So, You Want to Be a Physician: Getting an Edge in the Pursuit of Becoming a Physician or Other Medical Professional

Dear Reader:So, You Want To Be A Physician: Getting the Edge in the Pursuit of Becoming a Physician or Other Medical Professional by Edward M. Goldberg is the book to have on your side, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to join the medical profession.I know the author so I bought the book and got started reading. Yes, I had preconceived notions about the book; the book would read like a manual, robotic, mundane but thorough. How else could a book about getting into medical school be? I was a little taken aback by the cover drawing. It reminded me of primer out of the sixties with the hairstyles updated.I couldn’t have been more wrong.There are several things that strike me as I read this book:1. This book is an easy read, concise and to the point.2. This book is focused on the topic and keeps you there.3. This book has good and bad examples of essays about who you are, your interest in the field, and your choice of schools.4. This book is methodical and covers all the bases.5. This book tells you that you can succeed as a healthcare professional because all the tools are in these 115 pages.I have known the author, Ed Goldberg, for 30 years and worked with him during the chunk of time when he was a psychiatric hospital and services administer which was between his years of his inception as a hospital administrator in Florida to his most recent administrative gig at St Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates, IL. So, it came as no surprised to hear that he wrote a book. Interestingly, it wasn’t; How to Become a Hospital Administrator. I worked for Ed as a psychiatric and mental health nurse, starting as a unit head nurse and moving into the Director of Quality Improvement. As the DQI, I coordinated all the medical staff committees, which entailed working with each physician group to address the specific standards of compliance, and move the hospital forward to improve patient care and appropriate utilization in a significantly changing healthcare climate. I think I know a little bit about the workings of a hospital and it’s medical staff. But what I really learned, I learned from Ed.I can thank Ed for my professional evolution. He made me a better business writer and nurtured my abilities to assess and evaluate any difficult situation to a positive conclusion. He was my mentor and I still call him for advice or to check in. He trusted me to do the job and with his full confidence, I am the health care professional and the writer today because of him. He is a man with foresight and vision and everyone is invited. The physician is always, I mean always comes first and that is why he could write this book. He knows the profession. It has been his job for his some 40 years to facilitate the work, the care, and the business. He endeared himself to everyone and even when he was a bit of a pain, he was all the more lovable.But I digress.I can hear Ed’s voice clearly in his writing; his candidness, putting it out there in simple terms, and his belief that you can do anything you set your mind to. These three traits may describe the man but they also describe this book.Ed gives you the pieces needed to getting into medical school. You just have to put the them together. This book is methodical and thoughtful and I was surprised that someone could take such a stark and sometimes dull and mechanical subject and turn it into a passion. And that’s how Ed lives his life. Ed knows about physicians because he realized the importance of their role in finding answers to our difficult problems - our health. Knowing his perspective, this book will help you get into medical school or any healthcare profession you may be considering including veterinary medicine, advance practice nursing, dentistry and so on.So, You Want To Be A Physician: Getting the Edge in the Pursuit of Becoming a Physician or Other Medical Professional not only gives you the right questions to ask yourself in assessing your own passion for becoming a healthcare professional but gives you the tools to finding the right answers to your true calling. This book is individualized for the reader. It speaks to everyone regardless of your professional focus. I recommended this book to my 21-year-old son before he applied to graduate school. Although in a different field (Environmental Sciences), he was accepted to the Masters of Science program in Environmental Justice at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.This book gets 5 stars – you can’t get any better than So, You Want To Be A Physician: Getting the Edge in the Pursuit of Becoming a Physician or Other Medical Professional.Sincerely,Robin Bruscato

I am glad that I was able to read this book, even though I had already been accepted into medical school. I was introduced to Mr. Goldberg very late in the game; the day I was to leave on a flight to Arizona for a school interview in fact. We had been corresponding via email during the week prior working on the answers to the three most frequently asked questions - as stated in this book - and worked very quickly to perfect my materials and then meet the day of to practice my interviewing skills. Even though I had never been in an interview before, Mr. Goldberg allayed many of my concerns and sources of self-consciousness, but also raised awareness to areas of improvement that I had not even considered. That was by far the most impactful aspect of working with him.If I had access to a book such as this in high school, I know that I would have done several things differently. Even though I would have achieved the same end, I realize now just how lucky I am to have been accepted. I had good grades, but not stellar; I had a slightly-below-average MCAT score; I had no medical research (only psychological) and no direct clinical experience. However I did have three majors, several honors societies, honors and scolarships, athletics, an internship, volunteer service (with a hospital and in a shelter for battered women) and I presented well. I am an outlier and likely not a good exemplar for the best path to take, however it can be done.This book is very succinct, direct and short, yet covers the entire journey from the first desire to be a physician (or other healthcare worker) all the way through residency at the end of medical school and can easily be read in a day or two. It is engaging and therefore I recommend that all people considering these professions should read this early on to receive the most benefit.Working with Mr. Goldberg directly was a boon not only to my professionalism, but also to my self-esteem. He was the first experience that I had with the interviewing process and, as previously mentioned, alleviated much of the self-doubt that I had. He takes matters seriously and is a successful man with likely very little time to give, yet he made me feel important in the time that he set aside for me. The biggest advice I could give is to take matters seriously. Treat school, interviews and your future goals as matters requiring precision and effort, but be flexible. Have humility and recognize that there is always room for improvement. I feel that every young person should have the opportunity to practice interviewing before they apply for schools, jobs, or anything else. I am greatful that I was able to practice with a man like Mr. Goldberg.