The purpose of this post is to update a previous I had written about MCAT practice tests. Since that post, my recommendation for practice tests has remained the same. AAMC tests (sample test, practice 1-3, in total 4 tests, practice 1-3 are scored) are still your best resource. After that, the next best thing would be the Examkracker tests for the c/p, b/b and psych/soc sections but not necessarily for the CARS. Generally, if I have a student take an EK test, I tell them to skip the CARS.

“Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale.” Rudolph Virchow, the father of modern pathology, devoted an equally large portion of his life (when he wasn’t classifying thrombosis risk factors into a triad) to social medicine. Medical history is filled with countless examples of physicians serving as activists, and much of the advances made in public health are through the political advocacy of healthcare professionals that noticed a problem in their community.

This week, we interview Logan for another look at Harvard Medical School.  Logan grew up on a horse ranch in Issaquah, Washington. His love for swimming and for the outdoors brought him to Dartmouth College, where he captained his varsity swim team and led Dartmouth’s hunting and fishing club. His research on sleep disorders and hypertension named him a James O. Freedman Presidential Scholar. After graduation, Logan traveled to Nepal, where he worked on several medical service projects. Logan is currently an MD candidate at Harvard Medical School and president of Harvard’s Global Surgery Student Association. As such, you will most often find him chained to a desk in Harvard’s medical library, studying.

Applying to medical school while abroad can be a wonderful and challenging experience, and will take careful planning to be completed correctly. There are many important factors, but two of the most important factors will be successfully filling out your AMCAS application and navigating interviews. Outlined below are some important features to consider for each. 

This month, we interview Graham, who gives us a brief tour of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Graham is an MD MBA student at Vanderbilt University and Harvard University. He graduated from Harvard Business School in May 2018 and will be applying for a medical Residency this fall. Prior to his postgraduate studies, Graham graduated from MIT in 2012 as member of the Tau Beta Pi Honor Society (the Engineering Equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa) with a degree in Materials Science and Engineering. While at MIT, Graham was selected to be a Burchard Scholar (30 MIT students who have demonstrated excellence in the humanities, arts, or social sciences) and worked in the lab of Professors Michael Cima and Robert Langer developing microelectromechanical systems for drug delivery. In addition to his time in the classroom and at the lab bench, Graham completed multiple internships with boutique investment banking firms, the United Bank of Switzerland (UBS), International Business Machines (IBM), and most recently McKinsey and Company.

Almost every day during the medical school application process, I thought to myself ‘I wish I had considered X earlier’ or ‘It would have been nice if someone had told me to do Y beforehand’. The process can be long, exhausting, and can seem like a daunting prospect to future applicants. Below, I have listed 5 things that I believe can enhance and destress an application experience if executed possibly.  Some things may seem obvious and others unconventional, but I think this (non-exhaustive) list will help you assemble an application the most fully represents your merits as a future physician.

Whether you knew you wanted to be a doctor since you were born, or you just sort of fell into medicine by chance, you have declared yourself a pre-med student. Welcome. You are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. These next few years as a pre-med student will only be the beginning. The beginning of the road to becoming.

Now that you’ve committed to becoming a physician, below are some helpful tips to help your pre-med experience go smoothly.

I don’t deserve to be here. These people are actually smart. 

If they really knew me, they’d know that I have no right to be here.

One of these days, people will realize that I’m a fraud.

The admissions committee must have made a mistake. 

If you’ve had any of these thoughts since matriculating into medical school, congratulations. You are a normal human being. 

So, you’re afraid of being “found out”. Nice! Did you know the Maya Angelou found herself feeling the same way? She once said, “I have written eleven books, but each time I think, 'uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.'” 

Unfortunately there is no easy answer on how to do this because it is an extremely personal answer that differs for everyone. Ultimately though, your personal statement must answer two essential questions: 

1. Why you?
2. Why medicine? 

It’s finally that time of your medical school career. The moment you’ve been anticipating since you matriculated. Upwards and onwards. The wards. Up until this point, you have been incubating in your safe and familiar classroom building, only dibbling and dabbling at patient care every now and again. Now you’ll be going through a year, the year, of clinical rotations.