Tag: Pre-Health

Why do I have to do clinical volunteering?

by Anne Reedstrom

As I make my way home on the bus, it occurs to me that I answer a ton of questions in any given day. Students often preface their question with “I know it’s a stupid question, but…” There are no stupid questions. Really. There’s no shame in not knowing something and asking someone to explain it to you. I eat and have an apartment and a TiVo because you have questions and I can help you find the answers. There is, however one question that I dislike. Not because it is a stupid question or because I get asked it every day, but because the question itself surprises me.

“Why do I have to do clinical volunteering?” This is the granddaddy of them all. But there are also its relatives:

Cousin Bob: “Do I have to, really?”

Nephew Pete: “But you don’t really learn anything, do you? That’s what my friend’s sister’s roommate’s dog said, anyway.”

Sister Sue: “I shadowed once, for two hours, in high school. Shouldn’t that count?”

And its most evil of relatives to which I dare not give a name: “Do I have to do more of that pointless volunteering?”

I cringe just writing those sentences.

The answer to all of them is yes, a resounding, reverberating, shout it from the rooftop of Rodin and risk some facilities people running after you with clubs, YES.

The other simple answer is “because it’s good for you,” but that’s what my mother always told me about eating peas, and I won’t touch the things. Gross.

Still another simple answer is because it is important for admission to medical school. Not everything you do needs to be because medical schools want you to, but this is an important component to your application.

So what’s the real answer? You should volunteer in a way which brings you into contact with patients in a medical setting, even in a limited way. You should do this because this will help you confirm that you want to spend all day, every day around cranky sick people. It will help you become more familiar and comfortable in medical facilities. You will learn about what nurses and other medical staff do, see how hard they work and, hopefully, develop an appreciation of their efforts, which will be important during your clerkships, since the nurses know it all and you know nothing. It’s also not a bad idea to experience life at the bottom of the food chain. You will strengthen your communication skills, or perhaps discover that you do have some, and begin to learn how to establish a rapport with patients. These are all invaluable skills that you will need as a physician. And, medical schools want to see that you have explored the profession and aren’t entering into this endeavor blindly, or just because your parents want you to. In other words, it is important for admission to medical school.

So why is this my least favorite question of the hundreds of questions I get asked? Because deep down inside me, as an educator and, despite my reputation as the “Mean One,” someone who cares about you and your successes, I want you to want to gain this kind of experience and it depresses me when you don’t. I want you to realize the value of it and how much you can learn. I want you to be excited about being in a hospital, whether it’s the cardiac floor or the ED, and become inspired by the work of the doctors and nurses you observe. I want you to see the patients as people and want to help them, even if you can only get them a blanket, some water, or the nurse.

I know you’re busy. You’re Penn students; you’ve got a fair bit going on in your lives. Even still, I want you to want to make the time to educate yourself and help others all in one fell swoop.

Ultimately, it is good for you, like peas and the other green vegetables I eat instead of them, and I want you to want it because, selfishly, I want you to be the best medical students and doctors you can be.


Interviewing for Medical and Dental School: Empathy for your Interviewer

The prospect of interviewing for medical or dental school may be throwing you into a manic fit.  We know it’s tough, but think about the position of your interviewer.  He or she has only a short time to get to know you and determine if you have what it takes to care for patients.  Do you seem honest?  Mature?  Prone to fits of anger or crippling anxiety?  Are you applying to make your parents happy?  Will you stick with a career in health care?  Do you know yourself and what you are getting into?  Thinking about the interview from the other person’s point of view can strengthen your interview skills.  Instead of “performing” or “passing a test,” think of yourself as helping the interviewer learn what is interesting about you.

For example, many applicants worry about answering questions about their research because they fear not knowing or forgetting the scientific details of their work.  To alleviate their anxiety, they prepare a long monologue detailing the basic science of the investigation and launch into it without any comment about the general scope of the study or their personal connection to the work.  Having conceived of the interviewer as an all-knowing persecutor, they haven’t considered that the other person may not share their understanding of their research.  Or, perhaps your interviewer would like to hear if you can explain your work to someone outside of the laboratory, demonstrating your ability to teach.

Alternatively, you could answer at a more general level and go into detail if asked to do so.  What is the research about?  What is interesting about it for you?  What have you learned?  What has been challenging about it?  What was your role on the research team?  Answers to these questions will tell the interviewer more about you personally and convey things that cannot be found in your written application.

Recognizing that your interviewer is a human being who would like to learn more about you will bring out your ability to empathize and communicate with other people.  Really listen.  If she asks about something that is on your AMCAS, you might not say, “That’s on my AMCAS.”  If he interrupts you, think before saying, “Hold on, let me finish.”  Be professional, but consider the advantages of being flexible and communicative in the interview.  Imagine what you would want to learn about an applicant and think about how you can do your part to convey that information and those qualities. 

 

 

What if I Don’t Get into Medical School?

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The really painful part of not getting into medical school is that you won’t know right away.   It’s unlikely that you will be rejected by every school; rather, you will spend weeks trying to figure out what “on hold” or “under review” means or hoping that you will make it off a wait list.  Eventually, you will conclude that it probably isn’t going to work out.

The first step is to work through some of the feelings that are bound to accompany this realization.  Rage.  Disappointment.  Panic.  Frustration.  Relief.  All of the above.  None of the above.  Call upon your friends, family, advisors and let it out:  “Morons!  Don’t they know talent when they see it!”  or “I’m a failure!”  Curse the gods and pity yourself.  And then stop (or dial it down) because you are going to have make some decisions about your next steps.  It will be hard to think clearly if you are consumed with the desire to burn your MCAT materials (don’t do it — you can sell them!).

