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Profile Questions and Answers
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| Why medicine? What is your story? | I attended UCLA my freshmen year of college in '01 but transfered back 'home' to the University of Utah for my final 3 years, which let me ski to my little heart's content. And now after four years of college I find myself in flat but pretty Wisconsin. | read other replies on this topic |
| Are you in any special circumstances? Anything unique? | I do not think so.... | read other replies on this topic |
| What was the hardest part in preparing for med school? | Being patient. I was always looking forward to the next step, whether that was the MCAT, or applying, or interviewing. I think it is hard to get through all the hurdles while still being patient enough to allow everything to sort itself out. | read other replies on this topic |
| How much did you work while going through pre-med? | I worked as a teaching assistant during my junior year and the summer following my junior year. I taught for both the chemistry department and the biology department. I was a TA for both organic chemistry and analytical labs and I also lead a discussion section for a human physiology class. | read other replies on this topic |
| What did you do for MCAT preparation? | I did not take any of the name brand test preparation classes. I took something of an informal one...I think that the best test preparation is recognizing your strengths and weaknesses. I cannot say how much traditional prep classes help, but I would highly recommend taking as many full length practice tests as you can get access to. These tests will be great indicators of content and length and allow you to get used to the timing. | read other replies on this topic |
| How much did you shadow physicians? | I shadowed a general surgeon covering both his office visits and in the OR approximately once a week over a summer. | read other replies on this topic |
| How much did you volunteer? | I volunteered in the Emergency Department at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Salt Lake City between four and six hours a week over the course of my sophomore year of college. | read other replies on this topic |
| What clinical exposure did you have? | Both my shadowing and volunteer experiences exposed me to a variety of situations in clinical medicine. I also was a certified HIV counselor for the Student Health office at the University of Utah my senior year. | read other replies on this topic |
| What did you do for research? | I worked for year a half at the Huntsman Cancer Institute doing primarily tissue culture and bench work. I really enjoyed my research experience, I was around a lot of wonderful people, especially the post-doc I worked with. | read other replies on this topic |
| Do you have any leadership experience? | I was an Editor and officer for the Student Health Advisory Committee at the University of Utah. | read other replies on this topic |
| What suggestions do you have for the personal statement? | Do not simply repeat your resume. If the question asks why medicine, answer the question, do not repeat your activities section from your AMCAS. | read other replies on this topic |
| What suggestions do you have for the secondary applications? | Turn around your applications as fast as you can, many schools having a rolling admissions policy and the faster you get your application in the earlier you will hear about interviews. | read other replies on this topic |
| What suggestions do you have for the interview? | Try to be aware of some of the questions the school asks, although I did not know about them at the time, resources like this site or student doctor can be helpful....just remember the school is aware of the sites as well and they do read what students say. | read other replies on this topic |
| Describe your pre-med schedule, typical day and week | It was normally pretty busy, as a chemistry major, I had lots of labs between physics and chemistry especially. I also took spanish and some non-required courses like anatomy and physiology for 'enjoyment' and preparation for medical school. | read other replies on this topic |
| Did you do any other extracurricular activities? | I was a member of the Student Health Advisory Committee at the University of Utah for two years. SHAC helped/s to organize the annual health fair, we also performed HIV screenings and counseling. I also skied a lot but that is probably of little interest as far as med school apps go. | read other replies on this topic |
| How did you choose your med school? | | read other replies on this topic |
| Did you take any extra coursework in preparation for med school? | I did do extra coursework, but often times these courses either interested me or were required for graduation. | read other replies on this topic |
| Any open-ended advice? | Be patient and have some faith in yourself. The entire application process is difficult and has a lot of ups and downs, but in the end if you want to go to medical school you will find a way to make it there. | read other replies on this topic |
