Personal Statement Cover Letter Guidelines - Academic Internship: Fill & Download for Free

A personal statement is useful to colleges because it essentially serves as a self-manifested demonstration of the applicant's unique qualifications. The personal statement also provides a glimpse into your writing ability, creativity, and career goals. So, admissions committees look to personal statements to gain insight about the applicant and understand their motivations as they relate to school and career choices.The personal statement is designed to:1. Tell the reader(s) something about you and why you should be accepted to the school that they cannot learn from reviewing your transcripts, test scores, CV, or other materials.2. Demonstrate that you can write clearly, coherently and effectively.A personal statement is required for most college applications including those for admission as an undergraduate, a transfer student, or a graduate student.Personal statements can range in length from 350 words to several pages. Most are between 500 and 2000 words, which means you have limited space to describe your experiences, achievements, and goals.Generally, personal statements fall into two categories:1. The general, comprehensive personal statement, which allows you maximum flexibility in terms of what you choose to write about.2. The response to very specific questions like, “Explain why you’re a good fit for X Program,” that are more frequently used for graduate school statements of purpose and short response essays.Who reads your personal statement?So, I’ve seen the question pop up over and over again from applicants wanting to know who is actually reading their personal statements.For most undergraduate applications, personal statements and the applications overall, are read by admissions office staff members or admissions committee members who have specialized training and experience reading and reviewing college applications. Usually between one and three professional admissions staff or committee members will read your application.I began my work reading and assessing college applications for the University of Washington as a graduate student, so it’s also not unheard of to have your personal statement read and evaluated by trained student employees or temporary admissions office staff members.The admissions committees for graduate programs are usually composed of professors and staff members of the program or department you’re applying for. They will want to know why you’re choosing a major in their specific profession and why you think you will do well in it for the long term.Still, it’s nearly impossible to know for sure who will read your application, especially at large universities, so consider that anyone could be looking at your personal statement. This includes people from a range of backgrounds, ages, and belief systems.Nonetheless, each person who reads your application is working on behalf of the college or university and are eager to accept students who are a good fit. The personal statement is your opportunity to make your case for admission.Understanding the PromptBefore you start writing your personal statement or college admissions essay, you need to understand the essay prompt. As simple as it seems, this can be difficult if you can’t figure out exactly what the prompt is asking.Remember, there are generally two types of personal statements: the general, comprehensive kind and the type that answer a specific question.Regardless, of what type the college you’re applying to calls for, there are a number of holistic questions you should consider when trying to understand your college essay prompts.What does the prompt ask about me?Academic and Personal Goals. A typical question might be “How will attending X College help you achieve your goals?”Academic History. For example, is there anything in your academic history that warrants further explanation like a dip in grades junior year or a withdrawal from a core class.Previous Learning Experiences. Consider listing applicable research, projects, and work experience.Extracurricular Activities. Discuss your involvement with extracurricular activities, clubs, or community programs (don’t include anything from before high school).Financial Situation. Questions about financial situation, ability to pay tuition, or fund your education in general, most commonly appear on scholarship essay prompts.What does the prompt ask about the school I’m applying to?Program Fit. Example - What makes you a good fit for the MA program at University X? Colleges want to know how your unique skills and experiences will align with their program focus and values.College Fit. More generally, universities are also interested in WHY you want to attend their school and how that desire aligns with the culture and atmosphere of the college. A common question you might see is “why do you want to attend Y university”?What keywords does the prompt use?For the most part, there’s little difference in the meaning of the words listed here as examples, but I still advise writers to carefully consider and do exactly what the prompt requires. This is especially important if you re-use essays or templates.Examples:DescribeShareListAnalyzeEvaluateWhat official requirements does the prompt include?Word Count or Page Length. Don’t go over the limit and expect essay readers not to notice.Online Form vs. Email Submission. Which does the application require - submission via an online application or website? Or a pdf or doc file sent to the admissions office contact email?Formatting. Consider the requirements for font size, spacing, page margins, and headings. These requirements shouldn’t be considered just suggestions and I recommend sticking to any formatting rules the application lists. Don’t tick off the person reading your application by leaving off the title for your essay to save space when the instructions strictly call for one.After carefully considering the prompt, it’s time to choose a topic.Choosing a TopicAnd so, here comes the difficult part about writing a personal statement.You must choose a topic.My number one recommendation - Write about something that reflects your life authentically and communicates what you’re passionate about. Admissions officers don’t want to read in personal statements what they can read on a resume or transcript. So, when choosing a topic for your personal statement, pick something to write about that motivates you, intrigues you, or exhibits a part of yourself that you would be incomplete without.That being said, you also have to choose a topic that addresses the essay prompt. It’s not easy to do both, but it’s definitely possible after a bit of brainstorming and pre-writing.The topic of your personal statement may span multiple years of your life or cover a single event, like your 1st place win at the State Robotics tournament. The personal statement is just that, personal. As we stated earlier, it’s your opportunity to show your writing ability, creativity, and goals.For this reason, the topic you choose should allow you to communicate a personal story that clearly indicates your ability to write and be vulnerable about who you are and who you want to be.Still, it’s important to be reflective in the telling of your story through the topic you choose as a way to create distance between you and the experience and demonstrate both the maturity and insightfulness admissions officials expect from students who eventually enroll at the university.So, choose wisely.As a guide, here are some questions to consider when brainstorming a topic, story, or focus for your personal statements.Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Start WritingWhat are your short term and long-term career goals?What challenges in the workplace have you faced that have prompted you to return to school?How have you already learned about this field that prepares you for the next step?Have you been employed in any capacity or volunteered in your chosen field? If so, what have you learned from that experience?What is your undergraduate major? Who or what has inspired you to pursue this major?Are there any gaps or discrepancies in your academic record that you should explain (great grades but mediocre LSAT or GRE scores, for example, or a distinct upward pattern to your GPA if it was only average in the beginning)?What are your major accomplishments, and why do you consider them accomplishments?How have you been challenging yourself in school to prepare for graduate school?Why are you interested in pursuing graduate study in this field? Are there any courses and/or extracurricular activities you have completed to get you started in this area?What skills (for example, leadership, communicative, analytical) do you possess?Why might you be a stronger candidate for admission—and more successful and effective than other applicants?What are the most compelling reasons you can give for the admissions committee to be interested in you?What makes you special?What is impressive about your experiences or life?What are your future goals?What skills/characteristics of yours will contribute to your success in the field?Where were you born? Your ethnicity?Are you the first in your family to attend college?Have you overcome any personal or economic struggles?Who or what was your motivation to continue your education?What are the opportunities and/or challenges you find in your community?Personal Statement Considerations for Undergrads, Transfers, Veterans, Grad Students, and Job SeekersAs you apply for college programs at various points in your life, your