by Paul Goleb

You have all certainly heard the expression “good things come to those who wait.”  Since our first days of pre-school, the virtue of patience has been constantly reinforced as a valuable trait.  For years we have stood in lines and waited for our turns.

In the fast paced life of a physician, in which potential decisions must sometimes be made in a matter of seconds, patience is sometimes an undervalued trait. In the realm of medicine, “waiting” almost seems to be a dirty word for both patients and physicians alike. Read the full story

By Jessica Freedman, MD
President of MedEdits: Medical Admissions

Because the competition for admission to medical schools in the United States is extremely strong, many applicants consider attending medical school in the Caribbean. In fact, a great many bright and talented applicants are now opting to obtain their medical education in the Caribbean.

How can you decide what is the best choice for you? What must you consider in evaluating these schools? And will you be able to obtain a residency in the United States after you graduate? To help you decide if attending a Caribbean medical school is a good choice, this article provides a framework for evaluating these schools and the success of their graduates.

Read the full story

by Joe Sisk
SDN Staff Author

Ahh, simple childhood games. Music playing. Walking around a circle of chairs. I’m eyeing the one closest to me.

*the music stops*
I scramble for a chair.

“I’m sorry, Joe. You can’t sit in a red chair. Those are for people with Outies. Your belly button is an Innie. You need to find a blue chair.”
“But the kindergarteners took most of the blue chairs for their game…”
“I’m sorry. Just see if you can find a left over one.”
I cry.

While this never actually happened, it is a recurring nightmare I have (and may explain my deep seated phobia of blue chairs). This game represents how health professional school admissions, particularly medical school admissions, work.

For medical schools, there are a good number of chairs that are spoken for before you’ve even submitted your AMCAS. How many depends on the types of alternate acceptance programs the school offers, but these programs contribute to the ultimate class size and subsequently are fewer seats available during the AMCAS application cycle.

As an informed applicant, what you can do is realize that you’re only going to be competing for the blue chair. Read the full story

The Changing Face of Medical School Admissions: Restructuring the MCAT (Part I)

By Sameer Apte
SDN Senior Moderator (MCAT Forum)

Modern medical education is a surprisingly young field. If you were to travel back only 90 years and enroll in medical school, you would find yourself in the midst of the greatest paradigm shift in the history of American medical education.

At the time, medical training curriculums were non-standardized, schools were largely profit driven, physicians were required only to have a diploma to practice, and the selection criteria for medical students were either sparse or non-existent (1-3).

At the request of the newly formed Council on Medical Education (CME), Abraham Flexner, a noted educator and scientist, visited every medical school in North America and wrote a scathing review of their educational practices (2). The “Flexner Report”, as Flexner’s review is commonly called, was the first step in the standardization of medical education. Read the full story

by BloodySurgeon
SDN Volunteer Moderator

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is an anxiety-inducing process for pre-medical students and for many it is hard to know where to begin.

Well for those of you who are lost and don’t know where to turn, this is a great place to start.

What is the very first thing I should do?
I would highly recommend bookmarking the SDN MCAT Discussions page and then reading the AAMC MCAT Essentials.

What is on the MCAT?

The MCAT is presented as follows: Read the full story

by Christian Becker, Author of The Official Student Doctor Network Medical School Admissions Guide

Gaining admission to medical school is a multifactorial process. Almost all medical schools require the MCAT, specific course work, and an undergraduate degree. There are also many extracurricular activities that may not be required per se, but are absolutely necessary to be a competitive applicant.

Some schools will not only consider you a weak applicant if you cannot show some of these activities on your application, but also will deny an interview outright if they don’t don’t see enough of them.
Read the full story

by Jeremiah Fleenor, MD, MBA
Author of The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success

Another summer is upon us. As you enjoy the warm days and break from classes, let’s consider another commonly encountered interview question. This one is almost certain to pop up during your interview conversation.

What would you do if you couldn’t be a doctor?

I’ve seen this question take many an applicant aback. When asked this question during my interviews I recall being confused and wondering whether there was a hidden meaning. Here’s what would go through my mind: “Why do they want to know what I’d do if I wasn’t able to be a doctor? Are they somehow trying to see if I’m really serious about my career choice? Is it appropriate to say there is no other option and that becoming a physician is the only reality for me?” Read the full story

by Christian Becker, Author of The Official Student Doctor Network Medical School Admissions Guide

The application process for medical school is long and intense. It actually begins much earlier than the point where you fill out the application to send to schools. It includes completion of many premed requirements, meetings with your premedical advisor, taking the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), and participating in a variety of extracurricular activities.

Understanding What Happens Is Important
Most medical schools will review applications on a rolling basis, as they are submitted. They extend interview invitations to selected applicants and ultimately offer places in their classes in a similar manner. This means that the majority of schools fill their classes on a first-come, first-served basis. For example, a given school may start the application season with 150 seats to fill. With each passing week of interviews, the admissions committee meets and extends offers to fewer and fewer students. At the same time, the school is still receiving additional applications, driving the competition for the remaining seats up even further. In these situations, all things being equal, the applications submitted early stand the best chance of receiving an offer of admission.  Read the full story

PRESS RELEASE

The Student Doctor Network.  Ten years ago it was just a catchy name.  It has since evolved into a trusted resource for over 130,000 pre-health and health students in over 10 doctoral fields of study.  Our staff, comprised of volunteers at all stages of their professional education, has worked tirelessly to diversify SDN’s offerings as part of our continuing effort to bring you what you need to succeed.

Our latest endeavor, SDN Premed Secrets, is a free CD containing some of the best content we have to offer in an ultra-portable format.  Read popular physician profiles, advice columns from Christian Becker and Jeremiah Fleenor, and read Ryan Aycock’s Not So Short Introduction to Getting Into Medical School!  This is just a sampling of the exclusive content provided on each CD.  Soon, you’ll be able to order your copy online to discover the additional sponsor content not available anywhere else!

With this, our Premed Secrets CD, we continue to expand our reach by putting some of our most valuable resources in your hands so you can get your SDN fix – online or not!

by Charles Daniel and Michael O’Brien
SDN Staff Writers

For some, the answer to the question, “Why do you want to study medicine?” is a simple one: to make money.  These individuals, however, are in a shrinking minority, a recent survey has found.  Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions examined the responses of 914 students in its medical and law school preparatory courses to examine their motivations for professional study.  It seems that even as the traditional financial windfalls associated with medicine continue to wane, students’ passion for medical study is as fiery as ever.  In fact, less than half of pre-med respondents indicated their future earning potential “very much” or “somewhat” influenced their decision to study medicine.  But what does this mean?  Pre-professional students are notorious for their exaggerated claims of altruism while the true and ulterior motivation remains the big salary.  …or at least that was the belief.  Read the full story