Carleen Eaton

Getting into medical school is extremely competitive, and the application process is long and complex. Keeping track of the application timeline is essential because early applicants are at an advantage when it comes to getting admitted to medical school. The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a particularly important part of the admissions decision, and doing well on it will greatly enhance your chances of acceptance.

You should first prepare for a multiple-mini interview (MMI) the same way you do any other; by researching the medical school and your application, and preparing answers to current healthcare and bioethics issues being debated publicly. By completing those tasks, you gain the foundation needed to excel at MMI stations requiring you to analyze ethics scenarios as well as to respond to questions at a short standard-format interview station, which is a part of some MMIs.

Going from premedical student to attending physician is a process that requires more than a decade of test-taking and clinical training. To become a physician, you will overcome many hurdles. Here is an overview of each of the phases of the education and training you need to complete to become a practicing physician.

Your Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) score is a crucial factor in admission to medical school. A stellar MCAT score can take your medical school application from good to great in the admissions committee’s eyes. Here are some tips to help you nail this challenging exam: Make a detailed (but flexible) study schedule.

The multiple mini-interview is very different from a traditional one-on-one or panel interview some medical schools give. With an MMI, you don’t meet with one or more interviewers for an extended length of time and discuss standard questions such as “Why medicine?” and “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” Instead, you rotate through a series of stations, encountering a different case, question, task, or role-playing scenario at each.

As an osteopathic (DO) medical school applicant, you find yourself faced with some form of the question “Why do you want to be an osteopathic physician?” many times during the medical school application process. Although DO schools have a lot in common with allopathic (MD) schools, they’re also proud of their unique history, traditions, and principles, and they seek students who are genuinely interested in attending an osteopathic medical school.

With so many things to fill out, submit, and keep track of during the medical school application process, you can easily overlook or mishandle a detail. However, every element of your application, from your personal statement to your performance on the interview, can make the difference being between gaining an acceptance and landing in the “rejected” pile.

GPA and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores allow admissions committees to assess your academic potential; work, research, clinical, and extracurricular activities show your interests and the extent to which you’ve investigated medicine. However, schools also want to know about your motivation for pursuing medicine, your interpersonal skills, your personal qualities, and your character.

You may have set out on one career path and started to feel a pull toward medicine along the way. If you’re in this position, you may be wondering just what becoming a physician requires and whether making such a major change is worth the sacrifice. For some career-changers, becoming a physician sounds good in theory, but the reality of the educational requirements and the job itself lead them to decide against it.