Preparing for Medical School

Your nonacademic activities usually will not be decisive elements in your admission to medical school but they can be helpful. You would be well advised to participate in your college premedical society, as well as other organizations that may be related to medicine less directly. Participation in community, political, or sports activities helps in presenting the image of a well-rounded and adjusted individual to admissions officers.

If possible, plan your summer activities so that they can be useful for your career goals. Such activities include hospital work, research, or other activities involving interpersonal contacts. For example, at the end of the freshman year, try to find activities that involve working with people, such as youth camp work or community projects. During the summer following the sophomore year, try to gain some hospital experience. Though summer positions in hospitals are not readily available, try for employment as an orderly, operating or emergency room assistant, or nurse's aide. Also consider a position as a clinical laboratory assistant or a position in a mental hospital or nursing home.

The summer between the junior and senior year could also be spent in hospital work. Students with an interest in research might try obtaining a position at a medical school or in a government laboratory. In addition, a summer spent participating in a research project can provide an understanding of the scientific method in action. It will afford experiences in designing experiments and in collecting and evaluating data.

When working on a summer project, make a definite effort to ensure that your supervisor becomes acquainted with both you and your work. It may prove useful later when you begin securing letters of recommendation to be sent to the medical schools.

As a prospective professional, you should take a job in a hospital, not just to be able to list this activity on your application, but to be able to look at yourself and your reactions to the sick patient, to understand that medical practice is not all heroics and glory, but many hours of hard work. You should try to familiarize yourself with the roles of the various members of the health care team so that you recognize that each has a crucial function in the entire process. In this way you can see if it is the physician's role that is most compatible with your life goals.

Your competitors for a place in a medical school freshman class will present evidence of participation in one or more of three areas: clinical experience, volunteer service, and/or research. Each of these activities will be discussed separately.

Clinical Experience

The overwhelming majority of applicants seek, to some degree, to demonstrate exposure to clinical aspects of medicine. This may result from professional medical activities (such as being a PA, EMT, nurse, etc.) or from involvement in volunteer work. The nature of your experience and duration are the two important factors relative to this issue. Your contact with physicians, patients, and ancillary staff, and the type of environment you were in can suggest the impact it will have on your thoughts on your career choice and possible future plans.

If a clinical opportunity comes your way, inquire if it offers the possibility of obtaining the experiences you seek, such as working with patients, observing physicians during rounds and at clinical conferences, being exposed to emergency room activities, etc. The latter has the potential of offering invaluable exposure into the world of medicine from a variety of perspectives and, when possible, should be included as part of one's clinical experiences.

It is critical that you convince admissions committees of your solid potential for a medical career. Obtaining clinical exposure to the nature of medical work, its demands, stresses, and emotional rewards can prove to be a meaningful educational experience.

Volunteer Service

Becoming actively involved in volunteer work in a medical or nonmedical service area at some time in your college career can also help to improve your prospects of gaining admission to medical school. It is vital to your future success and happiness that you convincingly demonstrate to yourself that of all possible professions, medicine is the service-oriented career that appeals to you most. Choosing and finding a suitable volunteer position can prove challenging. Some are available at local hospitals but if you have difficulty securing one, ask your premedical advisor for suggestions based on prior student activities.

To determine what you would prefer to do, most, ask yourself:

1. Based on my interests and talents, what services am I especially suited for?
2. How much real free time do I currently have available on a regular basis?
3. In what kind of professional or social setting would I feel most comfortable?
4. What do I wish to gain out of my volunteer experience that can be of future help?

While you may possibly find an individual physician's practice or group practice in which to secure volunteer experience, most premeds obtain exposure at an institutional setting. These include medical centers, hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, community clinics, or with volunteer ambulance services. The preferred site, from among the aforementioned, depends in large measure on your responses to the above-mentioned four considerations.

Research

Research, whether the laboratory or nonlab type, such as data collection and evaluation, reference library activity, etc., should be focused on (a) broadening your scientific interests, (b) expanding your analytical skills, and (c) developing improved powers of observation and/or analysis. Naturally, premedical students who can clearly visualize a career in academic medicine will find a research stint to be especially advisable. In any case, securing a research position is difficult, given a premeds student's very limited background, but with some effort and luck you may find one, so it is worth pursuing this goal.

Other Activities

When reviewing your application, admissions people frequently seek to gain an insight into your personality by noting what you do during your free time. They are anxious to see if you have any general activities that you pursue regularly. Such outlets can serve as a means of diminishing stress and providing relaxation. This is critical for those considering entering a profession that, by its very nature, may at times be particularly stressful. Thus, being active in sports, hiking, or bicycle riding, or being an avid reader, is viewed in a positive light.

Bottom Line

Active participation in extracurricular activities in college is expected, and you need to realize that:

• • Opportunities for free time as a premedical student naturally are very limited. Such activities offer a meaningful way of releasing the stress of school demands and the tension from the competitive atmosphere that is generated.
• • Summer activities, such as doing research, taking a responsible job, pursuing volunteer hospital work, are viewed by medical school admissions committees in a favorable light.
• • The nature of the extracurricular activities you select can serve to enhance your personal growth, demonstrate altruism, and indicate a people-oriented personality.
• • The choice of activity, while possibly having a potential positive impact on your admission potential, should also serve to give you personal satisfaction.
• • It is preferable to select an activity that can extend over to a relatively longer period, such as working with underprivileged youth, disabled individuals, educationally challenging students, etc., rather than being engaged in many short stints of volunteer work.
• • If you need to use your free time to secure needed funds, do not use that fact as an excuse to avoid extracurricular activities. Rather, focus any available time you may have on more limited activities, such as a charitable fund-raising campaign, organizing campus society programs, etc.

