July/August 2015 by PreMedLife Magazine

NEW PAPER HIGHLIGHTS WAYS TO PAY FOR MED SCHOOL | STUDY EXAMINES BENEFIT OF HAVING EXTRA MCAT TIME

PREMEDLIFE The Magazine For Pre-Medical Students

July/August 2015

THE

MEDICAL SCHOOL JOURNEY

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS I PERFORMED POORLY ON THE MCAT...NOW WHAT?

Bombing the MCAT does shed a dark light on your medical school application

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A student’s candid look back at her personal experiences with applying for admission to medical school

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July/August 2015 “Taking a wise approach to secondary applications can save you a good sum of money and good amount of energy in the long run.” p. 21

18 THE MED SCHOOL JOURNEY

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF AN APPLICANT’S JOURNEY TO MEDICAL SCHOOL

TAKING A WISE APPROACH TO COMPLETING SECONDARY APPLICATIONS

APPLYING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL WITH A UNIQUE BACKGROUND

A STUDENT’S CANDID LOOK BACK AT HER PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH APPLYING FOR ADMISSIONS TO MEDICAL SCHOOL

SO YOU’VE FINALLY SUBMITTED YOUR AMCAS APPLICATION. HERE’S WHAT’S COMING NEXT...

HAVING A UNIQUE BACKGROUND CAN BE A HUGE ADVANTAGE WHEN APPLYING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL

July/August 2015 | PreMedLife Magazine |3

contents

JULY/AUGUST 2015

The medical school

l application process is

inarguably a tedious one.

I Did Poorly on the MCAT... Now What?

If you bombed the MCAT you know how terrible of a feeling it is. You feel helpless because you think that there is no way that you can get into medical school now. Bombing the MCAT does shed a dark light on your application, I am not going to disagree with that.

Simple Tricks to Make an Instant Connection With Medical School Interviewers

WHAT’S INSIDE...

Getting Letters of Recommendation The medical school application process is inarguably a tedious one. There are primary and secondary applications to fill out. There’s the MCAT to dominate, your list of personal experiences to fine tune, and your personal statement to draft.

If you are being given the chance to interview, it means that the school already likes you as an applicant and wants to make sure that what they see on paper translates into a real human being.

How to Build Up Your Perseverance Muscle

Medical school has often been likened to a marathon. Both take a lot of time, both leave you feeling exhausted and yet accomplished. While one leaves you with a “26.2” sticker on the back of your car for bragging rights, and one gives you permission to be addressed as “Dr. _______,” both are considered impressive accomplished.

4 | PreMedLife Magazine | July/August 2015

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Digital

JULY/AUGUST 2015

10 Questions You Wish You Could Ask the Makers of the MCAT It is a couple of weeks before the exam and you are daydreaming about how awesome you want to do on your MCAT. You go through many scenarios and then you realize you still have to study and take the exam.

What’s on Premedlife.com? A Pre-Med’s Guide to Infinity and Beyond Are you a Pre-Med student that needs motivation, a fire to get you working and chugging along the seemingly long road?

3 Tips For Your Medical School Application

Get Organized For my medical school applications, I made a large folder on my drive labeled “Medical School Applications.”

Organic Chemistry and the SAT Orgo is the first major hurdle. Calculus was a cakewalk, but the dreaded Organic Chemistry seems to take the cake for the greatest weed out course in pre-med.

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It Takes Some Courage, But Saving Money Is Worth The Leap.

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From the

Publisher

PREMEDLIFE the lifestyle magazine for premedical students www.premedlife.com

Founder & Publisher | Tasheema Prince Executive Director | Jonathan Pearson

STAY IN THE GAME... “You are capable of more than you know. Choose a goal that seems right for you and strive to be the best, however hard the path. Aim high. Behave honorably. Prepare to be alone at times, and to endure failure. Persist! The world needs all you can give.” -E. O. Wilson We here are PreMedLife believe that half of the battle that comes with getting into medical school is what you tell yourself - the mental game. Yes, you’ll need to perform well academically and cover grounds with

everything else, but what about where your head is at? Are you staying positive about where things are going? Are you staying positive about going through the process and making it through the process successfully? You better be! I beg of you that you do not underestimate the power of the things you tell yourself. As tough as it may get, as challenges come your way, as obstacles present themselves, as you get ready to start the new academic year, please stay on the up and up. You’ve already got a tough road ahead of you, so why make it any worse by beating yourself of mentally? So, go ahead...think about the end goal and think about it in the most positive way possible. Think about the best outcomes. See yourself opening up that letter of acceptance. See yourself doing the happy dance. See yourself there. And as always, we are PreMedLife are here to support you every step of the way. In this issue, we take a look at various steps in the process and provide some insight to help you make it through. Stay up and move forward. We got your back!

