Abstract: Professionalism matters during the application process. This article presents situations where applicants can reaffirm their understanding of professional etiquette. By not following these expectations, applicants could jeopardize their accepted seat or could be placed under monitoring once they begin as students. While this article focuses on medical school applicants, this guidance applies to any candidate striving for a health professional career (such as dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, or physical therapy).
Introduction
An overlooked component of the AMCAS application process for medical schools is reading the Application and Acceptance Protocols. Many successful applicants make the mistake of disengaging with the admissions team until they arrive for orientation. However, applicants should know that many schools begin to document professionalism lapses before then.
For this article, we highlight examples of the importance of professionalism as outlined in the TMDSAS Policies and Code of Professionalism and the PTCAS Applicant Responsibilities: Professionalism and Core Values.
Core Competencies
Most admissions committees expect each applicant to demonstrate their understanding of professionalism competencies through their actions. The American Physical Therapy Association defined seven core competencies that applicants should demonstrate:
- Accountability
- Altruism
- Compassion and Caring
- Excellence
- Integrity
- Professional Duty
- Social Responsibility
TMDSAS expects applicants to show further commitment to professional and personal growth in reflecting on their experiences and processing feedback.
Applicants reveal their understanding of these competencies through words, actions, and attitudes during the application process. However, admissions committees consider how applicants demonstrate their readiness for professional study and assess whether they will be successful professionals.
Engagement Is Professionalism
Admissions teams are responsible for ensuring that each entering class is comprised of eager, prepared, and enthusiastic students. Most understand that successful applicants may have to decide among multiple institutions, so applicants should communicate with the admissions office as they would with their future physician mentors and program administrators.
Your professionalism will be continuously evaluated.
TMDSAS has the strongest, most explicit statement that an applicant’s professionalism is constantly under review. While most candidates focus on their professional appearance during interviews, their behavior should be impeccable, both as applicants and entering students. The following address observed lapses in professionalism that raise concerns for admissions committees, lapses that could impact your offer of admission.
Respond and manage emails professionally.
Applicants are expected to send timely, professionally worded emails to the admissions office or committee. TMDSAS’s Code of Professionalism clearly states that “ignoring communications from admissions staff is unprofessional.” The applicant bears responsibility for updating one’s email address, managing their inbox storage, and green-lighting emails from admissions teams.
Many admissions offices can track read email receipts. Remain honest in how you manage your email communications. Aberrant behavior may raise concerns in the admissions office. Admissions offices also pay attention to no-shows for appointments or interviews, even if you are not yet an applicant. Always follow-up with rescheduling appointments if a conflict in your schedule arises.
Monitor and maintain your social media presence.
While I suggested in a previous article [Getting to Know You with the Big Five Personality Traits] that social media accounts are not typically evaluated as part of the applicant screening process, TMDSAS expects applicants to be active stewards of their online activities and statements. Though you have the private right to free speech, applicants should “avoid unprofessional comments, inappropriate discussions about the admissions process (including unpermitted disclosure of proprietary information), or any behavior that could compromise their professional image.”
Manage and pay attention to deadlines.
Timelines define significant milestones during the application process. Applicants must submit their applications and fees promptly. Any anticipated delays should be brought proactively to the attention of appropriate application service representatives or admissions officers, with enough time to process any requests to extend deadlines or confirm receipt of requested materials. Applicants should receive any decisions or responses with aplomb and professional poise.
Respect everyone.
In all engagements with admissions professionals, faculty, staff, students, program representatives, and other applicants, respectful behavior is expected. This includes any interaction, whether virtual or in-person. This respect is extended to custodial or food service staff, whether on campus during interviews or during an off-campus event. While admissions leadership evaluates each complaint carefully, they may pay attention to a credible third-party report of unprofessional behavior (hypothetically, an Uber driver reports being mistreated by a candidate when transporting the candidate to the motel after an interview event; the driver happens to be a sibling of a student).
