Dreaming to become a doctor! Remember it’s a long road. You have to be prepared for it mentally first. If you have made up your mind to be a physician, there are some steps you have to take before making your way to med school. Here are 10 tips you should follow for getting into med school.
1. Traditional entry:
After completing four years of college degree some students apply for med school during summer vacation in the middle of junior and senior year of college. If the application is accepted, then you can manage to get into med school after a few months of completing graduation.
During this time gap, you can work on extracurricular activities and increase your GPA.
Some medical schools run direct medical programs, where they take admissions of merited students with minimum GPA and MCAT score required for their college.
On the other hand, some med schools offer an ‘early assurance program’ where they take admissions of extraordinary students without the MCAT. In this case, those students can concentrate on studies, clinical experiences, and research programs to prepare themselves for med school.
2. Prepare yourself for medical school:
Before entering a med school you need to strengthen your resume. While taking applications the admission committee prefers students who have some sort of experience in medical fields.
By evaluating the applications they can decide whether you are right for this profession or not.
So, to achieve this benchmark, you can become a certified nursing assistant (CAN), an EMT (emergency medical technician), or simply can work in labs related to this field. This is called “job shadowing”.
3. Involve yourself in research:
Some top medical schools select students who have a research interest. You can enroll yourself in undergraduate research programs and gain some experience in this field.
You can join a basic science lab or a clinical research lab to make yourself passionate about science.
You can conduct biological experiments in wet labs or dry labs according to your preference or you can just work in a cognitive psychology lab to know more about the human brain and its functions.
4. Volunteering work:
Getting into med school is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work, but also it encourages you to become a better person in the process.
To become a good doctor you need to show that you care for others and you have patience and dedication towards people in need.
You can take part in community services like beach cleaning, serving old people in old age homes, helping animals in animal shelters, or volunteering in any type of fundraiser program for the needy.
These services will help you get a good recommendation for med schools to make a career as a doctor in the future.
5. Prompt in your major subject:
Grades are not the only parameters for getting into med school. But they are extremely important for you to get an entry to a medical school. The minimum grades you need for MD are 3.7 GPA and 3.5 GPA for DO.
Most of the students who are preparing for a medical career take biology as their major in graduation. But it is not compulsory to choose biology as your major.
Students with major subjects like English, chemistry, engineering, music, or classic can also pursue a career in medicine. Just make sure your GPAs are good enough and you pass the MCAT (medical college admission test) which is organized by AAMC (Association of American medical colleges).
6. Increase your chances:
When you put your primary application, write your statement so uniquely that will stand you out among all students.
Do not have high hopes for just one med school. In case you don’t make it to your dream school it should not mean that you can’t be a doctor.
Always have a backup plan. Handle rejections gracefully and keep moving forward and keep applying for other schools until you get a call for an interview.
7. Prepared early for MCAT:
MCAT or medical college admission test requires scores between 472 and 528 and the average score for selection is 508.
So you have to prepare early for this test to score better. You can take a course for it and purchase books and do self-study which suits the best for you.
You can take as many practice tests as you can. It will help you improve and correct your mistakes. Do not swell on practice test results.
Usually, MCATs are easier than practice tests. So just relax and keep practicing.
You can join a pre-health professions association in which the members of this club will help you get ready for the test.
8. Broaden your linguistics:
As a doctor, you will get to meet a lot of people belonging to different nations and cultural backgrounds. So you need to have a good grip on languages and cultures.
You can join some medical volunteer programs where you will be able to take part in urban as well as rural hospitals and interact with patients.
These programs exclusively include students of age 18 and older. So be a part of these programs and learn new things and gain life experience.
9. Focus on extracurricular activities:
Doing homework and sitting at home will not help you get into med school only. You need to show more to be a worthy applicant.
In the application, you can attach recommendation letters and personal letters explaining your extracurricular activities.
These activities could be related to research, music, volunteer work, or any kind of skill that will indicate your potential and dedication to being a future doctor.
10. Being honest and maintaining originality in interviews:
Med schools expect their students to be honest and polite and are suitable for their college environment.
When you go for an interview, look for your body language, posture, and behavior with the staff.
You can join your ‘school career service office’ where they will teach you how to appear in interviews and impress your interviewer.
Conclusion;
In the interview, you will be asked about your inspiration for pursuing medical as your profession. Do not answer it with a general statement like ‘I want to help people. It is the motive. But give full detail about your journey to becoming a doctor with a reasonable cause. It is not easy to be a doctor but, it is worth striving for.
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