personal statement should differ as a result. Admissions committees expect a personal statement for a transfer student to be much different from a college admissions essay for an incoming freshman student. With that in mind, here are some unique considerations to keep at the forefront of your thinking when writing personal statements as an undergrad, transfer, veteran, graduate school applicant, or job seeker.Writing a personal statement for undergradWhen applying for undergraduate admission, you should primarily focus your essay on what has shaped your interests throughout your life, specifically over the last four years of high school. You should also focus on your academic studies and experiences in high school as well as how they’ve prepared you for a college-level curriculum. Another important topic you should write about for your essays is how you will fit into the culture of the college and what unique attributes you’ll bring to campus. For diversity and supplemental statements focus on your community, personal identity, and any adversity you’ve experienced in your life.Writing a personal statement for veteransAs an active-duty veteran, I’ll be the first to say that in the military we get accustomed to writing in a very specific military-style, which is characterized by communication of the bottom line up front and a focus on informing the reader. This concise and straightforward style is essential for military communications but doesn’t work well for writing personal statements that are meant to be somewhat creative and introspective. So for veterans, remember to inject your personality into your writing and ditch the objectivity characteristic of the military writing style. Further, most college admissions committees are comprised of civilians with little experience working with military personnel or reading military correspondence. So, avoid using military jargon or translate military speak to the civilian equivalent.Some schools might also expect you to discuss your military service and how those experiences have influenced your educational and career goals. I recommend including this type of information in your personal statements in so far as you would with any other job you’ve had in the past, especially if the experience has been a significant part of your life over the last few years.Writing a personal statement for transfer studentsAs a transfer student, you should have a bit of a different focus for your personal statement than the average high school senior. For instance, you might want to discuss the specific reasons you wish to leave your current college/university or program of study. You might also devote space in your statement to explaining your current academic interests and what prerequisites you will complete before transferring.Personal statements from transfer students should reflect the experience and maturity of someone who has already attended college. It should also demonstrate your understanding of the effort it takes to pursue a college education, and balance competing demands in a university setting.For transfer students, the college application essay is also your opportunity to take responsibility for less-than-perfect grades, recognize academic challenges, and explain the steps they have taken to conquer them.Writing a personal statement for graduate schoolOften, the readers of your graduate school statement of purpose want to see you answer three general questions:Why us?Your graduate school admissions essay should hone in on the specifics of why you want to study in the program you’re applying to. Why are you applying to this school, department, internship, or program and not some other? What is special about them? Are there specific professors you’d like to work and conduct research with and why? What are your connections to the program’s location?Why you?What is special about you? What is in your background, interests, or achievements that shows you are an ideal candidate? Remember though that grad schools, more than undergrad program, also expect to benefit from having you as a student, so it’s important to also explain how you will contribute to the culture, reputation, and work of the program through your research and leadership activities.Why now?Grad school admissions committees and department heads are also hoping to understand why you’re applying at this point in your life, whether that is straight out of undergrad or after a 10-year career. More importantly, they want to know how the decision to pursue a graduate education right now fits in with your long-term goals?Your answer to these questions should continuously circle back to how studying in the program will help you attain your academic and career goals.Writing a personal statement for a job or internshipA personal statement for a summer job or internship will differ than a personal statement for college admissions in that it should stress the qualifications that will make you successful in the workplace or lab. Your focus for these essays should be on the skills, experiences, and education that makes you a good fit for the job. Include content that explains the personal strengths and traits that have prepared you to be successful in the position you’re applying for.My recommendation is to take the job listing, write out the key attributes and skills the position calls for, and to focus your essay narrative on describing the particular experiences and learning that has prepared to fulfill those criteria.Using Style in Your Personal StatementThe style you choose to use for your personal statement offers important clues about you and your character. Much like your high school English class essays, the style of your personal statement can reveal your ability to write, your attention to detail, and how you choose to communicate. Alternatively, a statement of purpose that fails to convey an appropriate style demonstrates undesirable characteristics like laziness, an inability to communicate appropriately, or a lack of real interest in the application process.Personal statements and other college admissions essays are meant to communicate your admirable traits while at the same time describing your background, skills, and experiences that make you an ideal candidate. For this reason, I recommend you stick to using 1 of 2 styles when writing your college admissions essays: the narrative essay or the persuasive essay.In narrative writing, the main purpose is to tell a story - your story. In telling your story, you communicate to admissions officers details about your background, life, and experiences that aren’t otherwise obvious on your resume or transcript. A narrative is personal by nature, so it works well as a means to convey what makes you unique and offers a glimpse into how you see yourself and the world around you.Key Characteristics:Your story is told by you through first person/ your own point of viewYour essay uses elaborate detail that uses the five senses to convey feelingsYour personal statement has characters and/or dialogueYour essay has definite and logical beginnings, intervals, and endingsYour essay uses situations like actions, motivational events, and disputes or conflicts which are eventually resolvedYour essay has a conclusion that relates back to your academic or personal goals, interests, or motivationsIn using a persuasive writing style for your college admissions essay your main purpose should be to convince the reader of why you’re the best-qualified candidate for admission. To convince others to agree with your point of view, persuasive writing contains justifications and reasons like a description of your skills, previous jobs, relevant certifications, and applicable honors. This type of writing is typically used for cover letters and letters of application and thus are also a good fit for graduate school statements of purpose which should follow a similar format.Key Characteristics:Your statements are equipped with reasons, arguments, and justifications for why you should be admittedYour essay attracts attention, stimulates interest, and maintains the focus of the admissions readerYou ask the reader (admissions team member) to agree with your reasoningYou ask the reader to do something (admit me!)There are many different styles of writing to choose from when writing college admissions essays. A narrative style or persuasive style provides the most useful format for structuring your essay as they help to convey the information about you admissions officers want to know most. So, stick to one of these two styles and you’ll be set in writing a top admissions essay.Using the Narrative Essay StyleA personal narrative works great when writing a personal statement because it allows you to relay the authentically relay your thoughts, feelings, and experiences about a certain event. Since a personal statement serves as your opportunity to communicate your individuality and what inspires, the narrative should be a go-to format for your college admissions essays.In writing a personal narrative as the primary basis of your college admissions essay or personal statement, your goal should be to construct a coherent story from the facts of a situation or series of events. Ideally, this narrative consists of a beginning, middle, and end. In personal narratives, you are both the storyteller and the main character.The beginning of your narrative essay should draw the reader in with an exciting start which introduces the story you’re telling. There are numerous ways in which you can write this opening. For instance, you can:Write in chronological order, starting