December 3, 2013
Article by Global Pre-Meds
Hospital doctor shadowing & global health experience programs.
Many of us use very creative email addresses that swing from mildly amusing to completely dorky. While your circle of friends may see the humour in your choice of email address, the interviewing committee may not. Moreover, they may doubt your maturity and your level of professionalism. Keep your off-beat email address for personal correspondence only and create a new email address to use when applying to medical schools.
Religion and politics are controversial topics at the best of times and even more so when it comes to medical school. You could be treading dangerous grounds if you refer to politics or religion in any context in your application. Medical school authorities want to know that you are capable of rising above your religious and political beliefs when it comes to treating patients whose views clash with yours.
When reading tips on applying to medical school, you will read a lot about how mentioning your passion and fields of interest can give you the competitive edge. Yes, that’s true but interviewers do not want to know about your stamp or coin collection. What they want to know more about is what are your passions and interests that relate to medicine and which make you an ideal medical student. Don’t try to fill up your application space with irrelevant details.
So you followed the trend and took a gap year. Gap year experiences make great fodder for med school application. But here’s the catch – it only counts if you took the opportunity to engage in some kind of medical-related experience. Mentioning the culinary tour that you did during your gap year will only cause the school authorities to doubt your sincerity towards a medical profession. Best to leave it out. However shadowing a physician at your local hospital, doing a medical placement abroad or volunteering with a healthcare establishment will add tremendous weight to your application.
We all have our weaknesses but an application is no place to highlight yours. Do not include any unflattering information or any details that may prompt interviewers to want to find out more about your weaknesses. It is advisable to be honest when replying to any questions during the interview, but there is no need to call unnecessary attention to anything that can hurt your chances of getting admission.