Our Webinar With GSU's Pre Med Society - What Top Medical Schools Look For In Candidates

10/22/2024

Meet the Panelists

Lois Owolabi
Throughout her academic journey, Lois has been a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, serving on various committees to improve the climate for underrepresented and marginalized groups. In high school, she was a track and field athlete but also spent a large time competitively speaking as a poetry interpreter, extemporaneous speaker, and debater at Texas University Interscholastic League competitions. As an Honors student in the Polymathic Scholars Program, Lois researched how undergraduate institutions can use video games to support student learning. 
Transcript

Introductions

I'd love to get going. My name is Andrea, I'm your moderator for tonight's discussion. Thank you for joining us. We’re excited to be here, thank you for making the time out of your busy lives to chat with us. So, the topic tonight and overall is what top medical schools look for in candidates.

Now, before we get into the presentation, I do have a couple of housekeeping rules, so to speak. First and foremost, this webinar is recorded. We're looking at 45 minutes. Now, the majority of that 45 minutes will be a conversation about the key qualities top med schools value, building a compelling application, mastering the interview process, and of course, insights from our panelist today, who will be introducing herself momentarily. It is recorded, so you will receive a recording in your inbox within a day or two, so if you do have to step out or add to your notes later on, not to worry, we’ll make sure that you receive this recording.

‍Now, before we really begin, just a moment to share who we are and why we are in a position to speak to you today. What gives us credibility, the knowledge… because you might not know who we are. If you do, and you've been on our webinars before, awesome! It’s nice to have you back. We’re Inspira Advantage. We’re a global admissions consulting and test prep firm with 15 years of experience specializing in healthcare-related graduate programs, including medical, dental, veterinary, PA, and nursing schools. We have a 94% acceptance rate and aim to maximize applicants' chances of success.

‍We emphasize early prep, offering pre-health advising and profile development for college freshmen. Our services include academic advising, finding and researching clinical opportunities, and building a unique profile to help students. We provide specialized one-on-one tutoring, beginning with a diagnostic test to assess students' strengths and weaknesses. We build custom study plans to track progress, and through interim tests, our MCAT students see an average of a 15-point score increase, with guarantees for our programs.

Our all-inclusive application programs offer support to students through the entire application process, including profile analysis, crafting personal statements, school selection, unlimited essay edits, post-application interview prep, and support for scholarships, waitlist strategies, etc. Our goal is to get you into your dream school and make sure you end up where you want to be. We also offer free consultations to help guide students through the process.

With that being said, I’d love to pass it off to our panelist today to introduce herself.

Yes, thank you so much, Andreja. Hi everybody, my name is Lois. I am a fourth-year medical student at Harvard Medical School, and I’m also an admissions counselor with Inspira Advantage. My interests in medicine include general surgery, vascular surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, trauma surgery, and global medicine. If you’re interested in any of those fields, I’d be happy to talk to you.

Key Qualities Medical Schools Value 3:08

So today, we’ll be talking about the key things that top medical schools value.


The first thing that I want to touch on is academic excellence. Schools are looking at your report card, looking at your application, and thinking about having students who have consistently high GPAs. It doesn’t have to be a 4.0, but something that still shows that you can handle the academic rigor of the school. Similarly, you want to have a competitive MCAT score, and again, that can vary depending on which school you’re applying to. The way I think about GPAs and MCAT scores for applicants is: one, is it proximal to the median of that school? Is it somewhere in the range of what that school accepts? And if one is weak, does the other one sort of support the other? So if you have a low MCAT score, usually students will have a higher GPA to sort of support that they can handle the academic rigor.

Another major thing that schools are looking for is leadership. I know that it’s easy for a lot of us to join organizations and participate in them, and that’s great. But if you are not necessarily showcasing leadership—maybe not in a traditional president or vice president of an organization—but clearly through some passion-focused or passionate in a group or in a program, we’re looking for ways that students have shown that they really care about something. That’s usually through leadership in orgs or projects or initiatives that they spearhead.

