Thinking of Medical school in the Caribbean? Think again says NY.

Photo by atran.photography

Originally, I was going to post a series of interesting news about medical students in Canada. Indeed, during my search I came across at least a couple of  things I wanted to discuss with you. That was until I came across a really relevant article in the NY Times. As I have written previously about the Caribbean schools - even that little guide stirred some debate in the comments. It seems everything is changing these days - MCAT requirements and autobiographical sketches being dropped in favor of other methods of selection (more on that in a later article), MCAT itself being in the process of being changed, MMI's replacing the traditional interviews, emphasis in medical schools switching from specialist medicine to general practice... Well, now the New York state schools are getting on board of the anti-Caribbean train (somehow, I am not surprised). Read the article and let me know what you think in the comments section:

1. Do you think Caribbean graduates are less competent? If so, why?
2. Should the Caribbean continue to supply U.S. with doctors? If not, where would you realistically get the difference?

  Medical Schools in Region Fight Caribbean Flow

For a generation, medical schools in the Caribbean have attracted thousands of American students to their tiny island havens by promising that during their third and fourth years, the students would get crucial training in United States hospitals, especially in New York State. [more after the jump]

3 things every medical school is looking for in an applicant

Photo by clry2

When you apply to medical school, the majority of you will consider it a success if you get admitted regardless of where you will have to spend the next four years. Sure, a small proportion will actually have to (ehm-ehm) make a choice, an even smaller group will be so set on a specific school that they will actually refuse an acceptance from anywhere else, a minute bunch will not even apply country-wide. For the rest of us, admissions will indeed be a victory, because any Canadian university grants the same MD degree that will allow you to work anywhere in North America and then some.

Keeping that in mind, you have to understand that admissions committees, aka the people that will ruin your life, aka the people that will make you wet your pants from joy are considering many more candidates than they can accept. Obvious? Great!

So you like the beach? (or how to get into the Caribbean medical schools)

Photo by Coast Guard BM

First and foremost, Happy New 2010 Year!

I know that I had specifically said that this website would be concerned only with Canadian medical school application and student experience, but let us face it - some less fortunate folks will not be able to get in. No matter what candidate, regardless of their merit, despite their MCAT scores, GPA's and  - the odds of getting in are never 100% (if you don't believe me, read this post by P.L.). As my recent poll showed (link coming soon), some will keep reapplying, but there are only so many times you can waste your money and time. Some will go into research, some will go into public health or choose a related medical career. Nobody, however, at least among the 61 people who responded, said they will try the Caribbean schools. I never considered the option myself, but I feel now that the more choices you have, the more freedom you end up with. Coincidentally, I found an interesting post about the Caribbean medical school applications by Asad Raza, a Toronto undegrad graduate who studied at one of the Caribbean schools.

On inspiration and creativity in medicine

Photo by Sebastiaan ter Burg

Inspiration seems to be the theme of the month for me, so I thought I would share an inspirational moment with you. Below is a 20 minute speech by Ken Robinson, who, as I learned recently, is one of the best speakers you will ever hear. Although he talks about education in general and its relation to creativity, this talk got me thinking about premedical and medical education.

Choosing a medical specialty

It is an unfortunate truth of experiential reality that choices are not clear-cut, and the event window for choice may vanish before the information enabling the choice is present.

Eluki bes Shahar

For those lucky enough to have the need to contemplate this...

Ref: http://aggiepie.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/12medicalspecialtystereotypesfull.jpg

Ref: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-peter-rost/want-to-become-a-doctor_b_20148.html (via BMJ?)

All jokes aside, researching which specialties you prefer early on in your medical school years has its advantages. These include the pre-clinical years as much as the later, more exciting time spent in the hospital rotations.

For pre-clinicals, you will want to get a mentor who practices in the specialty you are interested in. This will allow you to be in the hospital early on, with no pressure to perform. You'd be surprised how much you will notice when you are not concerned with evaluations/patient responsibility. You also, more importantly, get to see the "collective body" of the specialists. There are definite stereotypical traits attributable to some specialties more than to others. The common example would be a more commanding or dominating personality for surgery. Does that mean you cannot be a calm, mellow surgeon? Absolutely not! But the law of life is that you will find it much harder to be the exception.

