May/June 2015 by PreMedLife Magazine

NEW STUDY INVESTIGATES BURNOUT AMONG PRE-MEDICAL STUDENTS | MEDICAL SCHOOL ELIMINATES PREREQUISITE CLASSES

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The Magazine For Pre-Medical Students

THE MEDICAL SCHOOL ADMISSIONS PROCESS Nearly 50,000 students applied to medical school last year. How will you make it through the application process?

May|June 2015

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Contents|||||

May/June 2015 “A new study examines the prevalence of burnout among the premedical student population” p. 12

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

APPLYING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

THE RECIPE FOR A SUCCESSFUL MEDICAL SCHOOL APPLICANT

REASONS WHY APPLICANTS GET REJECTED BY MEDICAL SCHOOL ADMISSIONS

THE STATISTICS AREN’T FRIENDLY. THE MAJORITY OF STUDENTS WHO APPLY TO MEDICAL SCHOOL DON’T ACTUALLY GET ACCEPTED.

A SUCCESSFUL MEDICAL SCHOOL APPLICANT BY NATURE HAS GREAT TRAITS BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT ALL MEDICAL STUDENTS HAVE THOSE TRAITS.

UNDERSTANDING WHY MEDICAL SCHOOLS REJECT APPLICANTS PROVIDES A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT NOT TO DO

May/June 2015 | PreMedLife Magazine |3

contents

MAY/JUNE 2015

Believe it or not, getting

l into medical school may

actually come down to your personal statement

Traits of Successful Medical School Applicants

While applicants to medical school may be different in their own ways, when it comes down to it, there are some core traits that medical school admission committees look for during the admissions process.

What Not to Do on Your Medical School Personal Statement

WHAT’S INSIDE...

How to Brainstorm Unique Personal Statement Topics

Personal statements have typically been underrated by premed students because they do not understand the importance of them. It is the personal statement that will set one apart from another

Meet The Medical School Headquarters Podcast

We caught up with the founders behind The Medical School HQ Podcast to give us a look into their story and the passion that drives their #1 pre=medical podcast.

4 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2015

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How Delivering a Baby is Like Completing Your Medical School Application

Completing your application for medical school is a big pain and everyone knows they are. Sometimes when you are at the end of writing your applications, you get frustrated and are tired of working on them.

What’s on Premedlife.com? Why You Shouldn’t Give Up On Your Med School Dreams Students slave away in universities, striving to earn a degree in business, the sciences, or what ever can give them an upper hand in the work force.

Finding a Medical Profession That Fits Your Personality How can you evaluate your personality to determine which medical field is best for you?

5 Ways To Keep The Morning of the MCAT Stress-Free Taking the MCAT is a pretty stressful event and just the thought of it makes me nervous all over again.

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From the

Publisher

PREMEDLIFE the lifestyle magazine for premedical students www.premedlife.com

Founder & Publisher | Tasheema Prince Executive Director | Jonathan Pearson

LET’S DO THIS!

Executive Vice President | Monique Terc Contributing Editor | Njeri McKenzie

The scariest moment is always just before you start.” -Stephen King

Online Marketing Consultant | Portia Chu

The above quote says it all about how you will

Contributing Writers Seemal Awan, Marilyn Chau, Austin Greer

feel as you begin one of the most important task of your pre-med life - your medical school application. For those of you who are about to get into the thick of it - medical school applications that is - having your mind in check is just as important if not more important than all of the components of your application. Staying positive and having a clear mind will help you push passed the challenging and trying times that will test your will. You can, and probably have read up on everything that you need to be doing to prepare for the application process; which is not a bad thing because the more you know, the better of course. There’s no questions that you’re highly motivated and want the medical school dream more than anything, and you’re pumped, but are you disciplined enough to get it done and get it done like your future depends on it? Once you get started with your medical school applications, you’ll need to not only stay productive but also engaged in the process. One productivity hack that can work for the medical school application process is to break things down into smaller tasks and plan a break afterwards. And, oh yeah, block out distracting elements that may cause you to multitask. It will all be for your own good and for the good of your medical school dreams. In the end, the most important thing is that you do your best and what may come from it will be. Your job is to take care of the things you do have control over and don’t stress about the things that you don’t have control over. Tasheema Prince Publisher Follow me on Twitter: @PrinceSheem Email me at: tprince@premedlife.com

Tasheema Prince

Find us on Twitter @premedlife Find us on Facebook.com/premedlife Here’s How to Reach Us: Kisho Media, LLC P.O. Box 7049 New York, NY 10116 Main Office (347) 857-7491 Have a Story Idea? Email us at editor@premedlife.com Want to Subscribe? Visit www.premedlife.com and sign-up to our mailing list to receive an email when the latest issue is available online Want to Join Forces? (a.k.a. Partner With Us) Email us at info@premedlife.com Advertising Inquiries? Email advertise@premedlife.com PreMedLife magazine is published six times per year by Kisho Media, LLC. and copies are provided to select colleges and universities free of charge. The information in PreMedLife magazine is believed to be accurate, but in some instances, may represent opinion or judgment. Consult your pre-medical/ pre-health advisor with any questions you may have about the medical school admissions process and related topics. Unless otherwise noted, all articles, photographs, artwork, and images may not be duplicated or reprinted without express written permission from Kisho Media, LLC. PreMedLife magazine and Kisho Media, LLC. are not liable for typographical or production errors or the accuracy of information provided by advertisers. PreMedLife magazine reserves the right to refuse any advertising. All inquires may be sent to: Kisho Media, LLC. P.O. Box 7049 New York, NY 10116 To reach us by phone call (347) 857-7491 or email us at info@premedlife.com.

