Medical School Admissions

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Linkage Programs

As we’ve mentioned in this blog series, some post-bacc programs and SMPs offer linkage programs. These allow students to skip their “glide year” between their post-bacc program or SMP and medical school, and matriculate into an affiliated med school the fall after their current program ends. Linkage students’ applications to affiliated schools essentially go to the top of the pile. 

Here’s the rub, though: You can only apply to one of the affiliated schools, and if admitted, you’re expected not to apply to more schools within that year and commit to attending the school that accepted you. So, you really only want to do linkage if you are dead set on a certain medical school

If this still sounds good to you: Linkage programs can be sweet back door entrances into a university's medical school (or an affiliated university's medical school), provided you do well in them. Students who absolutely nail their linkage SMP or post-bacc courses might automatically be offered conditional acceptance to their medical school if they meet certain criteria. Notice the words “conditional” and “certain” here, they’re doing a lot of work. Schools don’t like to say the word “guaranteed,” even if you rocked the house. 

We know of a non-client who completed his linkage SMP with the required GPA and thus earned his interview at his school’s medical program…but he was then waitlisted. He ended up getting in, but for a minute there, there was a real possibility that he was going to have to apply the following year. That wouldn’t have been the end of the world, though. Schools like to point out that “most” SMP graduates do get into medical school if not during their program, soon afterwards.

If this has spiked your curiosity, find out if your top school has a linkage program, what affiliates it has, and what unique benefits it offers. Here is a little info on just a few linkage programs we like:

  • Bryn Mawr’s post-baccalaureate premedical program connects to one dental school and 16 medical schools, including the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Boston University’s School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. The school reports that the post-bacc program’s linkage option is quite popular—and successful. “Bryn Mawr has early acceptance arrangements with more medical schools than any other [post-bacc] program, and we have the longest-standing relationships with many of these consortial/linkage schools,” writes Glenn Cummings, Director of the Bryn Mawr Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program. As for the program overall, the school boasts that “over 98% [of students] are accepted to medical school.”

  • University of Virginia's pre-med post-bacc graduates have a 95% acceptance rate to medical schools across the country. In addition to teaching the sciences, the program requires students to take a course on the U.S. healthcare system and facilitates volunteering and shadowing experiences. Their linkage program connects to George Washington University’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences and University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine.

  • Columbia’s post-bacc premed program is housed in its School of General Studies and offers linkage to New York University’s Medical School, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Weill Cornell’s Medical College, and eight other programs. If you want to find out more about their various linkage opportunities, Columbia regularly hosts online events.

  • Tufts MBS program is a SMP that offers a MS in Biomedical Sciences—and linkage to Tufts School of Medicine’s MD Program. (That’s a lot of acronyms!) On average, 54 linkage applicants from the MBS program get an interview at Tufts each year. Thirty-seven of those students are typically accepted into the school of medicine. Says the school, “MBS students who apply to the School of Medicine's MD program get preferred consideration for interviews and will be carefully and holistically reviewed. This is regardless of if they meet the specific MBS Linkage criteria.” Linkage aside, according to Tufts, most of the MBS class can expect a leg up into medical school. They report an “80+% admit rate to medical school (vs. the 7% national average)” and a “60% interview rate at Tufts University’s School of Medicine for the MD program (vs. 10% from the general applicant pool).” MBS requires a thesis and “in lieu of a traditional thesis defense, MBS students must have their thesis formally approved by their mentor and identified readers,” according to the school. Students can complete the program in one year or two, if they want to extend their clinical work in the community or complete a lab-based thesis.

  • Some DO programs offer linkage too. Barry University’s Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences is a non-thesis SMP meant to prepare students for medical or dental school or Biomedical Sciences PhD programs. You can earn acceptance into the program even if you don’t have all your premedical requirements yet. In the program, you might find yourself doing research work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Institute of Health (NIH), or the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Successful completion guarantees an interview at Barry University’s School of Podiatric Medicine (POD) or an affiliate school, which are: the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM), and the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine (OCOM).

Related:

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: An Overview

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Post-Baccalaureate Certification

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Master’s Programs

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Special Master’s Programs

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Special Master’s Programs

Like an undergraduate post-bacc program, Special Master’s Programs (SMPs) are one or two-year programs (typically one-year) designed to help you prepare for medical school. 

SMPs are for people who completed the pre-medical curriculum...but maybe could have done better. We also know of SMP applicants who had fine grades but were bad test takers and had low MCAT scores. Attending a SMP can show commitment to studying medicine and serve as proof that you’re a capable student. 

These programs are also great for folks who simply feel underprepared for the medical school environment because SMPs offer a med school-esque experience. You might even take courses alongside medical students and be able to pick their brains. 

There’s more than just science courses to SMPs too: Morehouse has a one- and two-year Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS), which offers an MCAT prep course (not every SMP does), scribe training, and courses covering systemic racism to prepare underrepresented students for what they may encounter in med school and the medical field. The MSMS programs also provide matriculants with both a faculty and student advisor. Notes Morehouse: “As of the 2021 graduating class, the Post-Baccalaureate and MSMS degree programs have graduated 160 students with 88% of them entering health professional schools (134 to MD, three to DO, two to PA, one to DDS, and one to PhD programs).”

You might choose your SMP because it is under the same metaphorical or actual roof as your ideal medical school. You’ll have the chance to do some strong on-campus networking, always a plus when interviewing. And SMP students’ med school applications get special notice at the school they’re attending.

