Medical Student Answers

Medical School Life

Ever wondered what medical school life is like? What are the pluses and minuses? How much free time is there? Do people date each other? Here's a virtual medical student panel. The responses came from both anonymous and self-identified first year medical students at UCSD.

How much free time do you have each day as a medical student?

I would say about 2-6 hours depending on the day. On a weekday when we get out at twelve and do not have an additional activity, I probably study for 5 hours or so and then have the rest of the day free. On a day when we get out at 5pm or have an additional activity like a shadowing experience, free time is harder to come by. The weekend before an exam is obviously very busy, but most weekends allow for a a good amount of free time.

Is the coursework much heavier in medical school as compared to undergrad?

It’s different. On the one hand, it’s much more directly and professionally relevant, so in a way it’s easier to get motivated to study. On the other hand, the analogy to “taking a drink from a fire hose” can sometimes feel very true. Medical school coursework is very much about having perspective, and compared to undergrad, it is necessary to be able to integrate details into big-picture concepts. Critical thinking and depth of mastery of the material is important, as is knowing yourself and your study strategies. It is helpful to have a willingness to change things up and be flexible about adopting different learning styles.

Are you able to still pursue your own interests?

Yes! It all comes down to prioritization and time management. You must know your values and your priorities, and you must also understand the value of your own time so that you can manage it appropriately (which also means saying no to some things). School is of course the number one priority, but my classmates and I find time to pursue outside interests and passions, some of which are really diverse and interesting. A lot of people play sports, go to church in the community, bake, raise families, etc. To use myself as an example, I volunteer at the county animal shelter and with a local dog rescue; I also go running/swimming/weight-lifting on a regular basis; and I am also involved with activities on campus that I am passionate about, such as SoM mentors, organizing events to educate my peers about social justice issues and community service, Spanish Club, and teaching health/wellness classes at an inner-city high school.

What is your favorite part of medical school?

I love the clinical experience (free clinic, preceptorships) we get, especially in the context of all the “doctoring” concepts we’ve been learning. Aside from getting to see patients and really feel like you’re making a difference, it’s nice to reinforce medical and sociological concepts that you’ve been picking along the way. Last but not least, it’s a great way of familiarizing yourself with all those drugs out there. - Rohit Majumdar (MSI)

Working with patients at Free Clinic and gaining experience there examining, interviewing and learning treatment plans is both rewarding and enlightening. The patients REALLY appreciate you being there and just listening to them. It’s a completely different way to learn than within the classroom and most of what I learn there I will probably never forget. --Brian Champagne (MSI)

Meeting and being surrounded by extremely motivated and inspirational people. If being in medical school is your passion, you will find that you will relate to the students and faculty in medical school no matter how different your backgrounds may be because everyone wants to be there just as much as you do. To me, medicine is about helping people and relating to people. Even as a student, you will find this compassion everywhere. -Joanne Ho (MSI)

What is your least favorite part?

The knowledge that I won’t really be working for another eight years while my friends are already working full-time in industry. - Rohit Majumdar (MSI)

What’s the most challenging part of medical school for you?

The realization of just how much time and energy it takes over the long haul before I get to practice. It is absolutely essential to have a reason to be there, and to remind yourself of it when times get tough. You will have to prioritize school, often by cutting down on other fun activities. But it will be all worth it on the other side. -Rylee Scott (MS1)

With the exception of post exam days (and sometimes hours), there is always more to study and work on. With this in mind, it’s easy to feel guilty for spending time having fun as a medical student. In reality, medicine has an infinite amount of information and presentations of illnesses, so we will never know everything. It’s been a challenge for me to be comfortable with being out of control of the material and often times a little behind. The key is to make realistic academic and non-academic goals that will allow you have be happy and manage all of the material reasonably. -Brian Champagne (MSI)

Do medical students end up dating other medical students often?

Often as medical students, all you do is hang out with other medical students! You’re with each other for hours in lecture, studying together, and usually hanging out on weekends for social events. So one can see that it can be common, and not necessarily unsurprisingly, for med students to date one another. But, with that being said, realize that we are all colleagues and relationships can cause complications. We want to remain professional and maintain good relations with all our classmates.


Is it hard to date a person outside of medical school?

Relationships in general are difficult to handle during med school,but are very manageable in the first couple years as long as you keep in touch. Some of my classmates whose significant other is in the city can definitely find time to spend with him/her. Many classmates are married and live with their partner close to campus. Though many days, especially right before tests, are filled with studying, they are quite happy.
Others have long distance relationships which are quite difficult to maintain. That being said, many of my classmates have found a good balance. If they are driving distance, some people visit every couple weeks. If they are further away, most people have developed a routine of talking on the phone and keeping in touch. Personally, my girlfriend is in another country and will be for the next 2 years. But we have been doing well because we understand each others schedules and try to make time for talking. Knowing that I’ll have a phone call to look forward to usually keeps me motivated to stay focused and study efficiently.

How is medical school different from what you expected?

Upon entering medical school, I was prepared for my life to be put on hold for four plus years to solely dedicate my self to studying medicine. In reality, I am still very much living life while being a medical student. I am still able to keep up with the things I am interested in outside of school, can still hang out with friends, make time for family and think about things that don’t involve systems of the body. In fact, all these things are strongly encouraged! I’ve even added to my list of interests as I meet new people and explore new extracurricular activities.

Answers from Medical Students-Pre-Med Questions

Pre-Med Questions

Major:

Is it better for me to choose a science major if I want to go to Medical School?

--While this question is probably targeted towards arts and humanities majors, I feel like I should clear the air for all my engineering brethren out there: the mindset of medicine is almost identical to the mindset of engineering. Yeah, it may take a toll on your GPA, but you will be ridiculously well-prepared to solve problems and to quickly study large amounts of information, which is what medical school is mostly about. As an added bonus, it also makes learning the basic fluid dynamics (oh god please no more Navier-Stokes) we’re studying right now in our cardiology block quite a bit easier. That said, the “slacker engineer” persona doesn’t really work as well in medical school; because the information you pick up here actually matters later on (unlike most of thermodynamics), you’ve gotta be on top of it.

