Medical schools are looking for applicants who posses the traits of a physician: a team player, a lifelong learner, a leader for change, an advocate, and so forth. Mt. Sinai is specifically looking for students with academic excellence, research experience, service activities, and commitment to clinical medicine. 

During the application process, students should make sure to stress the highlights of their experiences. Explain and describe these experiences in detail, and avoid making them just one or two sentences. Applicants should also only consider applying to schools with have culture and mission statements that correspond with their personal values. This makes the application process far more meaningful.

It is important to focus on the social determinants of health and their impact. While the MCAT and GPA are important, they are not the only things that matter--extracurriculars and community service go a long way to describe an applicant and their personality.

For letters of recommendation, students should make sure to ask people that know more about them and who they are as a person rather than those who can talk about testing and grades.

Mt. Sinai has early assurance programs and connections with a few universities. Their flex MD program allows sophomores to apply and get into medical school after their undergrad career. So basically students can know what medical school they’re going to by the time they are a junior. Cool!

More information can be found here: https://icahn.mssm.edu/

Brian Milsted came into October 21st's meeting to talk about the Drexel University College of Medicine. 

Drexel UCOM is in Philadelphia. The city is somewhat similar to Baltimore, and there are areas of poverty that Drexel students work to serve and improve conditions for. There are also clinics and medical centers for different causes and interests within the city (such as women's health). There is a new campus being established in Reding, PA which is a more suburban/rural community. 

Admissions is looking for well-rounded applicants who show commitment to medicine. More experiences expose students to more experiences and make them a better applicant. However quality is more valuable than quantity. Community involvement is especially valuable, both as an applicant and as a physician. Applicants whose values align with Drexel's mission are more likely to get accepted. They suggest students to show their interests continuously. 

Find a way to get involved virtually, especially for students who are applying in upcoming cycles. This might be a way to learn more about how medicine is evolving during the pandemic, for example. 

Gap years are a great way to get more experience. Students can also re-apply during a gap year. 

There is a research scholar track, similar to a minor, that students interested in research can pursue. However Drexel is not a research-heavy school. There is also an MD/PhD program. 

For students interested in practicing overseas, the Global Health Program can be helpful. 

Last year there were 12,000 applications, and the average GPA of the incoming class was a 3.64

For more information, visit the following site: https://drexel.edu/medicine/

You can also reach out to Mr. Milsted at bmilsted@drexel.edu

They covered the different types of extracurriculars, such as: research, service, clinical experience, leadership, and student involvement. 

The presentation is attached to this post, so feel free to take a look! There are lists of ways for students to gain clinical, research, and service experience near UMBC. Also included is an example of the "perfect applicant."

If you have any questions, or want to follow up on something, you can reach out to Aarsh or Noah. 

Dr. Donna Jackson Assistant Dean of Admissions and Natalia O'Brien Program Specialist at VCU attended this week's meeting to talk about the Virginia Commonwealth University School or Medicine. 

The meeting began with a short video presentation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFtQfmm9hrM&ab_channel=VirginiaCommonwealthUniversity), followed by a Q&A session. Here are some highlights: 

Semester 1 of the curriculum consists of classes such as: biochemistry, physiology, histology, pharmacology, etc. Semesters 2 and 3 cover organ systems and their pathologies. Then there are a few weeks of courses in 4th semester, then review for board exams. The school provides individual counseling to students for the USMLE Step 1. Preparation for M3 begins in students' second year itself. They have certain required rotations for M3, such as family medicine, OBGYN, etc. Some of the 4th year requirements are: integrated care experience, rotations, a month of critical care, electives (can choose one closer to home or abroad) clinical and non-clinical are available. People can continue research, work in admissions, join a medical journal review club, among other things in their fourth year. 

186 students this year, 50% out of state students

Average GPA 3.6-3.7, MCAT 512

Minimum GPA 3.3. MCAT 503

$57,000 tuition, about $77,000 with living expenses

$204,000 is average debt for out of state students upon graduation

There are a few experience-related requirements to apply:

50 hours minimum of medical exposure: doctor-patient (shadowing), then personal medical interactions --> scribing and triage cover both

60 hours minimum of community service: must be in activities that serve vulnerable populations

research and leadership are not required, but strongly recommended

You can find more information here: https://medschool.vcu.edu/

During this week's meeting representative Abby O'Farrell came in to talk about the Georgetown School of Medicine, a Jesuit medical school located in Washington DC. 

The school values individualized care; the curriculum trains students to learn more about their patients and to advocate for them. 

In the first 18 months the curriculum consists of core content. The classes are designed so that they reinforce one another. In addition, students also take a class related to social justice. Ambulatory care clinical training begins in the first week of school so students get early-on exposure to the clinical setting. Optional Longitudinal Tracks are also available: Health Justice Scholar, Healthcare Leadership, Literature and Medicine, Medical Education and Research Research Scholar, Population Health Scholar.