Georgetown has the oldest one-year Master of Physiology program built for aspiring medical students in the country; 50% of its students are accepted to medical school while still in the program. And 85% of its graduates are accepted to medical school within two years of completing their Master's degree. SMP students at Georgetown have an advantage when applying to Georgetown School of Medicine (GUSOM). “Many SMP students apply to [GUSOM] while in the program,” notes the school. “The SMPs are pulled out of the general applicant pool and are reviewed separately. GUSOM highly values students from the program and typically interviews half of the class. Of those interviewed, typically half are offered acceptance.”

The AAMC has a detailed list of 311 post-baccalaureate and SMP programs, and if they have linkage affiliations, it notes the schools they’re affiliated with. You can search by school, state, and public or private institution.

Related:

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: An Overview

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Post-Baccalaureate Certification

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Master’s Programs

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Linkage Programs

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Master’s Programs

A Master's program, like one of Chemistry, Physiology, or Public Health, can bolster a weaker transcript. And because some Master’s programs involve research and a thesis, a strong performance shows your ability to thrive in an in-depth program. Of note, your Master's GPA counts separately from your undergraduate GPA. 

A client of ours pursued an MS in Human Nutrition. Her goal was to learn more about public health nutrition and use that experience to apply to medical school with not only a stronger transcript but deeper knowledge of an area of great interest to her.

If, like our client, you're eager to expand your knowledge of a specific area or better prepare for a competitive and collaborative environment, earning an advanced degree might be for you. A Master's program can also hook you up with a helpful mentor. 

As mentioned in the post-bacc blog, Princeton University offers a short list of post-bacc and master’s programs that highlights elite schools

Related:

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: An Overview

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Post-Baccalaureate Certification

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Special Master’s Programs

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Post-Baccalaureate Certification

Post-bacc programs are one- and two-year certification programs (you don’t earn a degree, but rather a certificate) and are ideal for folks who are making a career change or need to enhance their academic record. 

If you have not satisfied the course requirements for medical school, you must earn a post-bacc. (Or at least do a self-styled post-bacc experience, in which you take the courses missing from your undergrad transcript.) Career changers typically lack multiple med school course requirements; the clients who we’ve worked with who have attended post-bacc programs were all career changers. Post-bacc programs are also an option for those who tanked some classes early on in their college career or re-applicants who have some room for academic improvement. A post-bacc counts towards your undergraduate GPA like a fifth year of college. Some post-bacc programs offer MCAT prep too.

There are post-bacc programs that are full-time or part-time and/or offer night classes, making it easy to continue to gain clinical experiences between now and when you matriculate to med school (a must no matter what else you do). 

You can get briefed on the details of many-a-post-bacc-program by using the AAMC's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Programs database. Some post-bacc programs (and Special Master’s Programs) offer linkage programs—we’ll explain that further in a bit—and this database will tell you what schools those programs are affiliated with, if any. Princeton University offers a shorter list of strong post-bacc and master’s programs that is tremendously helpful.

Related:

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: An Overview

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Master’s Programs

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Special Master’s Programs

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Linkage Programs

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: An Overview

If you don’t think you’re ready to apply to medical school (or you’ve been rejected), you may be considering a post-baccalaureate certification, a Master’s program, or a Special Master’s Program (SMP). Maybe you’re even specifically looking for a post-bacc or SMP that offers a linkage program. Or you might not know why you’d pursue any of that! No matter the case, read on, because, in this blog series, we’ll explain the difference between these offerings and what you should think about before pursuing them. 

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let us say this: If your undergrad GPA is strong, you have done enough science coursework, and you feel ready for medical school, you don't need to take on the added expense of another program before med school. They are cash- and time-consuming. 

Cost is just one of the reasons that these programs are known as “high risk, high reward.” They can give you an advantage in getting into medical school, especially at the one that houses the program. But not doing well in such a program is a devastating look. These programs are challenging, so if you’re not ready for med school, you might not be ready for them, either. 

The value of pursuing a post-bacc certification or an advanced degree before medical school is subjective. These programs offer a great way to mature and expand your knowledge—but they are definitely not a guarantee that you will get into a medical school.

Related:

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Post-Baccalaureate Certification

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Master’s Programs

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Special Master’s Programs

Earning Another Degree or Certification Before Med School: Linkage Programs

Non Pre-Med Courses That Impress Med Schools

Going beyond the expected premedical curriculum shows schools that broader learning is important to you. And, perhaps counterintuitively, that you are serious about medicine. We’ve compiled a number of courses below that will enhance your medical school application. 

  • Calculus: Most schools want you to take a college-level math course—and this is a strong one to choose. (If you took a calculus course in high school, go for Calculus II in undergrad.) Calculus improves your comprehension of physics and chemistry. "Given that these subjects constitute a significant portion of the MCAT, it would benefit any pre-med student to learn calculus," according to an article published in Inquiro, The University of Alabama's Undergraduate Research Journal. 

  • Statistics: If you strengthen your understanding of data, clinical studies will make much more sense. All prospective medical students would benefit from this course. If you hope to do research in medical school and beyond, definitely sign up for stats. 

  • Behavioral Sciences: Anthropology, psychology, and sociology teach you about human beings. You'll learn to observe behaviors and extrapolate potential influences on them. That will help any student or physician in clinical work. 

