Happy Monday PreMed STAR. This is Week 2 of the PreMed Mondays Mentoring Podcast. The book covers 5 things I wish I knew before becoming a medical doctor, but in this podcast episode, I’ll discuss 2 of them.
1) Two things I wish I knew before becoming a medical doctor
2) Next week I’m giving everyone a copy of my PreMed Mondays book.
3) This week’s challenge
Subscribe to this podcast on Google/Android or iTunes.
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1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Currently there is not too much to me, but I plan on changing this very soon. I am DeMario Malone, a sophomore at the University of Missouri-Columbia majoring in Biology and minoring in Psychology and Black Studies. I am from St. Louis, and grew up in a majority black portion of the city with over 90% of my graduating class being African American, making the transition to Mizzou a difficult one, but a major factor in being a great student is adaptability. I hope to be the first person in my family to earn the title of MD, or complete graduate school in general.
2. Who was your favorite teacher in school and how did he or she impact you? My favorite teacher so far in College has been Dr. Bush, my introduction to biology teacher. While the class itself was somewhat of a gut class, she has been so much of a source of motivation for all of my classes that I know my second semester would have went much differently if I did not go to her office hours just to talk about life. She is an extremely empathetic person and has invaluable advice about the journey of a college undergrad. While I may have only completed one year of college, I know I will be seeing her for the next 3 years of my undergrad journey and potentially beyond.
3. When did you first decide you wanted to become a doctor and why? While I first amused the idea of becoming a doctor around the age of 13, I did not establish my decision of becoming a doctor until I was 17 years old and my mom explained my families history with cancer and how my uncles and grandfather all died from preventable cancers, but could not afford the high cost of going to the hospital. Along with my family’s medical woes, I spent a majority of my freshman and sophomore years in and out of hospitals and watched the bills rack up for my family. Due to these factors, I decided I wanted to be a cheap doctor in an underrepresented community in order to spread confidence in the medical system in communities of low socioeconomic status.
4. What area of medicine are you interested in? My first choice for the past 4 years had been dermatology but I am also considering psychiatry.
5. What’s the coolest experience you’ve had so far on your premedical journey? While my experience has been brief, with Mizzou’s chapter of MAPS, I was able to experience the Medical School’s anatomy lab, and was able to explore the anatomy and organs of human cadavers when at that point I have only done dissections on mice.
6. What is your favorite book? My favorite book is an interesting question, I read regularly and my favorite changes so much! Currently it is either Brian Stevenson’s Just Mercy or Ta-Nehisi Coate’s Between The World And Me.
7. Tell us one thing interesting about you that most people don’t know. In high school, while I was primarily known as an athlete, I was also a pretty skilled musician! I played the Baritone in my school’s band and one of my proudest moments was becoming first chair in the highest level band senior year after starting in last chair of the lower level band my freshman year.
8. If you couldn’t be a doctor, what would you want to do? If I couldn’t be a doctor, I would go to graduate school and attempt to get a doctorates in psychology. If medical school does not work out I want to one day be either a psychologist in a clinic, or an educator in psychology. Social work in a different country is not off the table either.
9. What has been your biggest obstacle as a premed and how did you (or are you) overcome it? My biggest obstacle on my journey (besides chemistry) is the lack of adequate mentorship. While my parents try their hardest to help and support me, they know nothing about the journey to medical school and are apprehensive of my undergraduate research, hospital volunteering, and wish to study abroad. I am currently looking for a doctor, educator, or someone who has the experience to assist me on my path.
10. What do you like most about PreMed STAR? The PreMed STAR community welcomed me with open arms!! Everyone is so friendly and willing to help each other. I have received so much good advice from this blog concerning both undergrad tips, the MCAT, and what to expect in Medical School.
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How many tasks can you do at once? Actually, let me ask this question instead, are you good at multitasking? Wait wait wait!!! Here’s the real question, do you get good results when you multitask? You might think so, but I’m willing to bet they’d be even better if you learned to focus.
One of the best things a person can do to increase productivity is learn to focus. Often times we feel as though we’re accomplishing a lot, but we’re really just doing a lot. Being busy is not the same as being productive. Our goal is the latter. In order to achieve it, we must learn to focus. Here are 5 tips that can help improve your ability to focus.
In today’s world, t’s becoming harder and harder to focus. To placate ourselves, we say things like, “I’m great at multitasking”, however what that really means for most of us is we’re being less productive than we’d be otherwise. Use these five tips to become an individual with laser-like focus and increase your productivity.