at the beginning of the situation or series of eventsStart in the middle of the action filling in gaps later using dialogue or recollectionsStart with a fact about your life, background, or community that will take on a larger meaning as you piece together the narrativeNext, you should give relevant details about the story or event. The middle of your story can detail a series of events or facts that occur in the narrative you’re telling. This is also the place where the characters in your story change or grow and you begin to resolve any the prevailing issue(s). Be careful not to lose your reader at this stage of your narrative by following these guidelines:Be descriptive by using sensory details to better convey feelings and help the reader visualize your storyShow, don’t tell as means of avoiding sounding preachy, moralistic, or coming off as pretentiousBuild to the climax of your story tying together the individual detailsLastly, you want to write the ending of your essay. Ideally, this coincides with the final part of your narrative which should:Reveal what lessons you learned in living through the experience you relatedDescribe how the events or situations changed you in a positive way or how your thinking has evolvedRelate a revelation about the situation or event that speaks more broadly about your beliefs and motivationsInclude a statement that looks ahead towards the future especially as they relate to your personal and academic goalsUsing the Persuasive Style for the Cover Letter Essay or Statement of PurposeThe statement of purpose, or what I like to call the cover letter essay because of its similar structure, is generally used for graduate school applications, takes on a persuasive style and focuses much more on describing the skills, experiences, and education that has prepared you for the program you’re applying to than a personal statement would. Its main purpose concentrates less on telling your story through a narrative and more on communicating the qualities that make you a perfect candidate. Ideally, the statement of purpose should convey your genuine interest in and enthusiasm for the program of study you’re pursuing, and what you have done in the past to nurture that passion as a way to persuade the admissions committee of your unique fitness to be admitted.Here are 4 steps for writing a statement of purpose or college admissions essay using a persuasive style:1. Start off your statement of purpose by describing your motivations for applying for and how it fits in with your academic and personal goals. Basically, you should be answering the question - what makes me want to learn more about this subject?2. Next, you should communicate the past subjects you’ve studied, previous jobs you’ve held, and relevant skills and certifications you’ve obtained that prepare you for the curriculum or program of study. This is the part where you really get to brag on yourself in discussing your relevant qualifications and unique skill set that ideally prepare you for success in the field you’ve chosen.3. Follow that up by communicating your interest in attending the particular university you’re applying to. It’s important to articulate why you’re choosing X school or Y program at every level of education. As an example, you might state your interest in working with Prof. Baker who is an expert in a rare 16th-century form of restoring ancient artifacts. Admissions officers and committee members want to know that you did your research and have a compelling and personal reason for wanting to attend their institution. In this section, be sure to also include statements about what you can bring to the university’s campus and how you will contribute to the prevailing culture of the college or grad program. Again, think, why should they pick me?4. Lastly, don’t forget to include in your statement what attributes and traits make you special because, yes, it matters to admissions committees what kind of person you are and student you will be. As an example, you could focus on describing the parts of your personality that demonstrate your ability to learn and think as well as your desire to collaborate and communicate effectively as a student-scholar. Colleges want to know that you possess the traits that will contribute to both your growth and the betterment of the department and university community. One of the important things to remember is that the best way to communicate your traits is to use an anecdote or experience from your past, that shows rather than just lists what makes you a top candidate.No matter what, remember to be authentic and your uniqueness will shine through in your statement of purpose. Follow these 4 steps and you’ll be on your way to writing a winning statement of purpose.Using Tone Effectively in Your Personal Statements and Other College Admissions EssaysTone is more than what you write, it’s how you write it, and the tone of your personal statement can significantly impact your college application. Your choice of words, level of formality, and the writing style you choose to use comprises your writing tone and can reveal a significant amount about how you view yourself, your academic/career path, and your community. It’s easy for an essay reader to forgive flaws in your writing style as multiple styles can work. It’s less easy to forgive a tone that is too harsh, moralistic, or pretentious.Writing a personal statement usually calls for a semi-formal, conversational tone in order to convey the right attitude to admissions readers. Think how I would tell my story to my YouTube audience vs. how would I tell it to my best friend. The difference is, with an audience, there’s still some separation between you and the people you’re talking to, whereas with your best friend you’re not really holding anything back. In personal statements, you should be vulnerable and introspective. With your best friend, you can be a sloppy crying mess.Too informal and generic: When I was in 9th grade, me and my friends used to get together to work on math homework after school.Better: As a freshman, my friends and I would often stay around after school ended, working on our math homework, and forming what we liked to call our “Math Club”.How to Use Tone in Your Personal Statement:Avoid an overly formal or ceremonious toneAvoid sarcasm or being highly condescendingDon’t make generalizationsDon’t “otherize” your peers or people from different backgrounds or culturesDon’t use slang, especially words that are regional or generationalAvoid pop culture references. Often times, what you think of as universal knowledge, really isn’t and the reader will have no idea what you’re referencingTone Can Be Established in a Number of Ways:How you talk about yourselfHow you talk about your peersHow you talk about your community and the world around youWhat you choose to reveal about yourselfWhat people you choose to include in your essaysOther Notes on Tone:Be specificIt’s better to discuss one interesting and relevant experience than to gloss over a bunch of mediocre events that don’t really add to anything to your narrative.Communicate confidence, without being arrogantIt’s important to demonstrate your confidence in your ability to be successful in adding to the campus culture and completing the curriculum. Don’t go overboard though in describing your qualifications. As an example, you can say you that “I was happy to be among the top students in my graduating class” instead of stating that you were “among the most accomplished and educated scholars within the graduating class at my undergrad institution.”Everything in moderationThe key is not to be too extreme in your commentary as you typically don’t know who will end up reading your college admissions essay. You shouldn’t take on the task of explaining the rationale for any extreme ideologies, good or bad, that it would be impossible to really explain the nuances of in 650 words or less.Overall, the tone you use in your personal statement should mirror the tone you would use when giving a briefing or presentation - be interesting and be aware of your audience. With this combination, you’ll do great when writing your personal statements and college admissions essays.The Diversity StatementToday, almost all college applications for school in the U.S. require applicants to submit a diversity statement, or short response essay related to diversity, with their application submission. In addition, providing a personal statement, the University of Washington, for instance, asks freshman applicants to respond to the prompt:“Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the UW.”But why do colleges want you to submit a diversity statement in the first place you ask?Well UW states on their website, that the university “strives to create a community of students richly diverse in cultural backgrounds, experiences, values and viewpoints.” For this reason, admissions officers look to admit applicants who will embrace and enrich the multicultural and intentionally inclusive environment colleges strive to be. So, without a face to face interview, submitting a diversity statement is the most straightforward means to assess your openness and ability to foster a culture of diverse identities and viewpoints on campus.As an admissions professional, I sometimes get asked the question, “For someone who is white and middle class, how can I write about how I will bring diversity to a school?” Well, let me tell you. It’s possible to do and it’s possible to do it without treating the diversity statement as a throwaway part of your application. Don’t