  • Languages: The number of languages spoken in a free clinic each day is mind-blowing. Having a second language on the tip of your tongue or your fingers—American Sign Language is great to know—will make you a more appealing med school candidate.

  • Creative writing or other non-required English courses: Powerful writing will aid you during the application process. Becoming a better reader and writer improves your communication skills overall, as does giving feedback to, and receiving it from, classmates. 

  • Other Liberal Arts courses: Whether you take art history, philosophy, or civics, it'll teach you to apply critical thinking to everything you do. And not for nothing, these courses are interesting.

Related:

Narrative Medicine Helps Physicians Gain Empathy, Make Connections, and Accept Difficult Experiences

Covid Crisis Brings Attention to the Need for Humanities in Medical School Curriculum

Your Pre-Med Priorities: How to Find Clinical Experiences for Your Gap Year(s)

If you've already graduated and are taking a gap year or two, you can find summer and full- and part-time pre-med research assistant gigs that require a BA on job boards like Indeed, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, etc. You can find work as a medical scribe in these regular job listings too. EMT programs are a pipeline to EMT jobs, ditto CNA programs to CNA jobs. The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs maintains a list of accredited paramedic programs. (Just bear in mind that becoming a paramedic is more intense than becoming an EMT.) You can also try the following:

1. Use your club contacts. If you're a member of your college's pre-med club, you have access to some alumni and/or guest speakers who are interested in helping prospective doctors. If they can't let you shadow or work for them because of their schedule or because their specialty doesn't match up with your goals, they may recommend someone for you to contact or even give you an email intro. Go Greek too. If you're a member of a sorority or fraternity, your organization may be able to set you up with a physician alumnus who is eager to help. 

2. Call a volunteer center. Sometimes a cold call is the way to go. Free clinics tend to be understaffed and are therefore aching to be your clinical experience. But they might not have a job posting up online. Call or email them and ask if they need volunteers. For a hospital volunteer center, go with: "I'm a pre-med student at (or recent graduate from) ABC University. I'd love to speak with someone about shadowing a physician and a volunteer position. I'm most interested in X, but I'm open to all opportunities." Academic affiliated hospitals are probably your best bets. 

3. Connect with a local physician for shadowing. Reach out to someone who specializes in an area you're interested in and is hopefully close to campus. (It would be ideal to shadow them multiple times.) You can call or email their office or direct message them on LinkedIn. Younger doctors are going to be more familiar with shadowing because they did it. Ask your own doctor about shadowing too. Yep, you're really hitting up any doctor who you know. 

4. Sign up for virtual shadowing. There are third-party organizations who can hook you up with a virtual opportunity. If you have other, more substantial clinical experiences, this is just going to be a bonus to your application. Virtual shadowing should not be your sole clinical experience. (It can be your sole shadowing experience.) Virtual can be great if you want to follow a physician with a certain specialty and can't seem to lock down a local one. Just remember, virtual group sessions tend to be large, so you're not going to get one-on-one mentorship.

Related:

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Gain Clinical Experiences

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Clinical Experiences that Medical Schools Love

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Finding Clinical Experiences as an Undergraduate

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Finding Clinical Experiences as an Undergraduate

Your school is built to help you find clinical and research experiences, be it through fellowships abroad, local summer internships, or work in the university's research labs. And many prospective medical students use personal connections to land volunteering gigs and shadowing experiences, which is great. Get these however you can… 

But, what do you do if your school isn't automatically flooding you with information on opportunities and your aunt's fiancé isn’t the top brain surgeon in your city? Try this. 

1. Seek out your pre-health advisor and pre-med professors. “[An on-campus pre-health advisor] may be in the academic dean’s office, a science professor, or a counselor in the career services office,” says AAMC. If you don’t know of an advisor on your campus, you can find out if there is one through the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP) database. No advisor on campus? Contact the NAAHP to find a volunteer advisor. Can your advisor or a pre-med professor help you connect with someone at your university's medical school so that you can help in a lab or at an affiliated hospital? Can they give you the contact info of a physician alumnus who you can shadow? Your advisor and professors are motivated to help you; they want your application to be a success. You just might have to be the one who makes the first move. 

2. Hit up your school's medical school and science department. Same DIY deal. If, for whatever reason, your pre-health advisor isn't available to you, go ahead and contact these folks yourself. It shows initiative and you could make valuable connections on the administrative teams. 

3. Check out the Student Doctor Network's Activity Finder. We're big fans of SDN, a nonprofit, and overall terrific resource. Their Activity Finder is a one-stop shop that will guide you towards NIH and other research opportunities, volunteering gigs with Americorps and more, virtual shadowing experiences, and clinical work by location and position. 

4. Check other online listings—for research opportunities, especially. Besides SDN, some university websites have databases of summer research opportunities at both their college and others. (You don't have to go to a certain school to work at it. We had a client who went to UConn do her summer research at Yale.) And definitely peruse AAMC's database of summer research opportunities for undergraduates

Related:

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Gain Clinical Experiences

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Clinical Experiences that Medical Schools Love

Your Pre-Med Priorities: How to Find Clinical Experiences for Your Gap Year(s)

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Clinical Experiences that Medical Schools Love

There are a variety of clinical experiences that medical schools like to see in your W&A section because they inform your understanding of a medical career and the day-to-day work it entails.