After the second half of the second year, education consists of the core clinical phase. These can occur in affiliate institutions and allow students to explore sub-specialties. The Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship allows students to study internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology together. This opportunity provides housing as well. 

In their fourth year, students also complete two 4-week acting internships and a four-week emergency medical rotation. 

International opportunities are also available, with a wide range of locations around the world. 

All students are required to complete a science-related research project within their four years. 

70% of students in the recent class took a gap year. A gap year is considered to be okay, as long as it is effective: find a job, finish pre-requisites, do research, do service, study for MCAT. 

The core of the application consists of the AMCAS essay and secondary essay (" Why Georgetown?"). A minimum of 2, maximum of 5, letters of recommendation are required; HPEC is preferred but not required. It is preferred that one letter is from a science related mentor. 

A science GPA of 3.6+ is highly competitive, less than 3.0 is non-competitive.

MCAT section scores less than 125 are non-competitive; the school does not superscore. 512 was the recent class average. 

They want to see students with research experience outside of class in any discipline, though quantitative research is preferred. Community service directly for under-served populations is also important. Clinical experience must be hands-on and under the direct supervision of a physician; sciribing, shadowing, EMT, missions trips, etc. 

Find more information at: https://som.georgetown.edu/

For any questions, reach out to medicaladmissions@georgetown.edu

University of Rochester is located in Rochester, NY close to Lake Ontario. It is in a small city, though not far from rural areas. The local population is diverse, with a lot of Spanish-speaking and Black community members. 

The medical school is connected to the undergraduate campus, so students have access to the undergraduate resources as well. They have the second-largest cancer center in New York and recently opened a children's hospital. 

Curriculum is based on the bio psycho social model so that students develop a more holistic understanding of their patients to better meet their needs. A lot of the classes combine science and the humanities. 55% is experiential learning.  

When reading the letters of recommendation, the admissions team looks for students who have connected well with their mentors. They are especially interested in seeing students who display creativity, leadership, outreach, collaboration, altruism, empathy and are willing to explore outside their comfort zone. Students should also understand the stresses and "dark side" of medicine, and know how to deal with it. Applicants who can relate to the bio psycho social model are seen favorably.

Last year there were 5600 applicants, 13% of whom were under represented backgrounds and 78% who were from out of state. 

Class size is about 104. Last year 62% were out-of-state. 7 students were pursuing a MD/PhD. The MD/PhD program has a separate application. 

They do not have fully-funded tuition, though there is financial aid and financial education. 

You can find more information at https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/education/md.aspx

You can also watch a recording of the presentation here: https://umbc.webex.com/webappng/sites/umbc/recording/play/e25535c2ff7c472194477c1358965e4c

All meetings will be conducted via Zoom. More information on this will be sent out soon! 

During February 19th's meeting, Kevin Nies from the George Washington University of the Health and Sciences came in to give a presentation. Some of the main points:

• GW provides students lots of support for studying abroad - about 30-40% of students go abroad for rotations or clinical work
• MPH and a certificate in Public Health are offered
• public health is a big focus of the education
• Clinical Public Health summits integrate public health into the things that students are learning
• clinical rotations start a year and a half into the curriculum
• students often come in with a variety of majors
• each class is split into smaller groups of "learning communities" that includes faculty members
• lots of mentoring provided, such as a "big sibling program," and advising deans
• a diverse rage of student organizations, from the "Latino Medical Student Association" to the "GW running club"
• during the last few months, the school matches you with your specialty to prepare students for their residency
• the Scholarly Concentration Program broadens students' idea of healthcare and provides them new opportunities; there are nine different concentrations, a good way for students to explore their passions
• some concentrations: disaster medicine, integrative medicine, medical humanities
• lots of research opportunities and an Annual Research Day
• encourage community involvement, and have the student-run GW Healing Clinic

During our first meeting of the semester, we welcomed back members and re-introduced our board members. After, that co-Presidents Faith and Vincent gave a quick presentation about the Pre-Medical Society. 

• this semester there will be a peer mentorship program to help pre-medical students; an upperclassman and mentee are paired up by shared interests and what the student needs help with 
• applications for the peer mentorship program will be sent out via e-mail
• all the board members are involved on campus and have lots of great pre-med experiences, so feel free to reach out and ask any of them for advice or suggestions on finding new opportunities
• some of these opportunities include: tutoring in the LRC, Hospice volunteering, scribing through ScribeAmerica, etc
• during next week's meeting, George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences will be visiting
• there is an AAMC virtual medical school health fair on February 20 from 11am-8pm