--It’s not necessarily “better” to be a science major for medical school. Yes, it will probably help you once you are in medical school, but if you are passionate about another major and you excel at it, there’s no harm in doing it. In fact, you will probably stand out positively to an admissions committee if you choose a different major. Just make sure you can weave in your Math, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics courses into your other undergraduate classes. -Brian Champagne (MSI)

Is it easier for Biology majors once they get into medical school? Do non-science majors struggle?

Let me start off by saying that I believe everyone struggles in medical school in some form. We all have different strengths and weaknesses. With that said, I think that the amount of difficulty depends more on what courses you took as an undergraduate and how much of a course load you are accustomed to. Everyone takes similar prerequisites, so the foundation should be comparable. I was a non-science major and I have been holding my weight thus far...Yet, I supplemented my major prerequisites with several additional science courses like physiology, biochemistry, and anatomy. To contrast my experience, there are several students who studied Biology or a “hard science” major that appear to be struggling. I think it is convenient to take a Biology related major because the major requirements generally fulfill the pre-med prerequisites and it introduces you to many of the topics covered in medical school. Yet, the non-science route is just as valid, provided you take additional courses to prepare yourself. For me, the most difficult part of being a non-science major was gaining access to research opportunities. Long story short, pick a major that you enjoy and excel at. Also, take the prerequisites! Everyone approaches school differently, so find out what works for you and know your limits. -Greg Kennedy (MSI)

Can I still study abroad and be pre-med?

YES! I would struggle to count how many people in my class have studied abroad, there are lots! Although you may have to make time between all of your med school prerequisites and major requirements, studying abroad is fun, is a great life experience, can provide an opportunity to learn another language AND helps you gain an understanding of the world beyond our personal bubbles. Both for personal growth and in the context of medicine, demonstrating an interest in other cultures, experiencing what it is like to travel out of your comfort zone to a foreign place, and embracing the diversity of worldviews and lifestyles that exist are all very valuable.

MCAT:

How much time do I need to study for the MCAT?

It depends on how well you take tests and how much of the content you already know. I don’t consider myself to be a proficient test taker, so I definitely studied more than I should have. I took a prep course and took 3 months off to prepare. I studied every day for an average of 8 hours. I studied so much that my scores started dropping! So, I stopped taking practice tests, studied less, and focused on content I didn’t know. I have friends that scored well without studying and some that studied for two weeks and did fine. I also know folks who studied really hard and tanked… Everyone’s MCAT experience and study strategy will differ. It is really up to you and what you feel you need. I would definitely recommend taking all of your pre-med prerequisites prior to your MCAT. Also, take a few practice tests to see how well you do with a time limit and what subjects you need to study. You also need to consider how much time you have to study and if your school performance be hindered by studying. I would recommend studying and taking it during a break from school… But, again, do what works for you. -Greg Kennedy

What helped you most in preparing for the test?

I was one who took the MCAT twice, and the huge difference for me was taking a prep course. I acknowledge it’s an expensive option though. A prep course though helped me to “take a test.” It wasn’t that I needed to learn the material per se -- the science foundations will come back as you review and study. But good test taking skills -- like process of elimination, how to read the question, and pacing yourself -- are qualities that I gained and strengthened from a prep course. It were those skills that built up a lot of my confidence, and confidence is also very important when you’re taking a test like the MCAT.

Should I take a prep course?

That is totally up to you, based on your personality. If you are the type of person who can schedule out the next few months of studying and stay mostly on target with your goals, then you can consider studying on your own. If you need a good review of the sciences and some motivation to keep you on target, a class would help. If you are just taking the class for “study tips,” it may not be worth it. I would recommend purchasing a cheaper online course or google for study tips rather than take a course unless you had more reasons for the course.

Personally, I purchased all the examkracker books (http://www.examkrackers.com/MCAT/), a simple MCAT review book, and all of the AAMC practice tests. Other than that, I reviewed subjects on my own and used the examkracker books to practice. I set up a schedule for 2 months of a summer for review and practice questions and 3 weeks for practice tests (with 2 weeks of leeway) and I stayed mostly on target. Most important thing that helped me study: a research job on the side that I loved and kept me sane from studying!

Is it possible to study for the MCAT and regular courses simultaneously?

Yes, but studying in the summer is worth it.
Most of the folks I saw attempt this burned out fast. You pay a lot for a prep course! Take it when you have time and can focus. -Greg Kennedy (MSI)

What score do I need to get into medical school?

In 2007, the average MCAT of matriculants was 30-31 P. The previous statement is absolutely worthless, because what MCAT any given person needs to get into any medical school depends on a thousand different variables: how early you apply, your GPA, the non-numerical portions of your application, how you did on the interview, the alignment of the planets, etc. If you’re talking specific medical schools, osteopathic schools, or special programs (MSTP, PRIME), the stats change.

Applying:

What kind of questions have medical school interviewers asked you?

- Why medicine?
- Why do you want to go to [insert name of medical school]?
- What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
- What are your thoughts on the recent health care reform?

Is it bad to take time off?

No of course not! In fact, most of my classmates have taken time off. The average age of matriculation is 23 (that means most people took at least 1 year off!)

Research:

Where should I start finding research opportunities?

If your school has a central undergraduate research grant or program office, go talk to them, and they can redirect you to professors they know who are willing to take on undergrads. If not, make or buff up your resume, set aside an hour or two, google research at your school in which you have an interest, and start e-mailing.

Extracurricular Activities:

How important are extracurricular activities?

Extracurricular activities are super important, but not just for filling up space on an application. Hopefully you have found something outside school that you have a passion for and that gives some additional meaning to life. Whatever it may be (playing ukulele, doing bench side research, travelling, ice sculpting, volunteering at schools, Irish dancing, teaching swim lessons, or cooking) getting involved with activities and organizations outside of school will keep you grounded, healthy, and happy and are important for success in medical school and in life.

Do they have to be health related?

No, but they should cultivate you as a person in some way (academically, culturally, socially, creatively, etc). I never really understood why medical schools picked well-rounded people until I got here: while medicine definitely requires you to be a scientist, it is ultimately a field that is about people. Even with the relatively tiny number of medical histories I have taken, I can assure you that my non-health related experiences have helped me far more in connecting with a patient and guiding them through talking about their problem than any biological concept I’ve learned in medical school. Given that 80% of diagnoses are derived from the history alone, your extracurricular experiences may actually save a life some day.

When should I start gaining exposure to clinical or hospital settings as an undergrad?

