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Welcome to PurposeMD!

This site is dedicated towards serving medical students and trainees with finding meaning, community, and purpose in school.

In this video we explain a little bit about the organization of this resource.

Tony and Eli

Pain Points

Medical school is less like one experience and more like four separate experiences. Studying for basic science is very distinct from clerkships. Each experience has its challenges and “pains”.

  • Adjusting to medical school: How do I balance school with lifestyle?
  • Preclinical learning: How do I develop a study plan that works for me?
  • Clinical learning (clerkships, Sub-I’s): How do I fit into the care team? 
  • Professional choices & interviewing: How do I make a choice about specialty?

In each phase, we have identified “pain points” and have offered some perspective for you to consider, which we hope will help you to navigate the phase more successfully.

Purpose & Leadership

There’s a whole “other curriculum” around meaning, purpose, and leadership that medical schools generally ignore. We think medical school is the critical time to cultivate one’s meaning and purpose to leverage one’s talents to create a unique vision of oneself as a doctor.

This resource provides a framework for developing your meaning and purpose in medicine. 

Tools

This section contains useful tools to help medical students create a meaningful experience for themselves while in medical school. How do I create a schedule for myself? How do I create a mission statement? How do I network to develop mentors? How do I interview?

Browse the set of tools and resources to see which ones might be useful to you for your current phase of medical school

Blogs

There’s a large community of doctors, educators, and students who care about the development of physician leaders. Some of them will occasionally contribute their opinion to the dialogue through blog posts. Engage in the conversation. Develop ties to this community.

Check in to the site regularly for new postings