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The PreMedLife Student Advisory Board is an exemplary group of premed students from a variety of backgrounds who have a wide range of accomplishments. They will help keep us informed about what we need to know to make PreMedLife magazine the go-to resource for aspiring doctors.

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May/June 2015 | PreMedLife Magazine |11

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NEWS

Study: The Prevalence of Burnout Among Premedical Students

CC Flickr / ÂŠ Antonio_Diaz

Daniel Williams, MD; Annie Janise; Robert Reid MD; Diana Robinson, MD

Burnout is a psychological syndrome that is known to increase the risk of depression by 1.8-2.6 and its treatment results in less suicidal ideation.1-5 Burnout, as it affects physicians-in-training, is associated with absenteeism, low job satisfaction, and medical errors.6,7 Currently, the leading tool for the measuring burnout in the medical education pipeline is the Maslach Burnout Inventory.8 The Maslach construct defines burnout as a syndrome consisting of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and a sense of low personal accomplishment. Validated among physicians, it consists of three primary elements: exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy or loss of a personal sense of accomplishment.9 Burnout can affect medical professionals of all fields and tiers. Estimates of burnout prevalence among U.S. medical students range from 43-45%.10,11 Among graduate medical residents, burnout estimates range from 40-76%.6,12-16 Among practicing specialists and general practitioners, burnout is estimated to affect between 22% and 60%.17 Family medicine physicians

were affected the most by burnout with rates topping 56-80%.6,17-19 At what point does physician burnout begin to manifest itself? To our knowledge, burnout has never been measured in a premedical education population. Could it be that burnout begins affecting students even before they enter medical school? If so, how does the prevalence of burnout in premedical students compare to other college students and what factors influence this burnout? This study sought to help answer these questions by producing the first estimate of burnout rates in premedical students. DISCUSSION Independent of summer break, the prevalence of burnout, specifically depersonalization and emotional exhaustion, was higher among premedical students than medical students. Premedical students appear to have their sense of personal accomplishment invested in their educational pursuits, as burnout in this area

actually improved during final exams. All (100%) of the students sampled in both groups had high depersonalization. This depersonalization may be a result of stress from their educational pursuits, but it could reflect a stage of life issue (or a separate, acute stressor). Young adults, perhaps, have never had so many responsibilities and intense competition. Additionally, their identity can be tied to their performance and, until they get their medical school acceptance letter, their ultimate self-acceptance may elude them for years. The result can be a constant state of internal struggle and unrest. Emotional exhaustion scores were over 95% during the summer break and the few who showed a trend of worsening burnout as final exams occurred. There appears to be a relatively small segment (<10%) with worsened burnout stress because of final exams. The full study is published online at http://bit.ly/1C0M0wa.

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May/June 2015 | PreMedLife Magazine |13

NEWS

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CC Wikipedia/ AndrewHorne

Medical School Eliminates CourseSpecific Requirements in 2017 The University of Michigan Medical Schools has announced plans to change its admissions requirements for prospective students looking to enter the school in 2017. Shaped around the growing popularity of evaluating students on a holistic basis, the school will no longer rely on a list of courses, but instead evaluate candidates across a range of attributes necessary for successful development into a compassionate, skilled physician serving the needs of a diverse and changing population. “We see a number of students right now…with advanced degrees, or who have spent extensive time in labs,” said Steven Gay, assistant dean for admissions. “I think we should give students the opportunity if they are learning in those innovative and different ways not to have to repeat things unnecessarily.” The school’s previous requirements included completing the “typical” pre-medical courses required by most medical schools, including such courses as

organic chemistry and biology. Now, attributes such as altruism, desire to learn, leadership, and academic excellence are among the multiple factors the admissions committee is using to evaluate prospective students. Listed among the new prerequisites is a group of Core Competencies. The four competencies are analytical thought and problem-solving skills, written and verbal communication, mathematical/statistical analysis and application of hypothesis-driven methods of research. “The student will be able to say, ‘alright, these are the expectations, let me reflect on what I’ve done and show how these all meet those different criteria,’” said Rajesh Mangrulkar, associate dean for medical student education. “That’s a better way to have a conversation than what we’ve had in the past, which is basically a student saying ‘I took this class, is this okay?’” The change comes on the heels of an overall shift in pre-medical education in the country. ¡

M C AT

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Why you should care about the new MCAT By Austin Greer, Student Columnist If you get bored, try imagining what medicine would look like if doctors actually did use all of the information they memorized for the MCAT. A man comes in the Emergency Department clinching his chest and collapses. Because I studied hard for the MCAT some four years earlier, I know exactly what to do. I shout with assurance to my staff, “This man won’t see the morning unless he gets a bimolecular elimination! I need tert-butoxide stat!” We work well together and he finally comes around. When the man wakes up, he tells me how thankful he is for good doctors like me. I place my hand on his shoulder and look into his grateful eyes, “Don’t thank me, sir. Thank the MCAT.” I must admit, being a PreMed student lately has been interesting. It is likely that you have probably heard rumors of the new version of the medical school entrance exam. Once a three and a half hour standardized exam, the MCAT has now developed into a six-hour exam with more material to account for. Along with the traditional subjects, the test now includes biochemistry, psychology, and sociology. Ask any doctor if they believe performance on the MCAT determines the physician you will become. Relatively soon, you might discover a trend: taking the MCAT and being a physician are two completely different things. When taking a standardized exam, you are studying a great deal of information, more than half that may not ever be used within that context again. As a doctor, you are dealing with real life scenarios and living patients. Contrary to common belief, the ability to perform well on the MCAT still seems to say little about how much we actually care for patients, and that is okay. Still, it does not keep me from wondering why the MCAT exists from time to time. Why is the MCAT necessary? Because the MCAT incorporates a good amount of information, it naturally bridges the gap between being a PreMed and a medical student. It serves to kick-start your clinical mindedness and matches the intensity of a medical school study schedule. Because everybody has a slightly different PreMed experience, it can provide medical schools with an easy method to compare the academic capabilities of applicants. Although I agree fully, I think there is another reason why the MCAT exists that is not stressed enough.