For the clinical years, there is a lot more to do. For example, if you decide to aim for dermatology, you might want to make sure you get an invitation to Stockholm for their annual ceremony, or at least put in the extra effort to beef up your application. Another example would be doing extra electives at rural sites to get experience in self-reliance for a great career in family medicine. If you like a particular program, it is usually good to get an elective there. According to CaRMS, some universities openly state they have preferential treatment for people with whom their faculty is familiar from such electives.

For a competitive specialty, you would probably want to get involved in research in a related field. The reasons are twofold. Firstly, what better way to put your foot where your mouth is when it is time to back up your claim of interest in the specialty. Some elite residency programs in the States require you to have done research, published, or even to have a Msc degree. Secondly, don't neglect the opportunity to get to know the program director of your Oh-So-Desired-Specialty if you get a summer grant in their lab/hospital clinic. Although I will elaborate on it in later post, I would caution you from molecular biology research unless you absolutely love it and know exactly what you want to do. Most likely you are going to be a practicing clinician, so stick to the clinical.

Some residencies, it turns out, are more competitive and select from an extensive pool of medical graduates for a minute number of spots. You'll immediately recognize that this early preparation for one critical point in your life vaguely reminds you something...However, your competition just received a serious upgrade from the last time you had to prove you are better than the average Joe to the medical school admissions committee.

And finally, some serious tools:

• Careers in Medicine via AAMC (usually your career advising office will email you a password)
• Medical Specialty Aptitude Test
  
• The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty via Amazon
  (The best book I found on the subject, although by no means perfect. In fact, much of it is focused on US specifics, which are somewhat irrelevant for hardcore Canadians like us. Don't feel insulted if you are from outside of Canada, I did mention in the prelude to this blog that I write for and about Canadian medical school applicants/students)
  
• Your colleagues in upper years. Corner one and question them about their rotations in a given specialty. If you are extroverted enough, you could probably get away with leeching on to them for a day in the hospital. From my experience, there is much more amicability and much less cut-throat attitudes in medical school than there are in premed.
  

The MCAT will change

Photo by David Reece

Before I talk about the changes, I would like to digress for a little bit. Although the MCAT season is almost over, quite a few of my good friends have either just recently come back from AAMC-land or will be going there soon. With so much MCAT in my life this summer, despite my strong desire to erase the memories of my own test taking, I felt a post about the elephant in the room was appropriate. I am sure that either you or somebody around exclaimed at least once "This MCAT is stupid! It tests all those little things. Why on Earth would I need to know the Krebs cycle or Heisenberg's uncertainty principle? If this is the case, the following article would soothe your mind and clear your conscience if you had spent time studying for it.

Medical school personal statement tips from the opposite side

Photo by ButterflySha

Things you should do for a guaranteed acceptance?

• Forget to edit out another school's name in your essay. In the same train of thought, you should not be bothered by actually answering each school's specific questions. Instead, simply write a generic essay about what you think they should know and send it to all schools.
  
• Have multiple grammatical and syntactic mistakes. Here are a few specific tips:
  
  
  
  

• Avoid run-on sentences they are hard to read.
• Never use no double negatives.
• Use the semicolon properly, always where it is appropriate; and never where it is not.
• Reserve the apostrophe for it's proper use and omit it where it is not needed.

For more examples go to the full list. (Almost forgot: U need 4 shoe 2 write in c00l chat lingo str8 off the net, I swear, the ad coms dig it)
• Make it crystal clear that you don't really care if they accept you, since they are not your first choice anyways. To be sure the admission committee knows 'who's the man', state that they should feel honored that you even applied.
• Write things that are not true, in great amounts, providing lots of colorful details. For example, mention you like Mozart and play piano, since it sounds much better than spending every other night playing Wii and listening to Kurt Cobain and Marilyn Manson.
• Make an emphasis on the how's, not the why's. For example, spend a whole paragraph describing exactly what you did during your volunteering (preferably providing a detailed schedule), and omit what you took out of it. Feelings and introspection are for sissies.
• Do not be afraid to brag. You did it, right? Why should you be ashamed of your own accomplishments?! Besides, every doctor I know is arrogant, this type of personality trait seems to give you that special extra edge before the admissions committee.
  
