Category: Pre-Health

Working as a Medical Scribe: An Increasingly Popular Gap Year Job

by Mia Carpiniello

Are you wondering what to do during your gap year(s) before enrolling in medical school? Check out to this report from National Public Radio about the recent boom in medical scribe positions:

Paper records are falling by the wayside as medical electronic records have become mandatory under federal law. Doctors now have to input their notes into a computer to create a permanent digital record. Medical scribes assist with this time-consuming task by taking electronic notes alongside a doctor during her interactions with patients. As the NPR story highlights, medical scribes are in high demand these days with scribe staffing companies expanding. If you’re looking for extensive exposure to patients and physicians, this could be a rewarding and challenging gap year position for you.

 

My Med School Application: How Can I Stand Out?

At a school with so many premedical students, it can seem that everyone is the same — taking the required courses, volunteering, conducting research and planning to move forward into a medical career.  Frequently, future applicants will lament that there is nothing about their application that will “stand out” and grab the attention of admissions staff during the application process.  From the point of view of your pre-health advisors, however, the applications to medical school from Penn students and alumni reflect a great diversity of interests and talents.  Instead of asking, “How can I stand out?” the question might be reconsidered as “How can I stand up?”  Instead of thinking about how you can distinguish yourself amongst peers, consider how you can best spend your time to satisfy your intellectual curiosity, serve others, engage with your community or challenge yourself.  An application that “stands out” frequently is submitted by a person who didn’t spend a great deal of time calculating how to make that happen and stood up for their interests with passion and commitment.  Have faith that if you are a good fit for medicine, have explored the field, and have developed yourself personally and professionally according to your inclinations, you will be noticed.

4 Tips to Writing an Effective Personal Statement for Professional School Applications

The personal statement can be the most daunting part of an application to professional school. What do I write about? How do I eloquently convey my thoughts? How can I possibly stay within the stated space limit? Here are 4 quick tips to help you make the most of this opportunity to share yourself with the admissions committee.

  1. Be self-reflective and introspective. What insights have you learned about yourself through a particular experience? Share one or two of your personal qualities, abilities, or characteristics by focusing on a meaningful experience you had. Do not simply restate your resume in narrative form or summarize all of your college experiences. Rather, convey something about yourself beyond your test scores, transcript, and resume. Use your personal statement to tell the admissions committee something about yourself that they cannot glean from the rest of your application, such as your compassion, determination, or meticulousness.
  2. Be concise and straightforward. Admissions officers will be reading thousands of these essays. They won’t have the patience for rhetorical flourishes. The introductory sentence and paragraph are the most important parts; use them to grab the reader’s attention and create a good first impression.
  3. Keep it positive. A personal statement is usually not the place to explain a weakness in your application, such as a low grade or test score. Save that for the secondary application (for medical school applicants) or a brief addendum.
  4. Proof-read! Again. And Again. And then have someone else read it and give you feedback. Ask that person what your personal statement says about you. Is that the impression you want to make? Finally, be sure to follow character or length limits to demonstrate that you can follow directions.

We in the pre-professional team here in Career Services are happy critique your personal statement and provide you with feedback. We also offer Personal Statement Workshops; you can find the dates and times on the Career Services calendar:

The Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI): Interviewing the Speed-Dating Way

by Mia Carpiniello, Associate Director

If you’re considering applying to medical or dental schools, you’ve probably heard of the Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI). As an increasing number of schools adopt the MMI format this year, it’s important to understand the new format and be prepared if you are invited to an MMI interview.

What is the MMI?

The MMI is a health professions school interview format that originated at McMaster University’s medical school in Canada over ten years ago, and aims to more accurately predict an applicant’s future clinical performance as a physician (as compared to a traditional interview format). In the MMI format applicants respond to a series of scripted questions at timed interview stations. If you have an MMI interview, expect to rotate between 8 to 10 stations. At each station you will be given a set amount of time – usually 2 minutes – to read a passage and formulate a response. Then, you’ll be given an additional amount of time – usually 8 to 10 minutes – to respond before moving on to the next station. At each station you will encounter a different interviewer who will score you based on your response at that station.

Interviewers may be physicians, medical residents, lawyers, nurses, hospital administrators, or even patients – reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of health care teams in today’s world. The questions are designed to address specific skills, such as problem-solving, cultural competency, teamwork, empathy, professionalism, interpersonal skills, ethics, and stress management – not necessarily scientific and/or medical knowledge. Because most of the questions ask you to respond to a situation or an issue, the MMI format provides fewer opportunities for you to talk about your own application and experiences. Although, one station may be devoted to a traditional interview question, such as “why do you want to be a physician?”

For more descriptions of the MMI format and why medical schools are adopting it, take a look at this New York Times article and this article from Stanford School of Medicine.

Continue reading “The Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI): Interviewing the Speed-Dating Way”

Undergrad Interested in Research? Consider NSF-REU Programs!

Undergrads can learn about and apply for prestigious national research positions through the NSF-REU programs – info session on 11/5/13!

*NOTE:  Event on Tuesday 11/5 related directly to this post!
The National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) Programs Panel, Tuesday, November 5, 2013, 5:30 – 6:30 PM, Raisler Lounge, 2nd Floor Towne Building, 220 S. 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA
(Open to UPenn students, with faculty presenters from UPenn and Temple U., information from CHOP’s program, as well as Q&A with student panelists who have worked across the country in REUs)

Considering research this summer, in the future, or for your career?

A research-based experience is one of the primary ways in which undergraduate students – including freshmen – can gain experience and knowledge beyond the classroom, most especially in the early years of their education.  While many opportunities exist throughout the year – on campus with faculty, in labs, as part of nearby facilities like HUP and CHOP, among many other places – a few special programs exist in the summer months to help students gain specialized research experience.

A prestigious option to consider is the National Science Foundation-sponsored “Research Experience for Undergraduates” programs – NSF-REUs for short.

NSF-REU experiences offer a multitude of benefits to participating students, including the opportunity to:

  • work in small, diverse yet focused groups with noted faculty on novel topics
  • complete guided and independent research in areas including:
    • economics
    • engineering (a variety of fields available including nanotech, clean energy, biomedical, chemical and others)
    • ethics and values studies
    • mathematics
    • physics
    • sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, and others)
    • social sciences (psychology, criminology, diversity and inclusion, social aspects of hurricanes, anthropology, sustainability, politics and political science, civil conflict management,
    • technology (cyberinfrastructure, Department of Defense, etc.)
    • and more!
  • be published in well-respected publications and return to school with impressive projects to add to your resume
  • receive a highly competitive salary (referred to as stipends, typically ranging from $3,000 – $5,000) and often also receive additional funding to cover housing and/or meals
  • participate in fun activities organized by the site host
  • and more (benefits vary by location)

Sites can be found right here in Philadelphia, at UPenn, CHOP, and Temple U., as well as across the country and around the world (there are even polar research sites in the Arctic!)

Click on the below link to see a list of topics and find your site within.  Most students apply to more than one program, and individual requirements and deadlines (which can vary) are included on each program’s page as the site updates it.

http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp

If you’d like to speak with a Penn student who has done an REU or any other type of research, be sure to use the Penn Internship Network to search, or attend the panel in 11/5/13!: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/undergrad/pin.html

Best of luck in your search for a research opportunity – it’s a surefire way to build a great resume and potentially launch a lifelong career!

by Jamie Grant, C’98, GEd ’99