How to Apply to Medical School

There and Back Again: A Student’s Tale

Austin Park3/24/2013

Outline

Timeline

So you want to be a doctor

Preparing to apply

The MCAT

Primary application

Secondary application

Interviews

Acceptance (or not)

Encouragement

Disclaimer

The following is the advice I can give concerning the process of applying to medical school

There is more that one way to do this

I might not have the best way

This is not gospel

Timeline

January to September: Take the MCAT

May 1: AMCAS primary application opens

June 4 to ~ December: AMCAS primary application opens for submission Schools have differing deadlines for submission

July to ~ January: Secondary application submission

September to ~ April: Interviews

October to August: Acceptance/waitlist/rejection

Before We Get Ahead of Ourselves

APPLY EARLY This CANNOT be said enough

So you want to be a doctor

Make sure you meet the requirements for ALL schools you apply to usually: 1 year General Biology with lab 1 year General Chemistry with lab 1 year Organic Chemistry with lab 1 year Physics with lab 1 year English (Literature or Composition) 1 year Math (Calculus or Statistics)

Schools have different requirements Check each school for individual requirements

Here’s what you can do now:

So you want to be a doctor

Shadow Physicians Find a doctor you can shadow

Explore different specialties

Volunteer Schools place HIGH value on volunteerism

Volunteer clinically in hospitals Doesn’t need to be medical related

GFU James Project, Urban Outreach

Be Involved Clubs, Athletics, ASC

Pro Tip: Whatever you do, show commitment

Here’s what you can do now:

So you want to be a doctor

Research! Helps familiarize you with the scientific process

Understanding primary literature Running experiments Grant proposals

Some medical schools require scholarly projects (AKA research)

Publications look great on resume

Get to know faculty better

Here’s what you can do now:

So you want to be a doctor

This process is expensive. Start saving now MCAT: $270 Primary Application: $160 base, $34/school Secondary Application: $50-$150 each Flights and Hotel: $200-$500 depending on

location Getting into medical school: Priceless AMCAS has Fee Assistance Program

Start thinking about your personal statement and which schools you might attend.

Here’s what you can do now:

The MCAT

The MCATBasics

Medical College Admissions Test

Last eligible MCAT for the year you are applying is in September

Try to take it before you apply Pro Tip: You don’t *need* your MCAT scores to

submit your primary application

Scores are good for three years

Format is changed for 2013 and will change again 2015

The MCATBasics

National median: 27

Median for accepted students: 32

Scores over 30 are considered competitive

Better to score 10/10/10 than 14/8/8

You can retake the MCAT Generally, your most recent score is the one

used in evaluations

The MCATBasics

The MCATPreparation

Pay attention in your classes Don’t take classes to “study” for the MCAT

That being said, Biochemistry and Developmental biology helped me on the test

The AAMC has ~8 practice tests you can take For a fee, of course, 1 is free These WILL help you study, 100%, no doubt

Kaplan, Examkracker, Princeton Review Prices range from $100-$2000 May or may not help

That being said, I shelled out for a Kaplan Course

The MCATFormat: 2013 & 2014

Three sections Physical Sciences: Physics and General

Chemistry (50/50) Verbal Reasoning: Excerpts from written works Biological Sciences: General Biology and

Organic Chemistry (75/25)

Writing was taken out Lucky punks

The MCATFormat: 2013 & 2014

Physical and Biological 52 questions over 70 minutes 39 questions based on passages 13 free standing questions (like your gen bio tests)

Verbal Reasoning Considered the hardest section for us science folk 40 questions over 60 minutes 7 passages

Pro Tip: Passage based questions are different from those on your science tests. You are not expected to be an expert on the passage information, only able to understand and apply it.

The MCATFormat: 2015 and

beyond A different horse indeed

Disclaimer: I don’t know much about these changes

4 Sections Chemical and Biological Foundations of Living

Systems 67 questions over 95 minutes

Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems 67 questions over 95 minutes

The MCATFormat: 2015 and

beyond 4 Sections cont.

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills 60 questions over 90 minutes

Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior 67 questions over 95 minutes

HOLD UP That’s right ladies and gentlemen, The MCAT

WILL test psychological and sociological concepts

Primary ApplicationBasics

Opens May 1, available for submission June 4

Sent to all schools

9 different sections Some take longer than other

It takes 4-6 weeks for the AMCAS to verify your application after you submit it

Primary ApplicationSection overview

1) Identifying Information Name, Social Security, Place of birth, ect

2) Schools Attended High school, any undergraduate institutions

(including community college!) Institutional action

Don’t pay a visit to student life

3) Biographical Information Citizenship, languages spoken, criminal record

You designate yourself as disadvantaged in this section

Underrepresented in Medicine (URM)

Primary ApplicationSection overview

4) Coursework Every. Single. Class. You’ve. Taken.