Another major thing is research experience. Many programs are research-heavy. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to have publications or papers published, because I know that the process to getting to that can be really difficult too. But the way I think about it is: does this person show curiosity, intellectual curiosity, outside of just their required coursework? That’s what I think about. So, it doesn’t have to be traditional wet lab research, but anywhere, any way where you showed that you had a question about something, explored that question, found some results or found some answers to the question that you had. And that can be in many forms, either through traditional bench research, clinical research, writing papers, writing a thesis, some sort of way where you show that you had curiosity and you did something about that.

Other things that we look for is commitment to service. Right, if you are trying to market that you want to be a clinician, or PA student, or a nurse, or a veterinarian, we want to see that, you know, in your free time, you actually do the things that are something in that sphere that show that you like supporting people and helping others, or animals, or whatever your interest is, where you’re not getting paid and you’re not getting a grade, but you do spend that time and it fills your cup.

We also are looking for diversity of experiences. Many students will do a lot of the same things, and sometimes that can be a bit…not as entertaining to read through. So, if you play soccer, play a sport, play an instrument, go rock climbing, love watching movies and can showcase that in your application, I think it shows that you are a human being beyond the grades, beyond the academics, and can give the interviewers and the admissions committees a more diverse view into who you are as a person.

Another thing that we love to find and read is about resilience and determination. This is as far as overcoming obstacles, persisting through challenges, or staying committed to your goals. This could be as tricky or as simple as: I had this hard class, I had this hard major, but I persisted in it. Maybe I had B’s and C’s in the beginning, and I’ve worked my way to years three and four having A’s and B’s instead. Or, COVID was a big hurdle for a lot of students to adapt to online classes, or some of them had family members that they lost during COVID, so showing how you really adapted and worked through that, and writing that in your essays or in your supplemental application, can show resilience and determination.

When I talk to students about this portion of their application, you want to write it in a way where you’re not necessarily complaining or saying, “Woe is me, I’ve been through all these struggles,” but instead talk about the things that you have done to overcome them and to become more resilient, to become a better student, a better family member, a better friend, more organized, or whatever way that you’ve been through that has made you a better or more grown person. That’s something I love to see in applications.

Building a Compelling Application Story 7:51

The next thing we’ll talk about is building a compelling application story. From the first to the last page of the application, and even in the supplemental and secondary applications, I like to read a compelling narrative. What I mean by that is, if someone writes in their primary application that they love teaching, they love learning, and they want to be a physician who teaches others, I think it bolsters your application to then have extracurricular activities that show you spending your time teaching. So teaching students, teaching people in the community, and maybe you’re not exactly teaching students—maybe you’re just a volunteer—but when you describe that volunteer experience, you might want to describe it in a teaching lens so I can further see the line between your interest in teaching, your interest in being a physician who teaches, and the things that you’ve done that show that you are a teacher and someone who enjoys teaching others.

When people are crafting this cohesive narrative, I actually don’t recommend that you start thinking about it in your first, second, or third year of college. It’s much easier to just do the things that you enjoy and then we craft that narrative at the end. Because if you start declining activities or picking activities just because of the narrative, it can show that maybe you didn’t enjoy this thing, or maybe you only chose this thing because you wanted it to look good on your application. So, when people are thinking about, “What am I going to do when I’m in college? What extracurricular am I going to pick, or what am I going to do with my gap year?” I would always just say, pick things that you enjoy, that bring you joy, that fill your cup, because it will be much easier to talk about them and describe them in your application and in the interview if you loved it.

Mastering the Interview Process - 9:42

The next thing is communicating your value, and this comes much more through just the act of practicing interviewing. A lot of us don’t feel comfortable talking ourselves up, talking about how great we are, and in the society that we live in, it can feel kind of boisterous. So, it’s something that you sort of have to practice—how to brag about yourself without sounding too full of yourself. Practicing, which is something that we do a lot at Inspira with our clients, is that we will go through scenarios where we can have you balance the line between explaining what you did and talking about the value of you as an applicant and you as a future healthcare provider. It’s a very delicate balance, and communicating your value in the application and in the interview is something that we can work through over time.