So, I’d like to know, what other tips have you tried that helped to increase your focus?
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Hey PreMed STAR, I’m launching this a new mentorship podcast for you all. It’s based on my book PreMed Mondays (available on Amazon), and you can follow along in there. I’m going to post the first episode here this week and plan to get it into the app stores next week. My goal is to help you all accomplish yours! Enjoy the podcast!
-Dr. Dale
Week 1 – Introduction to my PreMed Mondays Mentorship Podcast.
This week, I’ll be:
You can grab a copy of my PreMed Mondays book HERE.
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1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. I grew up in Rutherfordton, North Carolina which is a small and rural town halfway between Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina. I obtained my undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Converse College, a small women’s college in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I graduated in three years and decided to take a gap year in order to take the MCAT and apply to medical school for entry in 2019. During my gap year, I am working as a biomedical research fellow at the National Cancer Institute within the National Institutes of Health. I will spend this year determining if novel genetic variants in the regulator of telomere elongation helicase 1 gene (RTEL1) will result in alternative isoforms of the protein. I will then analyze the resulting functional changes or changes in gene expression of these isoforms using RNA sequencing from patient-derived samples. I started about two weeks ago and can’t wait to spend my gap year working for the NIH.
2. Who was your favorite teacher in school and how did he or she impact you? My favorite professor in college was my biochemistry professor, Dr. Will Case. He set high expectations for all of his students but didn’t hesitate to help us along the way. His office door was always open and he was always willing to answer any question about chemistry. He pushed me to challenge myself in the lab and encouraged us to evolve in our way(s) of thinking, studying, and learning. Not all of these things were verbally expressed but were always made known because he was a leader by example and passionate about teaching.
3. When did you first decide you wanted to become a doctor and why? I decided I wanted to be a doctor when I was in eighth grade after watching the movie “My Sister’s Keeper” based on Jodi Picoult’s novel. I didn’t (and still don’t) read a lot for pleasure but after seeing the movie, I was excited to read the book. It is still one of my favorite books. The novel follows Anna, who is the younger sister to Kate, a girl who has lived her whole life with leukemia. Anna was conceived and genetically modified in order to be a perfect match for her sister. Anna was born with no choice but to save her sister’s life. As they both grow older, Kate wants to pass away gently and doesn’t want Anna to bear the burden of saving her life any longer. So the book follows the process of Anna being medically emancipated from her parents, while still under the age of thirteen. After being so engulfed in this story for weeks, I became passionate about helping kids with cancer. I used my limited medical vocabulary to put together my dream job, a pediatric oncologist. Little did I know that was a real profession but that’s when my passion for medicine began.
4. What area of medicine are you interested in? For a long time I was interested in becoming a pediatric oncologist, as previously stated. It wasn’t until about a year and half ago that I decided to change my mind. I spent around 75 hours shadowing a pediatric surgeon and over the course of a few months, fell in love with that field of medicine. It was always something different. Shortly after shadowing the pediatric surgeon, I interviewed a pediatric oncologist and knew I needed to work in a field that was a little more positive than oncology. My decision to pursue pediatric surgery was solidified.
5. What’s the coolest experience you’ve had so far on your premedical journey? The coolest experience I’ve had so far was actually being able to shadow my own sister’s ankle surgery. We shared the same orthopaedic doctor who had performed my ankle surgery a few months prior. With my sister’s permission, I asked to our doctor if I could join him in the operating room on the day of my sister’s surgery and to my surprise, he said yes but also invited me to come back anytime I wanted. As a result, I was able to gross my sister out with details about her surgery and see a wide variety of other orthopaedic surgeries.
6. What is your favorite book? My favorite book is “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult! See question three for more details. 🙂
7. Tell us one thing interesting about you that most people don’t know. I am a fraternal twin! My twin sister and I are very different but very close. She is studying marketing and communications. The first time we were ever separated for more than a week was when we went to college. We have a younger sister as well, so sometimes we claim to be “triplet want-to-be’s.”
8. If you couldn’t be a doctor, what would you want to do? If I couldn’t be a medical doctor, I would probably want to pursue a Ph.D in some sort of biomedical science and become a college professor. Or I’d pursue a Master’s in Public Health and travel the world in order to help with several different health crises.