They include: 

Medical Scribe: This is one of our favorite types of clinical experience. Working as a scribe allows you to see doctor patient interactions up close; you'll expand your medical vocabulary, read about things touched on in appointments (there's that intellectual curiosity!), and be a valuable part of a medical team. You can scribe at a top hospital or a CityMD clinic. What matters is exposure. Don't just describe the job to the school (they know what it is); share a meaningful story. 

EMT: You'll learn basic life support (BLS) and work in high-pressure scenarios. We had a client who worked as an EMT, and performed CPR on a patient, tag teaming with an experienced colleague so neither would become too fatigued and lag in compressions. Their persistence paid off; their patient survived. As an EMT, you'll have opportunities to help people and maybe even save lives. You can learn a lot from your colleagues, too. They've seen it all. 

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): This job will require a 4-to-16-week state-approved training program at a local community college or through the Red Cross. It will also involve major grunt work. You'll be responsible for multiple patients, taking their vitals, making sure they're moving, eating, and drinking water. You'll work closely with a medical team. You don't have to work full-time, and the hours are flexible. It's also a paid gig, and actual clinical jobs can look more impressive than volunteering. 

Free Clinic Volunteer: You'll interact with patients, doctors, and other medical professionals while providing care essential to your community. You'll meet patients with a variety of medical needs, and your entry about working at the free clinic should be about direct patient interaction. (You need at least one patient-interaction in your W&A.) Runner up for the best entry focus is a learning experience you had with a staff member. Showing yourself as a problem-solver is great. 

Research Jobs with Clinical Exposure: A twofer! You'll learn about one area of medicine in-depth and get to know patients. As a hospital research coordinator, one client became a passionate advocate for sickle cell disease (SCD) patients' health and dignity. Through surveying patients at every appointment, he developed strong bonds with them and their families. He learned about the daily trials of the disease and the stigma surrounding its most common treatment: opioids. Hospital staff often treated patients in extreme pain as drug-seekers. One 19-year-old told our client: "I just want to be respected." It affected our client deeply. His involvement in this clinical research project spurred him to join two studies investigating new SCD drug treatments. 

Shadowing: Shadowing is great introductory clinical exposure and prevalent among applicants—88% of Johns Hopkins' 2018 accepted students had shadowing experience. But to med schools, shadowing weighs less than volunteering at free clinics, doing clinical research, or working as a medical scribe, etc. That's because it typically doesn't lead to significant patient interactions. Still, shadowing someone in a field you're very interested in is informative, and you can have poignant experiences. 

Since patient interaction isn't common in these scenarios, you want to emphasize how else a shadowing experience helped you build clinical skills or expanded your knowledge of a medical specialty, preferably one you're interested in pursuing after medical school. If these things don't apply to your shadowing experience, here are some other things to consider: What did you see—and how did it affect you? Did a doctor calmly handle an angry patient? Did you seek more information on any condition a physician diagnosed in front of you? Did you learn something about a doctor's day-to-day life that you didn't know before? Unless you had one incredible experience or really need to fill up your W&A, grouping your shadowing experiences in one entry is a great idea.

Related:

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Gain Clinical Experiences

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Finding Clinical Experiences as an Undergraduate

Your Pre-Med Priorities: How to Find Clinical Experiences for Your Gap Year(s)

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Gain Clinical Experiences

The most important W&A entries are about your clinical experiences. Admissions committees need to know: Does this candidate have enough clinical experience to know what they're getting into? 

"You have to have clinical exposure," Keith D. Baker, PhD., assistant dean for admissions at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine told US News & World Report. "That's sort of fundamental. That experience lets us and other medical schools know that you have a reasonable expectation of what lies ahead, and if you don't have that, we simply don't have confidence that you're a serious candidate.” 

Schools need to know that you have seen medical care in action and gained experience with patients. "If you're not interested in working with patients, we're not going to be interested in working with you," Paul White, assistant dean for admissions at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said in a 2019 interview with Case Western Reserve University's All Access: Med School Admissions podcast. In another podcast interview, this one with Admissions Straight Talk, White reiterated that while applicants might assume Johns Hopkins would favor research roles above all other things, the school wants applicants with clinical exposure (though that can be through their research roles). "Most students who are successful in our admissions process have had significant clinical interaction, and that goes well beyond shadowing," he said. "I’m talking about actually interacting with patients…in a position where they interact on a regular basis." The numbers back him up. Matriculation data for the 2018 entering class at Johns Hopkins showed that 91% had medical or clinical volunteer experiences and 24% had some type of paid medical or clinical employment. 

Jorge A. Girotti, PhD, MHA, and associate dean at University of Illinois College of Medicine, believes that the impact that clinical experience has on an applicant's career goals is the most compelling part of their application. "I feel that it makes sense to postpone applications until you have accumulated at least one year of clinical experiences," he told the AAMC. Taking a gap year to acquire more clinical experience is not looked down upon by medical schools. 

Related:

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Clinical Experiences that Medical Schools Love

Your Pre-Med Priorities: Finding Clinical Experiences as an Undergraduate

Your Pre-Med Priorities: How to Find Clinical Experiences for Your Gap Year(s)

Let’s Talk MD-PhD. Here’s What You Need to Know Before You Apply.

MD-PhD programs are competitive. Let's get some numbers out of the way: The 122 U.S. programs that grant an MD-PhD dual degree had a collective 2,091 applicants and 750 matriculants in the 2021 cycle. That means approximately 36% of applicants got into a program. (There are also 13 Canadian schools and the NIH MD-PhD Partnership Program to consider.)