First Q&A Session - 10:46 

So this is our first opportunity for that Q&A, which I apologize for—I think I forgot to mention earlier—but yes, we have two moments of Q&A within tonight’s discussion. This is one of them. Please feel free to get your questions in, whether it’s about this particular topic or anything to do with the med school application process. We want to make sure we get all of those questions answered. Definitely get them in the chat—no question is too big or too small—get those in. I don’t see any questions right now, but I think the second check-in and that second opportunity for a Q&A, I expect there to be more questions, so we can continue on. That’ll be towards the end of today’s discussion.

Academic Excellence - 11:28

Alright, then I’ll keep going. So, we talked a little bit about the outline, but I want to dive a bit more into the academic excellence component. As I said earlier, when I’m looking at GPA and MCAT scores, for Harvard admissions for example, we are looking at a balance that shows you can handle academic rigor. Your career is not over if you’ve gotten a B, if you’ve gotten a C, right? It’s about the trend over time in most cases, and it’s about, on average, can I feel comfortable putting this student in a very rigorous medical program. And that’s often demonstrated through the difficult courses that you take at school, through your GPA, or through the excellence in your MCAT score. But it’s very rare for people to have both. In some cases, you do.

The MCAT score for some programs is a cutoff, which is why I recommend looking at the median of each school’s MCAT score to see who they are accepting. You can also look at the minimum, too, just to see what the screening value is, because sometimes they will screen applications and not review certain applications below a certain cutoff score. When people are applying, I always say pick a range of schools that have a range of MCAT scores because you actually don’t know if they really abide by that MCAT score or if they sort of just use it as a screener, or if they don’t use it at all and look at it holistically. At Harvard Med, we look at MCAT scores holistically.

The next is the rigor of your coursework. So, we are mostly looking at STEM classes, right? Because those are the types of classes you’ll be taking in medical school. So, if you pick only easy classes or if you try to avoid the STEM classes—which you cannot really do when you’re applying—you want to try to pick courses with a mix of rigor so we can see how well you can do. This also helps prepare you for medical school or for whatever program, right? Because those courses are foundational to the next set of courses you’re about to embark on during your education.

Leadership in Action - 13:38 

The next thing is leadership and action. As I talked about, leadership can look different to a lot of people, but the underlying theme is that we want to see that you’ve taken initiative in a project. So, you’re not just a participant, but maybe you were on the board, maybe you were someone who spearheaded the organization, maybe you were a founder. But what we really want to see is that you care about this group or this project, and you took a significant role in that project. What this shows us is that you have learned how to lead, how to inspire others, and most importantly, how to work in a team.

We want to see people who take on leadership roles not just in academic settings but in non-academic settings. I remember recently talking to someone who was applying to medical school but was also the captain of their soccer team—that’s really awesome, and we really value that too—that you were able to coordinate that team, be part of that team, lead that team, and consistently stay in that program all four years of high school while managing a very demanding curriculum.

We say it here: Successful leaders in medicine must communicate effectively, solve problems, and motivate those around them to achieve common goals. So, when we ask you questions about problem-solving, communication, and motivation, you could even draw from those things that you were a leader in to answer those questions to really reflect your leadership abilities. But again, it can mean a varied amount of things—academic and non-academic—so everything counts.

Research and Innovation - 15:04

The next thing is research and innovation. You may not want to be a researcher in the future, which is perfectly fine, but in many medical programs these days, most schools are looking for someone who has had some participation in research. You don’t necessarily need to have published a paper, but the way I think about it is just academic curiosity—that you have asked a question, you have explored that question, and you have found some results. So, it’s just about the experience. You could even do research in fields where you’re like, “Well, I did the research, I have this great experience I can talk about, but I may not want to do it in the future.” And that’s okay. But it just shows your commitment to not just being a learner but being an active participant in advancing medical knowledge and critical thinking skills.

