May/June 2016

MEDICAL SCHOOL COURSE ENCOURAGES STUDENT CREATIVITY | STUDY HIGHLIGHTS HOW YOUNG MDS DEAL WITH DEBT

The Magazine For Pre-Medical Students

May/June 2016

®

SUMMER SIXTEEN PREMEDLIFE.COM

Making your break between semesters meaningful to getting into medical school

contents|||||

May/June 2016 ““Encouraging students to play in the gutter between an

arts-based discipline and medicine would stimulate divergent thinking by freeing them to take risks and make mistakes without feeling pressured to produce a ‘right’ answer.” ” p. 12

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THE SUMMER ISSUE

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28

39

MAKING YOUR EXPERIENCE MED SCHOOL APPLICATION WORTHY

THINGS TO DO THIS SUMMER IF YOU’RE NOT DOING SOMETHING “PRE-MED”

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR SUMMER EXPERIENCES

SUMMERTIME FOR PRE-MED STUDENTS CAN MAKE OR BREAK CHANCES OF GETTING ACCEPTED TO MED SCHOOL. HERE’S WHAT’S IMPORTANT

EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANY “OFFICIAL” PLANS, HERE ARE SOME THINGS PRE-MEDS CAN DO

IF YOU’RE PARTICIPATING IN A PROGRAM, INTERNSHIP, OR RESEARCH POSITION, HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

May/June 2016 | PreMedLife Magazine |3

contents

MAY/JUNE 2016

l

The art of stillness and the concept of doing nothing may be the best thing for anyone applying to medical school

20

Making the Case: A Look At Admission Strategies for Medical School Applicant

We’re digging into one student’s application to give you guidance about how to present yourself on you medical school application

40

5 Things That Would Make Medical Schools Doubt Your Application

Let’s take a look at some red flags that would give an admissions committee doubts about your medical school application.

WHAT’S INSIDE...

46

The Case For Doing Absolutely Nothing This Summer If you’re pre-med, you probably can’t fathom the thought of not doing something with your time. However, the summer break has finally come upon us and it is a better time than any other time during the year to do absolutely nothing. And here’s the reason why.

34 Surgery 2.0

The minute I knew that I was getting surgery everything changed in my mind. I was no longer rational, practical, or logical. I was unreasonable, irrational, and rash.

4 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

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Digital

MAY/JUNE 2016

Moments Every Freshman Pre-Med Student Can Relate To The pre-med life doesn’t start the day you step into your college science lecture hall. It starts the moment you tell family at your graduation party.

What’s on Premedlife.com?

Moments Every Freshman Pre-Med Student Can Relate To Telling family about your life choices The pre-med life doesn’t start the day you step into your college science lecture hall.

10 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Starting Studying For the MCAT As an eager pre-med student, I figured that studying for the MCAT would be like studying for an end-of-the-semester final exam.

Medical School Admissions Team Q&A How do you grant interviews? Every student likes to ask this question and it is a question that each admissions officer would respond differently.

GO BEYOND THE PAGE

You’ll find this icon on selected pages throughout the issue. That’s your signal to grab your smartphone or tablet and go deeper with the content on that page. Here’s how: 1. Download the free Layar app from the Apple or Android store or at layar.com 2. Launch the app and scan any page displaying the icon.

3. Premedlife bonus content will instantly appear on your device.

6 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

From the

Publisher

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

OKAY, NOW GO.

Founder & Publisher | Tasheema Prince

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

-Peter F. Orucker

Contributing Editor | Njeri McKenzie

It’s finally here - the first summer of the rest of your life. Okay, so I made it sound a little more significant than many

would consider it to be but seriously, think of it as such. You have a choice to make this summer and it can be whatever you want it to be - meaningful, restful, fun, stressful, productive, or [add your own adjective here]. Whatever you decide, the summer is also a time to be reflective, not only one the last semester and years that are now behind you, but this is a time to also think about what lies ahead. Its important that you remember that everyday you wake up you have a choice to make and the steps that you take and the decisions that you make will ultimately determine how successful you are in achieving your goal of getting into medical school. You must also realize that everyones journey looks different. What you choose to do this summer may look very different from someone who too also wishes to one day practice medicine. And that’s okay, really! The point is - take your own path, build your own story, create your own journey because its all a part of the process and will make you a better physician in the end. When you take your own path, the reason or reasons why you want to practice medicine mean more and are more significant. During the stressful and tiring times during medicine school and residency, there will be moments when you’ll need to remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing, and if you can reflect and look back on how you got there in the first place and the experiences you had, the ups and downs you moved through, you’ll have the mental motivation you need to push through. This scenario may look different for the student who followed after someone else or pursued medicine for the wrong reasons. I’m saying all of this to say - have a great summer and enjoy the journey.

Tasheema Prince Publisher @PrinceSheem tprince@premedlife.com

VP, Development| Monique Terc

Online Marketing Consultant | Portia Chu Contributing Writers Seemal Awan, Marilyn Chau 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

Tasheema Prince

To reach us by phone call (347) 857-7491 or email us at info@premedlife.com.

8 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

M I NOS CAN ACH IEVE ANYTHING. We make sure they get to college. Federal Student Aid provides more than $150 billion each year in grants, loans, and work-study funds to make college possible for anyone with the mind to get there.

Learn more about money for college at StudentAid.gov.

Federal Student Aid

An OFFICE of the U.S. DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION

PROUD SPONSOR of the AMERICAN MIND '·

Premedlife

S T U D E N T A D V I S O RY B O A R D

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.

Follow us @premedlife

Tisha Berg UCLA Extension

Viven Chen University of Miami

Samantha Culver University of Vermont

Caitlin Draper University of Arkansas

Jared Eaves The University of Texas at Austin

Austin Greer Indiana Wesleyan University

Charis Guinto Evangel University

Hannah Hoekstra University of Minnesota

Lisa Lachhman Pace University

Austin Newsman Georgia State University

James Rock Slippery Rock University

Tyra Turner Agnes Scott College

10 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

T:8.5”

Dr. Maurie Markman, MD Medical Oncologist

T:11”

WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY,

STAND UP. When someone you love is diagnosed with cancer, you have the power to help. There are many ways you can stand up and show that you care.

THEY TALK, YOU LISTEN. One of the most helpful and important things you can do is listen— without judgment and resisting the urge to give advice.

DON’T ASK, DO TELL. Instead of waiting to be asked for help when it is needed, be specific about what you can do and when, such as: prepare a meal, babysit, pick up groceries, help with pets, or provide rides to and from appointments.

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LIVE AND LEARN. Educate yourself about your loved one’s diagnosis and treatment. When you understand what a cancer patient is going through, you’re better able to help keep information clear, track questions, and know how you can be most useful.

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STAY CONNECTED. After the initial diagnosis, people tend to drift away. Be someone to count on for the long haul. Check in, send a quick note, or drop off a book. Small gestures go a long way.

Visit ShowThatYouCare.org to learn more about how you can stand up for someone you love.

1

Cancer Treatment Centers of America is a proud supporter of Stand Up To Cancer, an initiative designed to accelerate groundbreaking cancer research for the benefit of the patient.

Stand Up To Cancer is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

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NEWS

“Students with alcohol abuse/dependence were more likely to be younger, single, and have higher educational debt. Of note, alcohol abuse/dependence appeared to be more common during the first two years of medical school.” {PAGE 15}

istockphoto / ble2home

Medical School Course Encourages Students To Pursue Creative Disciplines

To help medical students understand the importance of creativity in medicine, the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University has made a workshop called “Integrated Clinical Arts” a core course of the first-year curriculum.