9. What has been your biggest obstacle as a premed and how did you (or are you) overcome it? My biggest obstacle as a premed was actually being able to pay for my undergraduate degree. I grew up in a single parent home, so money was always tight. The only reason I was able to afford my first year of college was because of scholarships, grants, and a fair amount of insurance money set aside from a car accident that wasn’t my fault. Halfway through my freshman year of college I noticed I had no idea how I was going to pay for the rest of my college career, so I got a job as a Pharmacy Technician, made a plan to graduate in three years while commuting to school in order to make obtaining my degree less costly. Working 25 hours a week was hard to juggle with my demanding school work and sometimes took a small toll on some of my grades, but I kept pushing. The summer before my third and final year of college, I was awarded a $20,000 scholarship by the National Institutes of Health with the expectation I would work for the NIH for one year in return. This scholarship paid all of my tuition, fees, and expenses for living off-campus. I will never be able to express how much gratitude I have for receiving this scholarship. It gave me the ability to quit my job as a pharmacy technician, focus on my school work, and graduate from college debt-free.
10. What do you like most about PreMed STAR? I love the format of PreMed STAR’s personal profile pages and how easy it is to download and print our profile in a professional format. I will be sending my profile and printing off my portfolio to give my possible letter of recommendation writers.
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Icebreaker Questions:
Many Interviewers will start here. Most are looking for an icebreaker to put you at ease. Rarely, will you meet someone who comes out swinging with tough questions. This is a great opportunity for the interviewer to learn how you interact with others. They want you relaxed and making good eye contact. They want to see you aren’t too pompous, stiff, over-rehearsed or just plain odd.
1. So, tell me about yourself.
2. Tell me about your hometown.
3. What do you like to do for fun?
4. Where are you from originally?
5. How many siblings to you have and what do they do?
Questions about your Education
Now we are getting into the meat. Don’t be scared though. If you have been invited to an interview they already feel you have what it takes academically to make it to medical school. This is an opportunity for you to explain the good, the bad, and the ugly. You can clear up any blemishes here.
1. Why did you choose your school?
2. Why did you choose your major and minor?
3. Tell me about this poor grade you made.
4. Tell me about your research.
5. What have you learned from your volunteer activities?
6. What was your favorite class in college and why?
7. What was the biggest academic challenge you had and how did you overcome this?
8. What did you learn about yourself during undergrad?
9. Who was your favorite teacher and why?
10. Why did you take a gap year and what did you learn during that period?
Deeper Personal Questions
This is the interviewer’s opportunity to get a little more personal and invasive. They want to know if you can take on the challenges you will face in medical school. They want to know if you know what you are getting into and if you have determination and strong support.
1. Why do you want to be a doctor?
2. What is your greatest strength and weakness?
3. Where do you see yourself in the next 5, 10 and 20 years?
4. Who was your role model growing up and why?
5. What person living or dead would you like to meet and why?
6. What major challenge have you faced in life and how did you overcome this?
7. How do you deal with failure?
8. When have you felt the most vulnerable and how did you overcome this?
9. What 5 words would others use to describe you?
10. Who has been most influential in your path to becoming a medical doctor?
11. Why should we accept you here?
12. What is your favorite book?
13. What is your favorite show?
14. What is your favorite medical show?
15. What would you do next year or long term if you are not accepted into medical school?
Questions Related to Medicine
It’s time to make sure you know basics about medicine and sometimes a little deeper than that. This is the interviewer’s opportunity to see if you are passionate about this and if you are aware of major current news in the medical world.
1. What do you believe are the biggest problems facing the US healthcare system?
2. What are your thoughts on our new health care plan?
3. Tell me something current going on in medicine.
4. What challenges do you foresee transitioning from undergraduate to medical school?
5. Why have you chose to interview at our school?
6. What type of medical schools are you applying to and why?
7. I know it is early but do you have a particular field of interest yet?
8. What qualities do you feel are necessary for a good physician to have?
Diversity Questions
Schools are looking for diversity. By diversity they are not simply referring to race or gender but things that make you different and stand out from the crowd. Everyone is a minority in one way or another and had to overcome barriers to get here. Medicine needs diverse minds to treat a diverse population.
1. Do you think diversity is important in healthcare and if so, why?
2. How can you contribute to our diversity mission?
3. How have your adversities affected you?
4. What makes you unique as an applicant to medical school?
Social/Ethical Questions
These may be some of the toughest questions as they can cover a broad range of topics. Many can be brought up in scenario format.