We want to see people who have contributed, not just taken from schools or from bodies of thought. That’s demonstrated through research projects. What I also appreciate is for people who do different research projects—it just shows, especially if it’s related to medicine, how you know you’ve learned more about this particular topic much deeper through the experience of doing research. But mostly, again, you’re just developing these skill sets to be an investigator, and that can help you not just in medical school but throughout your life. We love to talk to students about these experiences because it shows that they’ve matured.

Commitment to Service - 16:34 

Commitment to service—I know everybody loves volunteering. It’s not the one-off volunteering events that you do, but it’s going to be a volunteering program or group that you have shown repetitive involvement in, is what I think we most value. Some students will try to fill in their application with all these single, one-off, “I volunteered here for one day,” “I volunteered there for one day.” If your application is missing some things, I wouldn’t dissuade you from including that in your application, but I think the most valuable service involvements are things that are sustained over a long period of time because it shows your commitment to that organization, to that group, and to that mission.

It also shows that you are somebody with empathy who would take and use their free time to give to somebody else. It shows that you care about your community, and that you’re someone who is invested in whatever sphere you are spending your time in, so it’s very important to have it in your application.

 Diversity of Experiences - 17:52

One that I love to really think about and appreciate in people’s applications is the diversity of experiences. It does not always have to be a science thing, it does not always have to be a STEM thing. Again, one of my classmates was a professional soccer player before he switched over. Someone I spoke to recently was also a soccer player. It doesn’t have to be soccer, but anything that’s not medicine, but just that you are passionate about, can also go on your application and can be something that you talk about. I personally love watching movies, love watching horror movies. I’ve talked about that a lot on the interview trail when I was applying, but just having a diversity of interest can also give your interviewers and your schools other dimensions and ways to look at you.

Resilience and Determination - 18:33

As we touched on earlier, resilience and determination—many students use these sections in their applications to talk about little nuances in their applications. So maybe your grades were a little bit lower early on and they’ve improved over time—it’s a perfect time to talk about this. Maybe your MCAT score wasn’t as great—it’s a perfect time to talk about this. Even if I have this outcome, this low GPA, or this MCAT score, or didn’t do well in this class, you can talk about how you grew from it, and that’s what we want to hear.

Some students try to shy away from thinking or writing about these things because they think that they are complaining. You’re not, and I actually find that it helps us get a better sense of who you are, and explains those things that otherwise we wouldn’t have color for. For example, I had a client who had a really low MCAT score, and she tried twice. We conversed and talked about what had been really hard for her, even though she had a really nice strong GPA. She said, “Oh yeah, I have a learning disability, but I didn’t want to seek accommodations for my MCAT.” And I was like, “That’s perfect, that’s fine.” So, just as long as you explain that in the application—when I’m reading about how awesome you are, and I’m wondering, “Why is this MCAT score this way?” I can see that you have this learning disability, but you didn’t want to seek accommodations, and your GPA and your academic career show that you are clearly someone who can handle the academic rigor of medical school.

Again, it’s not about complaining, but really it’s about giving color to your resilience, your determination, and explaining the nuances of your application if there’s anything that can seem slightly off.

Extracurricular Activities 20:29

Extracurricular activities—we can split these up in a couple of different ways. I think they’re all important to have in one’s application. Clinical experiences are important to have because it shows that you’ve had exposure to patient care. It shows that you’ve seen what it’s like to be a physician, or you’ve been near the care of patients, and you still want to do this.

I’ve seen people say, “I’ve spent a lot of time in the research lab, spent a lot of time in my school doing all these things,” but haven’t actually been in the hospital or haven’t seen patient care. It’s really hard for me to believe that you’ve seen the work that they do and still want to do this because sometimes you might shadow and realize, “Well, I actually don’t like this.” So, that’s why clinical experience is important.