The basis of workshop hinge on the concept of what the school calls “playing in the gutter” which refers to “a cognitive playground where one can grapple with an amalgam of ideas, concepts, and experiences and explore different ways of fitting them together to construct meaning. “We believe that students’ experiences with the ICA program highlight an important role for creativity in medicine: to transform gutters from potential learning barriers into opportunities for discovery self-reflection, and personal growth.”

The program, which began in 2011, is held as

a one-day event that takes place at the end of the Fall semester and every first-year student is required to partake in one of the arts-based workshops. The workshop last four hours of interactive exercises, with few lecture-like aspects, and students do not receive grades. “We felt that encouraging students to play in the gutter between an arts-based discipline and medicine would stimulate divergent thinking by freeing them to take risks and make mistakes without feeling pressured to produce a ‘right’ answer.”

According to the paper published in Academic Medicine (March 2016), “over the course of medical training, learners confront various gutters n the curriculum created by the partition of the preclinical curriculum into discrete subject blocks, the transition from classroom-based learning to clinical rota-

tions, and the ‘division of the core clinical clerkship experience into a disconnected series of independently governed, discipline-specific, randomly ordered, sequential blocks.”

Dr. Kevin Liou, a first-year resident at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical College and his team explained that “to form rewarding connections with patients, physicians must also ‘show up’ and bring their own voices into medical encounters. Furthermore, “creativity provides a crucial outlet for students and physicians to ‘be in touch’ with themselves.’

In the end, students often find the experience to be quite positive and were able to ultimately draw “novel connections between the arts-based workshops and clinical practice.” p

12 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

After graduation, take a stand against poverty by joining AmeriCorps VISTA— Volunteers in Service to America.

You’ll put your passion to work to help those in need, and you’ll gain experience you can’t find in other kinds of entry-level jobs. You’ll also receive:

H H H H

Living allowance $4,725 for tuition or student loans Health care Moving expenses

37 million Americans live in poverty.

Take a stand. Join AmeriCorps VISTA.

800-942-2677

(TTY 800-833-3722)

think big.

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NEWS

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Researchers Possible Link Between Alcohol Abuse and Student Burnout Burnout among medical students was strongly associated with alcohol use, according to a study published in Academic Medicine.

For the study, led by researchers from Mayo Medical School and the American Medical Association, a national survey of 4,402 medical students was conducted to determine alcohol abuse/dependence, burnout, depression, suicidality, quality of life, and fatigue.

The results revealed that approximately one-third of the students met criteria for alcohol abuse/dependence.

Specifically, 80% had burnout, alcohol abuse/dependence, or depressive symptoms at the time of the survey, and 70% of students had burnout, alcohol abuse/ dependence, and/or suicidal ideation present at the time of the survey. “In comparison, only 15.6% of a sample of U.S. college-educated 22- to 34-year-olds met similar criteria,” the authors wrote. “Furthermore, the rate observed in our sample was almost twice what was previously reported among participating surgeons, a national sample of U.S. physicians, and that found in U.S. adult population.”

Of those students with alcohol abuse/dependence, they were more likely to be younger, single, and have higher educational debt. Of note, alcohol abuse/dependence appeared to be more common during the first two years of medical school.

Furthermore, the study’s findings suggesting that educational debt may increase the risk of alcohol abuse/ dependence are particularly concerning considering that medical educational debt has risen sharply over the past several decades. “The escalating cost of medical school needs to be more effectively addressed, especially if health care reform and reimbursement changes lead to reduced earning potential in some specialty areas,” the authors wrote. “If educational debt continues to rise in the face of lower earnings, the psychological toll of educational debt may become even more severe.”

In light of these findings, the researchers suggested that schools implement wellness curricula to help students understand the prevalence and consequences of mental health problems among physicians in-training and in-practice, self-assess their well-being, develop strategies to enhance their resilience, manage educational debt and seek help when needed. “Our study provides further evidence that distress among medical students warrants serious attention,” the authors concluded. “A multifaceted approach to reducing alcohol use, ameliorating burnout, and reducing the cost of medical education is needed.” p

premedlife

NEWS

istockphoto/ YekoPhotoStudio

Study Highlights How Young Doctors Are Dealing With Debt

The amount of debt a medical student has may influence their long-term choices, according to a paper published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

For the study, researchers used data from a questionnaire administered by American Board of Family Medicine and were able to gather data about thirdyear family medicine residents. Based on answers to the question “What was your level of educational debt (undergraduate and graduate) at the end of medical school,” the research team was able to used what is called descriptive statistics to categorize the students’ responses.

The results revealed that while 18% of the student

reported having no education debt, more than half reported having some education debt. Specifically, 58% of students reported having greater than $150,000, and 26% reported having greater than $250,000 in total educational debt.

Background information provided in the paper revealed that researchers from the American Association of Medical Colleges found that graduating with at least $200,000 in debt required extended loan repayment and/or the selection of service-related loan forgiveness programs; graduating with at leas $250,000 in debt required an even longer loan repayment requirement and service in a shortage area, and reduced the ability to live in a desirable neighborhood. “Pub-

lished students reactions to the American Association of Medical Colleges’ findings affirmed suspicions that high debt levels help to explain why students are less likely to choose family medicine and raise concerns for those who still do,” the authors wrote. “Students from disadvantaged backgrounds may be dissuaded from this choice at even lower debt levels.”

“Policymakers hoping to increase output in primary care specialties such as family medicine should be aware of this growing debt burden and consider strategies such as loan repayment, smallbusiness loans, practice transformation support, and payment reform targeting the physician payment gap,” the authors concluded. p

16 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

T:8.5”

Two worlds.

One dream.

Singers and Scientists share more than might be expected.

Whether it’s a breakout melody or a breakthrough in research. When it comes together, everything fits.

It can change lives forever.

Stand Up To Cancer supports the collaboration, innovation and research that are turning discoveries T:11”

into viable treatments and possibly, one day, a cure.

Stand up with us. Let your voice make a difference because when we work together, nothing is impossible.

Like, share and join SU2C. Find out more at standup2cancer.org

Jennifer Hudson, Stand Up To Cancer Ambassador

Shiva Malek, Ph.D.

Stand Up To Cancer is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Photo by Nigel Parry.

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NEWS

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Med School No Longer Participates For Popular List That Ranks Schools

The Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University (USU) recently made the decision to no longer participate in the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” annual rankings.

After looking at the process the publication uses to determine the rankings, the school stated that “we concluded that continued participation is a disservice to medical school applications.”

Background information provided by the school noted that the academic medicine field is well aware of the approached used by U.S. News. One study fifteen years ago concluded that “the annual U.S. News and World Report rankings of American medical schools are ill-conceived; are unscientific; are conducted poorly; ignore medical school accreditation; judge medical school quality from a narrow, elitist perspective; and do not consider social and professional outcomes in program quality calculations. The medical school rankings have no practical value and fail to meet standards of journalistic ethics.”

According to the current paper, when it comes to the rankings, there are some “perverse

incentives” involved. Specifically, “a medical school that wants to boost its rank should heavily favor applicants with super-high MCAT scores and grade point averages and ignore important attributes such as character, grit, and life experiences that predict that a student will become a wonderful doctor.” Additionally, the paper points out that to make its “selectivity” score higher, a school may in fact encourage applicants from large numbers of people with little or no chance of acceptance simply.

Of note, the paper also calls out the fact that the U.S. News ranking ignores whether or not a school is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medicine Education, which requires schools to submit tons of information to meet strict standards.

Overall, USU says that the U.S. News’ “onesize-fits-all” approach has its limitations. “Because we serve as the leadership academy for military health in the United States, our curriculum is unique,” the school explained. “We not only provide the same high-quality education that civilian medical schools teach, our students receive 700-plus hours of additional instruction in military-relevant topics such as combat casu-

alty care, tropical medicine, global health, ethics, and officership.”

