Today, I wanted to talk about the non-academic Medical School requirements. Obviously, it varies from school to school slightly, although there is a good list of common requirements which I'm gonna address.
If you guys have not been following my blog posts, you might not know that I want to become a doctor. I honestly cannot imagine myself being somebody else. Medicine combines everything for me: all of my talents, skills and abilities. It is what I am living for.
Anyways, here we go with the non-acdemic part of the application:
1. Interview
THIS IS HUGE! The interview happens at the end of the application process, when all of your MCAT (and/or other) scores, GPA and other parts of the applications were submitted and reviewed.
The interview is the part which decides whether you're going to go to MedSchool, or not.
Nowadays, there are multiple ways the interviews are set up, although the majority of Medical Schools are leaning towards the MMI's (Multiple Mini Interviews). The set up is the following: There are multiple rooms with a couple of different people in it and they are asking you questions to assess your way of thinking and decide whether you will suit the profession. The questions will vary from giving you an ethical-medical scenario and you giving them resolution, to simple, standard interview questions.
2. Exposure
Obviously, the decision of becoming a doctor must be rational and solid, and a good way to solidify it, is to be exposed to the Medical Field. Whether it is through volunteering or shadowing, the decision of going into Medicine must be very well though out. The more exposure - the better. It will introduce you to different professions, specialties and responsibilities,which will help you make any decisions before you dedicate yourself to Medicine for the rest of your life.
3. Research
Medicine, is first of all a science and in order to practice Medicine, you must have been exposed to experimental science. Since it is such an innovative field, Medical Schools would love to have the applicants who possess any knowledge in research, since they will most likely be practicing it at some point later in their careers.
4. Extracurriculars
Successful MedSchool applicants are very well-rounded and in order to be well-rounded, you might want to participate in sports/clubs or any other associations of your interest. It will not only make you a well-rounded, more mature individual, but also you will have a higher chance sincerely understanding and relating to your patient's stories.
5. Certain Personal Characteristics
I will just list them in order, because I think, it's self explanatory enough :)
- leadership
- dedication
- respectfulness
- hard work
- compassion
- curiosity
- well roundedness
and many more!
6. Other
Surprisingly, there is a decent amount of people with all of those requirements, but you must make yourself very special. Whether it would be your background story, extraordinary achievements, or something else, you have to have something that makes you stand out as an applicant.
LAST, BUT ABSOLUTELY NOT LEAST:
YOU MUST WANT (WITH ALL YOUR HEART) TO BE A DOCTOR
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