Who should be interested in an MD-PhD?

If you're passionate about research but also want to work with patients in a clinical setting, the physician-scientist path might be right for you. A strong applicant should have a research background already. "Most MD-PhD candidates earn their PhD in biomedical laboratory disciplines such as cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology, pharmacology, physiology, neuroscience, and biomedical engineering," according to the AAMC. But there are some programs that allow you to pursue non-laboratory interests as well (epidemiology, healthcare policy, etc.).

How can I improve my odds of acceptance?

There are fantastic MD-PhD-focused summer research programs for undergraduates that will amp up your resume and Work and Activities entries. The AAMC provides a helpful list of such programs. 

If you're an underrepresented applicant, The Gateways to the Laboratory Program of the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program focuses on helping underrepresented students prepare for MD-PhD programs. That program is open to freshman and sophomores only, but Tri-I offers other research opportunity programs for undergrads further along in their studies.

Wait, it's HOW long?!

On average, an MD-PhD program lasts eight years. Schools have different ways of covering both bases, but you might attend medical school classes for two years and then switch gears to a PhD program, and then post-thesis switch back to an MD-focus and do clinical rounds.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) MD-PhD Partnership Training Program provides an accelerated track for recent college graduates, current medical students, and NIH Graduate Partnerships Program (GPP) students that can be completed in approximately four years.

Can I apply to both MD and MD-PhD programs simultaneously?

Yes. And it's a good idea since MD-PhD programs are so competitive. You can always apply to an MD-PhD program again after you have a year of medical school under your belt. The first year of an MD-PhD program is basically the same thing. If you're rejected by one school's MD-PhD program, they'll still consider you for their med school.

When should I apply?

At the same time as you would (or will) apply to MD programs. Ideally, you would have your application in decent shape by April. AMCAS opens in May for a sneak peek at the application requirements (you should already be familiar with those). You can submit your application in June. Your program will start the following year sometime between June and August.

Who quits MD-PhD programs?

A 2020 study on MD-PhD dropouts found that students who left programs either lost a passion for research, felt isolated or had a "lack of social integration" during training, had poor experiences with PhD-advisement, or had "unforeseen obstacles to completing PhD research requirements, such as loss of funding." A separate study found that a lot of post-docs suffer from imposter syndrome, which is the inability to believe one’s success is deserved. We know this information is disheartening, but it's good to know before you walk in, the reasons why you might consider walking out. Preparing yourself for these possibilities could prevent your early exit from a program.

Choosing Allopathic (MD) Programs: Our Top Tips

In our last post, we discussed the reasoning behind applying to a large number of medical schools. Now, we'll walk you through what else you should know about the school selection process, starting with a real biggie.

  • Apply to a bonkers number of schools. For the 2021-2022 cycle, the average applicant applied to 18 schools, according to the AAMC. We typically recommend 25 to 35 schools. If you have the resources (and an MCAT score below 510), it's not a terrible idea to apply to even more. The average medical school acceptance rate is 6.5%, according to a 2020 U.S. News & World Report survey of 121 ranked schools. (The acceptance rate between schools runs the gamut from barely 2% to around 20%.)

  • Apply to every state school in your state. If you're going to apply to a state school outside of your state, that school should matriculate at least 25% of their students from out of state, à la the University of Vermont and University of Iowa.

  • Consider newer medical schools, which have higher acceptance rates and take on students with lower average GPAs and MCAT scores. The AAMC reported that the mean GPA of 2021-2022 matriculants was 3.74, and the mean MCAT score was 511.9. 

  • Your scores are important, but they are not everything. It is possible to have a higher GPA/MCAT than a school's average and still not get into it. Incidentally, this is why your Work and Activities, Personal Statement, and Secondary Essays are so important. They show a whole person—and that's often what lands you an interview. 

"Something we consider beyond an MCAT score and GPA is the balance of the class," a six-year medical school admissions veteran told us. "We look at personalities. Does this applicant have leadership qualities? Are they collaborative? Are they resilient? What unique perspective could they bring to our community? And frankly, is this a person who fellow students and faculty are going to want to be around for years?" 

  • Don't underestimate seeming compatible with a school. Each campus is a close-knit environment. Research schools. Find your commonalities with each, express them in your essays and interview, and you could find yourself with an acceptance letter. Researching schools also helps you connect to a school that you're feeling iffy about—say, you don't love the location or were hoping to attend a smaller program. Knowing a program is aligned with your values and goals will allow you to stay open-minded.

Related: Choosing Allopathic (MD) Programs: Take a Broad Perspective

Choosing Allopathic (MD) Programs: Take a Broad Perspective

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recommends researching schools several months before submitting your AMCAS application. In a perfect world, we like our clients to start by February or March at the latest. 

You've likely thought about your top picks—but you need to apply to many more than those. The biggest mistake you can make when applying to medical schools is not applying to enough of them. We recommend applying to between 25 and 35 schools. The second biggest mistake is wasting your attention and money on long applications for only shot-in-the-dark schools. You should apply to one or two of those and a slew of target schools where your GPA and MCAT numbers are at or above the average of accepted students. 

We're often asked: "How on earth am I going to find 25 to 30 schools that I like?”

Our answer: It's not about like. It's about where you can get in. There are only 155 accredited allopathic medical schools in the U.S. Having so few options makes this much more competitive than the undergraduate process. But it's not all bad news. Because while campus vibes and research and clinical opportunities will vary, all medical schools MUST teach you the same thing. Going anywhere is going towards your goal of becoming a physician. Did you get into one school of 30? Congratulations, almost-doc! 