Some people ask questions like, “What is defined as clinical experience?” Any situation or space where you were in the same breathing environment as a patient counts as clinical experience. If you are in the front checking patients in, that’s clinical experience. If you’re shadowing, that’s clinical experience. If you’re volunteering, helping patients find their rooms, helping patient families find where they’re supposed to go, giving people tours in a clinical setting—that counts. You’re in the breathing space of a patient.

Another way to gain clinical experience is through shadowing. We want to know that you’ve followed physicians, know what they do, appreciate what they do, have learned from them, and still want to do this. Again, it shows that you have been in that same space, in that room, learned a little bit more about what this job is, and you still want to do this.

The most influential or helpful activities are just non-medical activities. Again, we want to see that you are a person outside of academics, outside of medicine, and that you’re someone that I would want to work with, or be in school with, or hang out with—that you’re a person’s person. Those are all equally important activities to have, even just a little bit, in your application.

Letters of Recommendation - 22:31

Letters of recommendation—this is, I think, a very important component of an application, and I sometimes feel like students undervalue it. Sometimes you may have a cookie-cutter application: you did all the pre-med things, you went to all the pre-med programs, you volunteered at the same spots as everybody else, but you have worked with people who can vouch for you and can talk about you as a human being, how great and awesome and unique you are. That sometimes is the one piece that makes someone’s cookie-cutter application really shine.

When you are asking for letters of recommendation from people, I would always ask people that you know really well—that’s the first thing. The second thing is, if you don’t know them, I would spend time cultivating a relationship with them so that they can actually write something meaningful about you. When I ask, I always say, “Can you write me a strong letter of recommendation, not just any letter?” Because a weak letter or a negative letter can actually just destroy and break your application.

So really think about that whenever you’re asking for letters of recommendation—you want this person to be able to talk about your strengths, your leadership, your service. Sometimes this means you just give them your resume, you talk about yourself and your experiences, and they can just write it out for you. But sometimes you’ve worked with this person for many months, many years, and they can really vouch for you as a person. It ranges, and you have many letters that you can send to many programs, so if there are some people that you know really well and some people that you don’t, I would send a mix of both. That way, you can have as much support for your application as possible.

The Personal Statement - 24:19 

The personal statement—the gem of the application. So, a personal statement should reflect your journey—why medicine? That’s the question that you’re trying to answer. It shares your unique path to medicine and what motivates you. This can take many months, many weeks to draft, edit, and clean up, so always give yourself time to really polish that personal statement.

Another thing is it demonstrates your fit for a program. Many students will talk about their love for research, their interest in research, and send that off to a research institution. Some people talk about their love for community service or primary care and send that off to a primary care institution. The personal statement will really be the one way for you to tailor your application to the schools that you apply to.

Interview Prep - 25:03

When people have submitted their applications, when you submit and are working on your secondaries, at the same time I would recommend working on interview prep. I have students practice a lot of the common questions, like “Why medicine?” Even if you wrote about it, I still want to be able to know that you can say it eloquently—not too practiced, but still comfortable enough that you can hit clear points: you talk about your motivation, you talk about your values.

I have students use the STAR method to practice interviewing. So, they talk about situations and examples that show their motivations, their experiences, their values. What it also does is showcase your communication skills. Can you be professional? Can you communicate clearly? Do you demonstrate emotional intelligence? This isn’t something that comes automatically—it takes practice. That’s why Inspira is here—you have someone to practice with over time, that way you can polish yourself up, but not too polished, just enough that you are prepared when you are applying.

Time Management and Organization - 26:06 

Time management and organization—this actually starts from the get-go. It starts from college, it starts from the application process, even before you submit. Are you able to balance your academics, your extracurriculars, your personal life to show readiness for medical school? Not everybody is able to do that in the beginning—sometimes you grow into it, and that’s fine. That’s why we really appreciate the trend over time when we look at your GPA and your academics. But just by having volunteer work on your application, having extracurriculars on your application, having all this research that you’ve done, it clearly shows that you’re able to balance these things, even if it took you some time to adjust.