• Pick a controversial topic and make sure to take an uncompromising, unilateral stand on it. For example, say that you are for saving lives and that Jehovah's witnesses are all a bunch of unenlightened inbred retards in regards to blood transfusions. The ad coms will love a doctor who can defend his convictions when he is confronted by patients.
• If you have a bad grade/MCAT score, please do yourself a favor and use your essay to explain why. It would be such a shame if the ad coms did not know that the "F" in intro to fairy tales was your sister's fault - she just had to get pregnant at thirteen and get dumped by her boyfriend when you were taking that course/MCAT. As you see from my example, you get extra points if you blame your failure on someone else.
  
• Never let anyone else read your essay, because they either do not know you well OR they know very little about the admissions process. Their advice will not bring anything you haven't thought of for your application. If you do find somebody who possesses knowledge about both yourself and the application, make an extra effort to hide your essay from them. Obviously, they (or their friends/family) are also applying and they will use whatever you give them for their own draft. Consequently, it is a good idea to submit as soon as you finish typing the first draft - that way you can claim intellectual property on your literary masterpiece should there be a dispute.
  
• Here are some excellent reasons for becoming a doctor to use in your essay:
• Because my parents/close relatives are doctors.
  
• Because I loved ER/House/Scrubs/Grey's Anatomy and want to be just like them.
• Because I knew since I was little that all I wanted to do is be a doctor.
• Because I love people.
• Because I want to help people.
• Because as a doctor I will have employment security.
• Because I always wanted to give orders to other people and have them actually listen to me.
• Because I promised my girlfriend/boyfriend and now I don't want to back out.
• Because... Well, I don't really know why, I just thought it seemed cool and I ought to try it.
  
• etc...
• Buy a "Collection of the Best in the World Essays That Got Their Writers into Medical School" type of book, look for the most creative one, type it up (at this point you may use your name, if you wish; additionaly, you may wish to change some facts to make the story closer to your own life, but that is absolutely optional) and submit it.
  
• Use the thesaurus, for Christ's sake (because common everyday words just do not impress ad coms nowadays)! Here are a couple of words to get you started:
• gargantuan instead of large/huge
• interminable instead of endless/very long
• pulchritude instead of beauty
• tyro instead of beginner/novice
• Finally, under no circumstances should you visit or use the information provided below:
  
• http://books.google.com/books?id=W3gfDobI3MUC&lpg=PA87&ots=2E2NqxBWpX&dq=kaplan%2010%20mistakes%20to%20avoid%20personal%20statement&pg=PA87
• http://books.google.com/books?id=B6kS0Zcj0e4C&lpg=PA101&ots=a-gfTevBue&dq=kaplan%2010%20mistakes%20to%20avoid%20personal%20statement&pg=PA101
• http://www.essayedge.com/medical/essayadvice/course/ (this one requires a registration, so do not even bother wasting your time)
  
• http://www.petersons.com/common/article.asp?id=1009&path=gr.gs.advice&sponsor=1

In conclusion, if you have anything else you think others would benefit from, KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. There are only so many spots for medical students in Canada, and you want to be one of them, right?

The Ups and Downs of Applying for Medical School

Photo by Pat Rioux

Today is a special occasion, because we have a guest post. P.L. has written about his hurdles with what is the main theme of the day on my blog, 24/7/356. Please be kind, constructive and critical - leave comments, so he might write again... (remark by premedc)
--

I’m sure most of you have heard the expression “Being a doctor isn’t easy”. Doctors not only have to work crazy hours, not only are they responsible for the lives of their patients, but they have to do all of this and at the same time manage their time effectively so that they can have time with their family and friends. Easy right? Well I’m sure the fact that the divorce rate for physicians is 10-20% higher than the general population is a testament to exactly how difficult it really is. But the purpose of this post is not to dissuade you from wanting to be a physician or to tell you about the hardships that physicians have to face, because the reality is that you are not physicians yet. Instead I’m going to talk to you about the application process to medical school and how some future physicians learn how hard their job is before even being accepted to medical school. I will be talking to you about my own experiences applying to medical school and maybe you can learn something worthwhile from my wild roller coaster ride.