In the end, the school suggest that there is a better way for prospective medical school students to compare their options - consulting the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) database, the service provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Using this research, students can access detailed information about each accredited U.S. and Canadian medical schools, as well as let users search, sort, and compare schools based on what a student’s priorities are The authors concluded by saying: “In our view, a decision as important as choosing where to apply to medical school should be based on more than perceptions — it should be based on reality. Moreover, the information each applicant receives should be objective, reliable, and relevant to his or her personal needs and aspirations. That’s why the Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University will no longer participate in U.S. News’ annual survey. We hope that more medical schools will follow. p

May/June 2016 | PreMedLife Magazine |19

The Statistics

Looking at the numbers of an applicant

McGill University, 2017 Honors Physiology Minor in Psychology Overall GPA: 3.94 Science GPA: 3.95 MCAT: 518 Disadvantaged? No Race/ethnicity: Caucasian

Exposure to medicine:

Volunteer experiences

Research experiences

✔︎ ✔︎ ✔︎ ✔︎ ✔︎

✔Tutor for Freshman Science ✔Tutor for Math ✔Volleyball Coach ✔Junior Camp Counselor ✔H.S. News Director/Anchor

✔ Research Intern at Cystic Fibrosis Lab ✔ Research at Cancer and

Hospital Volunteering Run Clinic in Dominican Republic Shadow Cardiothoracic Surgery Volunteer at Retirement Home Nursing Skills Lab

Immunology Lab

INSIDE LOOK WINNING STRATEGIES

Making the Case

How to do medical school admissions right

Julian is currently in an honors undergraduate program at McGill University, where he has been involved extensively in multiple research labs. Besides receiving many honors and awards in academics and leadership, Julian has also been involved in a variety of extracurricular activities, including volunteering in a hospital, clinical shadowing, tutoring, and student organizations.

STRATEGY #1 Humanize yourself as an applicant, and bring your application to life beyond the high GPA, strong MCAT score, and relevant experiences.

According to this AAMC grid for applicants and acceptees from previous application cycles, the acceptance rate percentage for applicants with your GPA, MCAT score, and race/ethnicity is 89%.

Your chances of being accepted to medical school are high, but even students with very strong numbers are not accepted. You need to demonstrate the unique qualities that you have by telling a story about who you are. You are a well-rounded student who has strong numbers and strong experiences, so your application won’t raise red flags or bring up urgent questions. To avoid seeming dull to the admissions committees, demonstrate your personality so you stand out. Listing your various experiences seems like a checklist, so a better way to write about your activities is to tell detailed stories in which you show the admissions committees the

qualities you have, rather than listing the qualities themselves. You should apply to medical schools early (submit your AMCAS application within the first week of June); schools will want to interview students with high numbers earlier in the rolling admissions process.

STRATEGY #2 Don’t overwhelm the admissions committees by including every single experience. Instead, wow them by focusing on the most significant ones.

Because you’ve been involved in many experiences, it can be easy to list every small activity in your application essays. However, your goal is to convey your true passion for going to medical school and ultimately becoming a physician.

In order to convey your personality and passion, narrow your stories down to the most meaningful and impactful experiences, interactions, activities, etc., which show the admissions committees more about you. Rather than focusing on what qualities physicians in general should have, focus on which of your personal qualities will make you a good physician, then write about experiences which exemplify these characteristics. If the reader focuses on the important activities that you have highlighted, your whole application becomes meaningful. Avoid boring the admissions committees with a laundry list of all your previous experiences.

STRATEGY #3 Apply to Canadian schools and American schools that accept international applicants.

Though not explicitly mentioned in your application to us (that was our fault, not yours), we

istockphoto/ VladislavStarozhilov

WE’RE DIGGING IN TO ONE STUDENT’S APPLICATION at a time to give you guidance about how to present yourself on your medical school application. Julian’s the “Looks Good on Paper” pre-med, what will it take for him to get in?

Leadership positions ✔︎ ✔︎ ✔︎ ✔︎ ✔︎

Founder of International Healthcare Charity Started undergraduate Physiology Clinical Journal Club 9 years of Executive Student Council over three schools 2 years as Teaching Assistant for Histology Head Junior Counselor at Science & Engineering Camp

How well do your two science professors know you? 7/10 and 5/10 How would you rate your writing skills? 5/10 How would you rate your interviewing skills? 8/10

Admissions Goal: Allopathic Medicine (MD) Things to definitely highlight: Strong numbers; the multitude of experiences you have which are relevant to medicine.

Things to definitely address: You don’t have any red flags, but you should ensure that your personality and true passions are reflected in your application, because it is easy to miss these among all your experiences.

have reason to believe that you are a Canadian citizen. As such, you should focus on Canadian medical schools, which give overwhelming preference to Canadians. Be careful, though: not all Canadian schools accept Canadians equally. As with American schools, many focus on in-province applicants, so be sure to check each school’s website to determine whether it accepts students from your province.

For medical schools in the United States, you will need a subscription to the MSAR to determine which ones are available to international applicants. Don’t just look at the box that tells whether the school accepts international students; instead, look at the number of international students in the incoming class. Many med schools claim to accept international students, but didn’t actually take any in last year’s class. Don’t waste your time with these schools.

Also be on the lookout for certain schools (Wayne State comes to mind) that treat Canadian students the same as Americans for the purpose of the application process. Being put on a level playing field will be helpful in gaining admission!

What Does This All Mean?

Medical schools want to know who you are as a person beyond the checklist of experiences and activities that are presented on your resume. You have solid numbers and experiences, so your priority should be putting together a vivid, exciting application that conveys your personality and interest in medicine. p

May/June 2016 | PreMedLife Magazine |21

THE SUMMER ISSUE

istockphoto / © Vimvertigo

istockphoto/ Antonio_Diaz

Making the best of summer (the pre-med way)

Premedlife

THE SUMMER ISSUE

Fifty Thousand Potential Students 24 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

istockphoto/ Stockernumber2

How will you make your summer experience medical school application-worthy?

To most premeds, applying to medical school means that everything that happens along the way is going to be looked at by admission committees and put under the microscope scrutinized in one way or another - and how applicants spend their summer is a big deal.

Premedlife

THE SUMMER ISSUE

Summer can be a tricky thing when you are a pre-med. For years as a kid, you probably can remember the days leading up to the last day of school and the excitement surrounding your summer break. Whether it was a planned trip with your family, summer camp, or simply hanging around the house just doing nothing, you looked forward to it and there was no pressure surrounding the coming season. But now, things are probably a bit different for you and the thoughts and feelings that are racing through your head are probably a bit different - now that you’re pursuing your dreams of becoming a doctor.

Last year, more students applied to medical school than ever before.

So, what does that mean for you? Well, for starters, it is clear as day that getting into medical school is getting tougher - period. And, yes you have probably hearing that ever since you decided to pursue a career in medicine, but the numbers don’t lie. As a result, it will be very important for anyone applying to medical school to make sure they are doing everything in their power to “make it happen” which of course will mean different things to different people.

In May, the masses will close out the Spring semester. Pre-meds across the country set out to embark on the next chapter of their lives, which for some means the start of a summer program or volunteer gig. For others, this might mean taking the break between semesters to return home to spend much needed time with family and friends or an opportunity to take a course or two. Whatever the predicament and no matter how you choose to spend your summer, it is important that you make whatever experience you have worthy of being a part of your future medical school application.

The goal is to have it mean enough to be entered into your AMCAS application. Maybe it will be the “Work/Activities” section where you’ll be entering the amazing program you had the opportunity to be a part of or an experience that you can ultimately pull from and lay as the foundation for your personal statement.