Eliminate any potential distractions, including your cell phones.
Cell phones create an inconvenient distraction that will make a negative impression on an admissions professional. I advise every candidate to leave their cell phones off and secured in a bag during a recruitment event, on-campus visit, or an admissions webinar.
Your family members are not invited guests for interview days.
Admissions teams expect to engage only with their interview candidates on interview days, including virtual sessions, unless otherwise invited. Candidates should secure a private and quiet professional space for virtual interviews. Interviews are expected to be conducted without others present (including behind the monitors). When visiting campus, accompanying family members may be directed to a welcome space during formal interview programming.
Make your first impression your professional best one.
TMDSAS presents a checklist for its applicants to present themselves professionally, including appropriate headshots, professional dress expectations, and webcam backgrounds or settings.
Keep your webcams on!
Unless candidates provide advance notice of an accommodation request, their webcams are expected to be working and on during interview days and engagement sessions. Remember that the sessions may be recorded by the admissions team, and they can document your camera’s status to be placed in your file as a professionalism concern.
Deactivate AI scribe programs during interview days.
Candidates should not record any of their virtual interview programming. Deactivate any scribe recording bots, and do not make any unauthorized or unpermitted recordings of sessions, even if they are made separately on a phone out of sight from the web camera.
From Admissions File to Student Record
Rarely will innocuous breaches in professionalism be brought up to an admissions committee, but the office may pay attention to how you engage with follow-up emails regarding commitment to enroll deadlines, submitting personal health and vaccination records, or engaging in pre-orientation webinars. An admissions team can presume that an accepted applicant is less interested in attending through a drop in email engagement.
If you are no longer interested in attending a program, you are expected to notify the program as soon as you have made your decision. Such notice will help ensure that an admissions committee extends an offer to a waitlisted candidate so they can begin their transition to attend the program.
Patterns of borderline or unprofessional behavior will be noticed. Improper interactions with fellow incoming or current students, faculty, or staff might be reported to the admissions director or dean. The incident is considered if it breaches an expectation of professionalism that is a condition of your acceptance into the program; while the incident might not result in rescinding an offer, it may remain as a report on your student file, which could be brought up if further breaches occur during school.
What to do if you encounter questionable or unprofessional behavior
Despite the best training, some interviewers may ask some questions that are not appropriate for a professional setting. Over the years, the SDN forums have shared instances where interviewers have asked female applicants about their plans to have children or their husband’s/spouse’s feelings about becoming a doctor. Other interviewers have asked about other schools where a candidate has interviewed to test their honesty or openness.
In general, candidates must be prepared to navigate such situations with as much professional grace as possible. Applicants should not be concerned about their review being biased due to a legally protected status, and should report such situations to the admissions director, committee chair, or dean by the end of the interview day or in a subsequent evaluation.
Actions For Applicants
- Read through all guidance to applicants and pay attention to expected codes or expectations of professional conduct when preparing your application. Ask questions to advisors or admissions officers if you have questions.
- Clean up or delete personal social media accounts. Don’t let an immature post made during middle school come to haunt you as an applicant. Make sure what you post shows your growth and insight as an emerging professional.
- Invest in your professional profile. Wear professional clothes for headshots to share on your social media profiles and your application. Secure private spaces for professional networking and interviewing, with properly functioning webconferencing technology.
- Trust in yourself when interacting with admissions officers, writing your first essay drafts, or preparing for interviews. Find trusted mentors to advise you about areas for improvement. Be an honest broker with everyone who you interact with.
Additional Resources
- AMCAS: Application and Acceptance Protocols for Applicants
- ADEA CAS systems: Policies and Applicant Release Statements
- PharmCAS: Code of Conduct
- TMDSAS: Policies
- VMCAS Code of Conduct (found in the Applicant Guide)
- PTCAS Applicant Responsibilities and APTA Core Values for the Physical Therapist and Physical Therapist Assistant
- National Residency Matching Program: Professional Behavior