I had a sort of “epiphany” a few weeks ago as I started approaching finals. I realized that I had fallen into the trap of viewing my finals as a negative circumstance – even an inconvenience in my life as a future doctor. It occurred to me that they could only be as difficult as I allowed myself to perceive them. Although a positive attitude surely did not guarantee an A, it helped my finals seem more like an opportunity than a curse. Sadly, I came to the realization that finals were not the only “inconveniences” I labeled in my life. Without a doubt, the new MCAT had become one of them too. The more I thought about it, the more the MCAT appealed to me a chance to be challenged as a student, and a chance for my character to be improved. Although it does not necessarily determine the doctor you will be 10+ years from now, it does represent your character today. Your effort on the MCAT represents your willingness to make sacrifices in order to become a doctor. It occurred to me that we might never use physics, organic chemistry, and psychology to the extent that it demands, but it does not change the fact that the life of a doctor requires integrity and perseverance. As future physicians of the world, maybe what we should fear more than the new MCAT is a world where the MCAT does not exist. More than I fear the inconvenience that the MCAT places on my life, I fear the physician I would be without it. Maybe we will be challenged enough in medical school, but for some reason I cannot escape one of my recent thoughts. How could I expect to handle the pressure of a patient’s life in my hands if I cannot accept the pressure of a standardized exam? Until I am proven otherwise, my generation of PreMeds can handle the MCAT regardless of how difficult it becomes. We have to believe that if we ever expect to assume the pressure of a patient’s life that we could take a ten-hour MCAT if needed. Regardless of where you are in your PreMed journey, remember to take a step back and remove any perceptions that you have created that make it seem inconvenient. In the meantime, think about a hilarious parallel universe where doctors actually treated patients by using MCAT information – like molecular orbital theory and electromagnetic fields calculated by hand.

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Premedlife GETTING IN

Ahead of the game The most successful medical school applicants have a few strengths and strategies in common. Here’s how they make it count.

THE STATISTICS AREN’T FRIENDLY. The majority of students who apply to medical school don’t actually get accepted. Thousands of students will apply for hundreds of spots in a class each year, and while some students will enjoy the luxury of receiving multiple acceptance offers, most students who start out as pre-med students for their undergraduate studies will never get the chance pursue their dreams of becoming physicians. Fortunately, while the overall statistics may seem bleak, good news does remain. Even though overall acceptance percentages are inarguably low, percentages for students who fall into certain categories are much more encouraging. For instance, students who have both high GPAs and high MCAT scores have much better acceptance percentages than others. Other factors also play into an admissions committee’s decision, however, and students who choose to recognize these other factors as well have the best chance of eventually getting accepted. While not conclusive, the following items are important for pre-medical students to consider as they select schools and work on secondary applications. Be Realistic: While perhaps not the most encouraging words to hear, this piece of advice is an important one to keep in mind when selecting schools to apply to. Applying to medical school is not a cheap process, particularly when considering the cost of secondary applications and interviews. Because of this, it is important for students to be financially wise and choose to apply to schools that they at least have a decent chance of getting accepted into. However, this does not simply mean applying to schools that have average entrance scores on the MCAT similar to your own. Do your research and discover if a school is a private or “state” school; if a school is an official state school and you are not a resident of that particular state, your chances of getting accepted there are incredibly slim, even if you have an MCAT score far above their average. Additionally, some schools might not be officially “state” schools but might still give preference to students from certain regions; for instance, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine gives preferences to students who are either from the Pacific Northwest or who are dedicated to serving in rural communities someday. Religious affiliations should also be considered when applying to medical schools; Loma Linda University School of Medicine, a school located in southern California, is a private school that gives preference to students who are of the Seventh Day Adventist faith (even though they do have students from all religious backgrounds). For students who are from states that don’t have a medical school located in them, finding out where they can still receive preferential application treatment is important; for example, residents of Wyoming actually still receive “in-state” status when applying to the University of Washington’s medical school in Washington state. Save yourself a lot of time, money, and disappointment by applying to schools with entrance statistics that would indicate that your own application might be viewed favorably.

May/June 2015 | PreMedLife Magazine |19

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GETTING IN

>BE OPEN

At the same time, don’t let your applications be too narrow in focus. Even though you might have a less than ideal chance of getting admitted to a certain medical school doesn’t necessarily mean that you should not apply to there at all; it simply means that you should not only apply to “high risk, low chance” schools. If a school has a history of looking at applicants from your undergraduate school with favor, then you might have a better than average chance of getting accepted there. While time and finances will be limiting factors regarding how many schools you can realistically apply to, being wise and applying to a majority of “low risk” schools along with a splattering of “low chance” schools may pay off with at least one acceptance letter in the end.

