Pre-Med Preparation: Getting Letters of Recommendation

by Christian Becker, Author of The Official Student Doctor Network Medical School Admissions Guide

In my last article for SDN, I addressed the importance of physician shadowing and clinical experience. This time, I want to focus on recommendation letters.

Recommendation letters are used by admission committees and are part of your application. To get good letters, participation in extracurricular activities and positive interactions with faculty and physicians are important.

Admissions committees see on the application what activities you have listed, but recommendation letters tell them how you interact with people, what type of person you are, and (hopefully) stress your good qualities and support your application to medical school. Read more »

Why Study Medicine? Pre-meds not in it for the money, survey says

by Charles Daniel and Michael O’Brien
SDN Staff Writers

For some, the answer to the question, “Why do you want to study medicine?” is a simple one: to make money.  These individuals, however, are in a shrinking minority, a recent survey has found.  Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions examined the responses of 914 students in its medical and law school preparatory courses to examine their motivations for professional study.  It seems that even as the traditional financial windfalls associated with medicine continue to wane, students’ passion for medical study is as fiery as ever.  In fact, less than half of pre-med respondents indicated their future earning potential “very much” or “somewhat” influenced their decision to study medicine.  But what does this mean?  Pre-professional students are notorious for their exaggerated claims of altruism while the true and ulterior motivation remains the big salary.  …or at least that was the belief.  Read more »

Pre-Med Preparation: The Importance of Physician Shadowing

by Christian Becker, Author of The Official Student Doctor Network Medical School Admissions Guide

Physician shadowing, in my opinion, is one of the best extracurricular activities in which a pre-medical student can engage for several reasons:

1. It provides you with clinical exposure and stories to talk about in the admission interview.
2. Shadowing allows you to see what medicine and a physician’s life are like every day.
3. You will quickly discover if medicine is really for you.
4. It’s easy to set up and do.
5. It’s one of those “intangible” (and unofficial) requirements to get into medical school.

For purposes of this discussion, shadowing really boils down to one thing: clinical exposure. If you already have worked as a nurse or medical assistant with ample patient and physician contact and interaction, you really don’t need any shadowing, or at least not much. It’s an easy way to get that important clinical exposure that can make or break your application.  Read more »

Trick Question

by Jeremiah Fleenor, MD, MBA
Author of The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success

“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”
James Thurber (1894 -1961)

As the second half of the interview season begins, I want to provide some insight into one of the most common, but deceptively tricky, questions asked during an interview. This question was posed to me in every one of my interviews, and I suspect that many of you will also face this potentially silent killer: “So, can you tell me a little about yourself?”   Read more »

20 Questions - Sleep Medicine

by Sarah M. Lawrence
SDN Staff Writer

Michael Rack, MD grew up in Southern California. He graduated from the University of Iowa College of Medicine in 1997. He completed combined residencies in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at West Virginia University-Morgantown in 2002. He completed a Sleep Disorders Medicine fellowship at the University of Mississippi in 2003. He stayed on at the University of Mississippi as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Internal Medicine until 2005, when he left to start Somnus Sleep Clinic in Flowood, MS. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Psychiatry), and the American Board of Sleep Medicine. He is a member of the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.  Read more »

Forum Remix: Trauma Care in the Prehospital Setting

by Alison Hayward, M.D.
SDN Staff Writer

Mark J. Seamon , M.D. is the director of trauma research at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. He has a keen interest in pre-hospital care and how pre-hospital interventions affect trauma patients, and recently published an article in the Journal of Trauma titled “Prehospital Procedures Before Emergency Department Thoracotomy: ‘Scoop and Run’ Saves Lives” which was hotly debated in SDN’s Pre-Hospital Forum. Read more »

Interview Preparation: Part 2 [Interview Advice Column]

by Jeremiah Fleenor, MD, author of “The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success“

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Part 1 of this series dealt with how to gather and organize the personal information you want to convey during interviews. Now that you have collected that information, you’re ready to practice delivering it in a smooth, professional way. Read more »

The Pre-Health Curriculum: Beyond Math & Science

By Sneha Mantri
SDN Staff Writer

For any college student, finding interesting courses to fulfill graduation requirements can be a difficult task. For pre-health students, choices have historically been limited; humanities courses were often perceived as having little in common with the health professions.

Recently, however, undergraduate institutions have begun to reflect the general trend toward the integration—not the separation—of health and the humanities. Read more »

Interview Preparation (Part I): Interview Advice Column

By Jeremiah Fleenor, MD, MBA, author of The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success

“Never discourage anyone…who continually makes progress…”
Plato (427 BC - 347 BC)

When I look around, everything tells me fall is in the air: school is back in session, the weather is becoming slightly cooler and the smell of OChem lab lingers on my clothes. If you’re half the dork I am, the smell of a new textbook is a welcome aroma. It represents a fresh start and being one step closer to becoming a physician.

All of these indicate there is another interview season upon us. Accordingly, this two-part series is dedicated to helping prospective medical students prepare for upcoming interviews. Read more »

Volunteer Profile: QofQuimica

QofQuimica is currently a second-year allopathic medical student. After college, she went to graduate school and earned her M.S. in medicinal chemistry. She then worked as a lab tech and in a doctor’s office before returning to school to earn her PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry.

In August 2004, Q took the MCAT and scored a 43S. She began giving MCAT advice on SDN when she joined as a member in October 2004. Q joined the SDN staff in June 2005 as an advisor for the MCAT Study Questions subforum and later became MCAT forum moderator. She now oversees all of the SDN premedical forums. Recently, SDN spoke with Q to get her input on preparing for and taking the MCAT. 

Read more »

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