Important Questions in Your Medical School Application Essay

The reasons you want to be a doctor and how you expect to survive all the years of med school are among the high points of your essay. Give meat to these queries and you’ll surely deliver the information being sought by the readers.

Discussing why you want to be a doctor in your personal statement for med school

Saying I want to be a doctor because I want to help the indigent simply would not cut it. This reason has been used so many times that it has turned into a cliche. Besides, even if it is what you really want to say because you feel it’s true, the admissions officers may doubt your sincerity since they’ve heard it a thousand of times before. You could certainly alter the statement into something more meaningful and believable. Chances are, there were a couple of experiences in the past that you consider as most pivotal in your life. If one such event led you to this goal, then put it on the essay. Be sure to relate your personal attributes to your dream, and also to the main thesis of the essay.

Discussing how you can survive med school in your admissions essay

Med school has very rigid requirements, among them is long hours of studying. This means that you may have to pull an all-nighter or miss some of your social activities to commit yourself to constant reading or practice, especially for interns. There are a good number of students who quit med school simply because they can no longer take the pressure. The admissions office would want to grant the slot to an applicant who can make it through the course and be a successful medical specialist. You should discuss in your application how you can surpass the challenges of being a med school student.

The way you elaborate your reasons for wanting to be a doctor is important, but just as crucial is how you discuss how you can meet the challenges of med school. You must highlight in your med school admission essay the discipline and character traits you have to succeed in this course.

Related questions:

1. How does one answer the question why do you want to be a doctor?
2. What are some crucial issues to discuss in the med school admission essay?
3. If one’s father is a doctor, should this be mentioned in the essay?

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Interested in studying medicine abroad? View more information here

Recession-proof Medical Careers – Top Jobs in Today’s Economy

The healthcare industry, like many other industries in today’s economy, has certainly felt the blow of the economic recession. However, there are more than a few medical careers, which have remained recession-proof, despite the recent economic downturn. Here are some of the top medical jobs, which have remained in demand despite the recession:

Physicians and surgeons

In today’s economy, and even more so in today’s fast-paced world, people have become subject to innumerable forms of stresses and pressures. This has resulted in the growing demand for well-trained physicians who can give proper diagnosis and treat the ill successfully. Since physicians and surgeons are at the forefront of medical care, their services will always be needed despite the recession.

Health services manager

Healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics, and laboratories are constantly in need of healthcare administrators who can manage and direct the day-to-day operations of such facilities, especially in the delivery of healthcare. Since it is necessary for such health facilities to be managed successfully by capable individuals, the job position of a health services manager is not one to be threatened by the recession.

Registered nurse

Registered nurses are one of the most indispensable assets in any healthcare facility, from hospitals to clinics to nursing homes. This explains why, even with the recession, registered nurses continue to be highly in demand. During poor economic times, people are subject to more stress, causing them to fall sick more often. Not only do nurses enjoy a highly secure job, but they are also able to enjoy better pay and have more room for advancement opportunities.

Pharmacist

Pharmacists have specialized knowledge when it comes to administering the right medications to the sick, and this knowledge and medical background is considered highly important in the healthcare industry.

Physical therapist

Physical therapists need to undergo specialized training so that they may be able to provide a specialized kind of care to their clients or patients. Individuals suffering from injuries, pain, or those requiring rehabilitation will do best to seek out the specialized services of physical therapists.

With these recession-proof medical jobs, it’s easy to see why completing your medical degree can actually be a step in the right direction.

Photo Credits: Salim Fadhley

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Interested in studying medicine abroad? View more information here

What to Avoid in Your Personal Statement Medical School

When you write your personal statement medical school, you have to know the pitfalls that you have to avoid. John Hopkins University has some tips. Read on to know some of them.

Avoid cliches on your personal statement medical school

How many times do you think admissions committees have read the phrase, I want to become a physician because I like science and I want to help people?

Phrases such as the one mentioned above won’t grab the attention of the admissions committee. So avoid them. Instead, try to be original. Write through your own voice.

Avoid showing that your application is a manifest destiny

You have not always known that you want to be a physician (or dentist, etc.). See above. Similarly, who cares if everyone has always said that I would make a good physician. What do they know?

Instead of saying that your decision is prompted by a calling, you can just state your real reason. The most important thing is you should be sincere and honest.

Avoid aiming for grandiosity

Claiming that you plan to cure cancer (or HIV, or healthcare disparities, or anything else) shows a grave lack of understanding of whatever problem you are planning to solve.

You have to get real. You should not give the  impression that you are a hopeless dreamer who dreams of changing this world.

Avoid being insincere

This includes information that may be factually accurate but is presented in a misleading way.

Being insincere include discussing info that is probably true but presented in a wrong way.