Tasheema Prince Tasheema Prince Publisher Follow me on Twitter: @PrinceSheem Email me at: tprince@premedlife.com

Executive Vice President | Monique Terc Contributing Editor | Njeri McKenzie Online Marketing Consultant | Portia Chu Contributing Writers Marilyn Chu, Seemal Awan Find us on Twitter @premedlife Find us on Facebook.com/premedlife Here’s How to Reach Us: Kisho Media, LLC P.O. Box 7049 New York, NY 10116 Main Office (347) 857-7491 Have a Story Idea? Email us at editor@premedlife.com Want to Subscribe? Visit www.premedlife.com and sign-up to our mailing list to receive an email when the latest issue is available online Want to Join Forces? (a.k.a. Partner With Us) Email us at info@premedlife.com Advertising Inquiries? Email advertise@premedlife.com PreMedLife magazine is published six times per year by Kisho Media, LLC. and copies are provided to select colleges and universities free of charge. The information in PreMedLife magazine is believed to be accurate, but in some instances, may represent opinion or judgment. Consult your pre-medical/pre-health advisor with any questions you may have about the medical school admissions process and related topics. Unless otherwise noted, all articles, photographs, artwork, and images may not be duplicated or reprinted without express written permission from Kisho Media, LLC. PreMedLife magazine and Kisho Media, LLC. are not liable for typographical or production errors or the accuracy of information provided by advertisers. PreMedLife magazine reserves the right to refuse any advertising. All inquires may be sent to: Kisho Media, LLC. P.O. Box 7049 New York, NY 10116 To reach us by phone call (347) 857-7491 or email us at info@premedlife.com.

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S T U D E N T A D V I S O RY B O A R D

The PreMedLife Student Advisory Board is an exemplary group of premed students from a variety of backgrounds who have a wide range of accomplishments. They will help keep us informed about what we need to know to make PreMedLife magazine the go-to resource for aspiring doctors.

Tisha Berg UCLA Extension

Viven Chen University of Miami

Samantha Culver University of Vermont

Caitlin Draper University of Arkansas

Jared Eaves The University of Texas at Austin

Austin Greer Indiana Wesleyan University

Charis Guinto Evangel University

Hannah Hoekstra University of Minnesota

Lisa Lachhman Pace University

Austin Newsman Georgia State University

James Rock Slippery Rock University

Tyra Turner Agnes Scott College

10 | PreMedLife Magazine | July/August 2015

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Premedical students who get more time to take the MCAT do not per-

NEWS

form better than students who take the MCAT under the standard time constraints. {PAGE 15}

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New Paper Highlights Ways To Achieve Free Or Low Cost Medical Education

Medical educators can respond to the growing cost of obtaining a degree in medicine, according to a paper published in the Korean Journal of Family Medicine. According to a report published by the American Association of Medical Colleges, the cost of medical school has never been higher, and student loan debt associated with becoming a doctor continues to grow. The paper, written by Kieran Walsh, clinical director of BMJ Learning and former hospital doctor, highlights the hefty price tag that comes with becoming a doctor and the resulting debt that students take on at the start and end of their undergraduate medical education. In the paper, Walsh calls on medical educators to respond to the concerns surround the cost and debt associated with medical school and offers several ways to address the issue.

When it comes to working part time to earn money while student, Kieran points out that there are advantages and disadvantages when it comes to taking on additional responsibilities to earn money. While having a part-time job could help reduce a student’s debt, Kieran states that time at medical school is a premium. “There is always a concern that a job could eat into study time,” Kiran wrote. “Most institutions advise students against working more than 15 hours per week while studying full time.” Next, Kieran says even before applying to medical school, students should consider the cost of living in the areas where schools are located and says that this factor cannot be ignored since tuition fees of schools and accommodation costs vary widely depending on location. "If we are serious about widening participation in medicine, then we need to think beyond the classical university experience."

Another, less discussed option are grants or bursaries. Kieran explains that charitable organizations and national health or education institutions offer grants or bursaries to medical students. “These grants or bursaries may offer variable levels of financial support and have different eligibility requirements,” Kieran stated. “However, their ultimate aim is to offer support to those medical students who need it most. While these examples of “tactical” opportunities are not all inclusive, Kieran says that they can help cover the cost of medical school in a significant way. On the flip side, students should also “think like an investor,” Kieran points out. “They will be investing a large amount of money in their tuition and living over a five- or six-year period,” Kieran noted. “This is in addition to the opportunity costs-the earning that they would have accrued if they had not been in medical school. ¡

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istockphoto/ wichai leesawatwong

