Application Epiphanies

I am finishing up my one and only (very gratefully) med school application cycle. The process is brutal at times. And by brutal I mean colossal-stepping-in-shit-cluster-fuck (visual interpretation at top). For myself, the entire process was inundated with anxious email and mail box checking. Where I got interviews and acceptances vs. where I didn't seemed paradoxical at times. A great interview complete with my interviewer allowing 20 minutes of shadowing time led to a waitlist. Awkward interviews filled with trivial ethics questions led to swift acceptances. If there was a pattern, I certainly didn't discern it. Various analogies can be made, including my personal favorite: comparing the application process to carrying out multiple hectic relationships. I think it works on several levels. All of us hope to find that one perfect match and hope that the object of this affection reciprocates, we go after several targets and try to spend time with each, we are attracted to superficial attributes, we get dumped and do some dumping, at various points we just want to do all of them at the same time in a strange med school orgy, at the end we hope to not have made a huge mistake, and a few of us actually may find a perfect match.

There is light at the end of the tunnel and even some opportunities for attaining skills in the application process. Answering the "Why our school?" or "What is your greatest weakness?" questions can lead to a hideous, trite BS festival. On the other hand, actually putting thought to why you are applying and what issues you will have to overcome can be good prep work. Secondaries were the overall most excruciating obligation of applying for me. Completing nearly 20 of them put a hatchet in my social life. Developing the skills of self acclamation, however, will probably be valuable at some point. Also, forcing applicants to do at least some minimal research on the schools they have applied to probably leads to better matches. Other issues seem antiquated. This is illustrated by the insistence of some schools on using paper mail. Really? Supposedly cutting edge, elite medical institutions can't use the internet? I have to read on SDN that someone living nearer to a school has received a letter and now I'm panicking every time I check the mail. It also seems that the process could be shortened. I know it is difficult putting together a class without overfilling, but an entire year from primary app completion to decisions is excessive. My hope is that the med school application process will not be static, that new ideas will continue to be fused in with existing protocols to create a better system. Let us be progressive in establishing the best possible system in identifying future physicians and training them.

I find it difficult to give advice to those applying as individual circumstances change the process. I will state that setting your heart on one place is often a road to disappointment, especially if it is a school with very competitive applicants. The fact is that there are a ton of amazing candidates applying for limited spots. There are also quite a few amazing places to study medicine. Being part of a society with the greatest accumulation of wealth in mankind's history has its benefits. One of these is that virtually every major city claims it own world class training hospital. Of the 18 or so school I applied to, I honestly believe I would have been happy at any of them. I could probably make up an applicant with the best stats/ECs who will randomly fail to make it to a few schools; that's just the nature of med school applications. Apply early, put effort into the writing, and be passionate. We need more physicians with passion. It is cliché but true that in the end where you went to med school doesn't matter. What you are doing to progress medical science and care for patients matters. Bragging about a big name school isn't going to improve the outcomes of any community. This isn't to say attending a school with a big time reputation is evil, I'm just saying that attending a big time school or any dream school isn't the point.

The application monster can be tamed. Identify the qualities that make you unique and the life experiences which have led you where you are. Organize these factors into a concise, enjoyable story that will allow others to understand your commitment to being part of the medical profession. There are infinite ways to do this. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean it is easy. There are also infinite ways to write or paint; but relatively few great works of art. This process is an art. Don't be afraid to immerse yourself in it and make the best application you can. Good luck...it's so much easier looking at it from this end.