Recent content by Drako

It seems to be a racketeering scheme to make more money for the corporations that are the ABMS and its affiliates. Read this article on the AAPS website to be more informed about this issue. Especially interesting are the federal tax filings of the various boards. "Follow the money."

Do you know of a medical school where first-year med students work along side the school's Deans to improve the curriculum? I can answer in the affirmative for UCSF because I have personal experience. In fact, I am going to be working with one of my Deans again to improve a certain segment of...

I don't know if most students buy all the required text books. I didn't buy them all for one, but I also bought titles that were not recommended by the school. They were recommended to me by either my classmates or the previous classes. I had personal reasons not to buy certain text and opted...

My God, it seems like only yesterday that I went through this. Good luck folks!

Why do you hate UCSF? And Yes, you can see the GG Bridge from the Anatomy Lab and the northern part of the city from beach to beach!

Don't worry about the 15-minutes chat with one of the Deans. It is just to see whether or not you enjoyed the interview day and process. Did you get to talk to Linda? She is the bomb (i.e. awesome!).

Why would it be tacky? The people who interview you give up their valuable time voluntarily in the hope that they will get to know you beyond the numbers presented on your applications. At least, thank them for that. More, it is a priviledge and not a right to be interviewed. You should...

Write something that is personal to you, something that has given you a learning experience. The AdCom is looking for a difficult situation that you found yourself in, how you dealt with that situation, what did you gain/learn, and if your solution is a testimony for the ability to think and...

In which newspaper is the news published?

The MCAT requires you to know the basic concepts. The details will be in the passages and you will have to dig through them to find what you need. That is the nature of the exam. However, it would only help you if you know all that you could know (notice I don't say "all that you have to...

I will second (or third or fourth) the clinical experience exposure advice. I will add that it would be very good for you if you could find a local community clinic, serving the poor, to spend your free time in every week. If you still have some time, add to that volunteer list a hospital...

Is it a fill-able pdf file? I will assume that it is a fillable pdf file. The only way for you to get more words in there is to have Acrobat, the full version, and use it to modify the word limit in each field. OR to print it out and use the hold fashion typewriter. Whoever made the...

IMHO, that book deserves to go in the trash can

Some schools don't screen and some screen. If you read the schools' websites, then you will come accross examples. Does it even matter? If you get a secondary, then you get one and would have to decide whether or not to fill it out and send it back with a check.

Why do you need to print out your AMCAS application? Are the school wanting paper copies this year? AMCAS messing up again? I save trees and ink by saving webpages as an archival html document. If you are using IE 5.5 and later version (which you should), then you would go to File >...