Medical education

Matthew Braun, a first-year medical student at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima, Wash., says his personal history with opioids will help him care for patients.

Health & Safety

Medical Students Say Their Opioid Experiences Will Shape How They Prescribe

6:23am November 26, 2019

by Jon Hamilton

One medical student was addicted to opioids. Another relied on them to control disabling pain. Both think their experiences will help them be better doctors when it comes to prescribing opioids.

Queue Listen Now

"The profession we love has been taken over," psychiatrist and novelist Samuel Shem tells NPR, "with us sitting there in front of screens all day, doing data entry in a computer factory."

Novelist Doctor Skewers Corporate Medicine In 'Man's 4th Best Hospital'

9:00am November 13, 2019

by Mara Gordon

Samuel Shem's 1978 novel, The House of God, was a sardonic look at U.S. medicine through a young doctor's eyes. Shem's new fiction checks in with the same crew in the age of medicine by smartphone.

Just as sleep deprivation has been shown to impair cognition, so too has it been found to dampen empathy for others.

Health & Safety

Opinion: Keep Limits Intact On Medical Residents' Work Hours

2:19pm May 10, 2019

by Clayton Dalton

Caps on shift lengths for medical residents were implemented to improve patient safety. Given the effects of sleep deprivation on emotional capacity and residents' well-being, why risk longer hours?

Health & Safety

'Does Your Knee Make More Of A Click Or A Clack?' — Teaching 'Car Talk' To New Docs

1:52pm February 27, 2019

by Paul Chisholm

It's not easy for medical students to learn to diagnose an illness from a patient's often jumbled account of symptoms. In some med schools, teachers have discovered the perfect teaching aid: Car Talk.

Students and administrators at the Icahn School of Medicine are working to fight racial disparities at their school. (Left to right: Masrai Williams, Michelle Sainté, Giselle Lynch, Dr. David Muller, Eziwoma Alibo, Michael Espino, and Shashi Anand.)

A Medical School Tradition Comes Under Fire For Racism

11:38am September 05, 2018

by Mara Gordon

A prominent medical school has pulled back from electing students for a sought-after honor society, saying the award reinforces racial bias in medical education.

Feranmi Okanlami, a doctor at Michigan Medicine, became partially paralyzed after an accident in 2013, during his medical residency.

Health & Safety

Doctors With Disabilities Push For Culture Change In Medicine

7:23pm August 06, 2018

by Elana Gordon

Disabled Americans working in medicine are speaking up about their role in the profession. Not only can they perform the work of doctors but they offer a level of empathy others may lack.

Unlike the three-year residency programs that doctors must generally complete after medical school in order to practice medicine, nurse practitioner residency programs, sometimes called fellowships, are completely voluntary.

More Nurse Practitioners Are Pursuing Residency Training To Hone Skills

3:27pm July 03, 2018

by Michelle Andrews

Proponents of postgraduate residencies say the extra clinical training boosts expertise in dealing with complex medical cases. But some nurse practitioner groups see the programs as unnecessary.

Medical worker in scrubs, sitting in a locker room.

Rookie Doctors Will Soon Be Allowed To Work Up To 28 Hours Straight

5:09pm March 10, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

The group that sets rules for training doctors is scrapping a 16-hour cap on shifts worked by first-year medical residents. The move, which will be implemented in July, has its fair share of critics.

Illustration of a young doctor trapped in a snowglobe by Katherine Streeter for NPR.

How Working On Christmas Became A Privilege For 2 Young Doctors

5:00am December 25, 2016

by John Henning Schumann

By the end of December, medical interns are nearing the midpoint of their first year of intense, hands-on work with patients. The holiday season marks a special challenge.

A proposed change in work rules would let first-year residents care for patients for up to 28 hours without getting a chance to sleep.

Medical Interns Could Work Longer Without A Break Under New Rule

6:31pm November 04, 2016

by Rob Stein

A proposed change in work rules would let first-year residents care for patients for as many as 28 hours straight, scrapping a 16-hour limit. Supporters say longer shifts would improve patient safety.

Queue Listen Now