So just the medical school application, or the PA school application, or any of these applications by themselves, having a complete and robust one already shows that you’re able to manage your time. The key thing here: organized applicants are better prepared to handle the demands of a rigorous medical school curriculum because the demands don’t change. It’s just that you learn how to better manage it over time.

Top Three Tips for Success in the Application Cycle - 27:19 

The top three tips for success in the application cycle: One, I would say start early. Give yourself ample time to prepare each component of your application. There are things you don’t know that you don’t know, and you don’t want to realize, “Oh my gosh, I didn’t know about this application or this requirement,” the day before it’s due. So, the earlier you start, the more information you can glean, the more people you can talk to, the more advising and training and practice you can get.

Some things will come as a surprise to you because I promise there are so many little intricacies and pieces to the medical school application cycle, or any application cycle, that no one can really know everything at the same time. So, taking time and starting early can really help you form a strong, polished application.

Next is to be authentic. You really want to try to be yourself. That’s who we’re trying to admit to these schools, so be genuine. Don’t tailor yourself to what you think these schools and these programs want. Really think about what you value, what you want, and the process should help you fit and get into those places that meet your values and your goals.

And lastly, seek feedback. Ask mentors and advisors to review your materials. Take their criticism—it may not be that every single piece of criticism that you receive is something you’re going to implement, but seek feedback nonetheless so you can see multiple perspectives. I also really appreciate having multiple mentors or multiple sources of feedback so you can see the different opinions, different perspectives. Even if, for example, you write a personal statement and you send it to five different people, they’re all going to have different opinions about how you can fix it or improve it. Some of them might even be contradictory, which is when you come back to being authentic, being yourself, and you pick the ones that you think best reflect you. Those are the ones that I would recommend implementing.

Second Q&A Session - 29:10

Alright, we have a couple of questions in the chat, but I just want to ask a quick favor of those on the call with us today. We would love your feedback. I know everybody hates doing these, but we really would appreciate it if you take a minute or two to give us some feedback. It’s two or three questions about your experiences. We take it very seriously. We want to make sure that what we offer and the guidance we give is helpful and meets your needs. We love doing these webinars, and we want to ensure that you, the students, get the most out of it. Any and all feedback would be absolutely valued.

With that being said, we do have some questions in the chat, so I’d love to just pop into the question and answer period of today’s discussion.

The first question is, “This is all new information for me and very exciting. I’m in my third year. What things do we as applicants have a chance to work on and sharpen early?”

Yeah, I would talk to someone and take a cursory look at what your application could look like. That’s one thing I would say. For example, if you were to look at your resume right now, you could say, “Do I have enough shadowing experiences? Do I have volunteer experiences? Do I understand my drive for medicine?” I would look at those, and if you feel like you’re missing any, I would use the next year or two to fill in those gaps.

Because, you know, being a student in college is hard enough, and sometimes you have to focus on that one thing. But as you’re approaching either applying or approaching thinking about applying, you want to make sure you have a robust application. Sometimes I have students in their third year reflect and say, “Well, actually I don’t think I have those things yet, and I don’t really want to rush them.” That might be the time to decide to take a gap year, but you’d rather decide those things early on versus them being forced upon you. That’s why it’s good to reflect and sort of look at your resume and see what your application could look like right now.

Another thing I would think about is when you want to take the MCAT if you haven’t taken it already. Some students look at the MCAT and see what portions of the exam they are prepared for or not. For example, chemistry and physics are requirements. A lot of students take chemistry, but not everybody takes physics by their third or fourth year. If you haven’t already and are looking for when is the best time to take it, I would start reflecting on that. You want to make sure you have a good MCAT score, so I’d start thinking about that early.

Great advice. The next question is, “Where’s the best place to look for mentors, and how do you know what makes a good mentor?”