>BE TIMELY

>BE UNIQUE

Even though your overall goal when submitting your medical school applications is to eventually get at least once acceptance letter in the mail, your initial goal when filling out these applications is actually a bit more short sighted. Simply put, your initial applications are actually applications for interviews; getting accepted is then the goal of your interview. With this in mind, create your application to highlight what makes you both unique and capable of as a student. Medical school applicants often tend to be very similar--biology majors who were leaders of school clubs and participated in community service activities while still getting good grades. While all of these qualities are in no way the markers of “lesser” students, they definitely do not make your application stand out at all. Use your medical school applications to showcase what makes you unique as a student; if you had a strong interest in performance dance while in undergraduate school, find a way to include that. If you’ve worked as a freelance writer for science curriculum, include that. Even if you have “regular” activities to list, try to make those stand out if at all possible. Use specificity to showcase your experiences. For instance, “Worked as a volunteer at an alternative high school for troubled teens” sounds much more interesting than “volunteered as a tutor during my free time.” Your application is all of “you” that an admis-

sions committee gets to see before making a decision of whether or not to offer you an interview. Intrigue them enough in the amazing student and person that you are by being sure to include items in your application that makes you look unique, even if such items might not seem inherently “impressive” to you.

>BE PERSISTENT

Finally, even if you have what might be seen as an “ideal” application, even if you have done everything “right” with your applications, there still is a chance that you might find yourself sitting with only a pile of rejection letters during the springtime. This is obviously not a position that anyone wants to be in, but it is a position that is a reality for many former pre-med students. You have worked incredibly hard to get to where you are, and while you will hopefully have to endure the application process just once, being willing to re-apply if the need arising is key to anyone who truly wants to become a physician. If you are not accepted during your first round of applications, take the time to figure out the possible weaknesses of your application, and make plans to strengthen those areas. If you had a low MCAT score, retake the exam. If you submitted your applications close to deadlines, make sure to have them turned in as soon as possible this next time. If you were offered interviews at several different schools but were not offered acceptances at any of them, choosing to work on your interview skills might be the best plan of action to take. Getting into medical school is no easy task, but even though statistics might seem overwhelmingly against you when viewed very broadly, making wise decisions during the application process can make those statistics actually swing in your favor. Keep your options open, showcase the best of you by presenting what makes you exceptionally unique, be well-researched in your application decisions, and be willing to re-apply if you are not offered any acceptance letters the first time around. P

Just because the deadline for applications for a school might not be until November does not mean that you should wait until then to apply. Getting in your application as soon as possible is important for making sure that a school sees you as one of the more likely candidates for offering an interview to. Start your primary AMCAS application as soon as it is available and work on getting together all of your letters of recommendation and any other supplementary material needed for your application at the same time. Submit your application once your file is complete, and do not procrastinate when sending in your secondary applications either. Carefully research what each particular school requires for their secondary applications; don’t let failure to submit a complete application be what causes your total application to be counted as late. Additionally, if you are someone who wishes to apply to a particular school’s “early decision” program, be sure to research what exactly the requirements for applying to such a program entail. Typically speaking, most of these programs require that students only apply to that school during the entire duration of the early acceptance period (usually ending around

October); at the end of this period , students are told whether they will be offered an early acceptance decision at that school or if their application is going to be transferred to the “general” application pool instead. At this point, students can then choose to apply to any other medical schools that they desire to apply to as well. Because of this required delay in applying to any other schools, if you aren’t entirely certain that you prefer a certain medical school over all others, it isn’t advised that you apply to such early decision programs, since it means that (in the event that you aren’t offered an early acceptance decision) your applications to anywhere else will be a bit later than ideal.

20 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2015

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P E R S O N A L S TAT E M E N T

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Thinking of a master plan Personal statements have typically been underrated by premed students because they do not understand the importance of personal statements. Most premed students believe that a good MCAT and GPA are all you need to get into medical school but the personal statement is actually a very integral part of your application. Since I helped out with the admissions process during my first year of medical school, I was able to experience first hand how applications are sifted through. Your personal statement is actually sometimes what it comes down to. Many students will have similar grades and MCAT scores but the personal statement is used many times to differentiate between students. Write something your passionate about. This is overlooked many times because students believe that medical schools cannot really tell by a personal statement if the student is actually passionate about what he/she writes about. But this is completely not true. How passionate you are translates into not only a well worded essay but also a multi-dimensional essay. When you care about something or it is important to you, those feelings have been brewing in you for a while and it helps to set you up for a great essay topic. Also remember that your personal statement will be brought up by the interviewer most of the time. When you talk about what you wrote about, your level of passion will be evident not only on your face but also in the way that you describe your experience. Keep this in the back of your mind that your topic for your personal

statement is more than fair game for an interview question so make sure that you write about something you feel confident talking about. Unique experience. Your story and journey towards medicine is very unique to you and no one can take that from you. If you can find a way to explain your story in a personal statement and how that brought you closer to medicine, that will help you significantly. The people that read your applications sift through thousands of applications each year and it is refreshing to read a personal statement that is raw and unique. What I mean by this is that it does not matter which experience you write about, if it made an impact in your life and helped you decide or confirm your desire to pursue medicine, your essay will reflect that. I remember trying to brainstorm for personal statements during my own experience and what I actually ended up doing was talking about a very small interaction I had with a homeless man in the city and how that translated into my personal desire to pursue medicine. The actual interaction may be considered very minuscule to an outsider but for me, the internal epiphany I had through my interaction was monumental. And the

way I described my interaction, internal feelings, and path to medicine appeared to be a success. Every single interview that I participated in, I was asked to explain my personal statement further. The experience does not have to be about medicine Many students get stuck on this idea that their personal statement has to be related to medicine in some way for schools to be interested in you. This is actually not true at all. I personally enjoyed reading the personal statements about people from different paths in life who found their way to medicine. This is more interesting to read than a day in the hospital because we know what a day in the hospital is like. But this does not mean that you cannot write about a day in the hospital, it just means that what you are writing about should be interesting in order to catch and maintain the attention of your reader. Talk to other students (not just premeds) It is always a great idea to start early and talk to students that may not be premed students because the ideas they come up with will not be ideas that you come up with. And something they mention may trigger another idea in your mind. P