This doesn't mean that you shouldn’t push hard on your application to your favorite school. Every year, our clients go to top-ranked programs and ones known for their desired area of interest. We're just advising you not to get into your head that there's only one to five schools for you. Many clients are laser-focused on school rankings; that can take some reprogramming to correct. Because of overall low acceptance rates, there is no such thing as a "safety" allopathic medical school. Yes, attending an upper-tier school could land you incredible research, residency, and career opportunities. But schools that aren't your first choice can also lead to first-choice experiences. (And frankly, residency is kind of what matters most.)

Related: Choosing Allopathic (MD) Programs: Our Top Tips

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Final Thoughts

Small But Giant Prompts. Not every MMI prompt will be hypothetical-scenario-based. Some will be like those comically brief traditional interview questions encouraging huge, important answers. Yes, "Why our school?" could rear its head again. To answer this, connect the dots between your past experiences and current interests, with what is happening at the school, what resources they have, etc. Be ready for “Tell me about a time that you failed” and “Tell me about a time when you had a conflict” again too. Review your secondary essay responses and go right ahead and reuse any applicable content. Those were your experiences and your takeaways, after all. There's no need to invent a whole new self.  

Critical thinking. Every question you’re asked in an MMI is going to require critical thinking and explaining your thought process. We’re simply adding this short selection of questions that obviously require critical thinking so that you can more consciously practice meeting those goals. 

  • A patient with breast cancer is curious about Eastern Medicine, particularly acupuncture. How would you discuss this topic with her? 

  • How would you handle multiple patients leaving negative reviews about you online? 

  • What should be the primary focus of medicine—preventing or treating disease? 

  • What is responsible conduct in medical research?

On Blowing It at an MMI Station. You obviously want to do well at all these stations. But what if you blow one of them big-time? Welp, take a deep breath and move on. At your next station, you’ll be assessed by a new interviewer who has no idea what just happened. If you come in strong at other stations, having one fumble will not lose you the game. Your score is cumulative, with each station being worth between one and 10 points. And it is relative. Your performance will be compared to other applicants’. (Maybe the other applicants bombed too!) You almost certainly will make a mistake at some point—probably right out of the gate. “There is research on it—the first response is shakiest no matter what competency is being tested,” said a test facilitator. “Most applicants will get better at this in a matter of minutes. And by mid-interview season, they’ll be a pro.”

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

The Picture Station. It’s possible that your MMI will include a picture station, where you are presented with an image and asked to describe it. The image could show something emotionally evocative or medicine-related or look like a vacation photo. Like most MMI stations, this one tests your communication   skills. The most important thing to do here is to deliver a comprehensive response. Don’t just share what is in the image, share how the image is presented. (“On the right side…”) If the image is related to a current event or medical task, share what you know about it. If the picture makes you feel a certain emotion, share that too.

The Writing Station. Not every school will have a writing station, but the ones that do will present you with their prompt (or two and you can pick one) and a time limit. That could be eight minutes, it could be 30.  Our previous blog posts cover the type of material you might be presented with at the writing station—it could be a scenario, policy, or personal question. The only thing that makes this station different is that it is testing your written communication skills.

As we have often said, you’ll want to focus on clarity in your writing. If you complete your answer, don’t feel the need to add more. You’re allowed to be done early. You might find that you run out of time and that you’re cut off before you complete your response. That’s a shame—but it happens. Don’t dwell on it. The content you have hopefully expresses some strong reasoning, etc. You likely did just fine.

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Final Thoughts

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

Medicine is a team sport. To gauge your collaboration skills, some schools will assess you in teamwork activities that you complete with another applicant. The pair of you might be asked to create an action plan together or one of you may act as an instructor and the other as a doer. (And then that gets flipped in a second exercise.)

An interviewer might ask you to build something with Lego blocks or do a puzzle together within a short timeframe. Only one of you can see a picture of the finished product, and the other person must listen to verbal instructions to assemble it. Medicine is intensely collaborative, so as silly as it seems to build a primary-colored train together, this activity will show some important communication skills. (And because more medical schools are shifting towards small group learning experiences—they want to see how you'd behave in them.)

Other schools may ask you and a larger team to find a solution to a problem or create a plan for a future program together. Things can get a little more heated here because opinions play more of a role. The most important thing to remember is that your teammates are not your competition, they are your colleagues. Listening to and empowering your teammates is a big deal. If you notice someone being left out of the conversation, be the person who asks, "What do you think, Tony?” If you're blocking out what a teammate is saying because you're waiting for your turn to speak, you will not do well in this team activity.

What if I don't finish?

That's okay! This isn't really about building the Lego train. You might be paired with a complete dud of a partner, someone who is so nervous that they can't focus. If you're the instructor in this activity, keep your cool and show patience with your partner. Search for new ways of explaining the same concept. If you are the doer, ask thoughtful questions. This is going to reflect well on you, finished project or not.

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Final Thoughts

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

"Enter the room and…" Not every school that utilizes the MMI will use role-play. But if they do, you could be presented with scenarios—in an in-person interview, it is sometimes taped to the door of a room—in which you must enter the room and speak to the actor inside as if they were your patient, a patient's family member, your colleague, or a close friend. An interviewer might be in the room watching, or there might be a camera in the room catching your big debut. (Since more schools have moved to doing interviews remotely, the “room” might be on Zoom or Kira.) Time yourself doing these practice prompts. In addition to other MMI prep, if you’re working with Apply Point, your AP advisor can act as a patient and give you notes at the end of the session.