1. Are there any current ethical controversies in the news you can tell me about?
2. Are there any moral or ethical dilemmas you have faced while volunteering or shadowing?
3. What are your thoughts on euthanasia?
4. How would you inform a 60 year old woman that she has a new diagnosis of cancer?
5. How would you respond to discovering a colleague of yours is dealing with substance abuse?
6. If you observe a medical student cheating on an exam what would you do?
7. If you are in an elevator and hear physicians discussing patients, what would you do?
8. What are your thoughts on alternative medicine?
Closing Question
1. So, what questions do you have for me?
I hope you find these questions helpful. I suggest practicing these questions with a friend as a mock interview. You may consider recording it and reviewing your weaknesses and strengths. Those who have interviewed previously please share some questions you received. What questions surprised you? Which were most memorable? For those interviewing this year, please share any concerns or suggestions on how best to answer these.
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1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. I was born in the beautiful island of Haiti and moved to the United States at the age of 7. Before the move, I was severely ill due to sickle cell related complications, and the status of my declining health struck a loud cord of fear in the hearts of my parents. Unfortunately, they had been down this road twice before with two of my siblings. At the age of 7, my older brother Carl died due to complications from sickle cell and later the death of my twin sister Tracy followed. The tragic death of my siblings changed our lives forever. I vividly recall the look of hope in my parents’ eyes as they cared for me daily, determined that it would be different. This time my parents realized that health care system in America promised better options for sickle cell treatment, and made the decision to move the family to America. Over the years my health has improved tremendously. I’ve only had one hospitalization for the past 6 to 7 years. I’ve had the privilege to attend University of Florida, graduate with a bachelors in Biology, participate in various research experiences, and volunteer with extraordinary organizations. I’m grateful to be alive, and I live each and everyday in accordance to Maya Angelou’s words “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style”.
2. Who was your favorite teacher in school and how did he or she impact you? My middle school teacher constantly poured confidence in me at a young age. I often read books in Mr. Slater’s class instead of paying attention to his lessons. Instead of giving me detention, he would at times say “ Watch out for this girl because she is going to do great things in this world. ”. I’ve always kept those words in the back of my mind, and use them as a motivation to become better each day. I will always remember the kindness Mr. Slater expressed to me, and I wish him the very best in life.
3. When did you first decide you wanted to become a doctor and why? My decision to pursue medicine came from a diverse group of experiences such as the death of my siblings, physician shadowing , volunteering, and research. Witnessing the death of my siblings, and later realizing how a simple procedure such as blood transfusion could have saved their lives, ignited my curiosity for medicine. The hospitals in Haiti did not have any blood banks. Family members had to go to Red Cross and obtain the blood needed for the patient. Sometimes, patients were denied transfusion for having a fever. unfortunately, my siblings were one of those patients, and died. After multiple hospitalizations, and volunteering at homeless shelters, I realized that I had a passion for the underserved population, and sickle cell anemia. This passion grew with my various interactions with outstanding physicians who exemplified positive attributes such as empathy, perseverance, and determinism. Finally, I became involved with research that focused on stroke, sickle cell anemia, and health care disparities involving minorities. Overall, these experiences cohesively influenced my final decision to go on this path to becoming a physician.
4. What area of medicine are you interested in? As of right now, I want to specialize in Hematology/Oncology, but this decision can change in medical school.
6. What is your favorite book? My favorite book is “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. This book changed my life, and I encourage everyone to read it.
7. Tell us one thing interesting about you that most people don’t know. For 5 years, I twisted balloon animals at restaurants, and birthday parties for kids. What’s ironic is that I use to hate the loud popping sound of balloons, but I got over that fear very quickly.
9. What has been your biggest obstacle as a premed and how did you (or are you) overcome it? My first semester at the University of Florida, I had an incident where I had to file a police report for an individual. Fearing for my life, I stopped attending classes, and lost focus in school work. This individual eventually got arrested, but this experience had a negative impact on my junior year of college. Eventually, I was able to get back up, and graduate from college with a bachelors in Biology. I’m glad that I did not let this one negative experience deter me away from my path to becoming a physician.
10. What do you like most about PreMed STAR? What I like most about Premed Star is how everyone is so willing to help one another.