Medical school application process (or the Ten Steps of Medical Admissions Application)

Photo by _mubblegum_

So, you bought a stethoscope and want to order those business cards with the coveted M.D. on them next to your name? Well, applications to medical schools sound like a good idea to begin with. I feel a little odd writing a whole article about what might be more than obvious to you over-zealous mega-achievers. However, I also feel some of you will severely underestimate the importance of spending enough time on the actual application process (as opposed to the years of preparation that go into having something to write on that application). For shortness' sake, let us assume you have accumulated enough padding for your CV, took the MCAT and aced it, and you feel mature enough to become a doctor (I will write about that one soon, when I discuss the interviews). Here are the Ten Steps of Successful Medical School Applications (this is a quick guide, so don't blame for not being thorough):

How and why I got into medical school

Photo by dandy_fsj

To paraphrase the famous expression "You don't know what you got, until it's gone" more appropriately for this post - "You don't know what you'll have until it's yours".

While I was still in the premed camp, I used to dream about the time these life-changing words would be addressed to me - "Congratulations, you have been selected..." and dreading yet another "Dear candidate, despite your excellent dossier, you were not selected..." (I have received more than a couple of those). For years, I used to speak in the conditional "If I become I doctor...". It sort of became a reflex, a second nature of mine. And during those years I thought of the moment of getting my acceptance as a sharp 90 degree turn you sometimes encounter on the country side or Canadian urban centres. When you see it ahead, you have to slow down and make sure you stay in your lane. In the same way I thought I would change my life trajectory when the new and better stretch of my life appeared in front of me. Many exciting events in mind were tied to Being Accepted. "I will do this... I will try that...". But all ended with "if only I was accepted" - although I was never superstitious, the grandeur of the subject made me almost religious when discussing it. Which, by the way, shows just how feeble the whole thing was. As the list of things to do or to try grew, so did the weight and the importance of the aftermath. It became harder and harder for me to bear the possibility of rejection, with so much value attached to this one event, not even entirely under my control. Also, as I put on hold many if not all of the things I really wanted to do, I became less and less happy. But I did not notice this, I was too preoccupied with my thoughts.

This was then.

on the future and MMIs

Photo by Okko Pyykkö

It has been a while since I had last posted, but the reason is as always - I had been too busy. Well, time to catch up a bit. I felt like sharing some of personal the news for those of you who have been following me since the beginning (others are welcome to read, but if you skip I will not send the Dark Knight of Death with a rusty ax after you, you have my word. Also, you will not lose any precious advice, since I just mumble about my humble self this time).

So, the news (trumpets, please): In late March I will be doing the MMI interview at one of the best Canadian Medical Schools (this, let alone midterm exams, has been keeping me quite busy).

As a forecast for this blog, I can predict at least one or two more posts about the MCAT, after which I will start a series about submitting your applications. These will talk about writing a killer CV, an exquisite autobiographical letter/sketch, and making sure you don't screw up with references.

Then I will follow up with interview preparations, tips, hints, my own experience and more stuff about the MMI. I hope to cover everything from what you should wear to how to answer the mean/odd/unexpected questions.

Later, albeit out of chronological order, I will be talking about extracurricular experiences, my own and other peoples', research, sports, etc. I will try to get somebody who had done each one of these to describe it in their own words.

Finally, this blog will have 2 possible outcomes. Very soon I will know whether I got in or not. If I do get in, I will (and here I am a bit hesitant whether to get a new blog or keep posting to this one) start posting about my life as a med student. If I do not get accepted, I will keep writing about "getting in" as I struggle one more year until I do get in. Some things are just meant to be. One wants to think.

Stay tuned.

Free MCAT tools

Happy New 2009 Year!

I thought it is only fair to start a new year with free tools to master the MCAT. So what do I have in store? You probably will have come across some of the things I will mention. Some, I hope, will be a pleasant surprise. In any case, I do believe a budget solution is possible for the MCAT. So let us get started.

Yaaaay! Freebies.

