by Michelle A. Finkel MD, Insider Medical Admissions
I don't usually recommend compulsive behavior, but it's worth checking your email once a day to see if you've received interview invitations. Out of courtesy, an invite should be responded to quickly, and the sooner you contact the institution, the more likely you are to get a slot that you want. Ensure your email account is reliable and that messages aren't going to spam. (I've heard some horror stories.)
Contact me for help with Mock Interviews.
Insights, Ideas, News From Insider Medical Admissions
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Medical School Interview Tips
by Michelle A. Finkel, Insider Medical Admissions
Congrats to those who have already been invited for med school interviews.
Getting into medical school has gotten so competitive; the interview is critical. But what are medical schools looking for during the interview process?
First, they are seeking someone distinctive. Your goal is to distinguish yourself from all of the other applicants by showcasing your accomplishments. Anyone can say s/he wants to help people or is hard working. Fewer candidates can prove it.
Second, they want to ensure you are committed to medicine and that you have an idea of what you are getting yourself into. Medical school is tough; the institutions are not seeking someone who is ambivalent and might quit. Giving examples of your clinical experience can help.
Third, the schools want to ensure you are reasonable. They want to see that you don’t have a problem personality, aren’t going to harass your colleagues, aren’t going to cause them embarrassment or extra work.
Fourth, they want to hear that you are particularly interested in their institution. You can convince them of your interest by knowing specifics about the school and city.
One would never take the MCAT without practicing first and yet, countless applicants go to interviews without preparing. Consider working with me so that you don't unknowingly undermine your chances of success with poor interview skills. I do all of my own work - not outside, anonymous "consultants."
Contact me (insidermedical@gmail.com) for help.
Congrats to those who have already been invited for med school interviews.
Getting into medical school has gotten so competitive; the interview is critical. But what are medical schools looking for during the interview process?
First, they are seeking someone distinctive. Your goal is to distinguish yourself from all of the other applicants by showcasing your accomplishments. Anyone can say s/he wants to help people or is hard working. Fewer candidates can prove it.
Second, they want to ensure you are committed to medicine and that you have an idea of what you are getting yourself into. Medical school is tough; the institutions are not seeking someone who is ambivalent and might quit. Giving examples of your clinical experience can help.
Third, the schools want to ensure you are reasonable. They want to see that you don’t have a problem personality, aren’t going to harass your colleagues, aren’t going to cause them embarrassment or extra work.
Fourth, they want to hear that you are particularly interested in their institution. You can convince them of your interest by knowing specifics about the school and city.
One would never take the MCAT without practicing first and yet, countless applicants go to interviews without preparing. Consider working with me so that you don't unknowingly undermine your chances of success with poor interview skills. I do all of my own work - not outside, anonymous "consultants."
Contact me (insidermedical@gmail.com) for help.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Scheduling Mock Interviews
by Michelle A. Finkel MD, Insider Medical Admissions
For those of you interested in Mock Interviews, please contact me the day you receive your first invitation. I still have some availabilities in September but am already scheduling into October. I have opened up weekend and late evening sessions to accommodate everyone as best as I can.
I conduct all of my own Mock Interviews. I thoroughly review your background information before the session and provide an individualized feedback document after. Live face-to-face video is an option you can add to your sessions.
Contact me at insidermedical@gmail.com for help.
For those of you interested in Mock Interviews, please contact me the day you receive your first invitation. I still have some availabilities in September but am already scheduling into October. I have opened up weekend and late evening sessions to accommodate everyone as best as I can.
I conduct all of my own Mock Interviews. I thoroughly review your background information before the session and provide an individualized feedback document after. Live face-to-face video is an option you can add to your sessions.
Contact me at insidermedical@gmail.com for help.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
When Your Debts Affect Your Dates
by guest-blogger David Z. Presser, MD, MPH for Insider Medical Admissions
A recent article in the NY Times highlights how individual debt taken on as a student has the power to adversely affect one's subsequent relationships. You can link to the article here.
You are feeling less anxious and more comfortable with the whole medical school applications game. The interviews keep rolling in. Finally, you start to receive acceptance letters from multiple schools. Suddenly you find yourself in the enviable position of having a choice between a reputable state school, where tuition is relatively low, and a reputable private school, where you will go deeply into debt. You visit the private school and see stars: the buildings are made of marble, the admissions officials wear designer suits, and the alumni network, everyone assures you, will give you a leg up in residency applications. Should financial considerations play into your decision? Should you ignore finances and follow your heart, assuming that as a future physician you'll comfortably be able to pay off any educational debt?
These are important questions. Let's look at a few numbers, accessed online on 9/7/10:
Average (2008) loan debt of a Georgetown Medical Student on graduation: $167,000
Average (2007) loan debt of a UCLA Medical Student on graduation: $98,677
Note that each of these numbers do not include debts accrued from undergraduate education. What you owe from college, you owe in addition to this.
Now let's add a touch of romance to the mix. You fall madly in love with another med student, who took out loans to attend a private undergraduate university (s/he owes $100k for that) and you both went to private medical schools ($150k each). Let's give you a pass and say your parents generously paid for all of your undergraduate education, so you personally only assumed debt for your medical education. The wedding after graduation is followed by the shocking realization that you collectively owe $400k. This does not account for the fact that your residency salaries are insufficient to let you pay off significant debt.