What it comes down to is that summer can pretty much make or break your medical school application. Like a lot of things that you’ll encounter along your journey, things are complicated. There’s thousands of other pre-meds standing in between you and a seat at someone’s medical school.

There’s also a bar: Medical schools will choose students who have had certain experiences and not just any experiences, ones that mean something.

And as you take steps toward this goal, you’ll need to keep a couple of things in mind.

Here’s what you should know.

What Medical Schools Want

MOST STUDENTS WHO START OUT PRE-MED WILL FAIL, and the same may be true for other pre-professional tracks. Sometimes, medical schools just aren’t convinced that you’re the best fit. So, before you dive right into summer and what very may well be a defining chapter of your medical school admission journey, consider what’s on the minds of medical school admission committees.

If you are an individual who has their eye set on practicing medicine who can speak on experiences that have ultimately framed and set the foundation for why medicine is what you want to do, you’re probably in a great position for medical schools to buy the story you’re selling. Why? Your reason for wanting to become a doctor means something and your drive to practice medicine is real - a must if you’re trying to attract the attention of medical schools. A cookie-cutter-type pre-medical student who is all stellar grades and an impressive MCAT score, and wants to practice medicine to keep the family legacy going may not impress in quite the same way.

This summer, take the time to consider your motivation. And if you’ve already done so, take another look. With more and more schools taking the holistic approach to evaluate potential students, it is key to know (on a pretty deep, personal level) why you want to pursue medicine. Whether you’re participating in a research program or volunteering at a hospital -

or maybe doing nothing - take some time to seriously reflect on how this experience may play a role in one day becoming a doctor. If you are able to think deeply about who an experience you may have means something to you as a future physician and tell the story in such a way that makes it personal to you, you’ve taken the first step to becoming a part of some school’s incoming medical school class.

Also, consider how vulnerable and transparent you’re willing to be when you share your experiences, ups and downs, highs and lows. Medical school admission committees will appreciate your openness to not only sharing how awesome you are and the great things you’ve done, but also being able to potentially expose your downfalls and weaknesses. So, regardless of how this summer goes for you and regardless of what comes of the experience, make it a point to learn something about yourself and examine whether or not this “discovery phase” plays a part in your story.

The Things That Matter Most

WHEN IT COMES TO STANDING OUT AMONG OTHERS, it is always important to think about how the things you count and stack up during the evaluation process. In the world of medical school admissions, all experiences are not treated equally. You have a decision to make when it comes to choosing which “meaningful” experience to include on your AMCAS application, but the truth is, some experiences are better than others.

There are several types of characteristics medical schools look for in potential students, but there are two in particular that rank on the top of list at medical schools across the country: compassion and leadership.

Compassion, which of course makes total sense for someone who’s job is to take care of others, is a noun that has been the subject of many discussions when it comes to health care. There’s even a journal dedicate to this feeling of deep sympathy - the Journal of Compassionate Health Care. So, you better believe this thing called compassion is on the minds of the individuals choosing the next set of physicians. And compassion is not simple - it can look, feel, and sound different to everyone. And while compassion is defined as “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others,” it is important that you make sense of what this means and how a situation you may experience this summer may call on you to draw from your compassionate side.

Having a check in the leadership department for a physicians tasked with the health of another human being might just go without saying. But it doesn’t hurt to take this opportunity to stress the importance of having such a skill. Like compassion, it’s a factor that can mean the world of difference in the health care filed. Knowing this, can anything you’re doing this summer help showcase your potential to lead? What can you do to get some leadership points? Are there opportunities Are the opportunities abundant or is it a situation where you’ll need to create your own leadership role? Keep your eyes open for your chance to step up and take the lead - whatever that may look like. Just make it happen.

Regardless of how these experiences look, you’re now up against another challenge. The medical school admissions landscape is competitive to say the least. Most important, these schools need to make sure their selection of students is solid. They will need to decide which students are the right choice - and there’s no clear cut formula for choosing the next, best medical student. It’s not always about being smart enough and having the brains (or photogenic memory) to get good grades and test scores.

If you’re able to show evidence of what matters a lot, if not most, to medical schools, you’ll be in a good, if not great place when it comes time to see which students make the cut. Once you’re able to show that you’re more than brains, medical schools will have no reason not to look deeper into you as an applicant. And rather than being one of those applicants who find themselves pulling their hair out trying to make their tenth grade babysitting gig sound like something it wasn’t, you can use this summer to either take advantage of an opportunity to lead or carve out your own experience.

Vulnerability comes into play again here. Medical schools are not looking for the perfect story of how compassionate your are or how “boss” you where in a leadership role. In order for you to have a meaningful experience, there needs to be some time to cultivate these skills to learn what this looks, feels, and sounds like for your, which lucky for you, can happen in a natural way over the course of the summer.

Write It Down

GET YOUR PHONE OUT. Then maybe download Evernote. Being able to show medical schools how badass you are comes with a lot of writing, but you can’t get lazy with it.

First, you must make a conscious effort to identify moments during the hours, days, weeks, and months that really speak to your desire to become a doctor. You must write down the smallest thing to the biggest moments and document them. The details you capture when they are fresh in your mind can help you catch the eye of admission committees.

You’ll also need to change how you think about your medical school journey. As a future doctor, you may be genetically predisposed to have the mantra “go hard or go home” play over and over in your head-but this summer, the only personal you’ll be competing against is yourself. You won’t be able to compare test scores. And everything that happens - the good, the bad, and the ugly - will all be on you.

So, what are you going to do this summer? Between the opportunities to really write your story and identify exactly why becoming a doctors is so important to you, the summer season could work for you more than you may realize. Even if you think you’re already the perfect candidate for

medical school and getting admitted won’t be as hard as it seems, medical schools may think otherwise. The landscape of health care is changing and more and more schools are diving deeper into the pre-med lives of individuals who are applying to their institutions. They are taking a closer look at how students are spending their time as the number of applicants increases and more and more students look just alike when it comes to grade point averages and test scores.

Be vigilant this summer and look out for your chance to shine, your chance to live in the moment that will go down in your history as the time(s) when you were able to more clearly define the who’s, what’s where’s, when’s, and most importantly why’s that played a role in you wanting to pursue medicine. It doesn’t matter if you’re spending time sitting on a beach somewhere - take a moment to think about the past six months of your life and how your succeeded at somethings and may have fell short in other areas - how can you learn and grow from this? If you’re working at lab with researchers, see if you can translate how you feel when your participating in certain activities, you may very well be able to capture some significant moments from you summer.

So, as you get ready to begin your summer, make it your business to take note of how you feel when you doing things and think about how everything comes back to how much you want to practice medicine and become a doctor. The story you have to tell about your premed journey has the potential to get you a spot in medical school or not. The choice is yours and at the end of it all, you will have to look back and honestly ask yourself if you have given your best, tried your hardest, and put your best self forward for medical schools to make a decision. p

think med school.

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THINGS TO T

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THIS SUMMER

The season you’ve been waiting for is finally here and even if you don’t have any “official” plans, there is still plenty of things you can still get into that will serve your “premed” life well.

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o you either didn’t land a spot in the summer program that would have looked perfect on your medical school application or you waited too late to participate in the volunteer program at your local hospital. Don’t worry!

No matter if you’re getting ready to start your first year in college as a pre-med or already taking course toward gaining admission to medical school, there are still many things you can do to make the best use of your time while also gaining experience that would benefit your medical school application. As you head into summer, even if it’s not one that’s nicely wrapped up in a bow waiting for you to open, you still have the opportunity to create and involve yourself in some meaningful experiences. Ones that may serve you well when you get ready to apply to medical school. Here are xx activities you didn’t have to plan for that can be equally as valuable as those that are pre-planned.

