Medical School Secondary Applications: After-College Activities

Now that taking time off before medical school is completely accepted (and often encouraged), many secondaries ask about after-college activities:

1. Please indicate your activities for the xxxx-yyyy year. If you are in school, please list your courses. If you are working, please describe the nature of your job.

2. If you have already graduated, briefly summarize your activities since graduation.

3. What have you done since college?

If you are still in college when applying to medical school, you will leave this question blank unless instructed otherwise. If you have just graduated, feel free to discuss your summer activities and upcoming plans before matriculation into medical school. And if you have taken time off, use this section to flesh out what you have done more fully than was allowed on the AMCAS activities list.

Overwhelmed by secondary applications? E-mail info@MDadmit.com to put a Harvard/Stanford MD, published author, and expert editor to work for you!

Check out www.MDadmit.com for more information.

Medical School Secondary Applications: Qualities/Characteristics

Medical schools love to ask you about what qualities you possess that will make you a great physician: 

1. Describe the distinguishable characteristics you possess and tell us how you think these characteristics will enhance your success as a medical student and future physician.
   
   
2. In addition to academic and intellectual achievement, what do you believe are the three most important qualities that a physician or physician/scientist must have to be successful in the current health care environment and why?

3. Describe the top 3 distinguishable characteristics (non-academic) you possess and tell us how you think these characteristics will enhance your success as a medical student and future physician.

Start by brainstorming a list of characteristics that you think great physicians possess.  Here’s a short list from the top of my head in no particular order:

Psychological maturity

Character and integrity

Self-discipline

Judgment

Compassion and empathy

Communication skills

Concern for helping others

Intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm

Analytical and problem-solving ability           

Motivation and persistence

Reliability and dependability

Resilience and adaptability

Accountability

Leadership skills

Teamwork skills

Experience with and knowledge of medicine

Choose the qualities that you possess and that can be backed up with examples from your own life.  For example, if you that you have leadership skills, be sure that you have leadership experiences to prove it.

Looking for help on how to answer secondary essay questions? E-mail info@MDadmit.com to put a Harvard/Stanford MD and medical school admissions expert to work for you!

Check out www.MDadmit.com for more information.

Medical School Secondary Applications: Research

  Some secondary questions focus specifically on research or scholarly activities:

1. Although research is not a pre-requisite requirement for the University Program, if you have participated in a scholarly project please tell us about it. Describe your experience, including the question you pursued and how you approached it, your results and interpretation of the results, and most importantly, any thoughts about what this experience meant to you. Remember that research is broad-based and can include such projects as a senior capstone or a thesis and can include both medical and non medically-related investigations.

2. What self-education, research, or independent scholastic work have you undertaken and what do you feel you have accomplished in this work?

Don’t panic if you have not published in Nature or performed amazing bench research.  “Research” is a broad term and can include investigations in public health, health policy, and international health. You can even include non-medically oriented research.

Exhausted?  Overwhelmed with secondaries? E-mail info@MDadmit.com to put a Harvard/Stanford MD and medical school admissions insider to work for you!

Check out www.MDadmit.com for more information.

Medical School Secondary Applications: Most Important Activity

Many secondary applications ask you to highlight one particular experience listed on the AMCAS.  They often want to hear about clinical exposure. Examples of most important activity questions include:

1.     From among the activities and experiences listed in your AMCAS application, please select one activity or experience that has most impacted your decision to undertake a career in health care. Please describe your role in the activity/experience and how this activity helped you make the decision to apply to medical school.

2.     What has been your most important exposure to clinical medicine?

3.     Briefly describe your most rewarding experience or some achievement of which you are particularly proud.

Though it may feel repetitive, you will often be describing activities already listed in the application.  This is a chance to explain these activities more fully and highlight those most important to you.  Focus on experiences that show dedication, leadership, or unique skills.

Overwhelmed by secondary applications? E-mail info@MDadmit.com to put a Harvard/Stanford MD, published author, and expert editor to work for you!

Check out www.MDadmit.com for more information.