Yeah, that’s a great question. I think one great place is student organizations. There are places in your school, most likely, where they have organizations for pre-med students. Sometimes they have pre-med fraternities, sometimes they have pre-med service groups. I would look at seniors in those groups and see what they’re doing. Ask them for advice. Ask them, “What things did you not know that you wish someone would have told you at this time?” That’s always a good question to ask.

I would also look at existing physicians in your community, whether it’s primary care doctors, surgeons—anybody—and ask them, “How did you get to where you are, and what things do you think I should know?” So, I would look at people who are either on the path to doing what you want to do or already doing what you want to do. Those are the best mentors.

Not everybody is the best or the most active, which is why it’s nice to have a diversity of people—two or three upperclassmen, two or three physicians, two or three counselors and advisors—to get a varied sense of what their perspectives are. Then, just take the ones that you think are most authentic for you.

Love these questions, and I think everyone is getting a lot out of them. So again, we really appreciate them. Next question: “Does working in a pharmacy count as some sort of clinical experience? I was a little bit confused as it’s not directly related to patient care.”

Yes, it does. Being a pharmaceutical patient care technician does in fact count because those are patients who were at the clinic not too long ago and are now at the pharmacy getting their prescriptions. So, those are patients that you’re serving. Yes, it does definitely count.

And I’d love to ask a wider question: is there anything that we missed in today’s presentation that you’d love to chat about? Anything we may have missed that just comes to mind from all your years of experience?

I think authenticity is a major thing, and the amount of preparation needed, which sounds counterintuitive, right? You’d think if you are over-prepared, you may not sound as authentic, but there are certain questions and reflections that most students don’t do or go through until they are in front of an interviewer.

If you practice interviewing, someone somewhere will ask you a difficult question that will cause you to pause and think. It’s good to have paused and thought about that question in a low-stakes environment rather than having to do it in a high-stakes environment. There are some people who are really good at extemporaneous speaking and have a very clear vision, and they can do it in the moment, but I always encourage people to repeatedly do interview practice so that you’ve really had time to reflect on your motivations, your passions, and your vision for medicine or for whatever area in the medical field that you want to do. When you are explaining it in a high-stakes environment, it comes out well, clean, and clear.

Awesome. Don’t see any more questions in the chat, so I’d love to give everyone just a minute or two to get in those last questions, those last responses. I know it’s a lot of information, but we want to make sure we at least give you a moment to digest.

What is your number one piece of advice for someone early on who is thinking about applying? Whether it’s specifically about applying or the MCAT, anything that they need to know?

I would just do the things that you’re excited about. They might not fit cleanly or clearly into a narrative of why medicine or wanting to be a physician, but I think that if you do the things that you’re excited about and that interest you, when you talk about it in the interview, it will show. I think that the students who are most excited about the things that they do and can later spin it into how it connects to medicine are the ones who are the people that we are most excited to admit.

If you just do things that you think are required—not to knock off the fact that you do have to volunteer, even if you don’t love this particular area of volunteering, or you don’t love this hospital unit—you still have to do it, and that’s okay, right? But if you have things in your application that you are excited about and you're excited to talk about, it will show in your application. That energy will just make you a more inviting person and that’s someone that we want, right? In medical school, we want someone who is excited and passionate about something. We want that person in a class.

Yeah, great advice. So, next question: “How would you go about getting an internship? What steps would you take?”

Okay, that’s a great question. So, internships for summer roles in medicine or the pre-med world are a little bit different. There are a couple of things you can do. If you’re thinking, “I want to get an internship to do research, to just get a researcher,” most schools have programs and funding to help undergraduate students do summer research. So, I would look internally first. Look at your science program and see what you can find. Sometimes you can even Google research labs on your campus because they may have space and funding to take on a student. If you show that you're interested in their topic or whatever, I would reach out to them.

The way that I would do that is: I would read about what that lab does, maybe read one or two of their papers, and then send an email to the PI (Principal Investigator) or someone in the lab and say that, “I’m interested in your research lab. I’ve read about this paper, this thing, and I would love to contribute or I would love to learn more.” So, when you reach out, try to be as informed as you can be. That’s one way.