Do What Matters (and Makes You Happy) It is important to show medical schools that there are other things on your mind than being accepted to medical school. If you’re like most pre-meds, you have a list of things to do that pertain to getting into medical school. This list, the list that is forever present, is actually keeping you from being the best medical school candidate possible. The seemingly ever growing things that you needed to take care of may put a block on your ability to do your best in all of the activities you’re engaging in. Granted, your gut instinct for taking a break from the things you should do versus the things you want to do will probably be a terrible thing. However, pursuing something that matters and makes you happy outside of getting into medical school and becoming a doctor, can be a valuable thing. During the school year, when classes are in full swing it can be quite hard to get out and do these “things.” Lucky for you and your non-existent summer agenda, you now have the time. You have no more excuse about not having the time and being oh so busy with your pre-med life, but here’s your chance to get into something you are very interested in. in the best-selling book, The Happiness Project, author and self-proclaimed happiness coach said that one of the keys to being happy is to think about what made you happy when you were 10 years old. Make that your task this summer. Ask people who were around you when you were younger, what they remember about what you enjoyed doing at that age and if you can remember that time for yourself, even better. If you plan on pursuing a career in medicine, you’ll be spending the next several years of your life “doing medicine.” Take

a moment before you reach that point (which you will) to explore your interest and find out what gets you all excited.

Prepare for Next Semester If you’re pre-med, chances are that your next semester is going to be hard, regardless of what stage of the process you are. There are approximately 100 days until the fall semester starts. Believe it or not, now is the time to get started, that is if you’re not doing anything else – and if you’re reading this, you probably don’t have anything taking up your time this summer. The summer will come and go and you will be getting back to your hectic pre-med schedule, filled with classes and activities. When taking on a massive feat such as gaining admission to medical school, preparation is definitely needed to make sure that you are as successful as possible. Take this time during the summer to do a little research about the courses you have lined up for next semester. The last thing you want to do is to fall behind in your understanding of a topic and begin to get down on yourself about not being about to keep up with the material. The simplest and easiest way to do this would be to get a hold of your textbooks, if you haven’t already. Even if your professors don’t even use the book, it won’t hurt to take a look. It also might be helpful to visit sites like ratemyprofssor.com to see what former students of your future professors have to say about the course, but keep in the back of your mind that you will have the opportunity to form your own opinion and experiences about the course and the professor, so try not to take everything being said to literal.

Another important, overlooked and underrated, thing to do to ensure your success next semester is to reflect on last semester.

What did you well? What didn’t you do well? What changes will you need to make next semester so you don’t make the same mistakes as last semester? Of, if you had a pretty good, maybe awesome last semester, try to identify what helped keep you on track and on point with you studies and figure out how you’ll carry that into next semester.

Read Stepping away from your busy life as a student pursuing medical school, if only for a few weeks during the summer, can be important for your well-being and a successful journey toward pursuing medicine. If you’re feeling a little too guilty about not doing much this summer, try checking out a few books. We know, you’re been reading non-stop for practically the last 3-4 months and the last thing you’re probably looking to do (that is if you’re not naturally a bookworm) is to read! From physician memoirs to accounts of cases involving medical ethics, there are several books that might just give you the inspiration or insight you’ve been looking for.

Sure, reading about the ups and downs of one physician’s journey to medical school might not sound so exciting during your “time off.” But you may find that reading a story of someone who’s been there and done that or an account about one aspect of the medical field, may actually be encouraging. And remember, reading should be about what you’re reading, not how many books you’re reading.

When making decisions on which book(s) to read, think about how it may inspire you to grow, be better, understand your journey better, think about the issues that may lie ahead. And again, the subject or topic you choose to read is totally up to you. Let’s say, you’re already thinking about your medical school interview (which typ-

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Stepping away from your busy life as a student pursuing medical school, if only for a few weeks, can be important for your well-being.

Premedlife

THE SUMMER ISSUE

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Do what makes you happy!

ically take place in the Fall or Winter), why not pick up a book on body language and how to improve your nonverbal communication.

Or, maybe you’ve just finished taking a Cell Biology course and heard all about HeLa cells, you may be interested in reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot to learn more about the poor black tobacco farmer whose cells – taken without her knowledge – become one of the most important tools in medicine.”

So there you have it. You’re options are endless and this “task” may actually be quite enjoyable if you’re able to pick up some titles that are on subjects that interest you. You may even come across a book that makes you think deeper and harder about becoming a doctor.

In the end, if you make this summer about reading and only that, you’ll still be able to feel productive in the end.

Get a Hobby Believe it or not, having a hobby can make you a more attractive medical school candidate. You’ve been studying so hard and doing everything in your power to build your medical school candidacy.

So it’s no surprise if you feel burned out at the end of the semester.

Well, there have been studies that show that those who are involved in hobbies, especially hobbies that require you to use the creative

side of your brain, perform better at work – and your pre-med life is definitely work. Going back to doing what matters to you, hobbies are 100% based on what you want to do and your interest. If you like sports and find that your hobby is competing competitively, you can use this same kind of energy in your pre-med world. The truth is, medical school admissions and the pre-med culture can sometimes feel very competitive, and with the odds of getting into medical school, you’ll need to work super hard than everyone else to succeed. Another thing to realize with having a hobby is that medical schools will like to know that if you have a hobby that you’ve had for a while or have gotten really good at, it looks good on your part. They may actually have a greater respect for you knowing that in the midst of working hard to look good on paper and can check off many things in the activity department, you have a hobby – and you’re good at whatever it is. As a pre-med, times may, and probably will get tough and it’s good to have something to go to as an outlet to release bad energy and stress. If you love to play tennis and that’s your thing, use it as a constant in your life when everything else around you changes. If you’re having a tough day, and you have your tennis racquet handy and access to courts, a few minutes of hitting can make it all better. p

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34 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

SURGERY 2.0

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n medical school everyone does a surgery rotation but each institution has a different number of weeks that you do the surgery rotation. Some schools have 8 weeks whereas others have 4 to 6 weeks. During this time, you wake up super early every morning because surgeries generally start very early. You go and see patients prior to surgery and many of them are very nervous. You are on the other end watching the surgery so it is hard for you to understand what it means to be “anxious� about going through surgery. The only thing you are anxious about is knowing the answers to questions that you will be asked by the surgeon. But when the world is turned inside out and you are on the other end it is a whole new world.

The minute I knew that I was getting surgery everything changed in my mind. I was no longer rational, practical, or logical. I was unreasonable, irrational, and rash.

Because I knew about all of the side effects of surgery, anesthesia, and everything in between, I was a mess trying to figure out if I wanted to go through surgery. You see, when you are a medical student, everything you learn is new and it is amazing to learn all this stuff for a new surgery case. So you learn ALL of the things that can potentially go wrong in a surgery because your Attending doctor at some point will ask. All of the information gets stuck in your head and if for some crazy reason you

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have to ever go through surgery, all you can think about is the vast realm of things that could possible go wrong.

At the end of the day though, I did not have that much of a choice in order to go through surgery and I had to proceed with it. It was remarkable to experience the other end of the world of surgery as I did and I think it makes me more relatable and informative for my future patients.

Here is what happened on my surgery day (*italicized words are what I would do on a normal day as a medical student): 5am – I woke up and took a shower with Hibicleanse which is an antimicrobial body wash. I was expected to be at the surgery center at 6:30am and the center is a 25 minute drive away. The actual surgery would not start until 8:30am. I knew that it would be a long day. (I wake up and get ready to head to the hospital. I usually would arrive by 5:45am. I look up the patients in the computer that are in the hospital recovering from a surgery the day before and go check on them.)