Summer Enrichment Programs

The importance of spending time in a medical environment has already been emphasized. This can help you to more firmly determine the extent of your interest in medicine. It can also enhance the extracurricular activities segment of your resume, thereby furthering your chances for admission to medical school.

The section below consists of two parts, medical and nonmedical school-sponsored programs.

Medical School-Sponsored Programs

A list of medical schools that have been offering summer enrichment programs is presented below. These offerings very from year to year and may be sponsored by different departments within an institution, moreover, openings frequently are restricted to under-represented students. To follow up and determine if opportunities are available, contact the Dean of Students at the school, using information provided for each school in Chapters 6 (allopathic medical schools) and Chapter 14 (osteopathic medical schools). Checking Web sites, may also prove useful.

Alabama

University of Alabama

University of South Alabama

Arizona

University of Arizona

California

Loyola University

Stanford University

University of California — Davis

University of California — Irvine

University of California — Los Angeles

University of California — San Diego

University of California — San Francisco

University of Southern California

Colorado

University of Colorado

Connecticut

University of Connecticut

Yale University

District of Columbia

Georgetown University

Florida

Florida State University

University of Florida

University of Miami

University of South Florida

Georgia

Emory University

Medical College of Georgia

Hawaii

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Illinois

Finch/Chicago University

Loyola University of Chicago

Northwestern University

Rush University

Southeastern Illinois University

University of Chicago, Pritzker

Indiana

Indiana University

Iowa

University of Iowa

Kansas

University of Kansas

Kentucky

University of Louisville

Louisiana

Louisiana State University — Shreveport

Maryland

Johns Hopkins University

University of Maryland

Massachusetts

Boston University

Harvard University

University of Massachusetts

Michigan

University of Michigan

Minnesota

University of Minnesota — Duluth

University of Minnesota

Mississippi

University of Mississippi

Missouri

St. Louis University

University of Missouri — Columbia

University of Missouri — Kansas City

Washington University

Nebraska

Creighton University

University of Nebraska

Nevada

University of Nevada

New Hampshire

Dartmouth University

New Jersey

UMDNJ — New Jersey

UMDNJ — Robert Wood Johnson

UMDNJ — School of Osteopathic Medical School

New Mexico

University of New Mexico

New York

Albany Medical College

Albert Einstein

Columbia University

Cornell

Mt. Sinai

New York College of Osteopathic Medicine

SUNY — Buffalo

SUNY — Downstate

University of Rochester

North Carolina

Duke University

East Carolina University

University of North Carolina

Wake Forest University

Ohio

Case Western University

Medical College of Ohio

Ohio State University

University of Cincinnati

Wright State University

Oregon

Oregon Health Science Center

Pennsylvania

University of Pittsburgh

Lake Erie College (osteopathy)

Temple University

Rhode Island

Brown University

South Carolina

Medical University of South Carolina

Tennessee

East Tennessee State University

University of Tennessee

Vanderbilt University

Texas

Baylor College

University of Texas-Houston

Texas A&M University

Texas Tech University

University of North Texas (osteopathy)

University of Texas — Galveston

University of Texas — Health Science Center at San Antonio

University of Texas — Southwestern

Utah

University of Utah

Vermont

University of Vermont

Virginia

Eastern Virginia University

Medical College of Virginia

University of Virginia

Washington

University of Washington

West Virginia

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Medical School of Wisconsin

Your inquiry should be addressed to the Dean of Students.

Nonmedical School-Sponsored Programs

The following is a list of nonmedical school institutions that at various times have offered summer enrichment programs. If you are interested in securing an appointment, use the list below to obtain information.

California

American Heart Association

Research Department

1710 Gilbreth Road

Burlingame, CA 94010

San Diego State University

Collegiate Union for Health-Related Education (CUHRE)

Aztec Center

San Diego, CA 92182

San Jose State University

HCOP Summer Enrichment Program

1 Washington Square

San Jose, CA 95192

University of California

Personnel Department

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory

P O Box 808-N

Livermore, CA 94550

Illinois

Michael Reese Medical Center

Summer Student Research Fellowship Program

Office of Research Administration

29th Street and Ellis Avenue

Chicago, IL 60616

Maine

The Jackson Laboratory

Research Training Office

Bar Harbor, ME 04609

Massachusetts

Tufts University

Biomedical Sciences Summer Enrichment Program for Sackler School of Graduate and Undergraduate Minority Students

136 Harrison Avenue

Boston, MA 02111

University of Massachusetts Medical Center

Summer Enrichment Program

Office of Outreach Programs

55 Lake Avenue North

Worchester, MA 01655

Michigan

University of Michigan

School of Public Health

Summer Enrichment Program in Health Administration

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Minnesota

University of Minnesota

Summer Biology Program

515 Delaware Street, SE

1–125 Moos Tower

Minneapolis, MN 55455

New York

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Science Education Center

Building 438, P O Box 5000

Upton, NY 11973

Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Research Participation Program in Molecular Biology

Elm and Carlton Streets

Buffalo, NY 14263

Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Headlands Indian Health Careers

Summer Programs

BSEB, Room 200, P O Box 26901

Oklahoma City, OK 73126

Pennsylvania

Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic

Mellon Research Summer Program in Psychiatry for Undergraduates

3811 O'Hara Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Tennessee

Fisk University

Premedical Summer Institute

1000 17th Avenue North

Nashville, TN 37208

Wisconsin

Marquette University

School of Dentistry/Physical Therapy

Summer Science Enrichment Program

P O Box 1881

Milwaukee, WI 53201