NEWS

premedlife

istockphoto/ wichai leesawatwong

Study Examines Whether Extra MCAT Time Effects Performance Students who received extra administration time while taking the MCAT did not gain an advantage in gaining admission to medical school, according to a new study. The study, conducted by a team from the Association of American Medical Colleges, was designed to determine the comparability of MCAT scores obtained with standard versus extra administration time with respect to likelihood of acceptance to medical school and future medical student performance. The study included applicants to US medical schools and students who matriculated in the US medical school. The team found that acceptance rates were not significantly different for applicants who had MCAT scores obtained with the regular allotted time versus extra time. The study did find that students who took the MCAT with extra time had lower scores on Step exams. Specifically, students who had MCAT scores obtained

with extra time passed Step 1 at a rate of 82.1% compared to a rate of 94.0% for students who did not have extra time. Additionally, students who had extra MCAT time also graduated from medical school at significantly lower rates at different times. “Among applicants to US medical schools, those with MCAT scores obtained with extra test administration time, compared with standard administration time, had no significant difference in rate of medical school admission but had lower rates of passing the USMLE Step examinations and of medical school graduation within 4 to 8 years after matriculation,” the authors wrote. “These findings raise questions about the types of learning environments and support systems needed by students who test with extra time on the MCAT to enable them to succeed in medical school.” The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. ¡

Premedlife

M C AT

I Did Poorly On The MCAT...Now What?

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What happens when the biggest test of your pre-medical life turns out to be a disaster

If you bombed the MCAT you know how terrible of a feeling it is. You feel helpless because you think that there is NO WAY that you can get into medical school now. Bombing the MCAT does shed a dark light on your application, I am not going to disagree with that. But medical schools are actually a lot more forgiving than you think unless you are trying to go to one of the top 10 medical schools in which case I am not sure how forgiving they would be. Nonetheless, you are reading this article for a reason so let’s talk about what happens once you have bombed the MCAT. You see that dreadful MCAT score and you feel like there is nothing you can do to come back from it. Actually, there is a lot you can do. First thing

I would recommend doing is taking a step back and understanding why you got the score you did. Were you doing well on practice tests before the real exam? Or were you doing poorly and thought that taking the test was still a good idea? It could be that you were so nervous that you could not sleep well at night and you just did not have enough energy to take the exam. Really take some time to evaluate what happened not only during the exam but also what it was about your preparation that may have put you at a disadvantage for the exam. If you can understand why you were not able to perform well on the exam and it is something that you can change or work on, then your situation is actually one that you can fix. The reason I say this is because

medical schools love seeing students who were able to succeed after a failure. This is not to say that medical schools want you to fail, it just means that medical schools are looking for hardworking students who do not give up. So if you are in the situation in which you bombed the MCAT and you can figure out why you bombed the MCAT, the answer is relatively easy… study for the MCAT again and do really well. Do no take the MCAT again and raise your score by just 1-2 points and think that is enough. If you are recovering from a poor score, really strive to do a great job on your second try to show medical schools that you can surpass a large obstacle like the MCAT.

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Premedlife

THE JOURNEY

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istockphoto ÂŠ RaStudio

Going through the process is all part of an experience that you will never forget.

APPLYING TO MED SCHOOL

THE HIGHS AND THE LOWS

USUALLY WHEN I LOOK BACK ON AN EXPERIENCE I have had, it will be completely clouded by overwhelmingly positive or negative thoughts and sometimes it is hard to separate the positive from the negative. So for me, thinking back to my journey to medical school all I can think about are the positive thoughts because the final result was positive... that I got into medical school. But this is not true at all, my journey to medical school was rough. I do not mean small tiny obstacles coming my way, I mean large boulders at every turn. So you are probably thinking then how did I get in with all those boulders? THE LOW There is a pretty easy medical school in my home state that gives preference to in state students. My MCAT and GPA were both higher than the average for the school and I felt like I was a great match for the school. I really thought that I would get an interview and I was anxiously waiting to hear from them about an interview. When I finally heard from them, I received a straight up rejection letter. And this rejection letter was not at the end of the season when I had gotten other interviews or acceptances, this was the first piece of correspondence I had received from any medical school whatsoever. And this was in late October, after I had just submitted all of my applications. I was completely devastated and that was the first time during the application cycle when I felt like I had lost hope in my own abilities to get into medical school. I definitely remember moping around for a week but then I decided that I did not want to let one misfortune bring me down so I decided to apply to a couple more schools that had October 31st deadlines. Â THE HIGH One of the schools that I was applying to right before the October 31st deadline required about 8-9 mini essays (about 1-2 paragraphs each). I worked really hard on each essay and put in a lot of creative thought into each of the essays and submitted my application. Because I had experienced the setback earlier I decided I wanted to work even harder and I did. Surprisingly, just three to four weeks later I heard back from the school with 8-9 mini essays for an interview. I was really surprised because I was applying for one of the special MD programs at the school which only accepts about 30 students into the program. I ended up doing pretty well at the interview and was offered a spot in the medical school class about 2 months after my interview. The point of this story is to tell you that we all have different obstacles that we must face in order to get to the place we want to be. And make sure you do not let those obstacles define you but rather how you overcame those obstacles to be your defining feature. Â THE LOW/HIGH I got a couple of interviews all at once toward the beginning of the interview season and then I did not hear back from anywhere at all. I went on my interviews and came back and continued to wait for more interviews but no more came. I felt really anxious because I only had a couple of interviews and the end of interview season was approaching. I still remember my nerves getting worse and worse but then finally I got a call back from a school with an acceptance letter. It was one of the most satisfying calls of my life to hear that someone else believed in my desire to pursue medicine. Moral of the story, never give up on your dreams no matter what they may be.