6:30am -We made it to the surgery center exactly on time and I was taken to the pre-op area. This is where all of the anxiety started. I started to think about all of the ways that I could get infected because bacteria are crawling everywhere. And I continued to spiral out of control until the technician came and distracted me with all of her jokes. (By this time, I am ready for the first surgery that will start at 7am. As a medical student that means getting to the operating room at least 30 minutes before the surgery starts to meet the patient getting the surgery and the nurses that will be in the room that you will be watching the surgery. The surgeon will come in about 10 minutes before the surgery and if you have not met him or her yet you introduce yourself ).

7:30am – I met with the anesthesiologist and everything he said was a blur. Although I should have been paying attention I kept thinking “well what difference does it make what he says, I’m going to sign the paper regardless.” The anxiety was back at this point.

7:45am- The surgeon came in to see me and for some reason she was the only thing that put me at ease. She was a familiar face and I had met with her prior to the surgery and I really liked her. She understood my concerns and I felt better about having surgery.

8:00am – This is when they came to get me from the pre-op area. I was terrified again as they took my away into the operating room. Everything felt so foreign even though I have seen an operating room so many times before.

While lying down on the OR table, I wished I could just disappear but thankfully I have no recollection of what happened after I was on the OR table until I was taken to the recovery area. (The first surgery case is done by this time and we relax

until the next surgery that will happen an hour later. In the meantime I read about the next case and prepare for the upcoming surgery. The next surgery is pretty intense so it will take us probably until lunchtime. I prepare myself and make sure I use the bathroom so I won’t have to go during the surgery).

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11:30am – I finally woke up and realized that I was out of the surgery. At this point the nurse asked me if I wanted something to drink or eat. I tried to speak and realized that my throat felt a lot more irritated than I expected. And then I remembered that they had intubated me. (Intubation is the process by which a tube is put down your trachea in order to help you breath while you are asleep during surgery). I could barely talk without sounding like a character from a horror movie. There was a lot of nodding instead of talking. I started to feel a little more back to normal and was able to sit up. I asked the nurse how the surgery went and she told me that everything went as planned. I was able to relax a bit at this point even though I was still having some pain.

The Surgeon came back in at some point when I was finally awake to talk to me about the surgery and how everything went according to plan. I felt relieved that all of things I had thought about that could go wrong did not actually go wrong. My parents finally came in and looked relieved that everything had gone well and now it was just on to my recovery phase.

12:30pm – My parents drove me home and because of all the medications I was still extremely tired and was falling asleep as we were heading home. (The second surgery case is finally done and I go to grab a quick lunch) 1:00pm – I arrived home and all I could think about was falling asleep but my mother forced me to eat and shortly after I fell into a deep slumber. I would sleep for an hour, wake up for a little bit, and then fall back asleep. This cycle continued on throughout the whole day until it was nighttime and I fell asleep for the duration of the night.

Having to go through surgery myself has changed my perspective and I appreciate the patient’s view on surgery significantly more than I ever have. I used to get to the hospital in the early morning and complain to myself about having to get to the hospital so early but I never stopped to think about the patients who were sometimes traveling from very far away in order to make early surgery times. These patients have no real idea about what happens in the OR and everything is left to their imagination. All of their worries and anxiety is fueled by the unknown. And then after the surgery, as a med student you walk away and get ready for the next surgery but for these patients there is a long road left for recovery. Many of these patients are admitted and monitored whereas others are discharged and they get to go home. Nonetheless, what I did as a med student is nothing compared to what I am going through right now after surgery.

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10:00am – This is when I believe the surgery ended and I was taken to the recovery room but I have no recollection of any of this. I just remember falling asleep and waking up with intense pain and falling asleep and then waking up with intense pain.

This cycle apparently continued for the next two hours.

My level of appreciation for all the patients I meet before and after surgery has risen dramatically. I still cannot believe how amazing patients are for being so open and nice when they are at such a vulnerable state in their life. Next time you encounter a patient about to head to surgery or coming back from surgery, just think about my story or a story you know regarding someone who went through surgery. It is not easy and is not fair sometimes but remember that these patients are going through a heck of a lot. p

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THE SUMMER ISSUE

How to Maximize Your Summer Activities GAINING EXPERIENCE and exposure to the worlds for medicine, research, and heath is a necessary part becoming a physician. In fact, nearly 60% of students accepted to medical school say that they have participated in such activities. For being such an important part of the journey, it’s interesting how students just “go through the motions.” Some students may be better at gaining deeper value from the experience than others. Other may just have to learn how to identify moments of value and substance but not without lots of guidance. If you’re participating in a program, internship, or research position this summer, here are a few things to keep in mind: IDENTIFY WHAT YOU WANT TO GAIN BEFORE YOU START. You should know exactly what you want to get out of your activity, no matter if it’s a research apprenticeship, hospital volunteering, or an academic program. Start by asking yourself this question: what am I looking to get out of your experience? Then, make a conscious decision that you WILL be proactive in whatever setting you’ll be in. If you’re like most pre-meds, most of the thoughts you may have going into any new environment having to do with getting into medical school and fulfilling your dreams of becoming a doctor will be stressful. And once you start going through the motions of the day-to-day, it may be hard to stop and think about what your end goal is. So, take the time in the very beginning to sit, think, and write down what it is that you hope to gain from this experience. Put it down in writing will make it more real and it will be something that you can go back to at the end of the summer and reelect on whether or not your expectations and goals were fulfilled.

PERFECT THE ART OF BEING INTERESTED. When it comes to practicing medicine, it will be all about your patients and not all about you.

Work on perfecting that now by being genuinely interested in what you’re

doing, who you’re working with, what you’re learning, why something is important, and so on and so forth. If asked, feel free to share things about yourself and your interest but don’t let it go on for too long. But get into the habit of asking questions, seeking information to learn more about something, focus on things and people outside of yourself. The key to being interested the “right way” is listening when someone is talking to you with a true and strong attention to what that person is actually saying. When it comes time during your career as a physician, it’s not going to be about, but about your patient. Your job as a physician wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the patient so it’s critical to fine-tune these skills now. To be the best physician you can be, gain the trust of your patients and form a connection with them, you’ll need to focus on being interested. As you begin your summer, think about ways to act on the idea of you being interested. When you have conversations with others, whether it’s one of the individuals leading the program or one of your fellow students, be in the moment and be present – this will show others that you’re interested and your attention to them and what’s going on is actually real. In today’s world of ever-present distractions, its comforting in some ways to know that there can be a moments or several moments when true conversations and interactions between two human

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beings can take place. Go ahead and ask questions, but not just any kind of questions, open-ended questions. You’ll find that people like talking about themselves and if this is coupled with you showing that you are actively listening, the connections with grow. As you’re talking with someone, asking questions, and listening to what they have to say, don’t get distracted by your inner dialogue about how you’re going to respond to what’s being said.

THINK ABOUT THE WHY. As you begin your summer activities, you may find that you have more time to think about the why – why do you want to become a doctor? Why do you want to pursue a career in medicine? Chances are, because of something you’ve experienced or felt. Or, maybe not. If you’re not exactly clear on why you want to go into medicine, this summer might very well be the perfect time for you to reflect and identify the reasons you’re so interested in becoming a doctor. During your summer experience, try to

figure out where your passion and interest in pursuing medicine intersect with what matters to you. Successfully identifying your reason for wanting to practice medicine is critical at a time when, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges, the number of applicants to medical schools is at an all-time high. Surprisingly, many busy premeds put answering this question on the back burner. Answering this question may be easier than you think. To do so, you must focus in on what you’ll be able to draw from when times get times get tough – that is, where our great desire to practice medicine meet your ability to do the work involved. Your motivation should be unique to you, fitting your interest like a hand fits a glove. If you are clear about your motivation and why you are pursuing what you are, it allows medical schools to see, beyond grades and activities, your connection to medicine. Zeroing in on why you want to become a doctor can also help you identify your calling within medicine. p

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the doub

5 things that might would make a medical sch

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bt factor

hool admissions officer doubt your application

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D

on’t judge a book by its cover,” everyone always says this but do most people actually follow that saying?