22 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2015

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ADMISSIONS

RECIPE FOR A SUCCESSFUL MEDICAL SCHOOL APPLICATION A SUCCESSFUL MEDICAL SCHOOL APPLICANT by nature has great traits but that does not mean that all medical students have those traits. There are traits that we all have that make us different and unique and then there are those that can inhibit us from reaching our potential. >>>

24 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2015

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May/June 2015 | PreMedLife Magazine |25

INTEREST IN MEDICINE

Your interest and passion for medicine is your biggest driving force for working hard in undergrad and wanting to pursue the field of medicine. If you do not actually have a raw desire to pursue medicine, then it will be really easy for you to walk away from medicine the minute you reach your first obstacle. Right now is the best time to figure out if you really want to pursue medicine. I know a couple of medical students who realized during medical school that medicine is not what they wanted to do. Medical school is not only a large time commitment but also a major financial commitment. Make sure you explore medicine enough before you commit to it. The applicants that are most successful are those that have taken ample time to make sure they want to pursue medicine and have a strong passion for it. These characteristics translate into applicants with stronger personal statements and stronger interviews because their passion for medicine leaks into their personal statements and interviews.

HARDWORKING

There are two types of hardworking students... Hard-working students who PROCRASTINATE: These are the students that seem to never do their work and are always waiting until the last minute to do work. These guys always say they hate waiting until the end but most times they end up doing awesome on tests. You will meet a lot of these students in your journey to medicine. If this is you and it works for you, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s awesome. Do what works for you but I would recommend trying to still get better at getting your work done on a daily basis. Medical school is not as forgiving as undergrad for the Procrastinators although there are many of them who do really well. Hard-working students who WORK HARD ALL THE TIME: These are the students that are always working hard and they seem to never have fun. They are always at the library, know when assignments are due, and have everything figured out. These guys sometimes wish they could be more like the Procrastinators but

their nature will not allow them to. Medical school is a time when these students may run into trouble because there is so much information to know that it is difficult to know when to stop. There are different variations of the hardworking student, whether you wait until the last minute to get your studying done or if you need to do a bit of work every day. The point is, you have to have the quality of working hard in order to be successful as a medical school applicant because the process of getting into medical school is not easy.

NOT WILLING TO GIVE UP

There will be so many times when you will face rejection from medical schools who do not send you a secondary application (although rare, but can still happen sometimes), schools who do not want to interview you, or schools who interview you and yet still reject you. This is part of the struggle, realizing that medicine is about facing failure but standing back up in the face of failure. Being tenacious in your dream to pursue medicine is important also because no one else is going to advocate your dream to you but you.

UNIQUENESS

Medicine is definitely a calling. Why else would folks work 60+ hours a week? Yes physicians get paid well but for the most, that is not the reason we went into medicine. Most of went into medicine with a desire to save lives. That desire to save lives is so important to us and brings us so much satisfaction that it trumps living a normal life. Most people that work are at home by 5 or 6pm, do not generally have to go in at night, and do not normally work more than 12 hours at a time. But there are thousands and thousands of premed students lined up to pursue a career with a very rigorous training and in some fields a very rigorous lifestyle. We are a unique group of people and your desire to pursue such a career in itself makes you unique.

26 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2015

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4 Traits of Successful Medical School Applicants HARDWORKING This is a trait that will help you push through the crazy premed requirements such as organic chemistry and physics and allow you to get through the annoying AMCAS procedure. In order to make it through your premed requirements and then also do volunteer activities, research, and shadowing, you really need to have the work ethic to push on. Medical school unfortunately does not get easier. The strong (or lack of...) work ethic will continue on during med school. So a good tip for those especially early on in their undergraduate years is to build a good work ethic in order to lay the foundation for the coming years including medical school. PASSIONATE Your underlying level of desire to pursue medicine is what will allow you to push on. Take some time to reflect on the reason you want to pursue the profession of medicine and make sure that it is for the right reasons. If you are not pursuing medicine for the right reasons, it will make the process of applying and completing medicine more difficult. It is easier to fight for something that you are passionate about rather than pursuing something you are not passionate about. I remember knowing that I wanted to pursue medicine for a very long time but I know that when I would shad-

ow physicians I just did not feel interested enough. This stems from the fact that as a premed student you do not know a lot about the disease process that a patient may be presenting with. This does not necessarily mean you are not interested in medicine, it just means you might need to prepare before you see patients so that you go in knowing more about the patient and this will help to keep you interested. PERSEVERANCE Medical schools can be brutal at times and there can be a period of time when you may get a couple of rejection letters at once or a couple of interviews that were really rough, this is when you need that extra perseverance to push on and perform better. I remember this one semester when I was taking 4 science classes and I had 4 final exams that were one day after the other. The first exam I thought went horribly and I felt really terrible about it. This put me in a pretty bad mood and did not allow me to cram as much information as I wanted to for the next test. So what I would recommend is remembering that even though one test may not have went well, to not let that bring your motivation down. No one is perfect. CONFIDENCE IN YOUR OWN ABILITIES I know many of us love going on websites/forums where other medical students talk about their journey as a pre-