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Premedlife

THE INTERVIEW

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Simple Tricks to Make an Instant Connection with Your Medical School Interviewers

If you are being given the chance to interview, it means that the school already likes you as an applicant and wants to make sure that what they see on paper translates into a real human being. They are not really expecting for you to blow them out of the water but want to see the compassionate, intelligent, and caring person that you are… which you are.

interview on some level should be about engaging your interviewer in the experience as well and not just answering questions but asking thoughtful ones. This will leave a mark on your interviewer because people enjoy participating in conversations rather than just a plain interview where questions are directed in one-way. Do not be shy to take the initiative to do this.

ASK YOUR INTERVIEWER QUESTIONS Since we feel like we are in the hot seat, it is easy to forget that we are allowed to ask our interviewers questions about themselves and how they came to the decision to pursue whichever field they are in. Usually when you meet someone for the first time there is a back-and-forth of questions so that both parties can learn more about each other. An

TAKE IN YOUR SURROUNDINGS Many times you get to interview in an interviewer’s office and it is important that while you are paying attention to the questions to also take in your surroundings. Sometimes the interviewer’s office will give you clues as to what kinds of things he/ she is interested in, which could very well be things you are also interested in. Driving the conversation

towards mutual interests/activities will make your encounter more meaningful because not only will you relax while you are talking but your interviewer will open up more also. MAKE SURE YOU SMILE It is easy to get nervous and forget to smile enough. Often I will see applicants have a worried look plastered on their face even though they do not have anything to worry about. A smile will go a very long way because it shows your interviewer that you are engaged and excited about where you are. Even if you are nervous, try not to worry about it because no one comes to an interview not feeling nervous. Just make sure that your nerves are not being highlighted and that your excitement for the school shines through.

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Premedlife THE SECOND STEP

SO YOU’VE FINALLY SUBMITTED YOUR AMCAS PRIMARY APPLICATION. YOU’VE MADE YOUR LIST OF SCHOOLS, INCLUDING EVERYTHING FROM A GOOD NUMBER OF “SAFETY” SCHOOLS TO YOUR DREAM MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS

SECONDARY APPLICATIONS You feel the relief of being done with the monstrous MCAT exam, and you’ve turned in your finely crafted personal statement. Now, it’s time to get to work on those secondary applications. Depending on the number of schools that you chose to send your primary application to in the first place, you may or may not wish to actually spend the time and money to submit secondary applications to all of your primary application schools. Taking a wise approach to secondary applications can save you a good sum of money and good amount of energy in the long run. The Statistics. Even though you’ve already taken the time to choose all of the schools that you wished to send your primary application to in the first place, a careful consideration of statistics is still probably a good idea when working on your secondary applications. This is important because, despite what many premedical students think, getting offered the opportunity to submit a secondary application to a medical school does not necessarily mean that the school is actually interested in you. Sadly, there is a good chance that they are simply interested in your money, and at around $100 per application, the financial burden associated with submitting an impressive number of applications quickly adds up. While some schools are noble enough to automatically send rejection responses to any applicants who they already know don’t fit their minimal requirements for entrance interviews, the frustrating truth is that most will not; most schools, on the other hand, will wait until you’ve taken the time to submit your secondary application (and its accompanying fee) before letting you know that you don’t fit their ideal applicant standards. >>>

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Because of this, taking the time to reconsider some of the schools that you’ve chosen to apply to in the first place is a wise decision. Current admission statistics can never tell you with absolute certainty whether or not you will be offered an interview at a particular medical school, but they certainly can give you a good idea of what your chances of getting offered such an interview even are. If there are a lot of factors working against you for a particular school (out of state residency, lower than average MCAT, lower than average GPA, etc.), you may want to reconsider whether submitting a secondary application to that school is really worth it. Completing secondary applications can easily consume your time, energy, and money; if your chances of getting accepted into any certain school are particularly slim, you may wish to choose to not submit a secondary to that institution, even if they have invited you to do so.

Completing secondary applications is definitely a monumental task. Do yourself a favor and don’t take any shortcuts in the process.