Studies have shown that although many people use this term in daily language, most people do not actually believe this phrase. So be weary of this, the way that you present yourself to an admissions committee is very important. Your application is your book cover and you will be judged by your application whether or not you like it. Make sure that your application accurately represents who you are to the best of your ability because you will be judged based on your application. Let’s take a look at some red flags that would give an admissions committee doubts about your application.

Low grades and low MCAT This situation can happen to anyone and honestly does not mean that it is over for you. It does mean that things will be harder for you but it is not impossible. This will definitely give an admissions committee doubt because in order to get through medical school you have to go through a lot academically. A medical school does not want to bet on a student that has trouble doing well in school or a standardized exam because students in medical schools have to do well in their classes and well on standardized exams. It would be hard to explain yourself with your application but a good way to let medical schools know that you are serious, even with low grades and MCAT, is to find a way to speak out to admissions committee members through your application.

For example, you may have heard from a friend that a book is not good but if something intrigues you in the title of the book, then you are more likely to pursue it and maybe open up the cover and read the summary. The same goes for your application, intrigue the admissions committee member with your personal statement. Point directly to the medical school and tell them why you would be perfect

at their medical school even with a low GPA or low MCAT. Poor grade in a class without an explanation A poor grade in a class warrants an explanation… period. It does not matter if the class was not one of your premed requirements and instead was something you took electively. If you do poorly in a class, such as getting a D or F, then you need to explain that somewhere on your application. That is not something you could just let go and expect for it to not make a difference on your application. You do not want one grade to hold you back from getting in so be up front and explain what happened.

Without an explanation, an admissions committee member may assume the worst. Take responsibility for your actions and own up to them. You might be surprised how responsive people are when you take ownership.

No shadowing or obvious commitment to pursuing medicine

I have never understood why premed students will try to apply to medical schools without any shadowing experience or experience in heath care. I remem-

ber I met an undergrad student a couple of years ago who was very concerned about his chances of getting into medical school. I agreed to help him and advised him. He emailed me his resume and there were a bunch of extracurricular activities but I did not see a single experience with a Physician. If you are pursuing Medicine and trying to go to medical school, you should try and have some experience with a doctor. It does not matter which specialty, all that matters is that you have had that exposure. The reasoning behind this is that admissions committee members want to make sure that you are trying to go to medical school for the right reasons. If you have not taken the time to shadow and make sure that this is really what you want to do then why should an admissions committee member give you the benefit of the doubt? In order to show your commitment to this field, you do have to show that you have thought about this as a career realistically.

Why is it so important for medical schools to have premed students matriculate that are actually committed to the field of Medicine? Because when you get accepted to medical school, contrary to what you might think, a lot of work and money is put into helping you accomplish your dream. If you end

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up dropping out, it does not do the school any good.

Although you did pay for your tuition and what not, you graduating from the medical school is the most important thing. Medical schools do not want their students to not complete all four years.

Trying to do too many things at once Many times premed students will start off college and will want to try to do a lot of different activities or try too many majors. Sometimes this spreads you too thin and makes it seem that you are not sure about what you want to do with your life. It is better to dedicate yourself to a couple of activities that you really enjoy and invest your time in those. If you actually are interested in a lot of different activities and would like to pursue those that is completely fine but try not to do an activity just for the purpose of doing an activity. Many students believe that in order to impress admissions committee members they need to do a bunch of really cool things. This is not true at all. One or two experiences that YOU think are awesome will come across as awesome to them also.

I have also seen a lot of students who think that by doing a bunch of activities, it will make up for a low GPA or low MCAT. I think what you need to always remember is that there is not a lot that can replace a low GPA and low MCAT so don’t give those two

things little attention because all of your attention is focused on being the President of 10 different clubs.

Academics is number one in your level of importance so don’t forget that. Clubs and extracurriculars will make up for a slightly low GPA or low MCAT but not a 2.5 GPA and a 20 MCAT score. The best advice someone gave to me was the following, “focus on Academics and when you get good at doing well in school- which might take a semester or two- then supplement with extracurriculars and research.” The way that I think about it is when you are baking a cake or cookies you slowly add ingredients because if you add all the eggs, butter, and sugar all at once it takes a while to mix everything. Instead, if you add ingredients slowly it is easier to mix the batch. So instead of juggling your classes and signing up for 5 extracurriculars and research, it would be better to slowly add things to your schedule so it is easier for you to adjust to your schedule.

Grades decreasing as time goes on Medical schools love seeing improvement. I’m not sure what it is but they all love it when students improve. I remember it was my senior of undergrad and I was specifically waiting to hear back from one school. I had already interviewed and it was past the 8 weeks time that they said it would take to hear

back from them. I had already decided that I wanted to make sure I did really well during my senior year because I thought that would show medical schools that I am committed to doing well. After I got my Fall semester grades back that winter, I immediately sent them an updated transcript. They sent me an email saying they had received my transcript. Within a week, I had my acceptance letter in the mail. Although I did generally well in my classes during undergrad, that updated transcript showed all A’s which showed the admissions committee team that I was serious about my dream to pursue medical school. I will not ever know for sure if that was what helped push my application into the “accept” pile but the timing was all very perfect.

So even if you have done poorly during your first year of undergrad but you have started to improve significantly, do not give up. Continue to improve and show admissions teams that even with a hurdle you are able to get up and try again even harder.

Medicine is not about being perfect. Medicine is about making mistakes but learning from those mistakes and improving yourself. This is why improvement is something medical schools believe to be a positive aspect of an applicant. They want to make sure that even if you do not do well on an exam that you will not give up. p

think med school.

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THE SUMMER ISSUE

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46 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

THE CASE FOR DOING NOTHING THIS SUMMER EVERY SUMMER, THOUSANDS OF PREMEDS HEAD OUT TO PARTICIPATE IN PROGRAMS, INTERNSHIPS, OR SOME OTHER “THING” TO OCCUPY THEIR TIME DURING THE SUMMER. HERE ARE SOME REASONS WHY IT’S ALSO OKAY TO NOT DO ANYTHING.

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THE SUMMER ISSUE

Anybody who is pursuing medical school admissions knows that being “busy” comes with the territory and having a schedule that is jam packed and a life that is filled with commitment after commitment. It’s almost considered normal to have a life in which it’s almost impossible to find time for anything other than something “premed.” So, it would be almost a crazy idea to think that finding time to “do nothing” can actually increase the chances of getting accepted to medical school.

Andy Puddicombe, a mindfulness expert, TED speaker, and co-founder of Headspace, says that taking ten minutes everyday to “do nothing” can have remarkable benefit to ones mind and the practice of being mindful can do wonders. “Mindfulness is quite non-judgemental in nature. We’re not sitting there judging our thoughts. They’re just thoughts passing by. And rather than carrying that stress around with us for another day, week, month or year, we can let go. Move on with life.” Puddicombe contends that being mindful and sitting still with your thoughts for a few moments each day will allow for the opportunity to be in a moment, appreciate the moment for what it is, and give yourself permission to mentally take a break.

Nowadays, with the competition to get into medical school becoming tougher and tougher, it’s becoming easier to get caught up with feeling like you always should be doing something. By being involved with something and always being “busy” gives the false impression that you’re being productive and working hard to get into medical school.

However, most premeds fail to recognize that there should be some form of balance.

The portrayal of what it takes to get into medical school is much to blame. High achieving, sleep deprived students are envied, praised, and encouraged. However, research has shown that a student’s productivity can actually decline due to academic burnout and stress associated with “doing too much.”