med student. I remember going on these types of forums and feeling so much anxiety because I saw a bunch of students with 38’s on the MCAT and a 4.2345... GPA who still did not get into medical school. All I would think about after seeing these posts is that I would never make it to medical school. While I was doing applications, I was reading forums and websites pretty consistently and felt like my anxiety level was very high. It was nice to read the forums that wrote down what the application essay topics would be for that year but other than that, the forums were mostly written by people in the same spot as me. After I finished all of my secondary applications I decided I was not going to read these forums. It was such a great decision because I focused on myself and prepared for my interviews and built my confidence in myself. Whereas when I would read forums, my confidence would slowly decrease because I would read about these “perfect” applicants who still did not get in to medical school. This is not to say that the forums are not useful at all. What I mean is, be honest with yourself. If reading those forums is bringing down your confidence then the forums are not a good resource for you. A successful pre-med student is confident because you have to have self-confidence in order to keep pushing through and your level of confidence will really translate into a great interview.

28 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2015

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P E R S O N A L S TAT E M E N T

ÂŠ iStockphoto/ Rawpixel Ltd

l a c i d e M r u o Y n O o D o t t n t e o m N e What l Personal Stat o o h c S

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As if working through the stress of studying for and taking the MCAT wasn’t enough, premed students often find themselves stressed with the task of drafting a “personal statement” for the AMCAS primary application. This statement, limited to 5,300 words, often feels like the hardest part of the application to fill out. For some, coming up with enough words to make a dent into those 5,300 words is difficult. For others, figuring out how to whittle down their words to fit into that limit is a more difficult task. For just about everyone, however, finding the perfect words with which to craft that essay is a mindboggling task that takes far longer than it feels like it should. As a whole, while there are many different ways to go about drafting your personal statement, there are also definitely ways that you shouldn’t go about the task. In fact, making sure to avoid these mistakes might be just as important to the welcomed reception of your essay as saying all the right things might be.

✗❑ MAKE CLICHE STATEMENTS

While most pre-med students hopefully will know not to do this, it still is an important point to bring up. Admissions committees are famous for laughing at the cliche pre-med student who expresses that he wants to become a doctor because he wants to “help people.” Even if this desire is true, even if he truly wants to be a physician for the sole purpose of helping the world around him, medical school admissions committees do not want to read such statements--at least not so simply said. At the same time, if “helping people” is truly a key factor in your desire to pursue a career in medicine, it is still important to allow your personal statement to reflect that, as long as you don’t use cliche phrases to explicitly say so. For instance, if you are a student who was inspired to go into medicine because of the work of organizations like Doctors Without Borders, then use your personal statement to delve deeper into this interest of yours. Instead of just saying that you want to work with them to “help people,” discuss how modern medicine in particular can be used to bring healing around the world. As a whole, the desire to “help people” is far from an unwanted trait in a medical school applicant. However, the lack of creativity showcased by anyone who is too lazy to actually expound upon this desire with specific details will be seen as disappointing by these same committees. “Helping people” can be done in a variety of careers--from social work to teaching--and doing so is far from specific to medicine. If helping others is a motivator for your pursuit of higher education in medicine, then be sure to also state why it is medicine (and not any other field) that you are most interested in.

✗❑ BRAG OF BRILLIANCE

There is a fine line between highlighting your accomplishments and qualifications and blatantly bragging about how amazing you are, and sometimes finding this balance can be difficult in a high stakes essay like

the personal statement. As a whole, the medical school personal statement is not meant to be a place for you to state everything that makes you a better candidate that anyone else. Other sections of the application process are dedicated to highlighting your educational and work experiences. The personal statement, on the other hand, is meant to be more of a section that brings out parts of your character that might not otherwise be displayed in your application--just like its name suggests, this essay is meant to be “personal.” Avoid repeating any of the accomplishments you’ve listed elsewhere on your application and use this essay to serve a twofold purpose instead: Let it highlight the character qualities that you possess that will enable you to be a quality doctor, and let it inform others of the reasoning behind your desire to pursue medicine in the first place. These purposes can usually easily be stated in the allotted 5,300 words. If possible, incorporate a personal anecdote within your essay that highlights these points. Stories that positively showcase your personality will be better remembered and better received than lists of why you are an “ideal” applicant.

✗❑ SOUND LIKE A THESAURUS

Sounding smart is more often than not a desire of a pre-med student. However, using “impressive” vocabulary words in your personal statement is not the way to do this. Instead of focusing on the exact terminology of your statements, focus more on making sure that your personality and character shine through positively. A well constructed sentence using simple terminology to convey your message will be better received than waxing eloquent to fill up space. Again, the personal statement is not meant to be a section where you attempt to draw attention to your brilliance; it is an essay that is meant to genuinely reflect your personal reasons for wanting to go into medicine. Trying to sound impressive with your vocabulary may not be well received, as doing so can easily make you look “fake”--something that is definitely not the goal of your essay! While it is obviously important to use formally crafted statements, the organization of your thoughts within your essay is probably more important than having a thesaurus-impressive vocabulary with which to relate your thoughts. In fact, using words that you would not regularly use in an actual conversation might do you more harm than good; medical school admissions committees are keen to look for candidates who show promise in being able to have good doctor-patient relationships someday, and being able to speak to others in a way that is readily understood is an essential component of that relationship. Let the vocabulary you use in your personal statement reflect the fact that you can use everyday language to convey your thoughts.