simply write about, for example, how you like to eat ethnic food or play soccer with people of color. These topics, for the most part, don’t show a genuine interest or commitment to diversity and equity.As a means of jump-starting your brainstorming process, here are 5 ways to write an effective diversity statement for your college admissions applications:1. Show what you know.Show that you have a deep understanding of the true costs of social inequity in the world. If you were born upper class with two well-educated parents, this might mean writing about how you recognize injustice in the world and that it's imperative to dismantle injustice and oppression. You can supplement this information by sharing your core values, especially those that relate to inclusion, diversity, and equity for all people.2. Provide examples.Provide examples of experiences that demonstrate your commitment to fostering the success of marginalized and oppressed people including people of color, women, LGBTQ folks, religious minorities, and other groups. Discuss any volunteer work, projects or research you’ve done on behalf of marginalized communities. Did you build an app that helps disabled people navigate city streets? Did you create a nonprofit that donates school supplies to kids who families who can’t afford to buy them?3. Relate your professional goals.Talk about how your professional goals will promote equity and diversity in your community and more largely, in the world. For instance, if you want to be a doctor, discuss the lack of access to adequate healthcare around the globe and how your goal is to work to eliminate socioeconomic and cultural barriers that prevent people from receiving care.4. Discuss your travels.Share your experiences traveling or living abroad and relate how the communities and cultures you saw and experienced differed from your own lifestyle or changed your previously-held beliefs. Just be sure not to “otherize” the places and people you discuss. Also, be sure to avoid clichés or describing your experiences as shocking in some way. You don’t want to come off as naive or judgmental to admissions officers. Try relating how your travel experiences informed your personal development and impacted your views on culture and diversity. If you grew up outside the United States, you might discuss what cultural aspects of living and going to school in the U.S. interest you.5. Share your story.If you have overcome personal adversity to get to where you are, you should discuss it in your diversity statement. Some examples of personal adversity include being bullied in school because or your sexual orientation, experiencing homelessness, or enduring racism in your community. If, on the other hand, you were raised with relatively little to no adversity, socioeconomic or otherwise, it’s important to acknowledge your privilege. It's possible to talk intelligently about diversity, even if you are a straight white male, by demonstrating that you have the awareness and desire to work to dismantle inequity, and encourage diversity as a means of promoting inclusion.Overall, keep your statement focused on communicating your beliefs about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and no matter who you are, you should be able to write an effective diversity statement.How to Effectively Revise Your College Admissions EssayThe revision process is one of the more critical steps in writing effective personal statements and essays. Still, you make ask WHY EXACTLY is revising my essay important? Three main reasons:To develop better contentTo correct formatting and grammatical errorsTo become a better writer over timeSo, how should you go about revising your essay. Here are some tips:1. Put it down for a whileIt’s important to have fresh eyes when you’re ready to start making revisions. Otherwise, you won’t notice errors or mistakes that need to be fixed.2. Read your essay out loudYour writing should sound both conversational and professional, especially when it’s meant to provide a glimpse into your personality.3. Check the topic of the paperDo you still agree with it? Do you stay on track throughout the essay? Did you answer the prompt as it was asked? Yes, should be the answer to each of these questions.4. Check for flow and logicYour essay, like those you wrote in high school English class, should have a beginning, middle, and end and flow logically as they reader moves through your essay.5. Add detailAnyone who doesn’t know you should be able to read your essay and understand your experiences.6. Check and fix grammatical errorsThis should be one of your final steps. Feel free to use services built into programs like Microsoft Word or Grammarly to save time.7. Verify that you’ve met all the official requirementsEnsure your paper is formatted properly (font, margins) and complies with the stated word limit.Good writers will use all of these methods to craft a good personal statement. To make the most of the revision process, it's important that you get an early start on your papers so that you have time to complete any large-scale revisions your paper might need.Ultimately, revising is an ongoing process that takes time and effort.——Whether you’re writing a personal statement for undergraduate admissions or grad school, the process can be perplexing if you don’t plan in advance and give yourself plenty of time to think about what you want to write. Remember, the personal statement is your opportunity to show who you are outside of what can be read on your transcript or resume, so think of it as your chance to show off what makes you unique.Make the most of our personal statement by demonstrating your creativity, passion, and personality. Don’t forget to be both vulnerable and introspective. And remember colleges want to admit a talented, holistic group of students, so remember to be yourself when writing your personal statement and what makes you a perfect fit for the college will shine through.

Q. Can someone do a sub-internship in the USA, being a medical graduate?A. My standard answer would have been sub-internships are reserved for medical students who have not graduated. Until I saw this listing:Postgraduate Sub-Internship ProgramOtherwise, graduated physicians can apply for observerships which may or may not allow much direct patient care. Below are programs for IMG listed with the AMA.Observership Programs for International Medical GraduatesObserverships are designed to help international medical graduates (IMGs) adapt to the practice of medicine in the United States. Review the list of observerships that have registered with the AMA.American International Integrated Observership Program (MedicalObs)New applications are being accepted for 2018 positions at this time. Scholarships now available for highly competitive candidates.At MedicalObs, our focus is on the applicant’s experience. While there are many programs to choose from to help better prepare for entry into U.S. medical residency programs, what distinguishes us is our customized, integrated and individualized program curriculum designed to formulate an action plan to set applicants apart from the competition. Our values and philosophies are centered around the importance of personal growth, innovation, communication, commitment, teamwork and reliability.Length of Program4-12 weeksPreceptorsMedical Director for Hospitalist Program, Internal Medicine Physicians, Emergency Medicine Physicians, Psychiatry, SubspecialistsProgram OverviewObserving with U.S. licensed physicians in a hospital-based settingPerformance and evaluation review with chairman/program director*Letter of recommendation from chairman/program director*Certificate of completion with honors from AIIOP-MedicalObs*Review and edit of personal statement for residency applicationLive mock interview seminarsComplex clinical case reviews and live didactic sessionsAccent reduction and dialect coaching coursesAttending colloquium guest speaker series run by U.S. physician leaders and coachesExclusive alumni membership network with U.S. physicians via MedicalObsIntegrated cultural experiences with local community groups and social events*Based on a successful performance/evaluationEligibility CriteriaForeign medical graduates (FMG) from medical school and ECFMG certifiedU.S. senior graduatesU.S. FMGsNonmatched residency graduatesRecommend completion of USMLE Step 1 and Step 2Applications for Observers/PreceptorsGo to www.MedicalObs.com, click on the “apply now” section to fill out formsFor questions and enrollment, email us at [email protected] us via phone at 1 (833) 876-3627 or 1 (833) USMDOBSApplication DeadlinesWe screen applications year round.We accept and screen applications from all countries.Tuition and fees to be paid in full prior to start.AmeriClerkships Postgraduate Subinternships With Residency ProgramsLength of ProgramMinimum 4 weeks; maximum 48 weeks. Start in as little as 2 weeks.