Road to Medical School
Applying to medical school is the culmination of prior dreams and hard work. It also represents a commitment to future sacrifice and learning. For most candidates it is an emotional roller-coaster that is taxing both emotionally and financially. While statistics show that the number of matriculating med students has increased over the years the process is more competitive than it has ever been and constantly evolving.
The decision to attend medical school is usually one that is not made overnight. For one there are a number of requirements that take a couple of years to achieve, but most importantly it is long term commitment that one must be serious about in order to be successful. The typical medical school requires applicants to take 2 semesters of Calculus, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Organic Chemistry. In addition to these classes most schools expect prospective students to have taken classes in Biochemistry, Physiology and English. The thinking here is that as a result of taking these courses one now has a foundational knowledge of Science and has reasonably developed critical thinking skills to a level necessary to be successful in medical school.
As an interesting side note, I remember vividly my first Chemistry class of my college career, my professor asked the class if medical school was something people planned on pursuing after undergraduate schooling. Over 70% of people in the room raised their hands! It was astonishing and even a little daunting to observe the level of interest in the field. Needless to say after 2-3 years, the aforementioned classes changed some peoples minds. This is general trend of how the process develops. People are constantly being weeded out by the many challenges place on the path to medicine.
While attempting to navigate the road to med school one must make sure to pick up volunteer and research hours along the way. At first most people sign up for such commitments in order to impress 'people that will probably matter' in the future. Most likely (if medicine is the field for you) a certain level of enjoyment will come from these endeavors. Its important to discover early whether many hours in the hospital or the sight of blood and the sick are things that you can stomach or are interested in. Personally I chose to volunteer in the PACU at a hospital that was close-by and in a Simulation Lab affiliated with my university.
Once you have that down and confirmed that medicine is a viable career for you, then you can move on to targeting faculty which you would like letters of recommendation (LOR) from. This is something I personally struggled with initially simply because I never attended office hours and therefore didn't establish a relationship with my professors. While you don't have to necessarily get your nose dirty, by simply contributing in a class regularly and once in a while staying a little after lecture to ask a question you can develop a strong enough relationship with a professor which should translate into a solid LOR.
If one manages to get through undergrad relatively unscathed and still has a passion for medicine then they must begin to prepare to climb the Mount Everest that is the MCAT.... actually its not too bad and these days it seems like a lot of schools put just as much emphasis on GPA. That being said, it is a test that I think needs at least 2-3 months to study for effectively. If you dont do well the first time thats nothing to be worried about. Most people take it twice and the national average age of matriculation is 24-25ish.
SOo once the MCAT is taken care of it is crucial that you complete and send out your application on time. This may seem like a small thing but it is something that causes a lot of good applicants to miss out and is not stressed enough by advisors. If you are junior looking to go into medical school straight out of undergrad it is important to send out your application between June (the summer between junior and senior year) and September. I sent mine out in August and I felt it was even a little late. It is important to be proactive throughout the process because tracking down your LOR, taking your MCAT and filling out the rest of the application before the deadlines can be tricky. (Another way they try and weed people out) ..
You may be wondering about the details of the online application.. so let me try and shed some light on them. Just like applying to undergrad college there are central application platforms that allow one to send out applications to multiple schools at once. The two main ones I am familiar with are the TMDSAS (for Texas) and AMCAS (for the rest of the country)... Let me know if there are any others I might be unaware of.. Most of the application is basic information that doesnt really allow for separation from the pack. However the essay portions for both the TMDSAS and AMCAS provide opportunities to shine. For my essay I focused on diverse background and my history of overcoming challenges.. My advice is to write about what makes you unique and how that has contributed to your passion for medicine and desire to help others.
Once you send out the main apps there is usually a brief gap between the submission and the arrival of secondary invites from your chosen schools. Schools tend to vary at this point in the process. Some automatically send secondaries to everyone who applies while others screen secondary invites and will only send them out to those who meet predetermined cut-offs.
In my next post I will talk more about secondaries, what should go into choosing what schools to apply to ... application costs... the interview process and the waiting game!
Until next time
Ciao
TMDSAS: http://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/homepage.html
AMCAS: https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/
As an interesting side note, I remember vividly my first Chemistry class of my college career, my professor asked the class if medical school was something people planned on pursuing after undergraduate schooling. Over 70% of people in the room raised their hands! It was astonishing and even a little daunting to observe the level of interest in the field. Needless to say after 2-3 years, the aforementioned classes changed some peoples minds. This is general trend of how the process develops. People are constantly being weeded out by the many challenges place on the path to medicine.
While attempting to navigate the road to med school one must make sure to pick up volunteer and research hours along the way. At first most people sign up for such commitments in order to impress 'people that will probably matter' in the future. Most likely (if medicine is the field for you) a certain level of enjoyment will come from these endeavors. Its important to discover early whether many hours in the hospital or the sight of blood and the sick are things that you can stomach or are interested in. Personally I chose to volunteer in the PACU at a hospital that was close-by and in a Simulation Lab affiliated with my university.
Once you have that down and confirmed that medicine is a viable career for you, then you can move on to targeting faculty which you would like letters of recommendation (LOR) from. This is something I personally struggled with initially simply because I never attended office hours and therefore didn't establish a relationship with my professors. While you don't have to necessarily get your nose dirty, by simply contributing in a class regularly and once in a while staying a little after lecture to ask a question you can develop a strong enough relationship with a professor which should translate into a solid LOR.
If one manages to get through undergrad relatively unscathed and still has a passion for medicine then they must begin to prepare to climb the Mount Everest that is the MCAT.... actually its not too bad and these days it seems like a lot of schools put just as much emphasis on GPA. That being said, it is a test that I think needs at least 2-3 months to study for effectively. If you dont do well the first time thats nothing to be worried about. Most people take it twice and the national average age of matriculation is 24-25ish.
SOo once the MCAT is taken care of it is crucial that you complete and send out your application on time. This may seem like a small thing but it is something that causes a lot of good applicants to miss out and is not stressed enough by advisors. If you are junior looking to go into medical school straight out of undergrad it is important to send out your application between June (the summer between junior and senior year) and September. I sent mine out in August and I felt it was even a little late. It is important to be proactive throughout the process because tracking down your LOR, taking your MCAT and filling out the rest of the application before the deadlines can be tricky. (Another way they try and weed people out) ..
You may be wondering about the details of the online application.. so let me try and shed some light on them. Just like applying to undergrad college there are central application platforms that allow one to send out applications to multiple schools at once. The two main ones I am familiar with are the TMDSAS (for Texas) and AMCAS (for the rest of the country)... Let me know if there are any others I might be unaware of.. Most of the application is basic information that doesnt really allow for separation from the pack. However the essay portions for both the TMDSAS and AMCAS provide opportunities to shine. For my essay I focused on diverse background and my history of overcoming challenges.. My advice is to write about what makes you unique and how that has contributed to your passion for medicine and desire to help others.
Once you send out the main apps there is usually a brief gap between the submission and the arrival of secondary invites from your chosen schools. Schools tend to vary at this point in the process. Some automatically send secondaries to everyone who applies while others screen secondary invites and will only send them out to those who meet predetermined cut-offs.
In my next post I will talk more about secondaries, what should go into choosing what schools to apply to ... application costs... the interview process and the waiting game!
Until next time
Ciao
TMDSAS: http://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/homepage.html
AMCAS: https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/
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