Also your class grades

5) Work/Activities List up to 15 activities, given 700 characters to

describe them. Volunteering, research, clubs, ect

List up to 3 activities as “most meaningful experience” Given 1325 additional characters to describe why

you designated activity as most meaningful My meaningful: Rock climbing, Organic Chemistry

TA, and OHSU research

Primary ApplicationSection overview

6) Letters of Evaluation Most schools require 3-5 letters of recommendation

Some schools require letters to be sent with the primary application, others with secondary

Almost all schools participate in the AMCAS Letter service

Who writes the letters Remember those doctors you’ve shadowed and researchers

you’ve worked for? Ask them. Basic science faculty

Some schools require one letter from non-science faculty Employers The more your recommenders know you, the better

Include resume Give plenty of time (1-2 months)

Primary ApplicationSection overview

7) Medical Schools Designate which medicals you send primary

application Also designate which letters of

recommendation to send to which schools Apply to a wide range of schools Things to consider:

Cost, geographical location, public vs. private, research vs. primary care focus

Students *usually* have a home state advantage (sorry Oregonians)

Primary ApplicationSection overview

7) Medical Schools Cont.

MSAR: Medical School Admission Requirements Resource put together by AAMC

Costs ~$35 (as applying isn’t expensive enough) Tells you school stats, programs, entering

GPA/MCAT score, selection factors, ect

Primary ApplicationSection overview

8) Essays AMCAS Personal Statement 5200 characters including spaces Prompt: “Use the space provided to explain why you want

to go to medical school” You MUST address the two golden questions

1) Why do you want to go to medical school? 2) Why are you a good medical school candidate?

This is a good space to differentiate yourself from the pack I compared myself to Samwise Gamgee from “The Lord of

the Rings”

Pro Tip: Don’t talk about your most meaningful activities (that you listed earlier), you would get bored reading the same thing twice too

Primary ApplicationSection overview

9) Standardized Tests See the results of your MCAT test.

Secondary Applications

Schools either: Review your primary application and then decide

whether or not to send you their secondary Automatically send you secondary application

Completed Online

Usually require 0-5 more essays Why X school? Give us a brief autobiography of your

life. What do you want to do in medicine? How will you contribute to this school’s diversity?

More biographical info required

Deadlines range from 3 weeks (from time of receipt) until ~December

InterviewBasics

Invitations to interview can come from October – April

Good opportunity to check out campus

Some schools will assign you a date, others will let you choose one Choose the earliest possible interview

Schools may have option to stay with student host Great way to see the school from the students’ eyes

Save money on hotels

Interviews are an excellent indicator that the school likes you (duh)

Interviewing

Arrive early; helps reduce stress

Interviews can take on many forms: One on one Panel Group Multiple Mini Interview (MMI)

One on one and MMI interviews are most common

You can be interviewed by both students and/or faculty

Interviewing

Interviews can be conversational or question-answer

Dress to impress

Know and understand the basics of current issues in medicine as well as ethical scenarios Health care reform, euthanasia, stem cells, ect

Be ready to address any troublesome aspects of your application Poor GPA, institutional discipline from our pals at student life,

contradictions in application, ect

Have a couple well thought out questions

Pro Tip: Consistency is good, so is answering questions based on your life experience, it shows depth of character

InterviewingPreparations

Set up mock interviews with GFU faculty

Look up possible interview questions on the internet Helps get you in the right mindset

Research the school before you go Understand unique aspects of the curriculum

The function of the interview is the same as the personal statement Why would you make a good doctor? Why should X school want you in their

program?

Acceptance

Congratulations!

Be sure to send in acceptance paper work to reserve spot Schools require a non-refundable deposit

Not due until late in the summer (July)

You may hold multiple acceptances until May 15.

If you are definitely not going to a school, politely decline to free up your spot for another student

So You Didn’t Make It In...

I’m sorry. It sucks.

Some schools offer workshops to improve application for the next cycle

Most schools looks at re-applicants favorably

Try to improve upon weak portions of your application Volunteer Shadow Take more science classes

Encouragement

We can all agree that the process is awful

Hang in there, keep your eye on the prize

You can overcome a poor

GPA or bad MCAT score

Acknowledgements

John Schmitt

Paul Chamberlain

Jeff Vargason

GFU Faculty

Questions?