Second way is: major academic institutions also get money from the NIH (National Institute of Health) for students to do research. So, I would go online and look at the NIH. They have different divisions, so maybe you're interested in cardiology or geriatrics or pediatrics—there’s always some way for undergraduate students or post-baccalaureate students to do research and get funded for that. That’s another thing you can do.

Some people like to just use that summer to shadow. If you're looking for ways to shadow, I would either contact major hospitals, which have shadowing programs for medical students. If not, you can also cold email physicians and say, “Hi, can I follow you for this day or these two days to see what you do and ask you some questions?”

Again, I would be a bit informed about how you go about it. See if you can research that physician, see what they do, what their specialty is, what their background is like. That way, you can ask them informed questions, and you can get a better sense of what’s going on in that hospital or in that OR (Operating Room) when you're there. So, research is one, shadowing is another. You can honestly do any internship that shows that you’re excited about medicine.

Most students do it either through research or through shadowing, but if you find a role that pays for the summer and is somehow tangentially related to medicine, it's all fair game. Again, I would just look on my school’s website for opportunities and reach out and apply to those. That’s usually the best way. But if you have a primary care physician that you go to, I would ask them, “Can I shadow you for a couple of days?” Or if you have a dermatologist that you go to, I would ask them, “Can I shadow you for a couple of days?” Those are great ways to just be involved in the medical sphere to show that you are passionate about medicine.

I love these questions! So, if there’s anything else you need us to expand on, or anything you need us to touch base on, please use this time. If not, I’ll give everyone just a minute or two to get in those final questions.

Okay, I love this question, and I think you're an expert on this. Well, you’re an expert on the entire topic, but somebody’s asking: “Do you have any tips to help pass the MCAT?” I think that would be a really great way to end tonight’s webinar—with some thoughts on the MCAT and making sure you get that top score.

Yeah, yeah. So, I think the most important way to pass the MCAT is to practice it. I think it’s a test that’s very unique, and there’s no full way to be fully prepared except by taking practice exams. That’s the one thing that I think some students miss out on—they do a lot of studying, they review a lot of books, but they don’t simulate the process of sitting down for seven hours and taking a test. The MCAT has practice exams that they have, but through Inspira, we also guide students with prepping for the MCAT.

Even before you get to us, what I like to ask students to do is: whatever major you're in, there are some STEM classes that you have to take that are just part of the requirements for applying to medical school. I would look at what the MCAT covers—so that’s chemistry, physics, biology, biochemistry—and I would try to utilize my time in undergraduate school to make sure I hit those courses and I do really well in them so that it's essentially like you are pre-prepared for that exam.

If you don’t have time to finish those courses, I would just know that I would have to spend extra time in those areas when I’m practicing to ensure that I’m able to demonstrate proficiency in that section of the MCAT. So, my top two things are making sure you cover those topics, either through class or through prep work or through review, and taking timed practice exams so that you can simulate the MCAT testing setting. That way, it feels exactly the same when you're taking it in real life. Those MCAT practice tests are scored, so you can even gauge what you're going to get when you take those exams. So, that’s what I would say—making sure that you take practice tests is really big.

Great advice. Well, we’re approaching 45 minutes, so I think this is a great time to wrap up tonight’s webinar. We’re right on schedule! Thank you so much for being here tonight. Hopefully, we answered all your questions, but please don’t hesitate to reach out with any additional questions. If I can’t answer them, Lois can answer them, and we’ll make sure somebody on our team does.

Closing Remarks - 41:10 

We’re here, we’re willing, and we’re always able to assist you in any way that we can. Additionally, feel free to book a free consultation with us, where we can go further in-depth into your story and your needs, and make sure that we help guide you through this process. I hope everyone has a wonderful evening, and we look forward to having you on the next webinar!

Thank you, everyone! Bye!

What We'll Cover: