By Carleen Eaton, M.D.

“Describe your clinical experiences.” This seemingly innocuous statement appears everywhere during the application process, from secondary applications to interviews. After some thought, you recall the time that you broke your toe and spent twelve hours waiting in the E.R. Being highly observant, you perked up every time someone in scrubs walked by, thus turning your tenure as a patient into a stealth physician shadowing experience.  Good enough? Not quite. Even if your application is packed with community service volunteering, research papers and A’s, you still need to show that you have been immersed in the clinical environment and emerged with a clear idea of what a physician’s job actually entails.

There are endless ways to gain such experience; however, I sometimes hear from applicants that they volunteered only briefly because, far from the glamorous goings-on they imagined, they were limited to delivering meals, stocking supply cabinets and doing paperwork. The reality is, many volunteer positions don’t involve constant hands-on patient care, yet that doesn’t mean that they aren’t valuable

First, simply spending time in a hospital, clinic or physician’s office gives you crucial information.  You learn the sights, sounds and yes, even the unique smells, of the hospital. You find out if you flourish in an intense, busy environment, which is important, since that is where you will be spending most of your days, and many of your nights, during the coming years.  As a volunteer, you will frequently be interacting with members of the healthcare team such as R.N.s, occupational therapists and nurse assistants. From this, you can learn what each of their roles is and understand the broader picture of how patient care is provided. And when that interaction with a physician does come along, it might lead to a conversation in which you reveal that you are a premedical student who would love the chance to shadow a doctor. After all, as a hospital volunteer, you are in a building full of physicians; take the initiative and turn the days delivering flowers into nights spent watching an E.R. doctor in action.

You can greatly increase your level of responsibility and patient contact by investing some time into obtaining a certification. As a trained EMT, phlebotomist, medical translator or even a nurse assistant, you will have the skills to work more directly with patients. With such certification, you can find either paid or volunteer positions transporting patients, drawing specimens or performing basic patient care.

Finding your niche means getting out there and looking for opportunities. Try your local community hospital, clinics or family physician for shadowing, employment or volunteer work in a clinical setting.  Each experience will add to your knowledge about the medical profession, your understanding of your own career goals and the committee’s confidence that you really want to become a physician.

By Carleen Eaton, M.D.

Your plan was a simple one: go to college, medical school and then residency and follow up with a long, rewarding career as a physician. However, life may not be going with the game plan. You may realize that you need, or want, some extra time to after college to get ready for medical school or do a few of the things that four years of premedical coursework didn’t allow for. Or, this extra time may be the result of an unsuccessful application cycle. Either way, keep in mind that a year off from school doesn’t mean a year off from improving your chances of admission.

The first step in making the next year a productive one is to honestly assess each portion of your application. If you were to apply now, what areas would the admissions committee see as your strengths and weaknesses? Seek the help of an advisor or mentor to determine which areas to work on and where to focus your energy during the coming year. This plan will probably include spending the next year or two engaged in one or more of the following:

1. A post-bac program – If your undergraduate GPA is low, these programs offer a means to demonstrate to the committee your ability to handle multiple, rigorous science courses at once.  Programs range from unstructured classes taken on an individual basis to highly organized certificate or degree granting programs.

2. The MCAT –Having a year to focus on the test without also studying for other classes can be your chance to achieve the best possible score. If you have already taken the MCAT, but don’t have the score you need to be competitive, use this year to retake the exam.

3. A job – Getting paid for one’s efforts with something more concrete than an “A” is actually quite nice. If you choose your job wisely, you can also gain clinical or research experience while enjoying the monetary rewards of working.

4. Volunteer work – This can be done locally on a regular basis, or in more exotic locations for a week or even a few months. Both clinical and non-clinical community service are worth pursuing, but make sure that you have enough clinical exposure to show that you have made an informed choice about your future profession.

While you are busy doing some or all of the above, don’t forget to have fun!  A year between undergrad and med school can truly be a good thing. It provides time to do some traveling, develop new hobbies and read something that wasn’t assigned by a professor. Then, once you do get into med school, you will have your adventures backpacking through Bulgaria or volunteering in Tanzania to look back upon as you plunge into four more years of exams and grades.

By Carleen Eaton, M.D.

Waiting is a major part of an application process that can last for a full year.  After submitting the AMCAS application, some secondaries arrive in your inbox within days, but others don’t show up until months later, by which time you are certain that the school is either giving you a not-too-subtle hint, or that they have lost your file. Then, more weeks drag on as you wait for interview offers to come your way. Finally, it happens, and then even the interview is behind you. One week (or a few months) later, you at last hear the decision. Somewhere in between the thrill of an acceptance and the disappointment of a rejection is the news that you have been waitlisted. More uncertainly – and more waiting.

However, waiting doesn’t have to mean just sitting there. Even though you can’t really plan your life when you have no idea where you will be living in 9, 6 or even 3 months, you can do a few things to pass the time, and perhaps, better position yourself to be selected for a spot in the class. Specifically, keep in touch with the school.  However, be aware that schools have different policies, with some actively discouraging contact and others encouraging it.

As far as the mode of communication, phone calls are more disruptive to the very busy, and sometimes understaffed, admissions offices. In addition, putting things in writing helps to ensure that the information is included in your file. Therefore, keep calls down to once a month or so, and instead, update the schools through regular mail or e-mail. An update can include new information about classes you are taking, activities, honors or publications. These updates also serve to let the school know that you are still interested, since many students remain on waitlists despite the fact that they have received an acceptance from another, higher priority, school. Contact with the school lets them know that you really want to attend. This can be beneficial, especially in the case of an unranked waitlist, in which there is a pool of applicants that the committee reviews when a spot opens up. If the school specifically discourages updates or letters of interest, then don’t send them, unless you are submitting necessary information such as transcripts for newly completed coursework.

While the days on the waitlist slowly pass, what you really want to know is when you will hear something from the school.  Often, there is not much movement of the waitlist until May 15, at which time applicants are only supposed to be holding one acceptance. When that date hits, applicants with multiple acceptances need to make a decision, thus freeing up spots and clearing the way for another applicant to get a phone call with some great news. If you are on a wait list, that applicant could be you, and the waiting will be over since you will be IN.