I haven’t been a premed for long. It wasn’t until my senior year of undergrad that I committed myself to becoming a physician. I started my college education undecided/undeclared. Don’t get me wrong; I had always been drawn to the health field. I was in love with the idea of being so closely involved in science and being able to help people feel better. All of the right intentions were there, but it took time for me to grow into the position I am in today. Slowly, as all of us do, I learned more about myself and which role I felt fit me best within the healthcare team. Fast-forward two years. I am still on my journey to getting into medical school but I’ve been fortunate enough to meet one on one with medical students, recruiters, and deans of admissions.

I had gotten the chance to visit a medical school and meet with a dean of admissions that I had met through PreMedSTAR. It was great- we talked about their curriculum, their mission, my interests and goals, as well as the future of health care and health education. At the end of our meeting, I thanked him for his time and asked if he had any advice for someone about to jump into the next application cycle. To my comfort, he said, “Lauren, there’s nothing I can tell you to do that you haven’t already done.” It was reassuring to hear that I was on the right track. But to my surprise, he said the most common mistake premeds make regarding applications is not applying to the right schools. We all know stats can be a strong indicator of how competitive our candidacy is, but more importantly you must be able to connect with their mission.

Each school has a mission statement that summarizes their most important values and core beliefs. Arguably, this may be one of the most important factors to consider. You might have the right GPA and MCAT score, but a school won’t just grant you admission if you don’t seem to share a common mission. So how do you find your premedical mission statement? This takes a lot of introspection.

I sat on this for a while. As I was trying to define my premedical identity, I found it easiest to reflect on my most impactful and valuable experiences over the past few years. I threw myself into research and found myself looking for opportunities to attend and present my findings at conferences. I noticed a lot of the time my mind drifted to how we could apply modern science to investigate current health issues or designing follow up experiments to those discussed in class. I realized how passionate I am about education. I assumed a role as an educator by being a peer tutor throughout school, partaking in community K-12 science outreach programs, and educating my patients on health results and screening guidelines. Lastly, I found gratification in pushing myself out of my comfort zone and becoming a leader. This last one has multiple paths I’m still exploring: leading by example, mentoring, supporting and encouraging my peers, and learning to speak up about issues.

I think by taking the time to define some of the aspects I value the most I found clarity on where I want to go next. I want to build on all of these qualities throughout medical school and incorporate them into my practice as a clinician. It only makes sense for me to go to a medical school where I am able to do that. On the other hand, it only makes sense for a school to really want me if I match what they’re trying to create. All in all, I suppose this was just a roundabout way of saying to remember that this is a two way street. Define your current and future self. Then look for the best opportunities that are going to help you get to where you want to be. 

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