✗❑ DOWNPLAY YOUR DREAMS

While sounding boastful of your aspirations is never a good plan, downplaying your dreams in your personal statement also won’t get you anywhere. Humility has a very important place in life (and in the medical field), but a personal statement needs to be the place where

you allow your dreams to shine brightly. Speak boldly of your goals of working as a physician; use your own confidence to increase the confidence of those in the admissions committee’s confidence in you. As mentioned previously, however, this definitely does not mean bragging of how awesome you are. There is always a difference between speaking of your dreams with hope and bragging of your talents with haughtiness, and admissions committees are well versed in this difference.

✗❑ IGNORE ITS IMPORTANCE

Finally, even though the personal statement is just a small part of your AMCAS application, it can be an important factor in improving your overall chances of getting offered an interview, if you allow it to be. The personal statement is the one place in your application where you have the chance to shed some light on any areas of your application that might seem less than ideal to an admissions committee. For instance, if your GPA improved greatly between your freshman and senior years in college, then the personal statement can be a good place to shed some light on why this happened. If you are someone who has taken time off between finishing undergrad and applying to medical school, including at least some reference to your thought process for that decision might be a good plan Basically speaking, while the personal statement should not be something that you worry about working against your favor (provided that you don’t make the mistakes listed here), it is something that can work significantly in your favor, if you allow it to do so. Think of your personal statement as being a place to provide a brief explanation for how you got to where you are today; while the rest of your application tells a simple timeline to your path, the personal statement can be used to provide reason to that timeline if necessary. Overall, the personal statement segment of the AMCAS application can be an intimidating task, but it does not have to be this way. You’ve worked hard to get to the point where you are today, and while it is important that you use your words to highlight the very best of you, it is also important to remember that the personal statement is just a singular part of your application as a whole. You’ve also included a list of important activities that make you stand out from the other applicants; you’ve worked hard and have the GPA and MCAT scores to show for it; you’ve gathered positive letters of recommendations from others who are speaking out on your behalf because they believe in your ability to succeed as a physician. While the importance of the personal statement should not be simply blown off, it also should not be a huge source of stress in your life. Realistically speaking, admissions committees will not be fixating on your personal statement as the sole determiner of whether or not you should be offered an interview opportunity--so don’t let yourself fixate solely on it either.

May/June 2015 | PreMedLife Magazine |31

■ PREMEDLIFE BRANDED CONTENT / FOOD & DRINK

First Things First... Who Wants Coffee? By Njeri McKenzie

Coffee continues to be one of the world’s most consumed beverages with over half of Americans drinking it daily. Typically, coffee is the beverage of choice for many, especially college students, because it gives them the caffeine that is needed to stay awake and alert, and it is customizable to taste exactly how they like it. What’s the buzz? There has been an increasing trend of young adult consumers shifting to gourmet coffee, a variety of blends of skillfully sourced and processed coffee beans that ensure great taste and freshness. According to the National Coffee Association’s 2014 National Coffee Drinking Trends, 34% of Americans consume gourmet coffee, up 3% from the previous year. Consumers between the ages of 25–39 penetrate highest in daily consumption at 42%. The Healthy Choice Numerous studies have been conducted on whether or not coffee is good for you and it can be more healthy than you think. According to WebMD, coffee is a rich source of disease-fighting antioxidants, and studies have shown that it may reduce cavities, boost athletic performance, improve

moods, and stop headaches. In addition, it has also been known to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, liver cancer, gall stones, cirrhosis of the liver, and Parkinson’s diseases. While many coffee companies offer healthy options, Organo Gold offers only blends enhanced with Ganoderma Lucidium. Ganoderma Lucidium, also known as the reishi mushroom that has been used as a Chinese ancient herb for wellness, has many beneficial uses but the most well know use is to boost the immune system. Organo Gold skillfully processes this mushroom down to a powder and enhances their line of gourmet coffee to give you a healthy great tasting organic beverage. Another bonus is that the coffee is instant and packaged as single serve packets as well as brewkups, perfect for on-the-go! Who wouldn’t like the idea of healthy coffee? Organo Gold’s primary products include Coffee, Tea, and Hot Cocoa, but the ingredients can also be found in their line of neutraceuticals and personal care. For more information or to get your Organo Gold products, visit www.coffeepress.myorganogold.com or contact mckbynj@gmail.com.

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ADMISSIONS

Why Medical School Applicants Get Rejected

CHOOSE SCHOOLS WISELY

When you are flipping through the channels, based on what you like, you have different ways that your attention can be grasped. Medical schools are the same way. Medical schools have certain ideals that they really cherish and most of the time these are written all over their website. Many students will just randomly chose schools and not base their decision on if they actually fit in with the school. The closer you are to the ideals of the schools, the better chances you have of getting an interview. Basically, if I enjoy cooking shows, a cooking show is more likely to grab my attention. Same goes for medical school applicants.

