WHERE YOU GO
So in the grand scheme of things the pretty seal attached to a piece of paper that will hang on a wall somewhere doesn’t really matter. You’re going to get a real similar education no matter where you go.
By education I mean that you’ll have someone teach all your classes for the most part (there’s always the sweet Rock and Roll History class online, Van Halen will be the teacher for the most partJ), books you buy and read from, and tests you take to gauge your knowledge.
Professors may vary form the Bill Nye the Science Guy type to the Ben Stein’s of Growing Pains. But all in all Harvard is Oklahoma State. Pick a place that you want to go, can afford, think would be fun, has certain things that maybe you want.
DEGREE
The old adage is you should get a degree in something you can fall back on in case medical school doesn’t work out. I find this to be great advice, greatly ambiguous. As I speak with a lot of graduates who went out after the bachelor degree to get a job, they all say a lot of getting a job was about experience, whether as a volunteer, part-time, or full-time employee prior to graduating. The exceptions are teachers and engineers. Everyone else seems to have to find “ins” in different ways depending on the desired job. So make a determination to go to med school and jam through it all the way, and then go pick whatever degree you want whose classes interest you, or that is “easy” so that you have time to focus on your premed req’s and MCAT.
The only additional advice is that if you pick something Bio or Biochemistry related then you will have a little bit more classes potentially on material that you will cover AGAIN in medical school. People have said both ways, it was helpful, and others not so much.
There are some extra classes though that I thought were helpful and paid some fatty dividends on the MCAT and in med school. If you can plug these in somewhere without maxing yourself out, then you’ll be golden.
PRE-MED REQUIRED CLASSES
- General Info
- So turns out you DO use SOME of the stuff you learn in these classes in medical knowledge. ALOT of it is tested on the MCAT so good studying and the least amount of cramming you can do the better. You’ll need this stuff long-term not just for the GPA booster. It will hook you up with a good foundation of how things work like reactions, gradients, intense equations for simple process’s, etc. I’ll highlight some of the stuff I’ve seen from each of the classes that has been helpful in med school.
- But most important is the fact that one of the quick glances by admissions places is the “Science GPA”. Which is most of your pre-req’s. So schedule yourself up plenty of study time to get some rocker grades here.
- General Chemistry (2 Basic classes)
- Some of the ideas of bonds, general idea of reactions moving forward, catalysts (enzymes)
- Organic Chemistry (2 Basic classes)
- LOTS, reactions, shapes of molecules, electron movement, names of molecules, reversible reactions,
- Biochemistry (Optional – 1 class)
- Glycolysis, TCA cycle, anything with reference to DNA, genes, etc.
- Biology (2 Basic classes)
- Cell biology, some of the population stuff, anything relating to the body and its parts was stellar.
- Physics (2 Basic classes)
- Working all the equations forwards and backwards is a priceless skill. Physiology in med school is a beast for equation understanding if you’re weak in that department.
- Math
- English (2 Basic classes)
- Knowing how to read is surprisingly helpful.
- BIO – Nursing
- So at ASU they had these BIO classes for the nursing program that went more in depth into cell bio, organs, etc. This was pretty much like a class out of medical school. Find something like that at your school and you’ll be stoked your first year in to med school.
- Animal Physiology
- This is what they called it at ASU, it was basically about how neurons fire, lung breaths, and heart beats and pumps. There are some concepts that take some time to wrap your head around and these were all covered in med school to the same degree, maybe a little more. Biggy benefits if you take something like this.
- Raquetball
- Gotta know how to blow off some steam, relax, and realize that you have to break in your 4 year IronMan study triathalon. Random classes can introduce you to your new favorite pass time.
This was perhaps the most exploited area of “beefing” the resume for interviews when I was in undergrad. People would run around joining 30 clubs, campaigning for leadership positions, and doing socials .... but then ..... GPA’s would slip and there was no time for MCAT super prep. While extra-curric's are good and they have their merit, if it takes your time away from studying for your classes and MCAT then it’s a total waste. The first hurdle to overcome in the application process is having a stellar MCAT score. Extra stuff is good for small talk when you get to the final hurdle, the interview. So if you find you have extra time go find some club you dig on and join on up.
RESEARCH
Within universities there are all sorts of professors conducting research within the sciences departments. If you ask one of your professors or go see an administrator of any science department they can let you know of opportunities.
Usually you help out with an experiment, take data, and help write the research paper. If a research paper gets "published" in a scientific journal it will have your name in it as a contributor.
This is a bonus for the application process and is a good conversation starter in the interview. But same thing with extracurricular stuff, if it takes too much time away form studying for your classes and MCAT, it might be a good idea to hold off on it until you are done with the test.
SHADOWING DOCTORS
This is something that almost all pre-med students do. What you do is call up a doctor ask if you can "shadow" or basically walk around with him as he see's patients. This is a good time to see what the different specialties are like, what your future job will be, and get a letter of recommendation for your med school application.
It does not have to be for a long time, and usually you can decide when you show up and leave. Feel it out and decide what you want to get out of it then approach it in that way.
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
Ahhhhhhhhhhh the coveted letters of recommendation. These babies will boost your self confidence and make you feel like ALL schools should be taking you to dinner and trying to win your acceptance. :) These letters are sent with your application to every medical school you apply to.
They can be written by doctors you've shadowed with, professors, club faculty advisers, volunteering supervisors, etc. But usually not not written by anyone that is family (parents, siblings, sousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.)
There are 2 types of letters that usually get written, 1 a form letter (one that's been pre-written and your name is added to blank areas and little to none additional elaboration is made), 2 an original, super specific to you letter. The latter one is more desirable for sure right? :)
My opinion on asking for one is to just ask. Usually I waited a bit until the person had gotten to know me then I would just ask if they would be willing to write a letter after my shadowing or volunteering was completed.
One idea to help out the person writing the letter is to give them a "template". This is a letter you wrote about yourself specific to the experiences you had with that person. Have this edited by someone that has an intense command of English grammar and then give it to the person who offered to write the letter for you.
Try to gather letters all along the way, from Freshman - Senior year. Doing this will help you get a good variety of letters, you will have some to pick from when applying, and you'll find ways to improve yourself and your interactions with people so as to acquire a good recommendation.