As soon as you feel comfortable taking on more responsibilities outside of your schoolwork. You should know what you’re getting into, and there’s no better way of knowing what life is ultimately going to be like than stepping into the real world. On a more “practical” level, it’ll brush up your resume, and you may even learn that medicine’s not the right career for you early (my friends owe their six-figure salaries in investment banking to shadowing early).

Studying Smarter

Your best study strategy is going to depend partially on the type of class you are taking. If it’s a powerpoint based class, then you will need to study from the slides. If it’s a visual aid limited class, then you will probably need to study the syllabus and take good lecture notes. And if it’s a writing course, then reading articles and pumping out essays will probably be your focus. Still, some general rules can be established to more efficiently study.

1. Consistently test yourself.

After finishing a test, I often hear something like. “Ugg I totally studied that, but I got it wrong.” Or “I couldn’t remember what ___ was about even though I studied it.” Our memories will never be perfect, but active self testing will at least help you understand what you have forgotten or what you don’t know. Grab a friend and test each other, hide answers with a paper in books or practice tests and compare the answer you make up to the one written, draw out flash cards and work through them often. There are a multitude of strategies for testing yourself. Try a couple and then find one that works for you.

2. Remove studying distractions.
Studies show that 40% of the time a person is distracted from a task, he will never return to it. Just walk into any college library and you will find dozens of students on facebook, checking email, texting, staring outside the window or at the next person who walks into the library, and talking with friends. There is a time for all of these, but I would highly recommend that you don’t make it during your study time and thereby reduce your studying efficiency.

-->Picture a typical student; In efforts to not implicate myself, we will call him James. James studies in the library, but has a habit of incessantly checking his email and facebook. Also from time to time he gets bored and texts people or looks up to glance at the potentially attractive students who walk into the library. His study efficiency is somewhere around 50%. Becoming frustrated with the time he has lost, James decides to turn off his cell phone when studying, get away from a computer when he can, and do his work in a less populated location. His efficiency improves to 75%. He is now able to study in two hours what he was previously only able to study in three. After studying four hours that day, he has saved two hours which can be used for all of his facebook, texting, people watching and friend interacting needs.

Like James, you should find a place where you study best and can remove your distractions. Take a few minutes to think about what it is that distracts you while studying and then how to deal with it. Keep in mind that, in most cases, this means changing with whom or where you are studying to better focus.

3. Actively learn.

There’s nothing worse than sitting at your computer or in front of a book and blankly reading. By the time you realize that you are not registering much of the information and not understanding any of the concepts, you may be pages beyond the part where you first averted your attention. You have essentially performed a brief stent of self-hypnotism and you are forced to backtrack to a point when you understood what was going on. At this point, you’ve lost who knows how much time and created a barrier to further learning by giving up your place in the text.
To avoid this, I’ve found that I need to make myself believe that what I am reading is the most interesting thing in the world at the moment. Then when I read, I try to make connections to past concepts and allow my mind to think of comments or questions to the material in the text. It can also be helpful to keep a notebook and pen or computer (if it isn’t a distraction for you) close by to document your thoughts or important ideas.

Your posture and location matter too. Through timed reading, I have discovered that I can read two to three times faster when I am sitting at a desk undisturbed as opposed to lying down on my bed. Doing work on my bed or a comfy chair gives my body the easy option of sleeping which is always tempting for me.

The last piece of advice I can give is to stick to your study habits. Classes are usually set up so that it is more advantageous to do consistently good than exceptionally great on one test and then sub par on the next. Nearly every person who enters the quarter or semester system goes through peaks and valleys of motivation and interest level in what they are learning. The valleys can often come in the middle of a quarter when the interest level of the topic has worn off for you and school fatigue is setting in. Or these valleys may not be products of timing or the nature of the material itself, but rather something more circumstantial: a new relationship, a difficult family issue, problems with friends, or a new non-academic responsibility. A valley in motivation could also stem from a sense of complacency or entitlement after acing your first midterm. It is often these valleys that overtake students and drown them from achieving in a particular class. Do what you need to do to stay motivated, and push through. Better times and grades will await you.

Selling yourself in the Medical School Interview (Part 2)

One question that you should have a solid answer to before your interview is "why do you want to go this school, specifically?" If you do not have a reasonable answer to this, then it will be sure to leave a bad impression in the mind of the interviewer. In fact, I've heard that this is the question that interviewers pay the most attention to because it shows how much you care about going to their school. Your interviewer will not offer a candidate admission to their school if he thinks you will reject it or worse--drop out later on. So make sure you have some reasons lined up. In thinking up reasons, consider anything that stood out to you in researching the school. They could be reasons of locational preference, unique opportunities the school offers, or proximity to loved ones.

Afterward, don't forget to send thank you cards to your interviewers stating your continued interest in the school. And try to mention an inside joke or a unique way you connected with your interviewewer. For example, if you talked about how you both played on a Rugby team, then mention that it was a pleasure sharing stories of hard tackles and injuries during our interview. “I'll look forward to future conversations with you” and so on.

Another tip is to try to stay with a student host the night before. In addition to crashing at a person's house for free, you can gain some valuable insight into the school. Your student interviewer will often ask about who you stayed with the night before, and then you can talk about the experiences you had with this person. It's always a good ice-breaker.

Some undergrads have asked me how much they should be informed on healthcare and ethical questions. I was asked about our healthcare system about 3 times in my 15 interviews and only once on an ethical dilemma. You should know generally how our system is set up and be able to compare it to a few other industrialized nations. It is a good idea to know some of the weaknesses of our system (cost, lack of insurance) and have some idea of how we might work on those problems. To be safe, you should be able to lay out the reasons for your position on Abortion, Euthanasia, and Stem Cell Research. Your goal should be to support your view, but still remain open-minded to other ideas. Be aware that your interviewer may be on either side of each issue and try to test you by citing counter-arguments. In that case, consider each objection carefully, but don't back down from your original stance.

A lot of people ask me what kind of questions they asked. Each interview varies greatly in the types of questions. Mainly, because they are 30-45 minute conversations with little guiding framework. The number one most asked question was "why do you want to be a doctor?" Not surprising. In fact, this was asked by every interviewer I talked to. There are two ways to answer this question. One is to list reasons for why you want to be a doctor or why you would be good at it. The other is to essentially tell a story of how you were inspired to pursue medicine and what experiences reaffirmed your desire for medical school. Although, it should sound a lot like your personal statement, I would choose the latter. Stories are simply more interesting than reasons and they allow you to name reaffirming experiences that you want to have a conversation about. This gives you some level of control during your interview.