You're not always going to "win" these scenarios. Your fake patient could continue to push back against your advice, etc. The point here is to show your empathy, thought process, and—this is the part people mess up—your ability to listen. Ask your partner questions about their thoughts, fears, or concerns. Don't give a soliloquy. Yes, this is your interview but in real life, these interactions would be conversations. Encourage an exchange. And don't be afraid to be quiet sometimes.

Think about how you'd handle these scenarios:

  • A patient is refusing a treatment that would prolong his life because of its side effects. The patient's family passionately wants him to submit to treatment. Speak to this family.

  • A physician’s assistant in your gynecology practice has repeatedly misgendered a trans patient. Your patient is upset. Talk to this PA.

  • Your patient is terminally ill. Tell them.

  • A hostile patient is demanding an opioid prescription for a supposed back injury—his X-ray does not show such an injury. Talk to this patient.

  • Your best friend has been struggling with depression and is self-medicating with alcohol. Talk to her.

  • You overhear a colleague using a racial stereotype when talking about a patient. Enter the room and talk to him.

  • Your patient wants to hold off on starting a cancer treatment plan until after a family vacation in three months. Her condition is advanced, and you don’t think she should do this. Talk to this patient.

“Teach Me How to Tie a Shoe.”

Another potential task you might do with an actor or interviewer is walk them through a process step-by-step. One example is telling someone how to tie a shoe. Now that you’ve thought about that for a sec, you see how this might be difficult, right? Be patient with the other person and

yourself. Choose your words carefully and if you make a mistake, backtrack without panic. The point of a task like this is to test your communication skills. Are you being clear? Are you being comprehensive? Are you asking your partner what they want to know more about? Are you keeping a calm tone the way we’d want a doctor to when they’re explaining a complex treatment plan?

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Final Thoughts


The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

As you move through the MMI stations, a blunt quiz show question on healthcare today may be in the mix. Something like: "What is an HMO?" While interviewers will never ask you to diagnose anything, they will try to find out how much you know about the world of healthcare. How well read are you? How informed? The only way to answer a question like this is to be informed. So, know some basics.

And follow the news: Is there an antibiotic shortage? Is there a controversial new Alzheimer’s treatment? Did research scientists recently grow a human nose on a pig’s back? You don’t have to have read every behind-a-paywall study that has been written in the last two years, but certainly be up on the stuff that’s in the mainstream media. The New York Times is great for current events related to health care, as are MedPage Today, MedScape, and Stat News. We also recommend that you set up Google alerts for key phrases related to healthcare and/or your research interests and desired specialty to ensure you’re up to date.

An interviewer may ask for your opinion on hot-button issues in healthcare. Think: "What are your thoughts on stem cell research?" If you don’t have an opinion on a topic because you don’t know much about it, acknowledge that it is an important or controversial topic, then pivot to something relevant that you know about in-depth. Something like: "I have not done a ton of reading on stem cell research. But because of my clinical research position, I have worked with a novel treatment and believe that…" will have to do. 

Here are some other Healthcare Policy Questions to ponder: 

  • What would you say is the biggest challenge facing medicine today? Why? 

  • Do you think doctors are paid too much? 

  • What are your thoughts on predictive and presymptomatic genetic testing?

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Final Thoughts

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

In an MMI interview, the Moral & Ethical Situation prompts are the ones that terrify applicants. They feel so high stakes. For example: Decide which of these two patients gets an organ transplant. Geez Louise.

Many MMI questions—especially the ones about morals and ethics—may omit details you might've considered when contemplating your answer. Fill in those blanks and consider them still because your answer could be conditional from an ethical or legal standpoint. "Conditional" does not mean wishy-washy but rather "If X factor is present, then my answer is Y."

Think about how you would answer this ethical question: A minor teenage patient asks you for a prescription for birth control pills—and doesn't want their parents to know about it. How would you handle this request?

You might reflexively have an answer to this—but pause and consider potential conditional factors, even if you ultimately dismiss them. Beyond answering your patient's request, what else might you discuss with your patient? You might ponder these questions:

  • Are there legal matters to consider?

  • Are there health risks to consider?

  • Is your patient sexually active already or considering becoming sexually active?

  • Is your patient 13 or 17?

  • Will your patient be using a second form of protection to prevent STIs?

  • Are they being pressured into a sexual relationship?

  • Is there anything you should know about their partner/partners—like how old they are?

  • If those things were not factors in your decision-making, why not?

Here's an example of a response to this question:

"If there are neither state laws limiting my ability nor significant health risks present, I would give my teenage patient a prescription for birth control without their parents’ knowledge. I would not tell their parents because the teen is my patient and deserves doctor-patient confidentiality. But there are things I would want to discuss before providing this prescription.

I would first provide my patient with information on all their birth control options. I'd advise my patient to use condoms as a secondary form of contraception to prevent STIs and ask them what they know about STIs.