​PreceptorsProgram Directors (PDs), Associate PDs, Residency Program Faculty, Teaching Attending Physicians and ResidentsProgram OverviewAmeriClerkships Medical Society (AMS), in partnerships with Graduate Medical Education (GME) departments offers a rare opportunity for medical graduate members of AMS to enroll in Postgraduate Subinternships (PGSIs) in over 30 specialties.PGSIs are designated as AMS-PGY1CONNECT sites, meaning that AMS members have secured residency interviews and even “matched” into such hospital(s).A typical “matched” AMS member who has matched into a PGSI residency program has:Completed 12-28 weeks of PGSISecured 2-4 letters of reference directly from PGSI supervising attendingsIs a U.S. citizen or permanent residentPassed USMLE Step 3By enrolling as an AMS PGSI, medical graduates may expect to gain first-hand exposure to the inner workings of U.S. GME and medical residencies (even in 100% inpatient settings), and develop into an effective PGY1 by learning how to:Become an integral member of U.S. medical residency teams who manage acute and chronic medical problemsRotate and collaborate with top residency program faculties, teaching attending physicians, chief residents and even program directorsParticipate in teaching rounds, and possibly present in journal clubs and residency conferencesRefine history taking and physical examination skillsFormulate problem lists, prioritize medical problems, select laboratory and ancillary tests, as well as institute drug and supportive therapiesUtilize subspecialty consultative servicesDevelop definitive plans for ongoing care and follow-up of dismissed patientsUpon satisfactory completion of each PGSI clinical block, AMS PGSI will be evaluated based on the 6 ACGME Core Competencies, and may request a performance-based letter of recommendation on official GME/teaching hospital letterhead.For questions and enrollment, please contact AmeriClerkships Medical Society directly at +1 (949) 417-8980, or visit the website.Bridgeport Family Medicine Externship/Preceptorship ProgramBridgeport Family Medicine offers real hands-on experience in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and urgent care medicine. The program is structured as a "mini residency program" to prepare IMGs for the U.S. medical system by using state of the art EMR/HER systems.Length of the Program:4-12 weeks, extern may start any Monday of the weekProgram OverviewThe extern interviews the patient, performs the physical exam along with attending physician and discusses differential diagnoses, management options, labs, imaging and forms a management plan. In addition, the extern will:See and manage patients with their preceptorLearn on a state-of-the-art Electronic Medical RecordImprove physical examination skillsImprove patient note taking skillsImprove history taking skillsLearn to perform EKG, Phlebotomy, PFTs and UADiscuss family medicine topics and the latest guidelines on a daily basisFor more details, visit www.usmedicalextern.com or email: [email protected] Medicine® Physician Refresher/Re-entry PreceptorshipDrexel University College of Medicine has a tuition-based structured preceptorship/observership for IMGs preparing for a U.S. residency. Preceptorships are offered in internal medicine, pediatrics, OB-GYN, surgery and anesthesia. Rotations are all on the main university campus in Philadelphia.Length of Program6-week rotations; repeatable once. The course starts on the 1st Monday of every month and is first come, first serve. The application process takes 4–6 weeks.Program OverviewAttend inpatient and outpatient rounds, core conferences, lecture and learn about medical care in the United StatesAttend didactics: morning reports, noon reports, grand rounds and clinical case discussionsHomework will be assigned to hone in on medical knowledge, clinical reasoning and communication skillsMeet weekly with preceptor to review the exercises and receive feedbackFind more details on the program or call (215) 762-2580.Griffin Medical Clinical Observership ProgramThe application process for 2017-2018 runs through Sept. 30, 2017. New applications are accepted during this time only.The program is no longer accepting applications for October 2017 - January 2018. All positions for time have been filled. Only applications for the months of February 2018 - June 2018 are being accepted.Length of Program4 weeksProgram OverviewTo familiarize yourself with the U.S. medical systemTo become proficient in presentation of history and physical examinations on daily roundsTo become proficient in ascertaining patients' acute symptoms and making a therapeutic planTo learn to write daily progress notesTo learn how to interpret basic lab tests and radiology data such as blood, urine serum, X-rays, etc.Eligibility CriteriaForeign medical student graduates must be:Graduates of a medical schoolMust be ECFMG certifiedApplicationsThe following are required to be submitted to the Committee for consideration of participation in the program:A completed application or ERAS application (for ERAS, months for which the candidate is applying should be indicated in the email. In the event that ERAS application is not available, a common application form can be substituted)A cover letter detailing desired rotationA curriculum vitaeAt least 1 letter of reference from a clinical supervisor or advisor, or an attending physicianUSMLE score reportsMedical school diplomaECFMG certificateTOEFL score report ( if available)Documentation of up-to-date immunization record (including flu shot during flu season (Oct-March)Proof of health insurance coverageA recent photograph for identificationCopy of passport and valid visaApplication DeadlineA completed application must be received no later than Oct. 1Formal start date is usually the first working day of a calendar monthTiming is at the discretion of the program coordinator and teaching service schedulesVisit Griffin Medical’s website for more details and to apply.International Observership ProgramAllegheny General and West Penn hospitals host observers from around the world. This program was designed for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, medical students, physiotherapists, technologists, technicians and health administrators.Length of Program4 weeksThe observership is a specific exchange program in which the observer accompanies the medical staff through their daily hospital routine, sharing experiences with doctors, residents, staff and students. This program is not for academic credit.Program OverviewObservation of the clinical care of patientsParticipation in lectures, grand round and other related eventsNo privileges are granted to participate in the clinical treatment of patients to assist in any medical procedures, test or surgeriesFor inquiries about international educational opportunities available through Allegheny General, call International Services (412) 359-5269 or email [email protected] Memorial HospitalIt is the policy of the Public Health Trust to accept physicians or resident physicians desiring to participate as an observer/rotator at Jackson Health System facilities. All requests for observer/rotators must be reviewed and approved by Risk Management.Length of ProgramObserverships may last up to 4 weeks (1 month), longer if written approval by the department is obtained.Program OverviewThe individual desiring to participate must provide the Office of Physician Services all required documentation as set forth in this policy in order to be considered for a rotation or observership. Jackson Health System will not provide professional liability coverage for any resident for an outside institution. If the home institution will not provide the coverage, then they will be classified as observer status only. An observer is a health care professional or student who will not provide patient care or have direct patient contact. Observers differ from students in an academic program in that the observership is not an educational requirement of any academic program (see administrative policy 389 for students).Observer may be one of the following:Physicians (foreign or domestic)Registered nurses (foreign or domestic)Other health professionals (e.g. radiology, respiratory therapy, psychology, pharmacy technicians, etc.)Students not covered under an existing affiliation agreementObserverships may be in an inpatient or outpatient setting and must be approved by the Jackson Health System facility’s department(s) director(s) of the area being observed. For physicians, approval is needed from the associate/chief medical officer. For residents, approval is needed from the GME office. For nurses, approval is needed from the director of patient care services and/or the chief nursing officer. For all other students, approval is needed from the associate/chief medical officer.For more information, view the Policy & Procedure Manual.Contact InformationGraduate Medical Education OfficeJackson Memorial HospitalInstitute 118B1611 NW 12th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33136Phone: 305-585-4310Fax: 305-585-4309For more information on visiting medical students, please visit the information page.Somerset Family MedicineHands-on externship/observership in outpatient family medicine in Michigan for FMG, international medical graduates, Caribbean medical students and Caribbean graduates. Outpatient family medicine office in Troy and Sterling Heights, Michigan.Length of ProgramMinimum 4 weeks; maximum 12 weeksPreceptorNeil Jaddou, M.D., M.S. board-certified family medicine, clinical assistant professor of family medicine and community health, Wayne State School of Medicine and Oakland Beaumont Medical School. Staff at 4 hospitals and affiliated with St. John Oakland-Macomb medical students teaching program.Program OverviewBecome efficient in electronic medical or health records.Get familiar with the health system in the United States.Practice on presenting a patient and doing history and physical examinations.Learn how to interpret basic lab tests and radiology data such as blood, urine, X-rays, EKG and PFT.Expand your medical knowledge and build on your differential diagnosis.Improve your scores on CK, CS and USMLE Step 3.Tour the hospitals and attend conferences when available.Online lectures given by Dr. Jaddou on common problems in family medicine, taken from future textbook by professor Jaddou.Opportunity to publish patient education article in the community newspaper.Receive a letter of recommendation at the end of the rotation that has a university and hospital logo.Receive a certificate of completion at the end of externship. There is also a possibility of finishing with honors and student of the month award.Opportunity to be chief extern and teach others.Volunteer in the church clinic once a week.Eligibility CriteriaUSMLE not required.Immediate availability. Start any day that is convenient for you.Must be living in U.S. to apply. We do not sponsor visas.All visas are accepted as long as you are physically present in U.S.ApplicationVisit www.americanexternship.com for details on price and submitting an application. For additional information or questions email us at [email protected].

