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Advice for the Medical School Applicant
by Robert S. Gillespie, M.D. University of Texas Medical Branch,
class of 1997
Copyright 1995 by Robert S. Gillespie.
Step 1: Decide that you really want to be a doctor.
Medical school requires an enormous amount of hard work, sacrifice
and dedication, more than you can possibly appreciate until you get there.
You've got to be totally committed to this venture to make it through.
Can you handle the sight of blood? Can you deal with sick and dying patients,
who are often in great pain? Can you speak to the family who has just lost
a loved one? Medicine is not all excitement and glory. Get some experience
in a health-care environment so you can be sure that you really like it
and want to spend your career in it. Volunteer work at a hospital or clinic
is a great way to do this. It will give you the experience of working with
patients that will help you decide if medicine is really for you. There
are also some paying jobs available if you are lucky. However, with all
the budget cuts in health care today, jobs for people without special training
or certification are pretty hard to find. Volunteer work is a sure thing.
Step 2: Go to college.
Each medical school has certain pre-requisite courses which you must
take (and pass with a C or better) in college. These vary from school to
school, so consult the schools or your pre-med advisor for details. Generally,
you will have to take general and organic chemistry, physics, biology and
math. What about choosing a major, you ask. There is no such thing as a
major in "pre-med." You can actually major in anything and still
go to medical school as long as you have those pre-requisite courses. That's
right, you can get a degree in Ancient German Literature and go to med
school! In fact, this can be an advantage to you. Many schools like the
idea of having creative, thoughtful, well-rounded people in their schools,
instead of a bunch of science nerds. However, there are some advantages
to choosing a science major. One advantage to a science major (e.g. Biology)
is that most of the pre-requisites overlap with the courses required for
your degree. If you choose to major in Ancient German Literature, you will
have to take all your literature courses plus the med school pre-requisite
courses. Another advantage to science majors is that the advanced training
in science will definitely help you through your basic science courses
in medical school, and it may help you on the MCAT as well. Still, it's
an individual decision--choose a major that makes you happy, and remember
that non-science majors are definitely a viable option.
Hint: If you have to take a foreign language in college, take Spanish.
This will really help you with the multitudes of Spanish-speaking patients
you will encounter. Be sure to mention your Spanish fluency at your interview.
Step 3: Apply to medical school.
The applications can be tedious, so plan ahead and allow plenty of time.
This is not a one-night project. You may have to dig up old information
such as your high school grades. You may also have to record every course
you've ever taken in college, even though they are getting a transcipt
as well. You will undoubtedly have to write one or more essays about yourself,
so take your time and write them carefully and thoughtfully. This is your
best chance to sell yourself, so take full advantage of it. Proofread it
carefully for grammar and spelling. Don't have someone else write
it for you. This is your essay. Besides, the medical schools will
receive copies of the essays you write for the MCAT, so they can compare
writing styles.
Fill out the application neatly, preferably by typing it. You may want
to photocopy the application and do a working draft, then make a final
copy to send in. Remember to READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY. Often
the application or transcripts need to go to someplace other than the medical
school address. Don't send the transcripts with your applications; they
must be mailed directly to the medical school from the Registrar's Office
at your college. You will probably need to send a photo, so have a professional
portrait taken well in advance so it will be ready in time. Use the standard
head and shoulders view and plain background. Don't use "special effects"
photos, funky poses or glamour shots. Don't send a snapshot, or your football
photo either. Send your application well ahead of the deadline to allow
for delays in the mail and to give you time to correct any problems which
may come up. So remember: 1.) Read the directions and 2.) Don't wait until
the last minute!
How many schools should you apply to? This is a personal decision. In
some states, such as Texas, you can apply to several schools with a single
application. Many schools in other states use the AMCAS system, in which
you fill out only one application, which is then forwarded to various schools
for a fee. You need to find a happy medium between applying to several
schools to maximize your odds of acceptance, but not spending endless amounts
of money on application fees.
Step 4: Wait for interviews.
You'll never know exactly what they may ask at an interview, but you can
still prepare yourself. Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses, as
they are likely to ask that. Think about special interesting facts about
yourself that you can offer. Have a good explanation of why you want to
be a doctor. If you are asked which specialty you want to do, it would
be perfectly okay to say that you don't know yet. Be yourself; be open
and honest. Be very interested in primary care. (Primary care means family
medicine, general pediatrics and general internal medicine.) Primary care
is a BIG, BIG deal in medicine today. The medical schools REALLY
want to recruit people into primary care and they are under extreme pressure
to graduate a certain percentage of primary-care physicians (as much as
half.) Massive changes are being made in med school curricula expressly
for the purpose of attracting, or perhaps even forcing, students into primary
care. In short, primary care is the buzzword of medical school in
the nineties and beyond. So stating an interest in primary care, both on
your application essay and at the interview, is very favorable and will
help you get special attention. This doesn't mean you're committed to it--you
can always change your mind later.
Special word of caution to accepted applicants: Be very wary
of financial aid packages which and require you to go into a certain specialty,
or a certain group of specialties, such as primary care. It's insane to
commit yourself to a particular field of medicine when you haven't even
started medical school yet. Were you absolutely certain of your major when
you began college? How many times did you change your major? As you go
along in medical school, you may change your mind several times. I can't
tell you how many students, myself included, enter medical school with
one specialty in mind and end up doing something completely different after
finishing the third-year clinical rotations. So avoid any financial aid
with strings attached. Even if it means going deeper into debt, don't
sell out your right to choose your specialty unless you are absolutely
sure of your choice!
Since a space in medical school is a rare and precious commodity, schools
don't want to waste them on people who are not deeply and sincerely dedicated
to becoming doctors (and hence likely to give up and drop out). It is part
of your job at the interview to convince them that you are truly dedicated
and highly motivated to do whatever it takes to become a doctor. This is
where that medically-related volunteer work or job comes in handy. If you
can show that you have actually worked in a health care setting for a significant
amount of time, then you can make a much more convincing argument that
you really know what medicine is really like, and you're ready to make
this committment. Volunteer work also shows that you're altruistic, which
is never a bad thing.
The usual job-interview rules apply. Attire is dark and strictly conservative.
Save the Garfield tie for after you get accepted. Speak clearly and loudly;
shake hands firmly; be enthusiastic.
What if I don't get accepted?
First, don't despair, and don't take it personally. The number of applicants
to medical school has been steadily increasing each year for the last several
years. There are just so many applicants that many well-qualified people
get turned away. If you are on the waiting list, you still have a good
chance of getting in. I have several friends in medical school who were
wait-listed and didn't get accepted until the day before classes began!
If you're not on the waiting list, remember the old maxim: If at first
you don't succeed, try, try again. You'll have to wait a year, but you
can take advantage of this time to make yourself a more competitive applicant.
You could retake classes you did poorly in to raise your GPA, or take additional
higher-level classes. You could get a job working in a medical setting
to get more experience with patients. Or do some more volunteer work. Seek
advice from someone knowledgeable (e.g., your pre-med advisor) on what
is the best thing you could do during that year to enhance your application
next year.
There is an excellent book entitled The Rejected Medical School Applicant,
which gives detailed advice on what to do if you're turned down. It was
written by Carlos Pestana, M.D., who is a dean at the University of Texas
Medical School in San Antonio. What better source of inside advice could
you find? Dr. Pestana's witty writing style is very entertaining, and he
covers just about every option you can think of, including reapplying,
alternative medical careers, foreign medical schools, and more. Unfortunately
it is long out of print and very difficult to find. Try your libraries.
I hope you find this helpful! Please send me your feedback: [email protected].
The opinions expressed in this document are strictly my own.
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