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Towards the end of my fellowship training, I began to look for jobs. The good thing about being a doctor is that most of the time, jobs are looking for you. Our problem isn’t finding one, it’s choosing the best package. For me, it came down to two offers. Each was extremely desirable for its own reasons. The first offered a salary significantly higher than the second. With that job, I’d have the opportunity to get a new ICU up and running in one of the fastest growing communities in America. The other job’s salary was much lower (but hey it’s doctor money so still good) but I’d have the opportunity to work with students and young physicians. Both were great options and I struggled to choose. I then reached out to a mentor who made it simple, “Dale, it sounds like with the higher paying job you’ll mostly be a body there to work. They want you to just be a doctor. Dale, you’re more than a doctor.”
Those words have stuck with me ever since. I’m an author, an entrepreneur, a little league coach, a leadership coach, and so many other things. Although I can’t do all of these things on my 9 to 5, the less hectic schedule makes it possible during off hours. Taking the lower paying job have provided me with enough time to continue developing my passions so I can make a lasting impact.
Ok, that’s enough about me. This article was written for you. What are your passions? What things do you want to continue doing throughout your entire career as a medical doctor? Take some time to identify those and be certain of them. It is important to know these before you begin medical school. I’ve witness too many gifted individuals start medical school multitalented and leave as a one trick pony. The mistake these individuals make is thinking that they don’t have enough time to do the things they love because they are so busy studying. This is bad. No, it’s very bad. The reason so is because doing the things you love make you happy and decrease your stress. This in turn will allow you to perform better in your coursework and clinical rotations.
Physicians need to be more than doctors. Whether we like it or not, we are societal leaders and that being the case, it is imperative that we be well versed in areas beyond medicine. Even at the most basic humanistic level, patients want to be treated by people who can relate to them. You golf..hey, I do too! Something as simple as that can establish a bond.
So, here’s my question to you. What things make you more than a doctor? How do you think these things will add value to you as a physician?
At the end of the day, you are a person before you are a doctor. There are things that you are passionate about and need to do in order to feel complete. If it’s dance, then dance with all of your heart. If it’s writing software, then type until your wrists are numb. Be more than a premed, and when you get that white coat, be more than a doctor!
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1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Derrick Lane II and throughout my life, I would describe it as complexed with many blessed experiences. I grew up majority of my life in the inner-city of Memphis, Tennessee, where crime and poverty is high. I tried my best to avoid the violence by focusing academically, playing sports, listening to my parents, and having a strong faith in my heavenly father at an early age. With this mindset, I was able to matriculate to college with earning an academic and baseball scholarship to LeMoyne-Owen College majoring in Chemistry, where I received accolades as a student-athlete. However, after my freshman year, I transferred to Mississippi Valley State University and majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry as a student-athlete. I recently graduated magna cum laude and will attend graduate school before medical school. Ultimately, I believe that I have exemplified the time management skills which allowed me to successfully balance my coursework and athletic obligations.
2. Who was your favorite teacher in school and how did he or she impact you?
My favorite teacher in school has also become one of my prominent mentors. Dr. Mark Dugo has primarily guided me and became a significant asset for my success throughout my matriculation in college. More specifically, he has encouraged and advised me with research on the epidemiological analysis of prostate cancer from a national and state perspective. This research has further influenced my decision to pursue medicine as well. I was able to present my work at conferences throughout the state of Mississippi promoting cancer prevention and awareness. Mississippi is prevalent in the health disparities of cancer, especially in the Mississippi Delta region where my university is located. In retrospect, Dr. Dugo has been and will continue to be a blessing in my life.
3. When did you first decide you wanted to become a doctor and why?
My interest to become a doctor initiated early in life. My parents implemented the foundation by exposing me to books on prominent African American physicians such as Dr. Charles Drew, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Dr. Ben Carson, Dr. Sampson Davis, Dr. George Jenkins, and Dr. Rameck Hunt. Therefore, I knew I had to continue working diligently through my studies and take initiative to do research on becoming a physician. In addition, there were many instances in my life that sparked my interest in medicine, but two examples are the death of my grandfather from diabetes and assisting my father with his chronic cases of gout. However, one experience gave me the ultimate push in wanting to become a physician. I decided on my own to take a tour of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after reading about the annual St. Jude’s Marathon raising $10 million for pediatric oncology in the local newspaper. As I toured the hospital, I instantly gravitated to the state of the art research environment and visualized myself having the daily passion to save lives. Seeing kids not having the same opportunity to enjoy life like mine due to cancer, broke my heart and changed my outlook on life. After this experience, I knew that I wanted to sincerely continue to strive to help others and ultimately make a difference through saving lives one day as a physician. Therefore, I believe with my passion, dedication, and perseverance, I can accomplish my goal of becoming a physician.