Remember, in the interview, YOU are in control. YOU set the pace. And YOU are a rockstar that THEY wanted to check out.

Selling Yourself in the Medical School Interview (Part 1)

Interviewing is all about self-promotion. If you were selling a car, you would want the customer to walk away with an idea of the car being, for example, 1. Safe. 2. Stylish. 3. Efficient. etc.


This time, you are selling your application and yourself. The unique abilities and intelligence that got you this far need to be emphasized so you can stand out.

For me, I wanted to make sure that the interviewer knew a few things..
1. That I REALLY want to be a doctor.
2. I'm a confident and relaxed, and humble person who can have a conversation about many topics.
3. I have some unique experiences and skills that make me an ideal medical school candidate.
4. I value what you (the interviewer) has to say, and I am interested in your experiences and opinions.

There were many applicants who told me how "easy" their interview was because they barely even talked about medicine and were never asked difficult questions. Instead they talked about a shared hobby like golf. Unfortunately, that disregards goal number one and three and gives the interviewer little to talk about when they present you to the committee. There were other applicants who only talked about medically related things, and that also can be a disservice to the applicant because it neglects an opportunity to show you are a well-rounded person with other interests. Now, let me explain why each of these four goals is important....

I REALLY want to be a doctor.

This is probably the most critical point to get across. You don't want to sound desperate, but you should express that you would be highly disappointed if you could not be a doctor. For instance, if they were to ask you "what would you do if you didn't get into medical school?" and you immediately said "I'd probably become a teacher because bla bla bla" while the next guy said "hmmm....that's tough because I've had my sights on medical school for years and medicine is my passion, but if I had to choose I would probably become a teacher..." The interviewer has reason to believe that the second guy just wants it more. And something inside of us all interviewers would say that the person who wants it more should get the spot.

I'm a confident and relaxed, and humble person who can have a conversation about many topics.

Do whatever you need to do to be relaxed and confident. If listening to motivational music or taking deep breaths helps you get in the interviewing zone, then go for it. Also, listen to other celebrities and people of authority. President Obama is a good example of someone who is relaxed and articulate during interviews. Interviewing doesn't have to be super stressful; it can be a fun experience if you allow yourself to enjoy it.

Being confident, relaxed and genuine at the same time can only come with practice conversing with strangers and other people especially of importance. This is why you should always take advantage of your opportunities to converse with others. Remember to smile when appropriate and find places to insert your humor. Telling jokes is one of the best ways to stand out as an applicant because interviewers rarely hear it, and it shows you are comfortable and having a good time. In one of my interviews, I walked in the door to a doctor's office and saw my interviewer with his dog. "Is he going to be interviewing me too?" I said. My interviewer started laughing and it was a great start to our conversation.

Also, even if the circumstances are not ideal, remain confident, relaxed and sincere. At my UCSD interview, I was misdirected and had to run around Thornton Hospital asking if anyone knew my interviewer. Finally, after 30 minutes, I met up with him. I remember it was temping to lose my cool and begin apologizing and blaming the school for their poor directions. I chose not to and and instead expressed excitement in having the chance to interview with him. He definitely appreciated my positivity, and I ended up being accepted and am now a UCSD medical student.

I have some unique experiences and skills that make me an ideal medical school candidate.

My third goal should be for everyone as well. Always make sure you have experiences to back up your personal thoughts. For instance, if you are a self-driven person you should be able to point to specific experiences that show you are self-motivated. You should also look through typical medical school interview questions online and see if you can support each answer you have with an personal example (some examples should be used more than once because some are stronger and more impressive than others) For instance, if my interviewer was to ask me if I was creative, innovation, or able to apply my knowledge do different settings, I would tell them about how I taught 9th graders at Pruess about nucleotides and transcription with different pairs of shoes because molecular structures and scientific terminology were over their heads. This example worked for many types of questions.

I value what you (the interviewer) has to say, and I am interested in your experiences and opinions.

The idea behind the fourth goal is to show that you are a curious and engaging person. I also believe it's important to personally connect with the interviewer. The faculty or student are going to be more inclined to endorse you if they developed a relationship with you through conversation instead of being talked to by you. Although you are the interviewee, you can still ask your own questions. Throughout the interview, it's better if you can ask some questions to them. For example, if they ask you about your opinion of the new health care bill, answer their question, but you could also add "but I don't have the angle that you have as an Anesthesiologist. How would the bill affect your work?" This shows humility, curiosity and a value of the other person's opinion. The more 50/50 your interview is, the more likely your interviewer is to look back on it as an enjoyable conversation as opposed to a standard interview. Lastly, you should have several questions ready at the end about the school and the interviewer's opinion on aspects of it. Again I think it's better to ask something like "I'm interested in global health. What do YOU think are some of the best programs or opportunities this school offers in Global Health" Compare this with "Does this school have any global health programs?" Most people would rather give their opinion than tell you about something and again you will connect better this way. Keep in mind that you don't make ALL of your questions personal as this takes away from the variety of your question types.

Can I get into medical school?

You’ve probably heard the numbers before and been appalled: 3.6 GPA and 30.5 MCAT. These are the rough averages for getting into a MD program in the USA. But do you NEED to hit those numbers to get in?

The numbers above are only averages and therefore there is a broad range of scores and GPAs that are accepted to medical school every year. Although balanced numbers are preferred, some students rock a 35 MCAT and a 3.2 GPA and get accepted. Others get in with a 3.9 GPA, and a 27 MCAT. Each school also takes into account letters of rec, your personal statement, your extra-curricular activities, and research experience. But keep in mind that if you don’t have a GPA and MCAT that are within some realistic range of the averages of the schools you want to apply, no number of hospital volunteer hours, leadership experiences or letters of recommendation from Obama himself will get you an acceptance. (Well, maybe ;-p)

Like the subsections in the MCAT, it’s better to get have more balanced numbers. Therefore, it’s probably better to have the 3.6 and 30 than a 4.0 GPA and a 23 MCAT or a 37 MCAT and a 2.8 GPA. Low numbers make it easy to weed applicants out with a simple statistical elimination.