Put Your Medical School Dreams In Focus So, now that you’ve got a few weeks off this summer, it is the perfect opportunity to pick up a new habit - do nothing. The practice of doing nothing may take some time to get used to but will be quite valuable.

Pico Iyer, a travel writer and another TED speaker, contends that one should “sit still long enough to find out what moves you most, recall where your truest happiness lies, and remember that sometimes making a living and making a life sometimes point in opposite directions.” Iyer argues that what we do with the experiences in our lives matters more than the actual experience and explains that it can actually be an exhilarating feeling to go nowhere, and do nothing. “In an age of distraction, nothing is so luxurious as paying attention,” he states. “And in an

age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.” Taking the time to do nothing may bring about so many benefits: a refreshed mind for the new semester, clearer thoughts on why you’re choosing a career in medicine, more time to reflect on the past semester, and feelings of calmness and control during what can be a “hectic” period in your life.

“High-achieving, sleep deprived students are envied, praised, and encouraged.

However, research has shown that a student’s productivity can actually decline due to academic burnout and stress associated with ‘doing too much’.”

The Science Points To Yes, Do Nothing Aside from having benefits on a “deeper level”, a mind in “resting state” can also be good for your mental health. In a paper, published in Nature, researcher Kerri Smith noted that the brain does quite a lot even when we think we’re not doing anything.

“Blood flow to the brain during rest is typically just 5-10% lower than during task-based experiments,” Smith explained. One study highlighted in the paper “favors the idea that activity in the resting state helps the brain to stay organized.”

Much of the research on the topic of allowing the brain to rest and enter a state of restoration shows that the pros certainly outweigh the cons (that is, if there are any downsides to giving your brain a break). The science will show that taking the time to be in a state of stillness will help students reflect on experiences and memories, strengthen learning circuits, allow for better control of ones emotions, increase attention spans, and ultimately yield better results academically and be more effective in your pre-med life.

Students are going through the motions of the medical school admissions process and being active in many areas can be stressful and can take a toll on your brain. Using the summer season to give your brain rest may seem like such a mundane thing to do but it’s quite necessary. It will be hard for you to excel or continue to excel without giving yourself and your brain some downtime. And while you may very well be aware of the benefits of giving your brain a break, you’ve been working your hardest to get where you are, it may be hard to even imagine the thought of not devoting much of your time to your medical school journey, even if you know it might do you some good.

If we let music mogul and co-founder of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation Russell Simmons tell it a person is “at their greatest functionality when their mind is quite.” And in the case of premeds, it will help get you past the highs and lows of your medical school journey.

Once you are able to hone in on the great power of being still and doing absolutely nothing, your pre-med life will change - and for the better that is. Up until this point, the moments, experiences, activities, and opportunities have forced you to be in a state of constant motion, but once you take the time to slow down and be still this summer, you’ll discover the life-changing power of, yup, doing nothing.

The practice or art of “doing nothing” can take many different forms, simply slowing down the motions of your life in some way or another, whether it’s meditating or journaling for a couple minutes each day or going to the beach or park and spending some time appreciating mother nature - it should be on your to-do list - do nothing.

When the Fall semester begins, you’ll easily find yourself busy being busy, but it’s critical to take the time now during the summer to escape the constant motions of your “normal” pre-med life. It can be quite easy to forget about the simple things in life when you are reach for these big goals of getting into medical school and becoming a doctor, but figuring out how to set aside time to spend with yourself and your thoughts will only make you a better student, medical school candidate, physician, and individual. p

48 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

The Hunger Is campaign is a collaboration between The Safeway Foundation and the Entertainment Industry Foundation to raise awareness and improve the health of hungry children.

The Safeway Foundation and the Entertainment Industry Foundation are 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations. Photo by: Nigel Parry

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THE GOODS

meh. Mug

No other words needed.

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Etch-A-Sketch Notebook

This Etch-a-Sketch Notebook is as functional as it is whimsical. It contains 200 blank, unlined pages for all your plans. It includes a little library / golf / bowling pencil and two erasers that are shaped like dials, held in place by an elastic band.

Noke Padlock

Noke was designed to be the simplest electronic device you own. Noke automatically finds and connects to your Bluetooth 4.0 enabled smartphone.

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50 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

Olde Book Pillow Classics

These Olde Book Pillow Classics look great in your reading nook, plus they give you something to prop your neck on while you’re nose-deep in a book or a soft place to faceplant if your reading’s been a bit too much.

u

u Pen to Paper Mousepad Planners

A mousepad and a planner all rolled into one Just fill a sheet up with your to-do list or your plans for the week, and then tear off the top page when the week is over and start again.

Toliet Yoga

A book that demonstrates poses and maneuvers to help when you have troubles doing the doo. There are multiple skill levels ranging from 1 Bowl and going all the way up to 5 Bowls.

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May/June 2016 | PreMedLife Magazine |51

LAST WORDS

MEDICAL SCHOOL ADMISSIONS: SHOULD YOU SLEEP YOU WAY TO THE TOP?

The one simple life hack that can be a game-changer in whether or not you make it to medical school has to do with something most pre-meds take for granted – sleep. And if you’re going around thinking you’re Puff Daddy talking about, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” then you need to read this.

You think not getting enough sleep is inevitable and think it’s part of the “lifestyle”

As Arianna Huffington, author and co-founder of The Huffington Post, put it, “Sleep is essentially like bringing in the overnight cleaning crew to clear the toxic waste proteins that accumulate between brain cells during the day.” Hopefully, this notion will help to convince you to change your ways.

If pre-meds were graded on whether or not they were getting enough sleep, most would straight up fail. In fact, some may even pride themselves on it. Every medical school candidate wants to be the one with the right mix of characteristics, qualities, and smarts to get accepted into medical school. You strive to perform your best in everything you do, and do what you think needs to be done. But how can you plan for success when you’re bound to have good days and bad days?

Better yet, how can you do better than you’ve done, and succeed when the stakes are high? Those striving to get into medical school have a reputation for burning the midnight oil, and with very good intentions – it takes a lot of dedication, time, and other variables to make sure you are putting your best foot forward as a potential medical school candidate. But, if you’re thinking that sacrificing those hours of sleep are going to pay off in the long run, think again.

Essentially every part of your life benefits from getting an adequate amount of sleep.

And on the flip side, studies have shown that sleep deprivation is the same as being drunk. And while the right amount of sleep students need has not been clearly defined, the effects of not getting enough sleep has been well documented. Despite whether or not you think you “got this” and can maybe get by on only a few hours of sleep and still perform well, getting an adequate amount of sleep may very well help you to become a better version of yourself.

By simply getting some more sleep, the things you need to be a better pre-med and ultimately a better medical student and doctor, like critical-thinking skills, confidence, the ability to make decisions, and good concentration and memory (to name a few), can all be improved. Studies have shown that by lack of sleep can lead to an irreversible loss of brain cells, for crying out loud. What more do you need to hear to make the decision to get more sleep if you’re not already doing so?

So, here’s the trick. If you think as a pre-med, who has no time to waste sleeping, think of sleep as work, like you do your school work and everything else you have to do as a pre-med. In a podcast interview with author David Kadavy, neuroscientist John Kounios said: “Sleep is not doing nothing. Sleep is mental work. Sleep is creative work. Your brain is churning over memories, its clearing out the mental cobwebs – it’s generating ideas. Sleep is itself work. So if a person’s trying to solve a problem, and they take a name to sleep on it, that’s not working on the problem, that is working on the problem.” And on that note, in the words of Andre Gide, “everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”

Take home message: Get some sleep.

52 | PreMedLife Magazine |May/June 2016

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