4. What area of medicine are you interested in?
All areas of medicine intrigue me; however, due to my experiences, the main fields of medicine that I am interested is oncology and orthopedic surgery specializing in sports medicine. Oncology derives from my current research experience on the racial disparities of prostate cancer, and my experience at the St. Jude Research Hospital talking to children suffering from different cancers in general. Therefore, the importance of cancer prevention and awareness through educational interventions is imperative. Orthopedic surgery fascinates me due to my involvement playing sports throughout my life. Experiencing teammates suffering from severe sport injuries such as a torn ACL or a clavicle fracture further influenced my curiosity in this field of medicine as well.
5. What’s the coolest experience you’ve had so far on your premedical journey?
The most captivating experience for me is the clinical shadowing and the in-depth MCAT preparatory that I can obtain while at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS. The benefit of taking advantage of opportunities to get into medical school is always a blessing, which only drives me closer to achieving my goal of ultimately becoming a physician.
6. What is your favorite book?
My favorite book is “The Pact” which also inspired me to become a physician due to some of the similar circumstances. This autobiographical book was about three young men overcoming obstacles while growing up in the inner city of Newark, New Jersey. They eventually became doctors from creating a bond matriculating through high school, college, and medical school. The overall perspective of this book has encouraged me primarily to trust the process and persevere despite the many obstacles I may face through my premedical and medical journey.
7. Tell us one thing interesting about you that most people don’t know.
One thing interesting about me is that I am a 3rd generation college student. Even though I grew up in the inner-city, my parents were educators and provided guidance for me. They instilled the positive values and morals that I continue to live by today, which implements a perspective of humility of never forgetting where I come from.
8. If you couldn’t be a doctor, what would you want to do?
My aspirations included being a medical doctor and a professional baseball player. Obviously, one aspiration did not turn out the way that I portrayed it to be; however, due to my reasoning that I sincerely believe that being a physician is destined for me, I would never say that can’t achieve anything. My passion has always been to make a difference and strive to help others through emphasizing productive matters. Therefore, I would enhance my abilities to become a motivational speaker/author while also being a doctor.
9. What has been your biggest obstacle as a premed and how did you (or are you) overcome it?
My biggest obstacle as a premed has been overlooked by many people throughout my matriculation in college. Being a student-athlete was not an easy process for me under any circumstances due to the constant traveling, early morning workouts, study hall hours, practices, and games. In perspective, I overcame my obstacle by ultimately understanding my purpose through perseverance, diligent time management, and sacrifice to become a successful student first. There were many instances where I wanted to just enjoy the leisure of college life as a regular student; however, I would not change my process for anything because it only prepared and molded me for life as a future physician.
10. What do you like most about PreMed STAR?
PreMed STAR allows me to have an opportunity to promote and network my platform with medical schools and other premedical students with the inclusion of advisors. The service tools provided are the essential gateway to gain helpful access towards medical school and beyond. I would recommend this online recruiting opportunity to anybody seriously interested in pursuing medical school.
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Now that the 2018-2019 AACOMAS and AMCAS application cycles are officially open, I wanted to offer some advice based on my observations and frequently asked questions.
• DEADLINES AND PLANNING
o I’m starting with this because I hope you will carefully plan your timeline for applying to your medical schools of choice.
o Some schools (including LMU-DCOM) will accept a January 2019 MCAT score for fall 2019 matriculation. If you are applying with a January 2019 MCAT, you should probably plan to have everything else submitted prior to that test so you can make sure you are not missing anything other than your MCAT.
o Most schools admit on a rolling basis. The LMU-DCOM deadline is March 15, but DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE DEADLINE. It can take AACOMAS several weeks to verify a transcript. You don’t want to wait until the last day to submit and then learn that you are missing items.
o If you are concerned about budgeting for matriculation deposits, check with each school to determine their deposit amounts and deadlines. For osteopathic medical schools, I recommend that you consult the Osteopathic Medical College Information Book (CIB): http://www.aacom.org/news-and-events/publications/2018-2019_cib
• Letters of recommendation
o Be sure to check each school’s requirements. Some DO schools require a letter from a DO. Others (like LMU-DCOM) will accept a letter from a DO or an MD. When choosing your letter writers, it is important that you choose individuals who are actually familiar with your experience and potential.
o In addition to a letter from a physician, LMU-DCOM requires a letter from a pre-health advising committee OR letters from two science professors. If your school does not have a pre-health advising committee, then you will need letters from two science professors. If you do not know if your school has a pre-health advising committee, it probably doesn’t!
o If you are a non-traditional student who is unable to contact previous professors, talk to each individual school about letter substitutions. In some cases, you may be able to submit letters from work supervisors, research PI’s, etc.