So what if you can’t get in ‘the range.”

If you are not within the range, but your dream is to be a doctor, there are still options. Osteopathic medical schools have slightly lower standard for admittance (around a 3.3 and 27 MCAT depending on the school). Osteopathic medicine is based upon the principle that the body is an integrated whole. It has all of the same elements of medical school plus the additional benefits of osteopathic manipulative techniques to diagnose and treat patients. ‘DOs’, or Osteopathic Doctors, are still licensed doctors in the US and can practice in a variety of specialties. I’ve heard it can be more difficult to enter into certain specific specialties later on in residency. That said, there are orthapedic surgion DOs and a range of specialties, it just takes a bit more red tape crossing to enter into an MD residency program.

Caribbean medical schools also offer admittances with lower averages as well. Schools in the Caribbean are generally cheaper, but it is more difficult to later practice in the States. If you are able to study and get competitive board scores throughout medical school, then your chances of practicing in the states or transferring to a US medical school are high.

Don’t forget that you can work in the healthcare field and not be a doctor!

If patient care and being a health care professional is definitely your thing, consider being a nurse, nurse practitioner or a physician assistant. You could also work in policy or health administration by being a master of public health. Nurses and PAs still work directly with patients and administer drugs, put in IVs and are vital to an efficient medical delivery system. You also might find it better than being a doctor! Nurses don’t have to deal with nearly as much blame for medical errors, malpractice lawsuits, years of schooling, debt, and get to spend more time with patients than doctors. Plus, with a few more years of schooling, nurses can become Nurse Practitioners and gain a higher salary, more skills and responsibility.

Breaking Down the MCAT

Most premeds, myself included, have a dreadful fear of the MCAT. Some push it aside refuse to take it on time, others give it a shot, but don’t allow for enough studying time. Still, in the hated minority, are the test taking geniuses who study for only a few weeks and then ace it as if it was nothing more than a basic science final. In any case, the MCAT is not your average study and regurgitate test. It’s nature lies somewhere between the SATs and your college science exams.

The Basics—Sections and Scoring

The MCAT is judged on a 45 point scale with a final letter score from J-T that determines writing ability. The number is what really matters though. The 45 points are broken down into three sections, Verbal, Physical Sciences, and Biological Sciences. Each section has a total of 15 points. Average test takers get around an 8 on each section for a total of 24. Although schools vary widely on average scores of admitted applicants, a general rule is that a 10-10-10 or a 30 or higher is considered good enough to get in. Now more about the sections:

The Physical Sciences Section:

This section has 9 passages and 60 multiple choice questions with 90 minutes to finish them. Each passage concerns topics related to either Chemistry or Physics. It may be a practical problem or an obscure situation, but either way it will test your ability to apply the concepts of Chemistry and Physics to a the written passage in order to answer a series of questions. For this section, you will need to know how to work with numbers in equations and even have some memorized from Physics.
A common question on this could involve something like the following: Given that the equation for Beridaris Law is B=((r2))/((A^3)) When r is increased by a factor of three and A is increased by this same factor, what effect does this have on B? A. An increase by two. B. Decrease by three C. An increase by three. D A decrease by nine.

The answer is B.

On test day, it probably won’t be quite that easy. The question will probably require that you interpret it in a way clues you in to finding the equation in the passage or just knowing it by heart if it isn’t given.

Because the Physical Sciences section is so math based and, in my opinion, the least passage based, I think it is the most likely candidate to improve upon amongst the sections. I improved the most in this section from any other through being able to quickly interpret graphs, work with numbers and equations, and better understand basic concepts in Physics and Chem.

Biological Sciences Section:

The Biological sciences section, like the Physical sciences, is comprised of 9 passages and 60 questions to be answered in 90 minutes. This has about 60-90% Biology and 10-40% Organic Chemistry in it. While many Biology sections involve interpreting graphs, this section is far less math based. Unlike regular Biology tests you may be used to, the questions from this section are heavily passage based. In other words, you could come into the test with the Biological knowledge of a PhD and still fail. But don’t worry. With a good ability to sort through the complex biological information of the passages, you can do very well.

Often times, the passages concern a hypothetical Biological experiment with data. A normal MCAT question bank involves a few questions about what the passage is saying in terms of the Biology of the organism or cell and a few questions about the data itself and what might be wrong with it or missing. Occasionally, a stand-alone question will appear that solely tests your knowledge of Biology.

Your one year of O-chem gets vaporized down to one to three passages on the MCAT. Here you could be tested on Steriochemistry, reactions or more experiments. These passages tend to have less words and more problems which is more similar to an actual university test.

The Verbal Section:

If you do not hate the verbal section, you were probably either a non-science major or an avid reader. The rest of us moan and deplore the confusing, medically irrelevant passages that need to be answered in mini-pockets of time. I started out doing horrendously on the Verbal section. After doing dozens of passages, I was still just praying for an average score. If you are like me, it will be the most frustrating, pesky obstacle in your quest for gaining admittance to medical school. Many schools look to the verbal score as a measure of how well a medical student will be able to keep up with the reading load in the future. What makes it a difficult section by far is the time constraint. 40 multiple choice questions from 7 passages in 60 minutes. This gives you eight to nine minutes to read a 600-900 word article and answer questions on it. Adjust your reading glasses before you begin and put your brain acuity and concentration to 110% before beginning.

Princeton Review suggests its students read 5-6 passages, do well on them, and then hurriedly guess on the last one or two. They say there’s probably not enough time to do good on all of them so why not do great on most and guess on the others. (Note: Do not implement this technique in medicine!) I did not believe that was the best approach for me. I started doing better when I paced myself quickly through all seven and answered questions more based upon my gut feeling than making sure to reference the article for my answers. Your best approach could go either way. More on this in my Princeton Review article.

The best way I found to prepare for the Verbal is to READ, READ and READ articles from sources that pump out intelligent literature and news. Mix in some reading of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, and practice passages from books like exam crackers into your verbal studying. Because this section has zero outside knowledge required, to do better you will have to get faster at making sense of complicated information in the form of articles on the arts, politics, psychology, business, history and whatever other topics an MCAT test writer can find. Progress will come slowly so if you have the time, start reading a year or six months in advance. The earlier you can rewire your brain into an efficient, meaning-deriving reading machine, the better off you will be.