The Specifics. Another important consideration regarding secondary applications that may save you much headache in the long run is that of the specific requirements of each school. Finding out the application deadline is easy, but in order for your secondary applications to actually be worth your time, you will need to do much more research into the specific requirements of each and every school that you have been invited to submit an application to. Specifically, you’ll need to make sure that you are well aware of both the premed admission requirements and the application requirements for every school. While there are the general, standardized courses that all premedical students have to take in order to have the knowledge necessary for the MCAT, there are also often premedical admission requirements specific to each school. For instance, some schools might require the equivalent of one more course in humanities than others do; some schools might have certain math course requirements as part of their premedical standards also. Again, a school can easily be sending you an invitation to submit a secondary application simply because you included them on your list of primary application recipients and not because you actually meet all of their admissions requirements. Doing your research regarding the specifics of these requirements is definitely to your benefit. As mentioned above, in addition to the premedical student admissions requirements, the specifics of each school’s application requirements also must be considered. Some schools might require a certain number of hours to have been spent “shadowing” a practicing physician. Many schools have very specific requirements regarding letters of recommendation; be sure to know which schools require which letters, and make sure that these letters are submitted accordingly.

The Essays and Interviews: Of course, completing and submitting your secondary applications is just part of the entire medical school application process. There is still work to be done in your interviews. However, you can make your time interviewing easier if you do all of your difficult research for each school at the time that you are filling out your secondary applications. Most secondary applications include mini essay sections, and these sections often include questions about why you wish to attend that particular medical school and why you think that you would be a good candidate for their class of 20__. Having an extremely generic answer to these questions might save you time, since doing so will enable you to submit multiple secondary applications with minimal effort. However, a generic answer can easily be spotted by admissions committees and will not showcase any strong desire on your part to attend any

particular school. Therefore, it is a much wiser plan to spend the time to research some of the unique factors of a certain medical school at the time that you are compiling these secondary application essays. Does the school have a strong emphasis on medical outreach in its local community? Are graduates of the medical school known for their disaster relief work overseas? Is research a strong emphasis of the institution? Is having a diverse student body something that they pride themselves in? Do your research to find a particular aspect of the school that resonates with your own personal desire to pursue medicine, and base your secondary application’s essays upon accordingly. Doing your research for these essays should be the only instance you need to spend dedicated time researching the school. This is because you can save yourself time when it comes to your interviews by reviewing all of the information that you submitted in each secondary application to each school; not only will this help you save time when it’s time to prepare for your interview, but it also will help you be prepared if an interviewer asks you a specific question about an item in your application. (Some schools do not allow you to access your application material once you submit it. Save a separate copy of all information that you plan on submitting to a school prior to submitting it, just in case this is that school’s policy.)

The Decision. Finally, after all of your hard work is finished—after you’ve done your research, submitted your secondary applications, and dominated your medical school interviews—it may very well be time for you to start actually choosing which school to attend. For some premeds, this “problem” of having to choose between multiple medical schools won’t come around; getting into “just” one medical school is inarguably a huge accomplishment in and of itself. However, for those talented few who find themselves with more than one medical school acceptance letter to consider, making that final decision of where to pursue a medical education can be easier if they have chosen to be proactive about the process the entire time. One way to do this is to force yourself to write down reflections on each school immediately after you complete your interview process for it. Memories can easily get distorted with time and emotions, and this often causes us to remember things differently than they actually occurred. Taking the time to write down an honest opinion on your experience at each school that you might possibly receive a letter of acceptance from is an important way to ensure that your final medical school selection decision is done as factually as possible. Factors to consider include the overall feeling of the interviews (Did you leave your interviews feeling encouraged? How did you feel that you were treated by the faculty with whom you interacted?) and your overall impression of the medical institution (If you were given a tour of the school, what was your impression of the lecture and lab facilities?) Keep in mind that most schools tend to showcase their very best to potential students; if things already seem less than ideal while you are there for your interview, you might want to jot down a quick note to yourself so that you don’t forget your impression when you are making your final acceptance decision! Completing secondary applications is definitely a monumental task. Do yourself a favor and don’t take any shortcuts in the process. While taking the “long road” and doing complete research on each medical school prior to submitting your secondary application will take your time initially, doing so could save you hours in the long run when it’s time for interviews and final admissions decisions.