STAND OUT ON YOUR APPLICATIONS

Once the cooking channel has grabbed your attention, make sure the wait through the commercials are worth it. You can peak the interest of an admissions officer by just one activity that you did. Don’t try and stand out by doing a really random extracurricular activity

LET’S USE AN ANALOGY HERE to explain why medical students get rejected from Medical Schools. You have your snacks all ready to go to, you sit comfortably on the couch with your legs propped up, and start flipping through different television channels. So you specifically love cooking channels, action movies, and comedy shows. As you are flipping through the channels, you almost pass over the cooking channel. The cooking channel now has all of your attention and you are waiting for the commercials to pass by. Because you enjoy cooking shows, you are willing to wait for the commercials to pass by for the opportunity to watch a good cooking competition. As the commercials end, you realize it is some show about doing a restaurant make-over. Your interest level comes tumbling down at this point. And this is how medical schools act in terms of the admissions process.

just for the purpose of medical school applications but maybe try something not completely in the normal “realm” of medicine and really delve into it. Many students think that in order to get in, they have to have a certain checklist of items such as research, good grades, and extracurricular activities. While this is true, it is also important to remember that just because you check off a bunch of things from your list does not mean anything. A television show may be able to check off that there are funny, sad, happy, and action components yet no one watches the show. There has to be something different about the show that not only stands out to you but attracts you. If you have average grades, MCAT, etc, make sure there is something about you that stands out.

KEEP THE ATTENTION OF THE ADMISSIONS OFFICER

Just because the previews for the show are good does not mean that you will continue to watch the show if it

does not continue to remain at your standards or maybe even exceed your expectations. When students are offered interviews, they may not perform as well and the awesome student on paper did not translate to an awesome student in real life. Remember that you were offered an interview because someone liked you enough to want to know more about you. When there is a new TV show starting, you will typically watch the previews and get intrigued but if that first episode is not good, you most likely will not continue to watch the show. If your interview does not go well, medical schools will most likely reject you. And remember that if you were able to do a pretty good job of representing yourself on the application, it means that the admissions officer not only likes you as an applicant but also as a person. So don’t try to act like someone you aren’t or someone different from your application. They are expecting the person they read about from your application, don’t interview as a different person. If they did not like you, they would not have offered you an interview.

34 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2015

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THE GOODS

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Thrive Got the Power Mug

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Things I’ll Forget to Remember Keyboard Notepad

When tying a string around your finger just doesn’t do it and email folders still aren’t enough, jot your ideas down on this notepad, designed to fit along the bottom of your computer’s keyboard. Organized by levels of importance and offering a sticky note section for FYIs, this reminder kit is crucial for a busy person like you!

36 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2015

Stop Your Negative Thinking Tip Cards

Sometimes, that little internal voice telling you to “think positive” just isn’t enough to get you out of a rut. Time to consult these handy tip cards to stop that negative thinking in its tracks. The deck of 30 cards is designed to help whenever you’re stuck in a negative thought loop.

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Scribbling reminders on your hand, asking sometime to remind you, or tying a non-descript string on your finger are by no means fool proof! Now with our super handy Friendly Reminder Wrist Notes you can write, wrap, and ta-da you’ll never forget the milk again!

u Daily Mood Emoticons Desk Cart

There are 47 moods to choose from, each with its own smiley face along with a snarky definition, fascinating facts, and sample sentences to keep everyone occupied and entertained.

May/June 2015 | PreMedLife Magazine |37

Premedlife

THE INTERVIEW

Ryan Gray

The co-founder of the #1 podcast for premedical students, Dr. Ryan Gray is currently a practicing Flight Surgeon in the United States Air Force. He runs MedicalSchoolHQ.net with his wife, Dr. Allison Gray.

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in medicine? I initially was interested in physical therapy, but at that time, physical therapy school was very hard to get in to. The therapist I was shadowing at the time said, “if you’re smart enough to get into PT school, you might as well be a doctor.” During that same time I was dissecting a cat in Senior anatomy class and loved it! I always joke that I became a doctor to cut people. Do you think you had to sacrifice a lot during college to get where you are now? Not at all. This is something I think a lot of premeds get wrong. They put 100% of their focus on school and making sure everything is perfect for their applications. When they do this, they miss out on so much more - other opportunities that could have made their application shine, besides great grades. What do you think best prepared you during your college years to be successful in medical school? I don’t know if anything specifically prepared me to be successful in medical school. The biggest thing is keeping your goal in mind, so that when you are struggling with a class, or a test, you know that there is a reason you are putting in the hard work. What attracted you to Aviation Medicine? I actually wanted to be an Orthopedic Surgeon. Because I went to medical school on the HPSP scholarship, the Air Force had the ability to say no to that, and instead direct me into being a Flight Surgeon as a General Medical Officer. Dismayed at first, I’m glad it worked out the way it did. I love my patient population, and I love flying. What’s the best advice you ever received as a college student? The best advice was actually my worst advice. I was told to not apply to medical school because I was a white male. This advice has been the motivating factor in everything that I do now at the Medical School Headquarters. What issues in heath care do you think premeds should be most aware of? All of them. Health care is in such flux now, and it’s important to stay aware of it all because it can be asked of you during your interviews. I don’t think it should sway your desire to become a physician, because ultimately we are here to treat patients, and it doesn’t really matter what system is guiding that.

FOR THE LOVE OF MEDICINE Getting to work with pilots and other aviators is great. It is a healthy patient population that really doesn’t want to go to the doctor unless they really have to. And when they are sick, they are very eager to get healthy as soon as possible. Getting able to go fly is a great bonus too!

Are there any unique challenges to being in a relationship with another physician? There are several unique challenges to being married to another physician, but there are also good things. The first challenge, especially if you are going through the process together, is that both of you are extremely busy with residency (and medical school if you are in a relationship then). Another challenge is being able to leave work at work. Since both of you are able to speak the same language, it’s easy to just continue talking “shop” at home. To read our entire interview with Dr. Ryan Gray, visit www.premedlife.com.

38 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2015

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