The Writing Section:

In this section, you will be given two thirty minute essays to write. A statement that is fairly controversial will come up on the screen and you will have to write first an argument for it, then an argument against it, and lastly a paragraph that brings together both perspectives to see the validity of both arguments. Usually this means laying down a criteria for when one argument is true and when the other is as well. I’ll give you an example of one of the controversial sentences I got on the real MCAT.

“Aid in developing countries ultimately hurts them.”

It was then my task to argue both sides of the aid in developing countries conundrum and then reason how it might ultimately do both damage and good in countries depending on how it was done.

While it is important to show to medical schools that you can do ok on this section, don’t sweat it too much. Schools care much more about the other three sections which make up your overall score.

However you study, remember to pace your studying well so that you cover all of the basics in O-chem, Bio, Chem, and Physics. Also, make sure to take plenty of diagnostic Practice Exams as they will gear your studying more toward the real goal. Good luck!

How to take names and kick classes (Aka up your GPA)

I’m convinced that any student can get a high Grade Point Average in college given the right study strategies, self-motivation, and a little luck. Most students realize this later in college, in their third or fourth year when they finally figure the system and know how to study well. I've seen people (including myself) who are not the creme of the crop memorizers, writers, note takers or analyzers of information get very high GPAs. These people have simply found study strategies that worked and executed them consistently for every class. Here are some that I've found helpful. Skip the paragraph below if you are already in a university.

For high school students transitioning to college:

College work is far more independent than high school work. There’s less homework. There are less tests. And far more freedom. Yay! But this comes at a two-fold cost. 1. REALLY important midterms and finals. 2. Responsibility to know information that will not be tested for a while.
The best advice I can give to you is don’t ever get behind. Stay up with your reading, papers, and problem sets. Although you don’t need to learn and memorize everything in detail the first time, you should process everything as it comes so that when you review before a test, you are not seeing it for the first time. Not doing this will lead to hair pulling, all-nighter freak out moments that will make you a less efficient studier and possibly miss entire sections of information before the test.

One of the greatest difficulties in transitioning to college is setting your own schedule. You’ve just had 8 hours of class a day and been able to do most of your work and learning in class. Now all of a sudden you are going to class for only three hours a day and teachers expect you to learn three times more information outside of class. Therefore you have to figure out when you are going to study and then do it. It may help to use a calendar like “Google Calendar” or a daily planner to pencil in a few hours a day to studying.

General Tips for Dominating Classes

Determine what you do not understand:

Once you are able to consistently study and not get behind. You then need to figure out what it is that is keeping you from being a better studier. Many students hit a mental block before writing a paper, give up for the time being, and succumb to procrastination. Others (including myself at times) put off studying for a class for a few days because they don’t understand certain concepts and therefore find the subsequent information boring.

In order to resolve these difficulties, you need to figure out what it is that you do not understand and put that misunderstanding into a question for other classmates, professors, or TAs. Realizing what you don’t understand and then putting that into a question might be the most valuable study skill you learn. It’s certainly an underrated one. Next, don’t be shy about asking. Classes are set up so that you can email TAs. Professors have office hours, and classmates can often be an excellent source of information.

Utilize office hours far before tests:

As a Teaching Assistant for Metabolic Biochemistry and BILD 3, I received about 60% of my questions 24 hours before a test. There were certainly times when not a single student showed up to office hours because the test was not scheduled for two or three weeks from then. Occasionally, a student would come by with questions and we would work through them for an hour one on one. Because these hours were personalized and one-on-one, they were probably the most helpful learning tool for each student possible. Then, every office hour right before the test, around ten students would show up flustered and ready for quick answers. Unfortunately, I had to split my time 10 ways and their learning experiences were far inferior to that of students who had pinpointed their confusions weeks earlier and talked to me about them.

I’ve had this same experience being a student in classes. I received an A+ in Metabolic Biochemistry not because I got the information came easily to me, but because I worked out what questions I had as the information came. I attended office hours consistently with two TAs in different times in the week to resolve questions that arose, hone in on test important information, and to have them challenge me on my understanding of the material. In nearly all of these meetings, I received one-on-one attention except for the week before tests. Given the masses of students at these times, I decided it wasn’t worth attending right before lectures and I emailed TAs instead for those weeks.

-If you are writing a paper or working on a project that is more subjectively graded, office hours and TA/Professor communication is even more crucial. What you think is a good project idea or essay topic may not be in the eyes of your teacher. This is why clarification of what it is that your Professor specifically wants is key. Write up an early draft or project design and ask if your teacher can give you her opinion on it. They will often have critiques that you will need to respond to even if it’s against your opinion. When you eventually turn in your final assignment, the teacher will grade it knowing you worked hard and didn’t procrastinate. Plus, you are almost guaranteed that your final content will more in line with what he wanted.

Why I choose Medicine

My passion for medicine began in high school as a Junior when I heard from a Pediatrician who had traveled to many impoverished places in the world such as Guatemala and Africa to provide medical care to the poor. Prior to this, I had little interest in any career, but after hearing his story, I saw medicine as a challenge, an outlet for my interest in Biology, and a way to use my people skills. Later, I went to college as a Biology major and traveled to Mexico with a group called FISH (Fellowship of International Service and Health). We set up a clinic on the side of a market and saw patients, doing blood pressure tests and blood glucose tests. I LOVED IT! The direct patient interaction and feeling like I was really helping to educate people about their health were exhilarating. It also made me determined to learn Spanish, so I took classes and later lived in Guatemala, and now I am fluent (or something close to it). Being the determined person I am, I dedicated a couple of years to getting into medical school. I survived the MCAT through an intense summer of Princeton Review (my least favorite part of the process of getting into medical school). I volunteered in Thornton Emergency Room, lead a chapter of FISH, and became an EMT. I spent thousands on getting into medical school and was successful in six of my eight interviews. I received acceptance to UCSD in October of 2009 and it was one of the best day of my life.

Then a few months ago, I began to deeply question my intentions to go to medical school and become a doctor. Over the past two years, I’ve talked with unsatisfied and even depressed doctors in both the USA and abroad, read books that challenged the efficacy of American medicine and highlighted the unique difficulties faced by doctors within the U.S. I shadowed physicians who saw some of the same patients and problems over and over and OVER again. I hung out with medical students who were in debt tens of thousands of dollars and who studied twelve hours a day. I read pages of blogs of medical students who were fed up with the career, but who couldn’t leave the profession because of the staggering debt. I also traveled to Honduras and worked with doctors who were only able to prescribe very temporary drugs for poor people, and were dismayed by their inability to make a lasting difference.

