Before Applying

Disclaimer: If you are still deciding if medical school is for you, then take a look at my earlier post or other posts of medical school students that dropped out. In summary, make sure you know what you are getting into before beginning on the trail of pre-medicine and then medical school.

And now about what you need to know...

While you are in the pre-application phase, you should know that medical schools virtually require you to have experience with research and exposure to medicine usually through volunteering. Both representatives from Georgetown and UC Irvine told me that they make sure each of their applicants have had some form of research experience either in the lab or clinical. Some applicants are not aware of this. Although you may only want to do patient care in the future, it's essential that you practice research in some form. I recommend that you search for research in Biology or whatever your field of interest is, and then email the principle investigator to see if you can be involved in their research. There are also many summer research programs that could be great opportunities. You may not be paid, but at least several months of research (at the bare minimum. Most applicants do 1-2 years) will pay off in getting into medical school.

In addition to research, try working or volunteering in another medical area of interest to you. I volunteered at the Thornton Emergency Room, UCSD student-run Free Clinic, and led clinical trips to Mexico. I also earned my Emergency Medical Technician certificate at Miramar college. I found these to be more interesting and fulfilling than my research, so I devoted myself more to these activities. Whatever your medical interest is, make sure you are able to show that it is your passion through working or volunteering. If there was one quote that medical students repeatedly said to me throughout, it was "do what you are passionate about." I would add to it by saying do what excites you. If patient care ignites you, go for volunteering in a clinic or hospital. If Diabetes research gets you stoked, invest more in that. You will only be able to talk about a few extracirruculars in your medical school interview so you should have invested significantly in a one or two of them.

The other important tip I can give is to be unique Committees see a TON of applicants every application cycle so if you can look desirable and different than the rest, this will benefit you. This is the reason that 1/2 of non-science majors are admitted to medical school, while just 1/3 science majors get in. Medical school committees like to see that you have taken the time to learn languages, dance, study humanities, business, and statistics, or go abroad, in addition to other activities that make you a more well-rounded person. A medical school committee doesn't want to admit solely science machines and test acers. They want to admit varied, interesting, and engaging people who are also good at science.

Committees also like to see that you can be an effective leader. In essence, a doctor is a leader to nurses, families and hospital staff, so medical schools love to see that you have taken initiative and have lead organizations and groups. Being a leader of an organization means 100 times more to medical schools than being a member of an organization. In fact, anyone can write he was a member of a group on an application after attending just one meeting. But being a leader or better yet, the head leader of an organization requires much more responsibility and work. I was the leader of FISH (Fellowship of International Service and Health) for two years, and a decent amount of my personal statement was devoted to what I had learned from it. About 50-60% of the questions I received from interviewers were about the organization and how I lead it. This made interviews more enjoyable because I like talking about FISH and what I had done with it. If you can work your way to the leadership of an organization or found your own, this will show dedication and initiative. Still, make sure you are passionate about it, and not just in it to throw it on your app, because if you are, you will soon burn out. One of the great things about leading an organization is that you learn so many skills at once. Public speaking, delegation, planning, improvising, and communication are all so necessary that you will soon develop in all of these areas.
In the end, you should be you and if leadership is not your thing, it might still possible to get into medical school, but you better have the smarts of Jonas Salk. Remember to never fake who you are just for the admissions committee. Come interview day, don’t attempt to pretend you were incredibly interested in research when you were not or invent stories of when you were a great leader. Now is the time to find your unique talents and interests, and look for unique experiences and leadership roles.

Letters of Recommendation

Generally, medical schools require two science and one non-science letters of rec and sometimes an additional letter from a coach or boss. How do you get a strong letter of recommendation? Start by getting to know some professors. At UCSD, there are hundreds of students in most science classes, so making contact is not easy. Try going to your professors’s office hours in the first week of class. Better yet, go to as many office hours as you can early on in the quarter. From there, it's hit and miss as to which ones will be worth attending. Some classes will have 20-30 students in office hours. If this is the case, and you are attending mainly for a letter of rec, you'd be wasting your time to stay in on these sessions. Try to find a professor with five or less students attending. Then, you can ask some questions and introduce yourself. Lower division science classes are often great opportunities for this because, let's be honest, most people are procrastinators and won't bother pursuing professors for letters until they are doing all upper division coursework. So if you are still taking lower division classes, beat the rush and go to office hours. I can't tell you how much this helped me in getting mine.

Once you've found a potential professor(s), try to attend office hours as consistently as possible throughout the quarter. You may have to ask fairly knit-picky questions, but it's worth going in so your professor can see you are trying to understand the material and that you are a consistent studier. It's also good to talk about other extracurriculars you are involved with so they can include this into his/her letter of recommendation. Meanwhile, you should obviously be working for a high grade in this class or else the teacher won't be able to say much in regards to your work ethic or mastery of the subject.

After one quarter, you can ask for a letter. Although, it's better if you can take another course with him, work in his lab or be a TA.

If you are a UCSD student, once a year, you can get a dine-with-a-prof card and eat for free in the faculty club. Aside from eating some bomb food for free, this is another great opportunity to get to know your professor. This will give him more things to say than just "Sally was a nice person and got an A in my class one quarter."

If you are not a UCSD student or you have already played the dine-with-a-prof card for that year, do not fear! You can ask him or her to lunch or coffee anyway. This takes COURAGE, but hey, so does being a doctor and these out of the classroom meetings are important for establishing a personal connection.

Once you've developed a relationship with your professor, go ahead and ask the dreaded question: "would you be able to write me a strong letter of recommendation to Medical School?" Ask it this way instead of "could you write me a letter or recommendation to med school?" If your prof will not write you a strong letter, and you are not desperate for one, you should look elsewhere for someone who will positively write about you. A professor rejection might actually do you a favor by allowing you to avoid a mediocre (or poor) letter of rec.

Hopefully, a rejection or apathetic response doesn't happen, and instead your professor says "YES! I would love to!" In this case, give your prof a due date and a packet with the career services information letter. You should waive your right to see the letter because this makes it more convincing to medical schools.

Ask your teacher if she would be comfortable with you providing suggestions as to what she should write. Professors will usually say yes because they are doing a favor for you and would like to include what you want them to say. Then, pick two or three positive characteristics that you believe you posses and have shown to the professor. Provide reasons for each. For instance, if you think you were not only a focused student, but a positive contributor to other student's learning, mention that she should write about this. Then support it. "In certain office hours, I asked others what their questions were and then helped clear up their confusions." Print out a paper with these suggestions, and generally, the professor will incorporate them into his letter. This way, you will better ensure a positive and supported letter. Professors generally love this too since it pleases you and gives them less work.

In summary, look for personal opportunities to connect with professors, consistently meet up with them, display your strengths, ask for a STRONG letter, give them suggestions and you are done!