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T H E A P P L I C AT I O N

Sticking Out

Applying to medical school with a unique background

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emember growing up and thinking that being different from other people in school was a bad thing? I always felt embarrassed because I was not like everyone else. I avoided asking my mom to make me lunch for school because it did not look like the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that everyone else would have for lunch. Growing up in a South Asian household, my life was very different from my peers. I did not have a lot of friends with the same background so it was not easy to relate my experiences to other students. I always thought of my unique background as a disadvantage. It was not until I started applying to med school did I realize how much of an advantage having a unique background can be. BEING DIFFERENT MEANS SEEING THINGS IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT I never remembered to count how many essays I wrote during the application process but it ended up being way more 10. It took a lot of time going through the essay topics and figuring out what I wanted to write for each essay. At first I resisted the urge to talk about my life growing up and how that paved my decision to pursue medicine because I did not think that was what medical schools wanted to hear. I tried and tried to write about what I thought admissions officers wanted me to write about but each time I read the essay that I wrote I realized it sounded forced. Once I finally let myself write about what I actually felt, I was able to produce well written and emotionally-filled essays that showed who I truly am. During many of my interviews I was complimented about my personal statements because I did not hold anything back. Being different can be difficult because many of us at some point have tried to fit in to what we believe is the “norm.” As much as we try to suppress who we are, the way we perceive the world around us is unique and interesting. Medical schools love students that are unique because diversity is the core of learning. A diverse medical student class leads to a rich experience not only for the students but also provides a learning opportunity unlike anything else. TALK ABOUT YOUR UNIQUE BACKGROUND Do not be shy to talk about your background and how it may have influenced you in your decisions and always make sure that you practice what you want to say. You may be thinking, “well I do not want to talk about my background so I will not prepare for it either.” Just because you have decided to not talk about your past does not mean that you will not be asked about it. Also, you can use your background as an advantage when talking about it. For example, there may have been a health problem that someone in your family experienced and although it was a difficult time for you and may have been associated with feelings of sadness you can turn it around and display it in a positive light. This is just an example of one way in which you can talk about your background. BEING UNIQUE CAN MEAN ANYTHING A lot of folks think that a “unique” background has to mean a unique cultural experience. This is not completely true. Cultural experiences are great things to talk about and are very unique but it is not the only thing that falls under the realm of uniqueness. Traveling abroad is always a great experience to have under your belt and to talk about because you have learned a lot about yourself while traveling. Research experiences are also great topics. Basically, the point is that you can take anything about yourself and highlight it in a way that will display you as being unique because most likely it is unique to you. It is the way that you share the story that makes the difference.

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Doin’ Your Part UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE YOU PLAY WHEN IT COMES TIME FOR GETTING LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION FOR ADMISSION TO MEDICAL SCHOOL

he medical school application process is inarguably a tedious one. There are primary and secondary applications to fill out. There’s the MCAT to dominate, your list of personal experiences to fine tune, and your personal statement to draft. There’s figuring out which schools you even want to try to apply to, from your “safety schools” to your “just possibly maybe” list.

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L E T T E R O F R E C O M M E N D AT I O N

There’s budgeting your money for interview traveling and a sharp suit, refining your interview skills, and doing your research to know the exact application deadlines and requirements for each and every school on your list. And finally, as if all of that wasn’t enough, there’s the need to gather letters of recommendation. While all other parts of the application process more or less rely on you solely, letters of recommendation can only be controlled by you to a certain extent. Beyond that point, they must be left to the hands of your requested letter writers, whoever they may be. Because of this, doing your part of the letter of recommendation process is essential for ensuring the best possible outcome. Research Specifics Know letter requirements (committee, doctor, professor, etc.): Firstly, when approaching the letters of recommendation parts of any medical school application (whether it’s a primary or secondary application), be sure to carefully research what the requirements for a specific school are. For instance, some medical schools only require a general “committee letter” of recommendation; such a letter is typically drafted by the pre-medicine committee at your undergraduate school and contains input from a number of different professors and faculty members who have submitted statements about you to the committee. Other schools might refuse to take such general committee letters and instead require that you submit only letters of recommendation from single individuals. Still, other schools may ask for a variety of letters from different sources; for instance, a school might require that your application contain letters from a former professor, a medical doctor and a “personal reference” from someone who knows you outside of the academic or medical setting. Some schools go as far as to differentiate between types of medical doctors (allopathic and osteopathic). Since each school has different requirements, it’s important to research the specifics of each and every school that you plan on applying to.

Utilize Digital Services: Fortunately, even though you will most likely be applying to many different medical schools, modern day applications are in some ways simpler than their predecessors. Specifically, the common use of digital letters of recommendation services makes it possible to collect all of your letters in one convenient location, provided your letter writers are willing to submit their letters in this way. Interfolio and VirtualEvals are two such letter collecting services online; through these services you are able to keep a digital collection of all of your letters of recommendation for a set period of time. (The length of time usually depends on the particular service that you are using.) This way, you can easily know exactly which of your letters of recommendation have actually been written. Of course, you can only see when and if a letter has been completed; the contents of these letters remain unknown to you. Once your letters of recommendation are submitted and received, it is then up to you to make sure that the schools that you are applying to get the correct letters—a process that is usually accomplished through the AMCAS Letter Service. While not all medical schools currently utilize this service, a good majority of them do. Check the specifics of your medical schools to find out if using this service is a possibility or to find out if there is another digital letter collection/sending service that they utilize.