If you didn’t have a “Plan B” then there may be some immediate life concerns to address.  Do you need a job?  Are you going to stay at your current position?  Are you going to move?  Oy.  Do know, as many premedical students do not, that Career Services offers counseling and services related to finding employment while you are at Penn and after you graduate.  Really!  It’s not just OCR!

The other questions you need to contemplate are also important:  Why didn’t I get in?  Do I still want to be a doctor?  Do I want to apply again and when?  Oy, oy, triple oy.

There is a very good chance that there was at least one major weakness in your application.  Think it through — grades, MCAT score, personal statement, clinical exposure.  Think harder.  Did you apply late?  Did you have a very fancy list of schools?  Did you have a fair number of interviews?  If so, those may not have gone as well as you thought.  Was everything there, but maybe a little thin?  Where could the application be stronger?  It’s possible that you just had bad luck, but usually there is some aspect of the application that could be strengthened.  That isn’t a reason to beat yourself up, but should motivate you take stock of your application before reapplying.

Speaking of reapplying, it’s not a great idea to do this automatically.  Sometimes people reapply without considering other career paths or changing their application, which can lead to two or three years of going through the application process unsuccessfully.  If you want to be a doctor because you have never thought about doing something else, this is a good time to think of alternatives if only to reconfirm your commitment to becoming a physician.  It could be that medical school is not the best fit for you.  Not infrequently, we have alumni tell us that they hadn’t thought of being anything but a doctor when they came to Penn, but have found their niche in another field that they never knew existed.  This is often communicated in an email with lots of exclamation marks and happy faces.

If you remain steadfast in your desire to become a physician do not despair.  Many people are admitted after a disappointing turn through the application process.  You’ll stand a much better chance of reaching your goal if you think carefully about the strength and timing of your application.  If you need to spend more time in a health care setting or take more courses to show what you can do academically, then do it…before you apply again.

Your pre-health advisors are happy to meet with you to consider your strategy for a second application.  If you don’t get into medical school this year, you won’t fall off the edge of a map.  You have many options.  Your personal support network will help see you through and Career Services will support you as you reorient yourself in uncharted waters.

Survey Says! 1/3 of Penn Alums Entering Medical School Wish…

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Pre-health students — it has arrived!  Feedback from our survey of Penn alums who started medical school in 2010 is here and available for your reading pleasure in the Career Services library and in the pre-health advising waiting area (aka, the places where we keep “the stats”).  Here are some of the questions we posed to alumni:

  • What do you wish you had known before starting the application process?
  • Are there any specific courses you wish you had taken before starting medical school?
  • What pre-medical experiences best prepared you for medical school?
  • If you took time between undergrad and medical school, what did you do?

In addition to answering these questions, alumni generously provided detailed comments on about 36 individual medical schools with multiple responses for many schools (particularly Penn Med and Jefferson).

To warm up before reading the survey, get ready to hit the buzzer.  Here is the question (insert dramatic silence):  What do Penn alums, enrolled in their first year of medical school, wish they had known before they applied?  Survey says!  BING!  TO APPLY EARLY!  One third of those who returned the survey said they wish they had known to apply early.  And so I say to you, “Apply early!  It’s important!”   Some other popular responses were:  I wish I had known — applying to medical school is expensive…how important it is to know why you want to be a doctor…that medical school is very difficult…more about the curricula at different medical schools….

Alumni are always a great resource, those wise old Quakers!  There’s a great deal of helpful information in the survey from many different voices and we appreciate our alums taking the time to share their experience and insight with us.  Also, if you wish to connect with an alum, don’t forget the Penn Alumni Career Network, known as PACNet!

Professionalism and the Pre-health Student: Beyond “Please” and “Thank you.”

by Carol Hagen

We talk a lot about “professionalism” at Career Services and, on the whole, people seem to listen.  The email I receive is invariably gracious and thoughtful and I routinely conduct mock interviews with well tailored and poised applicants.  But what about outside the boundaries of “sincerely” and a clean white shirt?  The qualities of professionalism beyond the reach of Emily Post are also important, particularly for pre-health students.

"I'm a professional." http://my.aegean.gr/gallery

While working or volunteering in a clinical environment or research setting, it is vital that you conduct yourself in a professional manner.  Lapses in professionalism make a strong impression on faculty and staff, not only in terms of your personal relationship with supervisors and colleagues, but in maintaining clinical and research opportunities for other pre-health students. How eager is Professor X going to be to offer a lab position to an undergraduate after two people have quit when mid-terms came up?  Does the hospital need to give access to volunteers who bring their friends along with them to a shift or disregard other rules, all of them important?

Know that health professions schools take professionalism amongst their students very seriously.  Students are routinely written up by faculty when areas of concern emerge and studies have shown that medical students who demonstrate unprofessional behavior are more likely to receive disciplinary action from state medical boards down the road.  Unite for Sight has a super (and free) online guide to volunteer ethics and professionalism — read it!  Here are some important points to keep in mind:

  • Consider in advance whether the opportunity is a good fit.  It’s unfortunate when volunteers do not fulfill their commitment to serve because they find their time unsatisfying.
  • Show up on time, be polite, and ask questions when uncertain.  Follow all rules and procedures.
  • Be humble and open to all opportunities to learn.
  • Respect boundaries and your work environment.  Patients are not friends.  Flip-flops, for example, (and I do love them) are not appropriate or safe in the hospital or lab.
  • If you make a mistake, tell somebody.  It won’t be easy, but communicating errors is seen as a sign of maturity and professionalism.

Access to a professional research or clinical environment is a privilege.  Maintaining a positive attitude and open communication with your supervisors will help you make the most of your opportunity and ensure that others will do so in the future.