How to make yourself stand out as a pre-med
With an average acceptance rate of 7%, matriculating into medical school is no easy task. Over 50,000 people apply to medical school each year. You may be wondering, how do medical schools select the perfect applicants with so many people to choose from? In this article, I will explain some of the criteria medical schools are looking for and how to make yourself stand out as a medical school applicant.
1. GPA and MCAT:
It's not surprising that in order to matriculate into medical school, you need to have a stellar GPA and MCAT score. The average accepted GPA is around 3.7 and the average accepted MCAT score is around a 510 (out of 528). It is especially important that applicants excell in their pre-medical science coursework such as Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics, Biology, and General Chemistry. Showing admission committees that you are able to handle the rigor of these difficult science classes shows them that you have the adequate scientific knowledge to become a good doctor. This is the first aspect of the application that admission committees look at, so having above average scores and grades definitely will be in your favor.
2. Health Care Experience/Clinical Experience:
Being a good doctor means more than being intellectually gifted. A good doctor is someone who listens, knows how to communicate with their patients, and is able to make the patient comfortable in any situation. An extremely good way to begin to develop these skills is by receiving patient contact experience or clinical experience. Many individuals choose to become a CNA, an EMT, a pharmacy technician, a scribe, or work in a lab. These experiences show admission committees that you have been exposed to the healthcare setting and are aware of the physical, mental, and emotional challenges of the job. Personally, I have had the pleasure of working as a Medication Aide at a nursing home to gain clinical experience. I have had the honor to be with elderly patients in their last hours of life, interact with other doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, and care for my residents to the best of my abilities. I feel as though this job has helped be gain communication skills with not only my residents, but with their families as well. This is something that is not easy to learn, so I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to gain these skills.
3. Research:
Research requires an individual to think outside of the box, to consider ideas that may have never been thought of, and to develop and utilize scientific inquiry skills. These skills are exactly what is needed everyday as a physician. The beauty of the human body is that every person is different, and can present an illness or sickness different. Both researchers and doctors need to be vulnerable and willing to learn from existing literature. This means that they must be willing to consult with others or published literature when they are unsure of something. By engaging in undergraduate research, you are showing admission committees that you are interested in the scientific aspect of medicine and are developing these crucial skills before you are asked to do so.
4. Volunteer Work and Shadowing a Physician:
By serving your community, you are showing admission committees that you care about the health and well being of others, which is an essential aspect of becoming a physician. This, along with shadowing a physician will show admission committees that you understand the role of a physician and what it's like to be a physician. I think this is extremly important, becuase often times, being a physician sounds appealing to people, but once they are exposed to the field, they change their minds because they realize the field is not right for them. Most schools require students to at least have some hours of shadowing for this exact purpose. The more hours of shadowing, the more you show admission committees that you are interested in the profession.