SDN's Best of 2023 - SDN (2024)

The Student Doctor Network (SDN) provides online resources to pre-health students and the health professional community as part of our nonprofit mission. Here’s a recap of our standout achievements in 2023, our 24th year:

Top Discussions

• Pre-Med and Medical School
  • Hello SDN! Starting a new med school and want to hear your opinions! – A verified faculty member asked for feedback on what should – and should not – be included in the new school.
  • My soap box – “So you want to go to medical school..” – Current medical students and physicians discuss the profession’s good, bad, and ugly.
  • Letters to a Young Physician-Scientist – Feedback from an MD/PhD on their experiences and the advice they wished they’d received.
  • Tips on Crushing Your MD/PhD Interviews – Some Unsolicited Advice from the Other Side of the Zoom Call – Interview tips targeted for physician-scientist applicants.
  • MSPE Comments: Do they matter? What separates a good from great one? – Feedback to a medical student concerned that their evaluations are “cookie-cutter.”
  • Savvy blogs on paying off medical school debt? – Current physicians give feedback on the best information on debt repayment.
• Pre-Dental and Dental Students
  • 1.5 Months into D1, AMA – A new dental student describes their experiences.
  • Manual Dexterity Question – An applicant asks about hobbies that demonstrate manual dexterity.
• Pre-Poditatry and Podiatry School
  • “Open Letter to Prospective Medical Students” Dr. Patrick DeHeer – Discussion of an open letter published in Podiatry Today.
• Pre-Pharmacy and Pharmacy School
  • What if you got a tuition-free P1 year? – Students considering pharmacy discuss the incentive of a free first year of pharmacy school offered by the University of Utah.
  • Pharmacy school admissions crisis – Current pharmacy students and pharmacists discuss the state of the pharmacy profession based on news that pharmacy classes are shrinking.
• Pre-Vet and Veterinary School
  • Advice from your local Admissions Committee – An admission committee member gives tips on building a successful application.
  • If you didn’t get in on your first try, what did you do? – A re-applicant to veterinary school seeks advice.

• Premed Planner, a free mobile app for iOS and Android, now supports tracking your certifications and providing reminders when updates are due. You can also download your tracked coursework and activities was also added to make completing your applications easier.
• The free 100-Day MCAT Study Schedule was also completely reworked in 2023 to use the most commonly recommended materials.
• For aspiring dentists and optometrists, we revised and updated our “How to Get Into Dental School” and “How to Get Into Optometry School” guides, which detail the steps to be a successful dental and optometry school applicant.

Skill-Building Courses and Workshops

We offer courses and workshops to help students with admissions and to become better healthcare providers through our parent organization, the Health Professional Student Association.

• The Becoming a Student Doctor course provides extensive materials, discussions, and on-call advising services to help develop your application story and confidently express your personal mission in health care to admissions committees.
• Treating Transgender Patients, a free short course helps students and healthcare providers understand and provide compassionate care for the transgender community.
• The “Preparing for the Unpreparable” workshop helps you plan your approach to the ethical and clinical scenarios presented in Situational Judgment Tests such as AAMC PREview and Casper.

Insightful Articles

SDN publishes informational articles weekly. Here are some of the best and most popular articles of 2023.

Key Changes to the Medical School Admissions Process

• As SJTs continue to expand in the admissions process, SDN/HPSA conducted an in-depth study on student experiences with these exams. “How to Prepare for PREview” details the exam and what applicants encountered.
• SDN analyzed the impact of the Supreme Court’s elimination of affirmative action in admissions.
  • We discussed how to approach the new “Other Impactful Experiences” essay that allows students to detail the road taken on their application journey.
  • We covered the history of “Overrepresented Minorities” seeking to become healthcare professionals.
• “How AI Could Change Admissions” explored the potential impacts of new technologies on how applicants are evaluated.

Application Guidance for Aspiring Professionals

• For students struggling with the cost of health professional school applications, “Fee Assistance Programs for Applications” detailed how students could access support for the common applications and tests.
• We discussed identifying and targeting the right medical schools in “Building Your Best School List,” along with information on parsing the missions of those schools to identify your “Mission Fit.”
• “Write Your Secondaries First” explored how secondary essays serve as written interviews for medical programs.
• For future physical therapists, “What I Wish I Knew Before Starting PT School” explained what to look for as you transition to your DPT program.
• “Dental School Decision Day: Your Guide” provided dental school applicants key information about what happens on December 15th.
• For pre-health students of all stripes, “The Benefits of Global Health Education for Future Doctors” described the importance global health experiences in your application. “Why You Should Attend a Pre-Health Conference” illustrated how to get the most from these events.

Professional Insights and Valuable Interviews

• For current health professional students and healthcare professionals, we covered potential changes to non-compete clauses in “A Ban on Non-Competes?”.
• We are extremely grateful for the admissions, healthcare, and legal professionals who took the time to speak with us throughout 2023 in written and video interviews:
  • Admissions Professionals
    • Heidi Fuchs, Touro College of Pharmacy Admissions
    • Amanda Griswold, Director of Admissions, Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine
    • Rohan Jotwani, MD/MBA, Weill Cornell University School of Medicine
    • Luckson Omoaregba, MS, Brown University Pathway Programs
    • Bob Rarig, Ph.D., Temple CST Post Bacc Pre-Health Program
    • Barbra Roller, Ph.D., Director of the Graduate Certificate Program at FIU
  • Healthcare Professionals
    • Valentina Bonev, MD, DABS (Video)
    • Michael Casteel, DPM, FACPM, FAPWHc​
    • LTJG Aaron Chambers, DPM, FACFAS
    • Bethaney Fehrenkamp, PhD, Reproductive Immunologist and WWAMI Faculty
    • Tea Nguyen, DPM discusses cash-based practices (Video)
    • Avi Patel, DDS, CEO of Clear Aligner Advisor
    • Kevin Perez, OMS-III, Touro COM – Harlem
    • Rachel Perez, DDS (Video)
    • Neil Saley, MD and Author
    • Emelia Sam, DDS
    • Grace Shadid and Dr. Naureen Kabani, Rheumatologist, SUNY Downstate (Video)
    • Ali Thaler, MD, Neurologist and Author
  • Legal Professionals
    • Michael Johnson, Esq discusses Physician Contracts (Video)

Support SDN

Providing these resources and tools, along with our forum community, requires extensive effort from our volunteer team and paid staff. As we continue to offer these valuable resources, consider supporting SDN with a donation to help us maintain and expand our impact.