Next, I'd want to establish that they want to have sex and that this isn't a case of a partner pressuring them to have sex. If the latter is true, it wouldn't determine whether I'd prescribe birth control, but it would influence our conversation, as I'd want to take care of my patient's mental health as well as their physical health. I'd also ask about their partner's (or partners’) age. Many age of consent laws have a close-in-age exemption, but some do not. I’d inform my patient if that was the case in our state, just so they’re aware of certain risks. If my patient revealed that they were already sexually active with a partner who was older than 18, I'd refer to my state's age of consent. I am required by law to report any suspected child abuse. I would also direct my patient to information on predatory behaviors.

If their partner was their same age, I likely would not weigh in on a 16- or 17-year-old’s choices beyond asking the aforementioned questions and providing helpful resources. But I might respectfully discourage a younger patient from having sex in the same way that I'd encourage a young patient to take care of their still maturing body and mind in other ways. (I know I'd advise my 14-year-old cousin or niece to consider waiting to have sex.) But again, I would still give a prescription to any patient that I legally can prescribe to, whether I was a family doctor or practicing at a sexual health center."

This is not a gut reaction—it's thoughtful, it's careful. This response considers legality—that's important. It involves a thorough conversation between doctor and patient. Wanting to connect shows empathy and asking the patient questions and providing answers to questions that they have or haven’t asked shows strong communication skills. The answer also expresses the respondent's personal beliefs; they would advise a 14-year-old relative to think more before having sex at such a young age. You might think this info has no place in the answer, but the interviewer wants to hear your internal monologue, not only what you'd say aloud to the patient. What matters most is that your resulting action is based on facts and that you showed your patient respect, not harsh judgment. You may not agree with this sample answer—but you should understand why it's a strong one.

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

Considering Applying to a Caribbean Medical School? Meet the “Big Four.”

Students with lower MCAT scores and GPAs are more likely to be accepted to allopathic schools abroad than in the U.S. Due to Israel’s 2022 announcement that foreign students may no longer matriculate to Israeli medical programs, you'll be looking at the islands. Schools in the Caribbean are especially interested in students from the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada.

While attending a school outside of the U.S. may not be your first choice, it's likely that way more doctors than you think graduated from international schools. From 2010 to 2020, the number of licensed physicians who graduated from international medical schools increased by 24%. "About one-quarter (24.7%) of active physicians in 2020 were international medical graduates (IMGs)," according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. "This includes U.S. citizens who studied abroad."

When to Apply

Off-shore schools have rolling admissions (and have multiple start dates). We think you should start submitting applications to these programs with your U.S.-based allopathic applications in June.

Where to Apply

Of the 80 Caribbean medical schools, we recommend "The Big Four" to clients. All have key international accreditations; they are recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education/Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (WFME/ FAIMER). They are also recognized by stricter state medical boards (like California's). These top Caribbean schools also have competitive residency placement rates and other boast-worthy qualities.

Let's take a closer look at each of The Big Four:

St. George's University / Grenada, West Indies: As of December 2020, the average MCAT score of matriculants was 498. Their average undergraduate GPA was 3.3. St. George's has a strong reputation for students passing the USMLE Step 1 (95%), USMLE Step 2 (91%), and for residency placement. SGU secured more than 990 U.S. residencies in 2022. The Grenada-based program has been the largest provider of doctors into first-year U.S. residencies for the last eight years.

Get ready for a Data Fest! SGU reported that 93% of its eligible 2017 U.S. graduates obtained a PGY-1 (a.k.a. first postgraduate year or internship year) position. (In 2022, the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) reported that 92.9% of U.S. allopathic graduates matched into a PGY-1 position.) For even more perspective here, collectively, the 80 Caribbean medical schools had a PGY-1 match rate of 59% in 2019. (We're using different years here because the NRMP doesn't break down data by school, so our data sources are varied.) According to the FSMB, St. George's is the number one source of new primary care doctors in the U.S.

Saba University School of Medicine / Saba: Saba told us that as of April 2022, the average GPA of matriculants was 3.19 and the average MCAT was 497. Saba is smaller than SGU, so it has fewer graduates becoming residents—but their stats are strong. Between 2019 and 2021, 94% of graduates obtained residencies. The average first-time pass rate for the USMLE between 2015 and 2020 was 99%. Another thing the school highlights: The Saba Scholars Grant will pay the full tuition for the first semester of an academically qualified matriculant and can be combined with other scholarships. They also seem to weigh work history and recommendations heavily when offering U.S. students scholarships. Even an American student with a 480 MCAT or an overall GPA of 2.5 can qualify for a Faculty Scholarship of up to $25,000. A student with a 510 or above or a GPA of 3.7 can qualify for a Future Physician Scholarship of up to $110,000.

American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine / St. Maarten: In January 2022, the average GPA for matriculants was 3.27; the average MCAT score was 496. AUC has a 93.2% pass rate for the USMLE Step 1, a 92.8% pass rate for the USMLE Step 2 CK, and 96% of 2021-2022 graduates attained residencies. AUC's clinical rotations take place at Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved hospitals. It has clinical teaching affiliates in the U.S. and the U.K., and students can take global health electives in the Dominican Republic, Russia, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

Ross University School of Medicine / Bridgetown, Barbados: RUSM emphasizes remedying systemic bias in healthcare in their curriculum—and on campus. Diversity in the student body and faculty is highly valued. They have rolling admissions; prospective students can apply anytime. Matriculants can start school in January, May, or September. The majority of clinical training takes place in the United States. 2022 graduates had a residency match rate of 96% and the school has consistently had a 91% first-time pass rate for the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2. The school gave $50 million in scholarships and grants in 2020.