academic internists, helped design and launch a new practice model called Harvard Community Health Plan (HCHP). Positions were highly desired and I, together with eight of my classmates, took jobs there after residency. What we didn’t know was HCHP’s frailty in a rapidly changing economy — a gap at HMS.

John Bullock, MD ’68
I had great mentors at HMS, and I always received great advice.

Stephen Smith, MD ’63
In retrospect, I could have selected my future subspecialty in endocrinology and metabolism at an earlier stage, perhaps during our fourth year. This potentially would have given me the opportunity to acquire more pertinent background knowledge prior to graduation.

Peter Dean, MD ’71
As the only one in my class with a degree in engineering, and despite having majored in chemical engineering, I failed the biochemistry course. I had not realized that biochemistry exams did not test our understanding of biochemistry but instead involved rote memorization. The advice I had needed came in time to help me pass the makeup exam the following summer. It was from my classmate John Raaf, MD ’70, who explained, “That’s how they examine.” So, I memorized.

Stephanie Pincus, MD ’68
Take full advantage of everything around you and don’t be limited by medical school life.

Kenneth Bridges, MD ’76
Medical school students network far less than those in business school, for instance. The emphasis is on solo accomplishment. Life after medical school, however, is about networking and mentors. I wish I had understood that 50 years ago.

Anthony Chen, MD ’00
Learn from everyone you have the good fortune to meet — whether they are at their most desperate or at the height of their success. And then learn how other people learn, realizing that everyone is different. These things will help as we serve as physicians, as teachers, as mentors, as scientists, as administrators, as innovators — and even as patients ourselves.
 

Thank you to those readers who wrote in to share their advice. We hope you will share your thoughts on our next question: What has been the most significant change to the practice of medicine so far in the 21st century? We welcome responses at alumni.hms.harvard.edu/rounds or via email to harvardmedicine@hms.harvard.edu. Submissions will appear in print, online, or both in a future issue of Harvard Medicine.