The MCAT books

Today's post will talk about the books I used to prepare for the MCAT. I will not promote books I have not had, but I will make recommendations based on my knowledge. Please take note of the previous post's suggestions about self-discipline required for the use of books.

1. Kaplan MCAT Premier book

• Kaplan MCAT 2009-2010 Premier Program (Kaplan Mcat Premier Program)
  

This was my master book. I believe you should get a book like this because it will allow you to prepare specifically for the MCAT as apposed to just boost your knowledge say, for a college test. If you read my previous posts, you are aware I am strongly against prep companies' ripoff courses. However, I do believe that they did a pretty good job at gathering info from many sources in one place thus saving you an enormous amount of time. Most importantly, I am convinced that for ~100$ this book (along with the other items below and my study strategy) is superior to an almost 2000$ course.

MCAT Strategies

As an aside to the following information: I have received my MCAT scores a couple of days ago, and I can gladly say that the practice AAMC tests have a strong predicting accuracy.
-------------------------------------
Today's post will be mostly about the broad strategies of preparation for the MCAT.

As you probably know, two major components determine whether or not you make the cut for the interview. These are your GPA and your MCAT score. There are books written on how to study efficiently and every university will have an undergraduate advising office that would be more than happy to justify its existence by helping you out with your studying. Today, however, we are going to talk about the other component, the MCAT.

Needless to say, there is no person on earth that would like to re-take this test (except maybe the guys who teach prep courses, so they can claim numerous successes). Let alone the financial toll it will have on you, the psychological damage your neurons will sustain is irreversible. So how can you prepare for this horrendous test?

McGill University - tips and quick facts series

Updated in 2010
Here is the stuff that will get you brownie points with the admission committee:

• Some affiliated teaching hospitals:
  
  
  • McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), representing five teaching hospitals affiliated with McGill:
    
    
    • Montreal Children's Hospital
    • Montreal General Hospital
    • Royal Victoria Hospital
    • Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute
    • Montreal Chest Institute
  • Sir Mortimer B. Davis - Jewish General Hospital
  • Douglas Institute
  • St. Mary's Hospital Centre

• McGill's unique Simulation Centre

The McGill Medical Simulation Centre is an interprofessional centre of excellence using medical simulation to enhance the skills of health care professionals through education, research, evaluation and innovation, thereby improving patient safety and the quality of care.
The Centre combines training techniques from high-risk professions in aviation and emergency response with the latest medical simulation technologies. Fully integrated into McGill's professional programs, the Centre provides the next generation of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists with hands-on training in difficult and potentially dangerous procedures without risk to patients. It also promotes the importance of teamwork in health care delivery.
Established health care professionals are also able to take advantage of the Centre for the professional upgrading that will be increasingly required by licensing bodies. (http://www.mcgill.ca/medsimcentre/about/)

• McGill's e-Curriculum

The M.D., C.M. program is committed to making use of electronic media, multimedia learning objects and information technology in learning and teaching. In recognition of the wide variety of learning styles evident in our students, it is considered important to provide as broad a range of educational resources as possible. The Faculty of Medicine at McGill was very fortunate to have received, in 1997, a major donation from the Molson foundation for the development of computer enhanced learning and teaching methodologies. Since then, the faculty has converted major components of the mainstream curriculum to an electronic format, and enhanced the curriculum with multi-media learning objects (e.g. animations, audio and video clips, etc.) to facilitate teaching and learning. (http://curriculum.mmi.mcgill.ca/)

If you want a preview this cool e-stuff, check out this link http://curriculum.mmi.mcgill.ca/viewflash.aspx?path=~/images/ECurriculumDemo-800x600.swf&w=800px&h=600px

