Articles for Pre-Meds

Will an admissions officer remember your topic after a day of reading hundreds of essays? What will the officer remember about your topic? What will the officer remember about you? What will your lasting impression be? After evaluating your essay topics with the above criteria and asking for the free opinions of EssayEdge editors, of your teachers or colleagues, and of your friends, you should have at least 1-2 interesting essay topics. Consider the following guidelines below. 1. If you are planning on writing an essay on how you survived poverty in Russia, your mother’s suicide, your father’s kidnapping, or …

7. Body Paragraphs Must Relate to Introduction. Your introduction can be original, but cannot be silly. The paragraphs that follow must relate to your introduction. 8. Use Transition. Applicants continue to ignore transition to their own detriment. You must use transition within paragraphs and especially between paragraphs to preserve the logical flow of your essay. Transition is not limited to phrases like “as a result, in addition, while . . . , since . . . , etc.” but includes repeating key words and progressing the idea. Transition provides the intellectual architecture to argument building. 9. Conclusions are Crucial. The …

Am I Losing My Mind Wanting To Become a Doctor? Mom of 5 “Hi – I just joined last night; mainly to convince myself that I wasn’t losing my mind for finally wanting to pursue something I used to think was a passing fancy. The pull of medicine has been with me since I was about 23. But due to many things – including having children at a young age – I always dismissed it as an unreachable, impracticable dream. Finding myself in the midst of the enlightened and self-confident late thirties. I am beginning to believe that I just …

What would not be considered patient contact? The non-medical duties usually assigned to candy-stripers or orderly (e.g. delivering films to radiology) Working in the pharmacy Doing laboratory research, even on a clinical trial (i.e. no direct patient interaction) Administrative work in a doctor’s office (e.g. answering phones, typing, filing) Shadowing physicians, especially those you are related to (scrubbing in to observe your surgeon father in the OR may yield some terrific stories, but technically speaking, they’re not your stories). Should I try to maximize the number of patient contact experiences? Diversity is good, but depth is probably better. As you …

The MCAT is a requirement for most medical schools There is no question that the MCAT carries significant weight in the medical school admissions process. Administered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the MCAT attempts to provide a relatively objective way for admissions committees to compare applicants. Most medical schools use MCAT scores, in conjunction with GPA, to do an initial screen of their applicant pool. Health care experience is not a requirement for medical school admission, but is recommended A recent survey of medical schools found that knowledge of health care issues and commitment to health care …

Future Family Nurse Practioner thinking of medical school, 31 with two kids “In graduate school to become a family nurse practitioner still have this fervor to practice medicine as a family physician in underserved areas, but not sure whether I will be sacrificing my children or whether I should embark upon this rigorous endeavor. I’m planning to go for my doctorates after grad school, but I keep asking myself why not med school. It will take the same amount of time and I will be doing what I really want.” TM, 31, mother of 2 Young single mom divorcee “All …

So, should I take it now or later? There are now 22 different days when you can take the test. Sessions are offered in the morning and afternoon, on weekdays and on Saturdays – so you can take it whenever you are ready. If you’re prepared and want to get it out of the way, take it as soon as you can. The test is virtually the same, so you should be studying the same amount. Made a date but not ready? You can change it: www.aamc.org/students/mcat/registration.htm. Have the questions or content changed at all? There are one-third fewer questions …

Gain More Experience Maybe you’re afraid that you don’t have enough experiences to fill the maximum 15 work/activities section on the AMCAS application. Don’t worry-describing 8-10 of your most significant post-secondary experiences is much better than filling out all 15 and including the 1st place award for the junior high spelling bee championship. Still don’t have enough experiences? Patient contact can be achieved through volunteer work at hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, or emergency medicine. One hundred hours is a good target for patient contact. But working one hundred hours only in the month of May is a red flag that …

Of course you will be nervous, but they expect that and good interviewers will try to put you at ease and make you comfortable. The point is to get to know you personally, how you interact with people, and how you comport yourself. After all, as a physician you will be dealing with people on a very personal level, often in very stressful situations. Practicing for the interview is a great idea. If you can, persuade your pre-med advisor, or a doctor that you know to give you a mock interview, complete with questions about medical ethics, your choice of …