There are a number of categories that you’ll need to fill to various degrees in order to make yourself a competitive applicant. In order to explain these most simply, I will offer forth a simplified, distilled list below. For a quicker read, hit the bold points and the bulleted tips at the bottom.Personal History (I don’t like “Application Skills,” so we’ll tack that on at the end)Academic MetricsClinical Capacity/ExperienceResearchVolunteering/Community ServiceExtra-curricular ActivitiesSo, I’ll expound on these topics and give some rationale behind their consideration in admissions and implications on potential as a physician, as well as offer some advice.Personal History: What I mean by this is: why are you going in to medicine? Ideally, you’d like to have some compelling reason for entering the field. This shows the admissions committee that your desire to pursue medicine is rooted in something other than a desire for money, prestige, or simply because it’s what everyone in your family does. None of these are good reasons to enter medicine. The rationale behind this on the side of the admissions committee is derived from a need for longevity on your part as a physician. Medical schools have a mission that is both inherent to themselves in providing optimal care and improving medicine as a whole, but also on the part of the government to generate doctors that can bear the burden of treating our citizens. Hence, they receive subsidies and resources from the government that hinge on whether they generate doctors from the students that matriculate. It reflects poorly on the medical school if they admit a student that doesn’t graduate or that goes on to leave medicine. When you apply to medical school, you will fill out an American Medical School Application System (AMCAS) application, which will include a personal statement of your reasons for pursuing a career in medicine and detailed explanations of 10–15 experiences that influenced you in your life. These are critical pieces of data that will decide whether you get in or not. Metrics (MCAT, GPA) are fantastic, but without a compelling story and valuable experiences that have developed you into a mature individual capable of understanding the world (yes, the world. Not necessarily just medicine) to some complex degree, those metrics are an indication that you’re an egghead that can learn scientific concepts. So, preparing in this field means to have valuable experiences that sculpt you as a person and show that you can/have faced adversity and grown. This can include experiences while shadowing or working in medicine, playing sports in high school/college, losing someone close to you and how that affected your desire to enter medicine, watching someone battle disease, things that happened while you conducted research, volunteering, other extracurriculars, etc.Metrics: While your personal history will oftentimes be the pillar around which your candidacy is built, you must meet certain criterion of academic aptitude in order to show the admissions committee that you are capable of learning the material in medical school and performing well on your United States Medical Learning Exams (USMLE). These are your Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and your GPA (with a heavy emphasis on your science courses). We’ll talk GPA first. You need to choose a major that interests you. I repeat: You need to choose a major that interests you! We have people in our medical school class that majored in Art, History, Spanish, Engineering, Anthropology, Archaeology, Chemistry, Biology, Psychology, English….. You get it. Medical schools require that you have Introductory Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, and (most schools) Biochemistry. These will ALL be on the MCAT. About the MCAT® Exam. You would do well to take some other courses like Genetics, Microbiology, Research Design (or some sort of research course), Immunology, etc. However, these are not required. You will be judged heavily based on your GPA in these subjects, as well as the courses you take for your major. Being a freshman, you will soon discover that classes that don’t interest you at least a certain modicum tend to be ones that you perform worse in. Therefore, if you have a sincere interest in Literature, study it! Enjoy your degree, and learn the science you need to in order to build your foundation for understanding in medical school. Why did I highlight the word understanding? You will have friends throughout college that will begin studying the night before the test. Some of them will be inherently smart, and will often be able to recognize information and concepts well enough to perform well on tests. Others will study all the time and still perform poorly. What do these two groups have in common? They are not learning for understanding! You may be able to get by like either of these students in your introductory courses; but I promise that as you elevate in your education, you will encounter classes and material that will push you to the limits of your ability to learn. Hence, you need to really learn the material that you’re learning in class. Here’s a set of good guidelines to start with. Take notes EVERY class period. NEVER let a lecture be the first time you’re seeing material. Even simply skimming through the readings for 10 minutes the night before will increase the amount of understanding you’re able to derive from a class. Yeah, this is tough to do. Get used to it. Medical school is on a completely different plane. You can make time for this by nailing down your scheduling and time-management. I spend the first 15 or so minutes of every day referring to my Google Calendar and ensuring that things are scheduled out. Make a schedule and STICK TO IT. Spontaneity is great and fun, but don’t make a habit of deviating from your schedule. Your life will become a disorganized mess and you’ll feel worse for it. People will think you’re a prude, stuck-up, or a loser; but these people will likely never be called Dr. _____. Keep this in mind. You’re going to be less than 1% of the population as a physician. Show them you’re different. Also, sit close to the front. Answer and ask questions in the class. Engage yourself and the professor. You will learn more and develop relationships with your professors, which will be essential when it comes time to get letters of recommendation for school (ESPECIALLY from your science professors). Start studying deliberately for an exam at least a week prior. You will learn the material thoroughly at a reasonable pace and will be MUCH less worried when it comes time for the exam. Your friends will be jealous and wonder how you got so smart. Don’t let yourself be surrounded by people that aren’t working as hard or harder than you. This brings up another point I’d like to make. You will have people that are in college simply because it’s “What people do.” These people have no clue what they’re going to do after college and it shows in their actions. Don’t get caught up with these people. Don’t get caught up in their partying, drugs, and “fun.” Don’t be misconstrued, you can have fun and you should! Your undergrad will be a fantastic time and you’ll grow immensely; but you’ll realize at some point that you gain nothing from partying all the time and drinking every weekend besides an empty wallet, lost time, and shallow friendships. So party and have fun, but remember to never party or hang out with people that don’t have something to lose. Anyways, back to studying. If you’re not surrounded by motivated people, you will begin to think that it’s okay to be like them. You will see that as the norm. Instead, surround yourself with the highest achievers you can find in your classes. You will learn things from them, and seeing them do well and put in work will help you become conditioned to doing the same. Also, find yourself a few of these hard-workers and form a study group, then teach each other. This is the best way I found during my academic career to expose holes in my own understanding and hammer down concepts. This brings me to a favorite quote of mine.Lastly, your schedule needs to be purposefully somewhat difficult for a period of time. You MUST have a semester during which you take 3 science courses. This would ideally be the semester (or two) before you take your MCAT, so that the material is fresh in your head. Admissions committees look for this so that they can determine that you’re capable of the massive amount of scientific integration and processing that is required of medical school. This is absolutely necessary. That said, this is ideally done the first semester of your