• From this year on, McGill will have MMIs (Multiple Mini-Interviews), just like McMaster. There are 9 MMI interviews each lasting 10 minutes total (2 minutes for reading the prompt + 8 minutes for actual situation) and a single traditional type interview that last 10-20 minutes long. The weight of these MMI`s is significant - 80% versus 20% the rest - which means that if you got to that point, you better give it all you can.
• McGill has recently introduced a new category of Mature applicants who have completed an undergraduate degree and have been out of the academic world for at least 3 years. They have slightly different criteria (most notably lower GPA requirements). Read more here: http://www.mcgill.ca/medadmissions/applying/applicant-categories/non-traditional-pathway-quebec
• McGill has rather complete details about their GPA and MCAT (unless you are an international applicant, McGill does NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT require the MCAT) requirements over here: http://www.mcgill.ca/medadmissions/what-are-we-looking/academics-university
• McGill has recently introduced the so-called physicianship program in their curriculum. I would highly recommend you read the following:
• http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/ugme/curriculum/physicianship_en.htm
• http://www.hopehealing.org/projectphysicianship.asp
• Here is an extra, albeit a bit old, still gives you some useful info that hadn't changed much, like breakdown of the application materials:

Here is some more general info about medical education:

• Medical Schools
• Online PHD programs
• Choosing a Medical School

Université de Montréal - tips and quick facts series

A couple of interesting things that might be helpful during your interview:

• Since 1999 to 2006, University of Montreal medical graduates had the highest performance on the Licencure exams of the Canadian Medical Counsil (required to be taken by every graduate before being able to work in Canada). [link]
  
• Hospital affiliation is among the largest in Canada. Here is a partial list:

Centres hospitaliers universitaires (CHU)

• CHUM - Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal
• CHU - Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine

Centres affiliés universitaires (CAU)

• Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal
• Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont

Instituts universitaires (IU)

• Institut de cardiologie de Montréal
• Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal

Centres hospitaliers affiliés (CHA)

• CSSS Sud-Ouest-Verdun
• Centre hospitalier régional de Trois-Rivières
• CSSS Laval
• CSSS de Chicoutimi
• Hôpital Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine
• Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies
• Institut de réadaptation de Montréal
• Institut Philippe-Pinel de Montréal

• APP (Apprentissage par problème) teaching method. Puts emphasis on self-directed learning, problem solving and team work. Students are split into small groups and participate in controlled discussions.
• As of  2008, University of Montreal has picked up the trend and has MMIs (Mini Multiple Interviews). According to their website: 8-10 stations, each with a situation, 2 minutes to read the situation, 8 minutes to perform it, with an actor and an evaluator.
  
• Beautiful Campus in Montreal

NOTE: If you know anything I should add to this list, please contact me through the top right sidebar link. I will be happy to add your advice so everybody else can benefit. Please do not post it in the comments.

Choose your medschools carefully

Choosing which schools you will spend your precious time on is a worthwhile effort if you are to get from point A to point M(edical School X). This will both save you time and increase your chances of success. Unless you print money, I do not see a lot of sense in applying blindly everywhere, just because you can. This strategy can seem fail safe, but in the long term you will realize that you have a brain for a reason, and in most real life situations you cannot go 'all out'. That is where prioritizing comes to play. Priorities are the determining factor when you are wondering about going out on that weekend trip with your buddies instead of learning translational motion equations or the anatomy of the nervous system.

So, let us get started on priorities. To choose schools you will have to have stringent criteria. Here are some of the most obvious ones:

• Tuition. Plain and stupid : can you pay for it if you get in? While, of course my dear mate, what could be easier? Nevertheless, take a calculator (a pen and a paper if you are studying for the MCAT - yes, I am that obsessed) and jot down your annual tuition fees, ancillary fees, equipment fees, possible relocation fees and cost of living. Make sure you double check it with somebody who has an understanding of living on their own. Budgets tend to seem simpler than they are when you are cut loose...
• Do THEY need you? This relates to all the limitations each school can impose. For example, applicants to McMaster Medical School outside the welcoming province of Ontario enjoy a 10% quota of the available places. Will this limit your chances? Hmmm
  This also includes the GPA/MCAT/EC requirements. Make sure you are at least at the threshold in every category. Although in that case your chances might be slim and you would have to have a special achievement to blow the admissions office out of their comfortable leather chairs. In the good sense, that is.

