10 Life Tips For Pre-meds
1. Pick a major YOU like:
Yes, I said it. You don’t have to be a biomedical engineer major or physics major. You don’t have to be a bio major. All you have to do is kill your pre-med required courses: Biology, chemistry, physics etc. Picking a major that is not completely in the sciences will expand your world and help you stand out when applying to schools. If you love biology then major in it, but just know that you don’t have to.
2.Volunteer for you:
The act of volunteering should not feel like a drag… especially if you’re planning to dedicate your life to caring for others. You should want to wake up at 7 am and help take care of children in the hospital. You should want to serve as a companion to elderly patients in hospice. Whatever it is that fuels your soul, that makes you want to be a doctor more, that motivates you to push through the BS of college courses, keep doing it. You will need to feel inspired.
3.Keep a journal:
Documenting your experiences throughout college will significantly help you with med school applications. It will allow you to go back and remember the ahh-ha moment. It may even help you get through tough times, when you want to give up, when you feel like you’re not good enough. Remembering the moments that made you want to become a physician in the first place will help you significantly when preparing for interviews or writing your personal statement.
4.Plan it out:
It is a good idea to go in with a plan, a timeline of when you will take certain courses, take your MCAT, research, and volunteer. This will be your guide. If you want to study abroad, volunteer a summer for a particular organization, or simply participate in a non-medical school related activity make sure to plan it out. College flies by. Believe me. So do your homework in the beginning so that you can take advantage of all the opportunities available.
5. Be flexible:
Shit happens. Give yourself some wiggle room when making your plan. It is better to go at your own rhythm than to give into the anxiety of rushing it. So if you aren’t ready for a course, it is okay to wait it out. Self-reflection is a very important trait will be necessary in your future career so start practicing.
6. Take the MCAT when you are ready:
It often feels like we need to stick with our outline. And yes, it is important to try to stay on tract, but your world wont crumble if things are don’t go as planned. Again, self-reflection is a very important trait to develop so if you aren’t scoring what you want to score on the real test… DON’T take it. In my own experience, I did score better on the real exam than I had scored during my practice test, but it wasn’t good enough and I had to retake. In retrospect, I would definitely have waited it out.
7. Get Inspired- Get pumped:
Finding mentors is a great way to be inspired. They give you a completely different perspective of what being a health care professional is like. These could be older friends, professors, or anyone that truly inspires you. I remember finding doctors on instagram that inspired. Another way I kept myself inspired was through collecting quotes. This was especially helpful when I was studying for huge exams. There were days that I woke up and read through my quotes until one of them got me up and moving.
8. Do your research:
Everyone premed knows that they have to do research for medical school. This doesn’t mean you have to be stuck in a lab injecting mice. This means that you find something in health care that interests you and then you find someone that will take you under their wing. I know it can be challenging at times to find a professor that will give you the opportunity, but you have to be persistent… I know easier said than done, but you wont know unless you try right?? I did my undergraduate research in pediatric neuropsychology.
9. Take breaks:
Breaks are necessary. If you have to have to take a gap year then be excited about it and know that it is totally okay! You CAN travel, work, or just live without the stress of being absolutely perfect for medical school applications. You just have to be busy. There are so many gap year options now for those that want to work on their grades or simply need more experience before applying. I took two gap years. In the first I completed a masters degree in medical sciences. During the second year I worked as a clinical assistant and boy did I learn a whole lot more about the medical field than I had learned in my 4 years of undergrad. I realized that I needed this time to breath, to become more inspired, and to simply to the things that I hadn’t been able to do while in school. So take the breaks and live life to the fullest.