During my year off, I’ve confirmed that I could make similar wages through less effort in private tutoring than being a doctor. I realized the newest form of income security might be choosing multiple part-time jobs in various, high-demand fields. I’ve dreamed up ideas for creating businesses, developed excitement for becoming a freelance dance instructor, online ESL teacher, tutor of several subjects, founder of a non-profit org, an employer, an inventor and even a simultaneous playing multi-instrument street musician.

I’ve developed new skills in language learning and interpreting, and interests in martial arts, dance, pleasure reading, painting, mechanics, cooking, traveling and overall living a life with a lot of variety.

After seeing people pursuing their own passions and reading the Four Hour Work Week, I realized that the possibility of weaving together most of these creative passions and jobs is certainly possible while still maintaining a stable income.

I’ve realized that I am a more independent person than I had originally thought; that I could work well being self-employed and that I could live happily anywhere in the world with very little money.

Through my travels in multiple continents over the past year, I’ve talked to hundreds of people from dozens of countries about what they do and how they live their lives. I’ve been jealous of those who do little work to gain lots of money, turned off by the number of people who have no particular interest in their jobs, and inspired by people who formulated their lives around their passions.

I then re-contemplated. “How is it that I want to live and be happy?” Or even better.

“What is it that I NEED to live and to be happy?” I came up with a few things.

I NEED to live a life that combines my combination of language, people, and science/math minded skills to make a sustainable and hopefully measurable impact on others, especially those who are impoverished or stricken by injustices.
I NEED to live a balanced life that cultivates my many passions, challenges myself, and allows me to learn new things, and grow spiritually.
I NEED to be loved by and love others and have enough time to develop and keep a sustainable community of friends.
I NEED/(well….probably just really want) a stable income.

I know that I am not able to live my life without any one of these necessities. So I concluded that all of them could be fulfilled WITHOUT medical school and all of the cons that come with that. There are a multitude of ways to help people and maybe in an even more lasting manner than medicine. I could start an ESL program for immigrants looking to build their opportunities in the world and I could find a way to measurably examine its degree of impact. Then I would balance the rest of my life out in a way that made sense likely switching from one passion to the next. If I really wanted to develop unique medical skills, I could fly to a developing country, learn its language, and find a shorter medical program to perform specific surgeries there as has been done in India and regions in Africa. It would never provide me with the certification to do it in the US, but at least I would be able to develop some of the skills I originally wanted to make a sustainable impact.

Done. I’m decided.

Then again…
And what if I got bored or burned out from switching from one job to the next?

What if very few of my ideas succeed?

If they do succeed would I get I get bored of them later on?

What if I ended up wanting something still more challenging?

What if a few years down the road, I realize what I could have done as a doctor?

What if I always regretted that chance I had to pursue medicine?

In reality, if I moved forward with the multi job plan, I would probably never find a job that laced, my skills of patience, teaching, science, culture, people and language together as perfectly as medicine does. My ultimate love for medicine is not just that it allows people to live a higher quality of life and fulfill their own dreams, but that it takes a decathlete of a person to be good at it. It’s more than an imperfect science or just knowing a lot of information. It’s understanding people holistically, where they are coming from, what their resources are, and how they are motivated. You need to know this in order to determine what path is best for them, how that path should be encouraged, and by what means that path should be undertaken. It’s leadership and tact. It’s knowing your limitations and acting accordingly. In medicine, no single life influencing factor in a patient is unimportant. Each patient’s emotional health, spiritual walk, diet, and personal daily decisions are all crucial to each person’s health status. And this is what makes medicine a unique and irreplaceable endeavor for me.

The reality is that people NEED medical professionals. In the USA, there are almost 50 million Hispanics who need Spanish speaking doctors that can understand them. There is predicted to be a shortage of 40,000 family practice physicians in the USA by 2020. It’s crazy to think that there only two doctors for every 100,000 citizens in developing countries like Malawi.

I could always find methods to help people in other ways, but medical school will provide me outlets to develop UNIQUE and needed skills for my own job and for vulnerable populations. If I didn’t go to medical school, I’d be missing out on some valuable connections to brilliant doctors, a workable and detailed knowledge of medicine, and a degree to practice. It will give me a plethora of opportunities to show people God’s love for them and further opportunities that I can’t even imagine right now since I’m not there yet.

My concerns still exist. There will be times when profit-driven medical insurance companies will frustrate me, malpractice lawsuits will haunt me, theoretical memorization will burden me, and residency will likely not be my ideal lifestyle. I’ll forget some information, I’ll make mistakes with patients, and get yelled at sometimes. Furthermore, the inadequacy of medicine as a vessel in promoting health will mean that I’ll need to be inventive and collaborate with other health giving assets like nutritional supplements, public health measures, infrastructure, and digital awareness to name a few of the many essential compliments to making a lasting change on individuals and within communities.

I’m lucky to have been given the chance of a lifetime to pursue my a worthy passion, and I have a head up in knowing what difficulties I will face. The key will be to take each challenge in stride. Every down side in medicine comes with an opportunity to change it or deal with it in a reasonable way.

The hours spent in medical school are relatively flexible and this means I can learn to become a more efficient, effective learner in order to balance in other interests. My other dreams of executing creative ideas, learning other forms of martial arts, dancing, traveling and learning surgery and other languages abroad in my lifetime are not dead.

If there is one thing that living a multitude of lifestyles has taught me, it’s that when I have more to do, I tend to use my free time better. I’m often able to do more recreationally than I would if I had an entire free day. This too can be used to my advantage in medical school. As one med student put it, “Medical school is a lot of intensity - you study intensely but you also live intensely. Every moment is important.”

And every moment will be what I’ll make of it. Decisions are important, but they are still only streams to new lifestyles and challenges. Life was made to love it throughout all of its twists, rough spots, and joyous times, and I’m grateful to be able to enjoy the next step of it.

Special thanks to Peter Wisan, Jimmy Bui, Kari Kjos, David Carreon, Elise Ter Haar, Darrell Tran, Kaitlyn Losey, Katherine Lee, Lisa Rasmussen, Jessica Chan, Blake Spitzer, Chris Ha and Ashley Champagne for carefully considering my concerns and for not pushing me in any direction, but rather helping me to organize my thoughts to make the least regrettable decision.