Canada enjoys 17 medical faculties total, which I list below in no special order:

• Memorial University of Newfoundland
• McMaster University
• Dalhousie University
• University of Western Ontario
• Université Laval
• Northern Ontario School of Medicine
• Université de Sherbrooke
• University of Manitoba
  
• Université de Montréal // my tips - here
• University of Saskatchewan
• McGill University // my tips - here
• University of Alberta
• University of Ottawa
• University of Calgary
• Queen's University at Kingston
• University of British Columbia
• University of Toronto

Over the next weeks I will try to get some useful insider info about each and every one of those. Note: This will be info you cannot usually find on the websites listed above.

Planning your timeline

Photo by Joe Lanman

Planning a timeline is not necessary but will make your life much easier if done properly. Rest assured, planning ahead of time for as much as three years requires a lot of insight into the intricacies of the process (which I have briefly outlined in the previous post) and is thus very hard and time consuming.

Like most things tagged high importance in your life, timeline planning requires making mutliple attempts,with subsequent revisions improving. You will see the progress as time goes on . That said, if you do not start, there will be no progress at all.

As a sample, below is a modified timeline Kaplan recommend using:


36-18 months before the start of school (md):

• Take free practice MCATs (Kaplan, Princeton Review, others that came with your study books)
• Gather school info
• Develop a target school list

24-16 months before the start of school (md):

• Register for the MCAT
• Dedicate at least 2 months of studying
• Do the MCAT

20-12 months before the start of school (md):

• Go to your student service, see what resources your university offers with premed applications.
• Set deadlines with referees
• Write your personal statement
• Complete and submit applications
• Investigate financial aid options

12-3 months before the start fo school (md):

• Prepare for interviews
• Visit campuses

Inasmuch as this example could be applied to a real plan, it is obviously limited by lack of details and some important points. Remember, the quality of your planning will be directly proportional to the investment you make in it.

You need to have a plan

Unlike true geniuses, most of us, mortals, have to plan things out when we attempt something as complex as medical school application. That is, of course, if we want to be successful. I cannot overemphasize that you will not get anywhere near a medical faculty unless you have a plan, your dad owns Switzerland or you discovered the cure for AIDS and cancer.

Assuming you are in the same category as me, let me tell you a couple of things about planning for md applications.

First of all, you have to do it early. What do I mean by early? Answer this question: Did you already start planning? A 'no' means you are already late. Seriously, start as soon as you can. I am only stressing this because more time means more opportunities. As you will see yourself, taking advantage of every opportunity you get is a must and will make the difference between you and ... well, most other people who will get rejected. Also, some extracurriculars require time to accomplish, the MCAT requires at least 3 months worth of studying (off academic year) etc. I personally think that the ideal time is the beginning of your first year in university.

Now that you are getting doubts about whether you should have strated earlier, let me talk about a couple of things you need to consider including and elaborating on in your plan (I will go into excruciating detail about each one of them in later posts).

1. Your story. The best example I can give for the visual people is a secret agent's secret identity for a mission. No, I am not living in one of Bourne's movies, but this is probably the best analogy I could come up with. By a story I mean a coherent narrative with logical sequence of your accomplishments. Basically, whatever you do in life (jobs, recreation, volunteering, etc) needs to fit in this story.
2. Choosing schoools. Most of the following points will concentrate on things specific to each school. It will make your life much easier to make a list of schools you want to apply to, and then do the following items of your plan for each school.
   
3. Your CV. This is the nitty-gritty details, the hardcore of your story. You will most likely need to submit some form of CV to most schools.
4. Autobiographical essay. This one is the condensed, written form of your story. Many schools will ask you a question through which you will have to develop your story. Some will simply ask the 'Why' questions.
5. Your references. You will need to provide academic and non-academic references, whether you want it or not, you will have to find a way to distinguish yourself from the 300-800-1200 students in your class to make sure the professor will remember you.
6. Interviews. Med faculties are starting to experiment with the mini-interviews. Are you prepared for them? Can you tell me your weaknessess without looking awkward or making me think you will fail everything you'll start?
7. MCAT. Believe me, you will need preparation for this beast. There is a lot I have to say about this one, since I am taking it this fall (2008). As I mentionned already, you will need a good 2-3 months dedicated specifically to studying for the MCAT.

A good thing would be to make a timeline. Outlining when you are doing what is important for your motivation, execution and, of course, gratification. In the next post, I will give the example Kaplan uses for the timeline planification.