10.Be humble:
Medical schools know what they are doing and they are genuinely trying to find good people- those that are going to be able to empathize with their patient, play well with the rest of the medical team, and are not doing this just because their parents made them or for the money. Like many have told me before, if you want money, health care is not for you! If you genuinely want to help and change people’s lives, build lasting relationships with your patients, and work countless hours to positively impact healthcare in your community then stick to it, but always remember to stay humble and sit down ;)
10 Life Tips For Pre-meds
1. Pick a major YOU like:
Yes, I said it. You don’t have to be a biomedical engineer major or physics major. You don’t have to be a bio major. All you have to do is kill your pre-med required courses: Biology, chemistry, physics etc. Picking a major that is not completely in the sciences will expand your world and help you stand out when applying to schools. If you love biology then major in it, but just know that you don’t have to.
The act of volunteering should not feel like a drag… especially if you’re planning to dedicate your life to caring for others. You should want to wake up at 7 am and help take care of children in the hospital. You should want to serve as a companion to elderly patients in hospice. Whatever it is that fuels your soul, that makes you want to be a doctor more, that motivates you to push through the BS of college courses, keep doing it. You will need to feel inspired.
Documenting your experiences throughout college will significantly help you with med school applications. It will allow you to go back and remember the ahh-ha moment. It may even help you get through tough times, when you want to give up, when you feel like you’re not good enough. Remembering the moments that made you want to become a physician in the first place will help you significantly when preparing for interviews or writing your personal statement.
It is a good idea to go in with a plan, a timeline of when you will take certain courses, take your MCAT, research, and volunteer. This will be your guide. If you want to study abroad, volunteer a summer for a particular organization, or simply participate in a non-medical school related activity make sure to plan it out. College flies by. Believe me. So do your homework in the beginning so that you can take advantage of all the opportunities available.
5. Be flexible:
5. Be flexible:
Shit happens. Give yourself some wiggle room when making your plan. It is better to go at your own rhythm than to give into the anxiety of rushing it. So if you aren’t ready for a course, it is okay to wait it out. Self-reflection is a very important trait will be necessary in your future career so start practicing.
It often feels like we need to stick with our outline. And yes, it is important to try to stay on tract, but your world wont crumble if things are don’t go as planned. Again, self-reflection is a very important trait to develop so if you aren’t scoring what you want to score on the real test… DON’T take it. In my own experience, I did score better on the real exam than I had scored during my practice test, but it wasn’t good enough and I had to retake. In retrospect, I would definitely have waited it out.
Finding mentors is a great way to be inspired. They give you a completely different perspective of what being a health care professional is like. These could be older friends, professors, or anyone that truly inspires you. I remember finding doctors on instagram that inspired. Another way I kept myself inspired was through collecting quotes. This was especially helpful when I was studying for huge exams. There were days that I woke up and read through my quotes until one of them got me up and moving.
Everyone premed knows that they have to do research for medical school. This doesn’t mean you have to be stuck in a lab injecting mice. This means that you find something in health care that interests you and then you find someone that will take you under their wing. I know it can be challenging at times to find a professor that will give you the opportunity, but you have to be persistent… I know easier said than done, but you wont know unless you try right?? I did my undergraduate research in pediatric neuropsychology.
Breaks are necessary. If you have to have to take a gap year then be excited about it and know that it is totally okay! You CAN travel, work, or just live without the stress of being absolutely perfect for medical school applications. You just have to be busy. There are so many gap year options now for those that want to work on their grades or simply need more experience before applying. I took two gap years. In the first I completed a masters degree in medical sciences. During the second year I worked as a clinical assistant and boy did I learn a whole lot more about the medical field than I had learned in my 4 years of undergrad. I realized that I needed this time to breath, to become more inspired, and to simply to the things that I hadn’t been able to do while in school. So take the breaks and live life to the fullest.
Medical schools know what they are doing and they are genuinely trying to find good people- those that are going to be able to empathize with their patient, play well with the rest of the medical team, and are not doing this just because their parents made them or for the money. Like many have told me before, if you want money, health care is not for you! If you genuinely want to help and change people’s lives, build lasting relationships with your patients, and work countless hours to positively impact healthcare in your community then stick to it, but always remember to stay humble and sit down ;)
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