• MCAT and GPA
o Familiarize yourself with the MCAT and GPA requirements of each school. Some schools do not have minimum requirements; in this case, inquire about their averages. If your GPA is below the school’s average, ask if they look for upward trends in grades or if they still do grade replacement. Keep in mind that AACOMAS no longer does grade replacement when calculating GPA.
• Letters of interest/intent
o If a school is seriously your top choice, it’s not enough to just say, “Your school is my first choice.” Explain why they’re your first choice. Show that you have done your research. Express your passion and motivation for studying medicine at that school. Know their mission. Think about how your application reflects your fit with that mission.
o Avoid sending emails to multiple medical schools at one time. If you do this, you will seem less sincere in your “your school is my first choice” emails!
• Non-traditional applicants
o I sometimes observe hesitation from non-traditional applicants that I meet. Quite often, their hesitation is unfounded. Many non-traditional applicants possess maturity, motivation, and valuable experience. With that in mind, be sure that your application clearly outlines your path to medical school. If you are changing careers, what led to the career change? What have you done to facilitate that career change? What experiences have prepared you for medical school?
• Gap years
o There is no “one size fits all” approach to a gap year. Taking post-bacc classes, enrolling in a master’s program, conducting research, gaining additional work or volunteer experience in the medical field, participating in a long-term mission trip, or retaking the MCAT are all valuable ways to spend a gap year – it depends on the individual. It also depends on the schools you are considering. If your weakness is GPA, your time and money might be best spent on a post-bacc or master’s program instead of on research. If you are leaning toward research, examine how heavily the schools you are considering weigh research. Take a close look at your application package as it stands; if you have a pre-health advisor, be proactive about seeking their advice (and heeding it).
• International applicants
o Before spending hundreds of dollars on application fees, be sure you are familiar with each school’s policy on international applicants. For example, LMU-DCOM accepts international students, but strong consideration is given to applicants with ties to Appalachia.
• Supplemental applications
o Some schools send invitations for supplemental (secondary) applications. Other schools (like LMU-DCOM) require everyone to submit a supplemental application in order to be considered for admission.
• Interviews
o Interviews are your opportunity to interview the school as well. Your interview preparation should include having questions to ask the interviewers, staff, and students. Just make sure that your question cannot be answered by simply looking at the school’s website.
o Before interviewing, familiarize yourself with the medical school’s mission. Ideally, you will have done this prior to applying.
o Be able to explain WHY you want to be a physician. This explanation needs to be more than “I want to help people.” We HOPE that you want to help people; if that is your driving force, elaborate. There are plenty of careers in which you can help people. There are plenty of health careers in which you can help people. You need to be able to explain why you want to be a PHYSICIAN in order to help people. If you can’t do this, you may need to reconsider your career plans.
o If you are interviewing at a DO school, you need to understand what osteopathic medicine is and why you want to attend an osteopathic medical school.
Bonus tip that you might not think is important: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/osteopathy
o It is your responsibility to plan your travel for interviews. Make sure you have transit to and from the interview – some areas may not have reliable public transit or many taxi options.
o Etiquette – if you are no longer interested in interviewing at a school or are unable to make it to your interview, let the school know as soon as possible. Interviews are very competitive, and there are more qualified applicants than interview spots; if at all possible, allow the school time to offer your interview to another qualified applicant.
• Passion and motivation
o Again, before spending the money on application fees, interview travel, or possibly even tuition and supplies, you need to closely examine WHY you are pursuing a career in medicine. You may have heard the expression, “Your ‘why’ should make you cry.” I think this is important advice for any career field, but it might be even more important in medicine. You are embarking on a long, difficult, expensive journey. You need to be absolutely certain that this is the career path for you. You need to be certain about whether to pursue a DO or MD. Talk to med students. Talk to residents. Try to get an idea of what you are getting yourself into. When you are frustrated and exhausted to the point of tears, you need something powerful to motivate you to keep pushing toward your goal of being a physician. Check out Dr. Daniel’s blog post on this.
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