Last week, Dr. Noemi Adame, a pediatrician local to the South Bend area, came and spoke to our club. Dr. Adame attended UTMB medical school in Galveston, Texas. She completed her pediatric residency at Primary Children's in Utah. She began her career as an attending in academia and now works in a primary care setting. We thought it would be nice to write up some notes from her visit so that anyone interested can find a concise summary here. If you would like to contact Dr. Adame about potential shadowing opportunities or to ask her any additional questions, please email us at [email protected].
Many of our questions for Dr. Adame centered around the pre-med experience. I'll highlight some of her key answers below.
How to study for the MCAT:
Opinions on a gap year:
Factors influencing where she went to medical school:
Advice for students struggling in pre-med classes:
Next, she answered a few questions about her own journey through medical school, residency, and practicing as a pediatrician.
What are your recommendations for how to get through medical school?
What is residency like?
What made you want to be a pediatrician?
What stood out about pediatrics?
How many rotations do you go through during medical school?
How do you deal with challenging parents?
What are some of the patient populations with whom you enjoy working the most?
Thank you to all who came out for our event. As always, shoot us an email if you have any questions, and be on the lookout for some more exciting speakers this month!
Many of our questions for Dr. Adame centered around the pre-med experience. I'll highlight some of her key answers below.
How to study for the MCAT:
- Study a lot, take lots of practice tests
- Do you have basic reading skills, etc. → can you beat the test?
Opinions on a gap year:
- She definitely recommends it
- Make sure it is something that sets you apart, that you enjoy, that will help you learn, something you are proud to put on your resume
- She wishes that she would have taken a gap year - in order to give her the chance to "live" a little bit before medical school
Factors influencing where she went to medical school:
- It’s okay to let life dictate where you go to school - your relationships, cost factors
- Where do you get in? Who is going to offer you money? Where will the people you love live?
- The same will be true for residency, jobs, etc. later in life
Advice for students struggling in pre-med classes:
- Talk to academic advisor/counselor - not a measure of your intelligence/ability to ask for help
- Ask yourself - why am I struggling?
- Is this really what I want to do?
- Will I be able to handle medical school coursework?
Next, she answered a few questions about her own journey through medical school, residency, and practicing as a pediatrician.
What are your recommendations for how to get through medical school?
- Study study study 4-5 hrs/night
- Need a study group and a friend support group - can be same or distinct, but you need both
- Expect to work hard, miss out on fun social events
- Think of your mistakes as learning opportunities - you always have someone looking over your shoulder
What is residency like?
- Treat every opportunity like a learning opportunity, nothing is beneath you
- Residency is hectic, that’s just the way it is
What made you want to be a pediatrician?
- Shadowing experience was formative → loved the doctor-patient interaction in reproductive endocrinology
- Loved pediatrics rotation in third year of medical school
- Faculty mentors make a big difference
- Loved the babies more than the moms during OB/GYN rotation
What stood out about pediatrics?
- Intense emotional investment → initially scared her (scared of sick kids, scared of kids dying)
- Facing the hardships makes advocating for kids worth it
- Mentors were incredible teachers in addition to great physicians
How many rotations do you go through during medical school?
- Each rotation is about a month long, some longer, 10-12 rotations
- 3rd year there are required rotations, 4th year much more flexibility
- Recommends anesthesia rotation - more controlled way to learn valuable skills (as opposed to ER, ICU, etc.)
How do you deal with challenging parents?
- First, listen (but do not tolerate abuse)
- Validate their feelings, let them know that you are on their side
- Try to get patients in and out of office as quickly as possible, while still respecting their time
What are some of the patient populations with whom you enjoy working the most?
- Sports medicine - single problem, highly motivated to get better
- 25% of her pediatric practice is psych, most often in teenagers
- Newborns - love taking care of families
- Teenage girls - feels responsibility as a role model, undo a lot of damage done by society on teenage girls
Thank you to all who came out for our event. As always, shoot us an email if you have any questions, and be on the lookout for some more exciting speakers this month!