Harvard Business School shares some interesting points about sincerity:

Sincerity

The secret of success, said the French novelist, essayist, and dramatist Jean Giraudoux, is sincerity. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made. Though Giraudoux was being humorous, he touched on a fundamental truth about writing–that sincerity, or at least the appearance of sincerity, is crucial. Nothing alienates readers faster than insincerity in any form–hyperbole, hype, hypocrisy, untruth. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating your readers’ ability to recognize insincerity. Write honestly.

You have to use an honest voice. Remember that the admissions panel reads thousands of essays every year and for sure, they have a way of seeing through your lies.

When you write your personal statement for medical school, you have to avoid the pitfalls of writing cliche, being too self-centered, and aiming too high for grandiosity. You also have to avoid being insincere.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Interested in studying medicine abroad? View more information here

Shortage of Junior doctors in the UK

A shortage of junior doctors is forcing the NHS to recruit hundreds of doctors from India this year.

Tighter immigration rules introduced three years ago meant many overseas medics left the UK instead of taking up training posts.

This, combined with European regulations restricting doctor working hours and childcare breaks, has left dozens of hospitals struggling to fill vacancies.
Hospitals across the UK are struggling to fill junior doctor posts

The medics are needed across a range of specialities from obstetrics and gynaecology to paediatrics and accident and emergency.

Professor Derek Gallen, who is postgraduate dean of medical training for Wales, said: 'We pulled the plug on overseas recruitment far too quickly.

'We didn't realise what the implications of that action would be two, three or four years down the line,' he told the BBC.

'Particularly with the European Working Time Directive and the increased feminisation of the workforce. These are things that have made staffing rotas very difficult.'

Wales is one of four medical training schools across the UK which has been recruiting in India over this year.

The others involved cover the Severn area, the West Midlands and Northern Ireland.

Dr Lopamudra Nath Chaudhary, who has just been offered a post, said: 'I've already worked in the UK and I've seen how good the training programmes are for the junior doctors. My first choice was always to go the UK.'
The need for junior doctors is most acute outside the big cities.

The European Working Time Directive, which was fully introduced into the NHS last August, limits doctors to working no more than 48 hours per week and has left gaps on rotas.

Some district general hospitals have had trouble attracting enough staff to cope with the changes leading, in some cases, to services being cut.

The British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) had agreed to help the Deparment of Health with recruitment on the understanding that Indian medics are allowed to stay for between three and four years.

But this has been blocked by the Home Office who want the current two-year limit to stay in place.

Dr Ramesh Mehta, the president of BAPIO, told the BBC, 'It's a shame because we always knew they would need Indian doctors again. But we won't help unless the conditions are right and there isn't short term exploitation.'

In a statement a Department of Health spokeswoman said: 'The Department and UKBA (UK Border Agency) worked together to ensure the immigration system struck a balance between providing valuable training opportunities for foreign doctors without preventing UK-trained doctors from progressing in their careers.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1283439/Junior-doctor-shortage...

View the original article here

Tips for a Stress Free Med School Experience

Attending medical school right after you graduated from college has a lot of advantages. One is that you have fresh learnings that are helpful in med school. Aside form this, you are still young and have the energy to combat stress and pressure in the competitive med school environment. But if the idea of going to med school appealed to you much later in life, you should not let age hinder you from achieving your goals. Apply for med school! Here are tips on how you can handle stress and pressure of medical school even if you are older than most students.

Be organized

To avoid too much stress, you should learn how to be more organized. Start with making a schedule. Planning your activities will help you track and handle deadlines and still enjoy a more balanced life.

Enjoy the process of learning

One of the best ways to keep stress at bay is to enjoy your moments in med school. You have to savor the knowledge you acquire while listening to your professors or while reading your books. In this way, studying won’t be an obligation anymore but a way to satisfy your curiosity. It should open the gates to infinite discoveries.

Have a personal life

A lot of students take for granted their personal life in order to cope with the difficulties of med school. They just don’t realize that forgetting their personal life will lead to further stress. So go on, take time to watch movies with friends or go shopping once in a while.

Age should not be a hindrance to succeed in med school. There are many younger students who are more stressed and burnt out because they fail to organize their activities and enjoy their stay in the academe. Another reason is that they have forgotten that they also need to unwind once in a while.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Interested in studying medicine abroad? View more information here

Study medicine abroad

Are you interested in alternatives to study medicine other than applying via the UCAS route?

Did you know you could study a 6 year medical programme at an EU accredited medical university? The qualification is fully recognised in the UK, meaning you can practice medicine in the UK with having to take the PLAB tests. What's more, the programme is taught entirely in English!

www.EuroMedSchool.com are a student agency that specialise in opening access to the medical schools of EU member  European countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. They handle your application and registration to one of our partner medical schools.

For more information, visit them at www.euromedschool.com