Were you both planning on a career in primary care? Think again - your earning potential would adversely affect your ability to pay off your loans. Compare the following starting salaries based on a 2009 American Medical Group Ass'n Survey:
Family Medicine $144,990
Urology $300,000
Anesthesiology $325,000
Internal Medicine $146,251
What if one of you has a high interest loan on a credit card because of poor financial discipline in the years before you met? What if one of you is a saver and the other is a spender? What if the medical student you marry is a U.S. citizen International Medical Graduate (IMG), where only 47.3% obtain a residency position through the match? If your partner cannot get a residency position, there is a real possibility that $250k in loans may not realistically be paid back. Despite the promise of a comfortable life as a two-physician household, your joint credit ratings may never permit you to get a home loan.
These are sobering possibilities that need to be realistically appraised early on. The debts you assume in your youth will have far-reaching consequences. So consider your choice of medical school carefully, because your debts will ultimately affect your dates.
A recent article in the NY Times highlights how individual debt taken on as a student has the power to adversely affect one's subsequent relationships. You can link to the article here.
You are feeling less anxious and more comfortable with the whole medical school applications game. The interviews keep rolling in. Finally, you start to receive acceptance letters from multiple schools. Suddenly you find yourself in the enviable position of having a choice between a reputable state school, where tuition is relatively low, and a reputable private school, where you will go deeply into debt. You visit the private school and see stars: the buildings are made of marble, the admissions officials wear designer suits, and the alumni network, everyone assures you, will give you a leg up in residency applications. Should financial considerations play into your decision? Should you ignore finances and follow your heart, assuming that as a future physician you'll comfortably be able to pay off any educational debt?
These are important questions. Let's look at a few numbers, accessed online on 9/7/10:
Average (2008) loan debt of a Georgetown Medical Student on graduation: $167,000
Average (2007) loan debt of a UCLA Medical Student on graduation: $98,677
Note that each of these numbers do not include debts accrued from undergraduate education. What you owe from college, you owe in addition to this.
Now let's add a touch of romance to the mix. You fall madly in love with another med student, who took out loans to attend a private undergraduate university (s/he owes $100k for that) and you both went to private medical schools ($150k each). Let's give you a pass and say your parents generously paid for all of your undergraduate education, so you personally only assumed debt for your medical education. The wedding after graduation is followed by the shocking realization that you collectively owe $400k. This does not account for the fact that your residency salaries are insufficient to let you pay off significant debt.
Were you both planning on a career in primary care? Think again - your earning potential would adversely affect your ability to pay off your loans. Compare the following starting salaries based on a 2009 American Medical Group Ass'n Survey:
Family Medicine $144,990
Urology $300,000
Anesthesiology $325,000
Internal Medicine $146,251
What if one of you has a high interest loan on a credit card because of poor financial discipline in the years before you met? What if one of you is a saver and the other is a spender? What if the medical student you marry is a U.S. citizen International Medical Graduate (IMG), where only 47.3% obtain a residency position through the match? If your partner cannot get a residency position, there is a real possibility that $250k in loans may not realistically be paid back. Despite the promise of a comfortable life as a two-physician household, your joint credit ratings may never permit you to get a home loan.
These are sobering possibilities that need to be realistically appraised early on. The debts you assume in your youth will have far-reaching consequences. So consider your choice of medical school carefully, because your debts will ultimately affect your dates.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Role of Patient Anecdotes in the Personal Statement
by Michelle A. Finkel MD, Insider Medical Admissions
Here's another good one by guest-blogger David Presser, MD, MPH:
The temptation is great to include patient anecdotes in the personal statement. When written well, these stories can capture a sense of common human experience that transcends economic and cultural barriers and demonstrates the empathy of the author-applicant and her sincere motives for pursuing a medical career. This can only help the applicant, right? The answer (as with most situations in life) is: it depends.
The vast majority of applicants have anecdotes to share. Writing too extensively about moving patient experiences can be an opportunity cost. You are given a page to make the case for your entry into a medical training program. Does the anecdote distinguish you in some way from the masses? For example, a story that highlights your specific language abilities as an interpreter at a free clinic may be a wiser use of space than a story simply showing your general devotion to the needy. Does the vignette highlight specific strengths in your application? The experience working with Mother Theresa is more powerful when it transitions naturally into the public health degree you pursued and the parasitology research you published.
The key to judicious use of patient anecdotes in the personal statement is that they must be very concise (every excess sentence is a missed opportunity to make the case for why you are a good candidate), distinguish you from others, and concretely illustrate your attributes. If your patient anecdotes do not make the case that you are a uniquely talented applicant whom programs don't want to pass up, they may better serve you as fodder for your future novel than components of your personal statement.
Here's another good one by guest-blogger David Presser, MD, MPH:
The temptation is great to include patient anecdotes in the personal statement. When written well, these stories can capture a sense of common human experience that transcends economic and cultural barriers and demonstrates the empathy of the author-applicant and her sincere motives for pursuing a medical career. This can only help the applicant, right? The answer (as with most situations in life) is: it depends.
The vast majority of applicants have anecdotes to share. Writing too extensively about moving patient experiences can be an opportunity cost. You are given a page to make the case for your entry into a medical training program. Does the anecdote distinguish you in some way from the masses? For example, a story that highlights your specific language abilities as an interpreter at a free clinic may be a wiser use of space than a story simply showing your general devotion to the needy. Does the vignette highlight specific strengths in your application? The experience working with Mother Theresa is more powerful when it transitions naturally into the public health degree you pursued and the parasitology research you published.
The key to judicious use of patient anecdotes in the personal statement is that they must be very concise (every excess sentence is a missed opportunity to make the case for why you are a good candidate), distinguish you from others, and concretely illustrate your attributes. If your patient anecdotes do not make the case that you are a uniquely talented applicant whom programs don't want to pass up, they may better serve you as fodder for your future novel than components of your personal statement.
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