junior year. Plan accordingly. For example, I took Physics 1, Organic 2, and Genetics that semester. Your junior year is the time for the hardest work you can possibly muster. As far as your MCAT is concerned, here are a few tips (I took the old MCAT, granted). Start studying for the MCAT no less than six months in advance. You will NEVER be able to get through all of the material and learn it well enough to do well in less. You need dedicated MCAT time 3x weekly for that six months. Now this next part has a bit of wiggle-room in it. I didn’t take the test when I would like to have, but I had a LOT of factors coming into play that I hadn’t planned for, (and I actually hadn’t finished the first semester of physics when I took my test). Plan out what you’re going to cover on which days, and schedule your first MCAT for mid-january of your junior year, either just before you return from school or shortly after so that you have time to study for it with no other obligations. This means that you will start your 6 months shortly after you finish your sophomore year, and also means that you will need to take both semesters of intro Chem, intro Biology, Organic Chemistry, and at least the first semester of Physics by the beginning of your junior year so that you can take Physics 2 and Biochemistry in the Fall of your Junior year (caveats to this to come). This placement is ideal, as Physics and Biochemistry are two very high-yield subjects and having them fresh in your mind from class come test day will be perfect. Note that I’ve left psychology and sociology open as far as placement in your schedule. Sprinkle these in anywhere. It’s unlikely that you’ll get everything you need for the MCAT from your intro course anyways (so ensure that you pool outside resources for this material). This will leave you able to retake the test again with ample study time in the following early summer. Again, between January and late May, you will need to have a dedicated schedule for studying. You’ll retake the exam in the beginning of the summer, and be ready when the AMCAS application opens in mid-Summer to submit. So what have I left out of this portion? Materials! I’ve no conflicts of interest. I personally used Khan Academy, practice tests from the AAMC, Kaplan books and Qbanks, as well as whatever practice tests I could get my hands on. I’ve heard examcrackers was good stuff as well, but I never used it. There are tons of apps available for your phone to get MCAT questions as well, but many of them only offer limited free material, so do your research on the paid ones to ensure they’re decent materials. Also, Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards is a fantastic way to learn. There are tons of decks of MCAT cards floating around the internet on reddit and other sites, but making your own is definitely the way to go. Ideally, you’d make your ANKI cards as you went through your classes so that you’d have them as study tools during those and later, for the MCAT. Fool around with it and download their app (free for Android users, sorry Apple). I use it in medical school and it’s fantastic.3. Clinical Capacity/Experience: Now this is likely one that I was strongest with coming in. Once piece of advice that I’ve given to every single pre-med I’ve ever met: Use the summer before you start school or between your freshman/sophomore year to get your EMT-B. I got my EMT certifications through my training to become a combat medic for the Army. This was fantastic (and I got paid to do it), but of course you do your obligated time (Active Duty or Reserves) for it and you’ve got to do Basic Combat Training as well. If you’re enticed by the military, go ahead! It’s great training and looks fantastic for your application. Otherwise, take your EMT-B course at your college IN THE SUMMER. Why? Because it’s shorter! It’s only two months as opposed to three in the regular semester, and it’s inherently more immersive. Once you do this, you can get a job working on an ambulance or in an Emergency Department (I recommend the latter, as you’ll work more closely with physicians). Either way, you will gain valuable medical experience, familiarize yourself with many different areas of medicine, learn what you’ll be dealing with as a healthcare worker for the rest of your life, and get the fulfillment of seeing patients for years while in your undergrad, while your friends work fast food, retail, etc. This does two very important things for your application. It shows that you can balance a heavy workload, which you will have to do as a medical student/resident/physician, and shows the admissions committee that you can take care of patients, enjoy medicine, and won’t faint when you see blood. If, by the time you get to your interviews you’ve already spent three years taking care of patients, the committee will know that you aren’t going to see your first cadaver, patient, surgery, etc. and decide that you don’t want to do this anymore. It happens, and remember that it looks bad for them to have someone drop out. Now, if for some reason you aren’t able to do your EMT (HIGHLY recommended), a CNA course, phlebotomy course, or position as a scribe will get you valuable experience in medicine as well. Now, what are scribes? Scribes are non-clinical personnel that work with doctors in clinical settings to help them fill out the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) so that they can focus on the patients and not the computers. These are becoming more and more commonplace, and allows the scribe to get valuable medical exposure while being close to a physician. However, they are non-clinical and can therefore not have contact with patients. Any of these will help you familiarize with medicine and will be great for your application. They also will help you to become close with doctors, who will likely be open to having you shadow them and know doctors in various specialties that you can shadow as well. Now, if you’re unable to do ANY of the above (I’m not sure why, and I can’t stress enough how far ahead any of the above will put you in reference to your peers), you will need to do a large number of shadowing hours to make up for it. This consists of you finding doctors willing to let you follow them around in the hospital or clinic so that you can watch what they do and figure out if you like it while you get exposure. You should do a bit of this even if you do any of the medical occupations above, but you’ll need to do much less. Some medical schools have a number requirement for shadowing hours, but most just want to see some substantial exposure. I’d suggest at least 100 clinical hours as a baseline (shadowing or otherwise). Aside, clinical experience will help you in other ways. It will give you a paradigm in which to place all of the knowledge that you obtain in your classes. You’ll learn about racemic mixtures in Organic Chemistry, competitive inhibition and enzyme kinetics in Biochemistry, and fluid mechanics in Physics. Where does any of this matter? Well, racemic mixtures in synthesis affect the concentration of active drugs in medication doses, enzyme kinetics affect the mechanisms/absorption of drugs and other physiologic mechanisms, and fluid mechanics determine blood pressure! It’s all relevant, and seeing the connections between what you’re learning in school and seeing in the clinic will help to solidify ideas. Think learning about a drug in Pharmacology as an undergrad and seeing it in the clinic that weekend. This is why my Pharmacology knowledge is so solid!4. Research: My FAVORITE! Woo! Alright, so you’ve stayed with the answer this far. You must really want to be a physician. Well, medical schools are increasingly placing a priority on research experience prior to entering medical school. Many medical schools hold a lack of any research experience as a disqualifying factor in applications they receive. Now, this doesn’t necessarily have to be what we call “Basic Science” research, which is the bench and lab work that most people think of when they hear research. Public health (epidemiology, biostatistics), clinical outcomes, health education research all qualify. The rationale behind this is simple. As a physician, you will be a scientist. It will be essential for you to be able to dig into the primary literature in order to decipher studies and data so that you can apply it to your practice and educate your patients. This is critical. I would advise you to get into research as early as you possibly can. There are a number of ways that you can do this. Pre-med Internships is a compilation of many research internships that are available for students planning on careers in medicine. Many of these are PAID summer internships that (if you’re following the schedule I’ve laid out in this answer), you should do in either the summer after your freshman year (if you do your EMT the summer after you finish high school) or the summer following your sophomore year (during which you should be studying for the MCAT as well). These internships tend to be 9–5 academic affairs with weekends off, and are extremely flexible and oftentimes include MCAT study programs or classes that will prove helpful. You will be assigned a mentor, who will teach you lab techniques and scientific investigation. You will then begin a project that you will ideally finish that summer, and present it as a poster at the end! Some of these programs have room/board built in with their stipends, so look out for those! Now, your home institution may have some programs like this as well, which could be even better for