Why Medical School is attractive to me

Why medical school and becoming a doctor would be awesome:

1. I could develop important, unique, and needed medical skills to use for impoverished populations. In certain developing countries, there is only one doctor for every half a million people. It would be worthwhile to use my MD degree to address some of the significant health needs of the people living there. With an MD, I could more easily create medical teams to accomplish specific health goals in countries or local populations.

2. With my interest and ability in science, research, psychology, use of languages, and education, medical school would be very interesting to me.

3. I would like a career that is challenging to me; a career path to become a doctor will definitely be challenging enough 

4. From my experiences, the relatively flexible schedule and hours of medical school will make me value my free time and really use it well.

5. Being a doctor opens doors for making greater change within the medical system, and having credibility for writing books on health or getting into medical school. I also have some ideas for improving the delivery of care, and the nature of the hospital experience for each patient. These goals would be more easily achieved by being a doctor.

6. I could network through many doctors and medical students, build new relationships, and learn new skills and ideas that I never would have known without going to medical school.

7. I love how medicine is ultimately about finding ways to improve the well being of people when they injured, sick, pain-stricken, or just plain feel bad.

8. It will allow me to have a greater influence on people because they will respect my opinion more regarding their personal health and lifestyle decisions if I am an MD.

Personal hesitations about Medical School

Hesitations about medical school:

Before I invest over $120,000 and over 15,000 hours of studying into four years of medical school as well as work long hours for low wages in residency, I’d like to address some of my personal concerns about doing it.

Am I ready for more theoretical learning/memorization of irrelevant facts? I’m not looking forward to several more years of memorizing the Krebs cycle, studying action potentials etc. Throughout college, I found some of the information interesting, but mainly my goal was getting through all of it by sheer dedication to my studies and being re-compensated for it through doing well on tests and gaining the feeling of “getting somewhere.” This somewhere for me was medical school. Of course in medical school, there is more of that waiting for me.

Is it my ideal lifestyle? Although my ideal lifestyle does include working 50-60 hours/week as I would probably be doing anyway throughout medical school, I would prefer the freedom to work on what I desire as opposed to learning information that is pre-chosen for me. Additionally, I can’t say I’m excited for working for 80 hours a week throughout residency for several years. Talking with other prospective medical students, they feel the same way, but they justify it as it all pays off in the end. Given an investment of over $120,000 for four years and working for low wages and 80 hour weeks for another four years, I would hope it would.

Would I get bored with the same job? I like a lot of variety in my life. I’ve been realizing that I might not be able to do just one job all of my life regardless of what it is. In order to stay interested, I think I would prefer doing multiple jobs or a lot of different and new challenges within the same job. Because medicine is becoming more and more specialized, (as it should if efficiency is the aim) that also means that the career responsibilities are less diverse. I’ve seen family practice doctors who’s jobs I would abhor because most of the patients come in with similar issues. The one doctor I shadowed who I felt had a good amount of variety and challenges within her job through being a bilingual Pediatrician and Family practice Doctor said she felt she was getting bored of her job and needed more of a challenge. I suppose doing anything for too long will produce that sort of a feeling.

Will I help people as much as I’m thinking I will? The nature of a doctor's work is little known by people who are not in the field, and most people just take it as you are helping people. In my opinion, it's not quite that simple for a few reasons. Our achievement-driven society often looks to doctors to medicate themselves and children. Attention Deficit Disorder is far over diagnosed and wasn’t even a classified disorder until recently. Thinking about it, I’d hate to succumb to parents wishes of diagnosing their children with it and prescribing Ritalin and Adderall to boost their focus in school. After reading several articles and the book Pushed, I’ve realized that there are many other controversies regarding quick interventions for other psychotic disorders, and childbirth. You might say “but you could still take trips to other countries and help people there.” After participating in a Global Medical Brigades trip to Honduras, I had a long discussion with the doctor there about how much she felt she was helping. She mentioned how she felt she was just prescribing hundreds of temporary treatments like Tylenol and Asprin without providing a sustainable impact on any of them. I’m not saying that all medical work abroad is like this, but for me it would be crushing to see a whole lifetime of investment lead to ineffective work with good intentions. I talked with other students about our impact, and we came to the conclusion that at no one can refute that our intentions were positive and that is what is REALLY important. But I already have good intentions. My science wired mind needs to see positive results of my work for me to be satisfied. Aside from this, I’m also not looking forward to seeing patient after patient who enters my clinic with a cough or cold. I want to make a change, not distribute medicines to mildly sick and overly concerned people who would probably get better anyway. Although I could choose to work around these situations eventually, I would inevitably confront many of them for years before I would have the chance to work with people to make a lasting change.

Do I want to work within the USA’s style of medicine? I’ve never been a fan our large, profit driven insurance and drug companies that try to wield doctors into making them gain more money. Nor am I excited about HMOs running a business over me that will severely limit the time I spend with each patient. I’m also not too keen on potentially being sued for making a mistake or hurting someone because of it as all physicians do from time to time. What would make me more irate is not having the ability to be confess my mistakes with patients for fear of providing incriminating evidence against myself in court. After reading a few books by Atul Gawande, I realized this is one of the biggest difficulties in his job.

How much material will I actually retain after studying? Although I’d love to say that I would have a complete understanding of medicine and be able to answer any medical question asked to me after four years of medical school, I believe the reality would be far from that. I like everyone else, forget things. How long does it take for me to forget something I’ve studied and used multiple times (as opposed to a one time fact)? My estimation would be about one month, and much less time for information that was never used on a consistent basis. In fact, after using my combination lock all throughout South America and Thailand, then coming home and not touching it for just over a month, the numbers became disordered in my long term memory. I had to buy a new one. Looking at the years of “drinking medical information out of a fire hose,” as the medical school saying goes, and speaking with other medical students about how much they remember from prior years, I’ve come to the conclusion that what a person learns at the beginning of one year will soon be forgotten in a few months unless actively worked upon. It of course will be actively studied again and again and again for school exams and USMLEs. In my opinion after school, only some of the concepts, and something like .2% of relevant information will be used for one’s job. Feel free to disagree if you are a medical student or doctor.