ter(s) of recommendation to more than one school, it is ideal that you plan to have all of your letters turned in by the time that the soonest application is due. This way, you have full access to all possible letters of recommendation for yourself as soon as you might possibly need them. Additionally, when asking for a letter of recommendation, it is advisable to never ask someone with the assumption that they will be available to write the letter for you. Provide them with a way out in your initial request as a standard courtesy (“I understand if you’ve already committed yourself to

Be Considerately Timely: While it is up to your committed letter writers to submit your letters on time, it is up to you to request these letters long enough in advance that all writers are given ample time to complete their tasks. Asking for a letter of recommendation just a couple of weeks before your completed application needs to be submitted is rude and unprofessional and will not give your letter writer a positive view of you, no matter how outstanding you might be in other fields. Since the due date for each medical school application might be different, and since there’s a good chance you’ll be able to submit the same let-

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While these letters typically do not hurt you (since hopefully you are only asking for letters from committees or individuals who only have positive things to say about you anyways), a good letter can definitely help improve the competitive strength of your application.

too many other things at this time to have the time to write me a letter.”), but also provide them with a timeline of when you need things by. If you want to submit your completed application by a certain date that is earlier than the due date, make this known (“My application to medical school is due on ______, so I’d appreciate it if you could submit your letter by _______.”). This way, you have made your requests and timeline clear to the letter writer, and they know exactly how soon they need to submit the letter by. Keep Things Personal: While not submitting a letter of recommendation by its due date will certainly hurt your chances of getting accepted in a medical school, only having “standard,” non-personal letters of recommendation certainly won’t do you any favors either. Admissions committees receive thousands of applicants every year and skim through even more letters of recommendation. What they are not interested in seeing is a letter that simply commends someone for being a “good student.” Such letters are impersonal and give the impression that the letter writer does not really know the student well at all. If possible, ask professors and others who actually know you decently well to write your letters of recommendation. If you attend an undergraduate school where there

the letter writer a positive one. A hand written note is typically recommended, but an email thank you note may also be welcomed in certain situations. While this may not seem like an important relationship to keep (particularly if you don’t think that you will ever be seeing that person again), it actually may be a very crucial one to maintain.

GETTING INTO MEDICAL SCHOOL ON YOUR FIRST ROUND THROUGH THE APPLICATION PROCESS IS OBVIOUSLY THE IDEAL GOAL are thousands of students in your classes, it will be much more difficult to establish a close relationship with a professor or other such figure. Because of this, it is all the more important that you are proactive in pursuing such relationships, even from your first year of college. Little things, like being a biology lab TA, or a math tutor, or a leader in a science club, might help you establish such a relationship with someone who might eventually be a good source for a letter of recommendation. Provide Your Information: One easy way to ensure that your letters of recommendation are very memorable and specific to you as a person is to actually provide your letter writers with some interesting information about yourself. This information can be anything that you feel would help make yourself appear as a stronger candidate in their eyes and in the eyes of an admissions committee; it does not necessarily have to be information that seems specific to the field of medicine. Even though your favorite professor might know that you are an outstanding student in chemistry lab, providing him with a little bit of insight into your non-academic life will help him get to know you a little better and give him a stronger base of information from which to compile his letter. Say “thank you:” Finally, even though it’s their job to actually compose and submit the letter to the appropriate site, it’s your job to make sure that their contribution to your medical school application is appreciated. Sending a “thank you” note not only will show your gratitude and showcase your manners, but it will also keep your relationship with

Specifically speaking, getting into medical school on your first round through the application process is obviously the ideal goal. However, realistically speaking, not everyone is fortunate enough to have such luck. Because of this, maintaining a positive relationship with your letter writers is important; even though it’s not an ideal scenario, there is a chance that you might be having to ask them to re-write a letter for you (since some online letter services allow letters to be considered “new” only within a one year period of time). Letters of recommendation are important, but they are rarely the reason that an applicant is rejected from a medical school; while retaking your MCAT to improve your score, redoing a class to improve your GPA, or rewriting your personal statement might be necessary steps to getting accepted on your second (or even third) time to apply, finding different people to write your letters of recommendation typically is not necessary. Maintaining good relationships with those letters writers however, is necessary. Overall, collecting letters of recommendation does not have to be a daunting task, regardless of how many different medical schools you might be applying to. Applying to more medical schools will mean that you will need to do more research to find out the specific requirements and due dates for each school, but it might not mean that you have to actually have more letters of recommendation physically mailed out, thanks to services like Interfolio and popularity of the AMCAS Letter Service. While these letters typically do not hurt you (since hopefully you are only asking for letters from committees or individuals who only have positive things to say about you anyways), a good letter can definitely help improve the competitive strength of your application. Be timely in your requests, proactive in providing your letter writers with positive information about yourself, and grateful for the time that these letter writers put into crafting and submitting your letters. While there is no set formula for being guaranteed a spot in medical school, having a good collection of positive letters written on your behalf can only help your cause.