you! But, you should also be trying to find a way to do research throughout the year so that you could potentially do larger projects. This is easy to do, and again something that I’d advise as early as your freshman year. Go to the chair of whatever department you’re interested in doing research in, and ask what research opportunities are available. “Which professors have spots in their labs?” “Do any professors have projects in ____ that I’m interested in?” He’ll give you some contact info and perhaps help you set up a meeting with one of the professors you’re interested in. I’d advise looking at the department page and reading about the professor before you meet with them. Read a couple of their recent publications and see what their lab is doing, so that you can ask specific questions while you’re meeting with them. MOST (not all) professors are open to having undergrads work with them in their labs, and oftentimes the department will offer a course in its respective discipline that is really simply you doing research under a professor for a defined number of hours during the week. Use this time to do research, learn methods, interact with your professor, and read publications. You will be tempted to study during down time in the lab, but don’t fall into that hole. Your research professor (primary investigator) will be an essential letter of recommendation when it comes time to apply, and you don’t want him/her thinking you’re a slacker. Did I mention read publications? Start this early. Figure out how to digest material like this. Look up things you don’t know. As you take your courses, you will progressively see that you understand more and more of it until you can crank through them easily. This will be a very valuable skill later on. When looking for publications to read, refer to good sources. PubMed is a great place to start. Peer-reviewed journals like Nature, JAMA, and BMC Genetics are good as well (depending on the type of research you’re looking at. These are just some of the big dogs). Read publications!5. Volunteering/Community Service: This one almost speaks for itself. There are TONS of volunteering activities you can get involved in. They absolutely don’t have to be medical in nature, but can be! For example, there are programs at hospitals in my area that take volunteers to push an art-cart around the children’s hospital to paint with kids on the wards. There are also volunteers that help with clerical work and logistics. Outside of medicine, you can volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, or volunteer for waterway cleanups. I guarantee you that there are organizations at your University doing volunteer projects- you only have to seek them out. A good national pre-med organization that does lots of volunteering is Alpha Epsilon Delta. Biology Student Association, Army ROTC, SGA, and the YMCA are all organizations that I volunteered with in my undergrad. Seek these opportunities out and get involved in your community. The admissions committee wants to see this. As a physician, you will be a pillar in your community. Along with our desire to heal comes one to make the world better, which we are capable of doing in more ways than by treating patients like we would on the day-to-day at the clinic. Physicians do mission trips, free clinics for children and the underserved, run free community health education programs, and organize legislation around public service. I suppose the message here is: if you don’t like serving others, don’t go into medicine. For all my people that dwell on numbers and requirements, most schools don’t have specified numbers; they simply want to see a continued history of volunteering that shows your devotion to public service. Also, this ties back in to my first bullet. Volunteering is one of the activities that you can use to build valuable life experiences that will help prepare you for life as a physician, and is favorable on your application for the admissions committee.6. Extra-Curricular Activities: This is the catch-all as far as support of your application goes. Holding a part-time job, shadowing, volunteering, being a part of school organizations, and anything else you do with your time outside of school fits in to here. The organizations that you didn’t necessarily volunteer with, but participated in are included here. So playing sports, music, doing theater, running road races, carpentry, working on cars, spelunking, writing, kayaking, fishing, hiking, collecting stamps, etc. Medical schools want a person that is well-rounded, showing an aptitude and interest for things other than medicine. No matter how much you love medicine, there will come a day that you will feel burnt out and tired of it. If you lack other interests to occupy your time and keep you grounded/enjoying yourself, this burnout could slowly wear on you, hindering your performance as a physician and satisfaction with your life. So yes, you need to do everything I lined out above, but still leave some time in to be a person, okay?To cap this off, a few pointers for your application and some other general tips.You will have plenty of time to work on AMCAS. Filling out your application will be a hugely interesting time for you. You will have to delve down deep inside of yourself to tease out the real reasons that you’ve decided to enter medicine. The year before I began medical school was one of the most profoundly introspective times of my entire life. I hyper-analyzed all of my experiences and dug down into the core of who I was. I found flaws and I discovered new strengths. Write about these things you find. Write about the experiences that created these things and what they meant to you. This said, leave yourself enough time so that you can get your AMCAS application processed and get to filling out secondary applications. I worked on AMCAS for a month, starting in early July or so, I believe. I filled out secondaries until December. Those essays are a doozie!Many Universities have a pre-health committee. If yours does, you’ll need a letter from them. This will likely be a group of faculty members that teach many of the pre-med requirements. Set up your advising appointments with a member of this committee as soon as you get to school. You want them to know your face and see your progression. If your university doesn’t have one, you’ll simply let AMCAS know and get another couple of letters as a substitute.Build networks with your professors and professional colleagues. These will be people that you will call on for letters for years to come, hence they need to know you well and think highly of you. Give them a reason to do this!! Don’t ask for letters from people that don’t know you well, either. Their lack of knowledge about you will turn out to hurt you more than help you through their generic letter about how much potential you have and how great having you in their class was (boring). You’ll want most of your letters to be from science faculty (Definitely one from your research mentor), but will need at least one from a non-science professor. If you do any clinical work/shadowing, you may want to include a letter from a physician you worked with as well. Also, ask for these letters far in advance. These people are busy, and you don’t want your application to be waiting around incomplete in cyberspace because you didn’t give your letter-writers enough time.Be reasonable when you’re picking out schools to apply to. Everybody wants to aim high and go to an Ivy League school, but many of these places have screening cutoffs for GPAs and MCAT scores and will charge you to submit secondary applications that end up never getting looked at. If you feel like you’ve got a chance, go for it! However, if you’re at the 50th percentile for your MCAT and GPA, don’t waste your money applying to Harvard! In the end, medical educations are highly standardized and you will get a very similar education at any US medical school, so don’t fret!Get others to read over your personal statement and experiences essays. Getting other eyes on your application materials is essential. You will work on these for nearly a month. They will be absolutely perfect in your eyes. Then, you will let your buddy (an English major, no less) review it and discover that your ideas are scattered and disorganized, or that your syntax is all messed up, or that you have a horrible run on sentence with too many comma splices and lists and nobody understands what you’re saying anymore!Getting in to medical school is not a linear track. I had a friend that was in the coast guard and didn’t go back to school until he was nearly 30. He matriculated last year. There are people in my class that got their M.S. or Ph.D before they came to medical school. We’ve got a man that was a pilot instructor for the Air Force, and will go back to be a pilot-physician for them when he’s done with his medical training. We also had a 19 year-old matriculate with us. The moral here is you don’t have to go straight into medical school. You don’t have to complete your degree in four years. It is not a race to get to the finish. Everyone is different and you should embrace your strengths. Taking some extra time to finish your degree may help you to do better in your classes. Taking a year or more off to do research, travel, work, etc. is all in the budget when it comes to getting into medical school. All of these experiences will be formative and will only go towards developing you further as a physician and as a person. So, don’t get discouraged if things don’t work out how you planned.They rarely ever do.