How does one know what being a doctor is really about?

Sure, you can watch grey’s anatomy or some such, but that is just a bit hollow. So how does one increase one’s medical knowledge?

Participate in New York times Diagnosis

Netflix new show based on the above:

Read BBC Health section for latest on health discovery.

Read blogs from Aspiring doctors to get a sense of the life that awaits you. Medscape bills itself as one stop news.

Medical School Council guidance for work experience during COVID. 

Brighton and Sussex Medical School offers virtual work experience for prospective medical school applicants.

Observe GP is a free online platform providing insight into general practice. (UK Residents)

ExploreHealthCareers.org is a collaboration between today’s health professionals and leading health care associations designed to help people like you start down the road toward a career in health. Here you’ll find the latest health career information and tools to guide you as you prepare for a future in health care.

 

 U Michigan’s Anatomy Practicals are pretty sweet. Good practice for practicals.

 

Websites to explore may include:

  • • Newspaper pages such as the Guardian’s science page and The Telegraph’s health page
  • • The British Medical Journal’s open access information
  • • TED Talks can provide useful background information on health topics
  • • Science or health related content on Twitter

Reading list

Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you. Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking, this diary is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn’t – about life on and off the hospital ward.

The issues of medical ethics, from moral quandaries of euthanasia and the morality of killing to political dilemmas like fair healthcare distribution, are rarely out of today’s media. This area of ethics covers a wide range of issues, from mental health to reproductive medicine, as well as including management issues such as resource allocation, and has proven to hold enduring interest for the general public as well as the medical practitioner. This Very Short Introduction provides an invaluable tool with which to think about the ethical values that lie at the heart of medicine.

In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Tracy Kidder’s magnificent account shows how one person can make a difference in solving global health problems through a clear-eyed understanding of the interaction of politics, wealth, social systems, and disease. Profound and powerful, Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes people’s minds through his dedication to the philosophy that “the only real nation is humanity.”

An essential guide for anyone contemplating a career as a doctor, by one of Australia’s finest practitioners – and writers. 2018 finalist book for The Australian Career Book Award – supported by the Royal Society of Arts in Australia and New Zealand. What is the life of a doctor really like? Is there an end to studying? Are money and prestige guaranteed? Can a fulfilling medical career and a satisfying family life co-exist and what support can a parent or partner give? Which doctors are the happiest? What is the most important question to ask yourself before studying medicine? An insider’s calm and considered answers could determine whether you choose to pursue this high-stakes career. Read this article by the author to get a flavor.