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S TAY I N G M OT I VAT E D

Building perseverance Going through the medical school application process is a tough and no easy feat

edical school has often been likened to a marathon. Both take a lot of time, both leave you feeling exhausted and yet accomplished, both are only completed by a minority of the population. While one leaves you with a “26.2” sticker on the back of your car for bragging rights, and one gives you permission to be addressed as “Dr. _______,” both are considered impressive accomplished. However, the similarities between medical school and marathons doesn’t stop at the amount of time it takes to complete them; another important similarity between the two is the amount of preparatory training that goes into them. It’s possible to run a marathon without adequately training for it, and it’s possible to complete your MD without properly preparing for medical school, but doing so will make both activities far more difficult than they need to be. Having a basic understanding of science through the required premed courses won’t be enough. You’ll also need to build up your perseverance muscle if you want to do well in medical school. Specifically speaking, the first two years of medical school (typically during which all of your lecture materials are covered) is a time of very fast-paced teaching with minimal time to rest. Because of this, it’s vital that you have the endurance to focus and study for long periods of time. Medical school is designed so that cramming for exams usually does not work; students who excel

are those who can dedicate hours of each day to studying, even after they have spent hours sitting in lectures and labs all day. These students, however, don’t always have the innate ability to study for hours on end. Instead, it’s often a skill that they’ve actively worked at improving. Improving your study endurance should be done in small increments. Just like you shouldn’t tackle running a marathon without first running shorter segments, you shouldn’t try to sit down and study for hours without first building up your study endurance. Doing so might make you feel burnt out within a few days. If focusing has always been difficult for you, start with just 30 minute sections and increase your time from there. Remember that it’s more beneficial to have a short, focused period of study time than to have spend hours never really concentrating on the materials you need to cover. In addition to setting reasonable goals for yourself, it’s important that you work to minimize distractions during your set study periods. One way to do this is to set alarms to let yourself know when you can take your breaks and to set your phone far enough away during your study time that you won’t be tempted to constantly check it. Again, staying focused during short periods of time can really pay off by helping you learn how to study for significant periods of time in the long run. Finally, find others who can help hold yourself accountable to your study goals. A timer and goals are wonderful tools, but they fall short of being able to actually motivate you to accomplish your goals. Create an accountability system for yourself with a friend with whom you can be honest. Let him know your study endurance goals each week and check in with him regularly to let him know how well you are doing towards working for those goals. Having impressive perseverance won’t happen in a day for most people. However, through working through these steps, building up the endurance to study for long periods of time is possible.

32 | PreMedLife Magazine | July/August 2015

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premedlife E X I T I N T E R V I E W

Allison Gray, MD She always loved science in school, particularly learning about the human body. From a young age, Dr. Allison Gray also knew she wanted to work with people and contribute to others in a meaningful way.

What do you think best prepared you during your college years to be successful in medical school? Having a very rigorous science curriculum in college was the best preparation for me for success in medical school. I was accustomed to long hours studying in the library, on nights and weekends, so I was well prepared for the intense hours of studying when I arrived at medical school. Is there anything you found out during medical school that you wish you would have known when you were a premed student? I think I would say that becoming a medical student is life-changing in ways that I could not have predicted. You really become one with medical school, devoting all of your blood, sweat and tears to your journey through medical education. I found it challenging to stay in touch with my family and friends from home because of the immense demands of medical school. In addition, I initially found it hard to relate because I was experiencing things in medical school that people at home could not relate to, and it took some time to adjust to this change. I guess if I could tell my premed self anything, it would be to prepare for your life to change more than you expect, and don’t be worried or upset - just embrace the change! What would you say was the most challenging time of your premed years? My junior year of college was particularly challenging; I was taking all high-level science courses, and I was exhausted from a very rigorous almost-all science curriculum. I failed an important exam for one of my physiology courses because my head was not in it - my head was focused on the spring vacation a day after the exam. I knew at the time that I was distracted and not preparing well. As a result, I worked really hard and aced the remaining exams, but I ended up with a C+ for my final grade in the class, which negatively impacted my GPA. If I had to do it all again, I would have taken better breaks along the way or found better ways to find school/life balance so that I could have avoided feeling so burnt out.

ON THE BEST ADVICE SHE RECEIVED AS AN UNDERGRAD... It’s okay and often a really good idea to take a gap year after college and get some additional experience before applying to medical school.

If you had one piece of advice to give to those applying to medical school, what would it be? Compete with yourself to be the best student and learner that you can be. Be a sponge and soak up as much clinical experience with patients that you can before medical school. The experiences that you have with patients as a premed student can make a profound difference in their lives and in your life; write down your feelings and thoughts as you shadow and volunteer – you will remember them so much more vividly later on when you sit down to think about why you want to go to medical school and write your personal statement.

36 | PreMedLife Magazine | July/August 2015

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