What this usually means in a color-neutral suit for men and the same for women. For women, you have a choice between a pant suit versus a skirt. Any will do as long as you are comfortable and look professional in it. Women may forgo the suit but make sure that your substitute is very personal.

I personally don’t like giving dress codes since a lot of brilliant applicants just have personalities that don’t go with suits and ties. But since this is a one-time thing it is best to just let ones personality shine through via your words rather than as a fashion statement.

As for the accessories make sure not too wear any flashy jewelry. Keep your shoes shiny and clean and if your a woman and comfortable with power heels, then by all means wear them. If you’ll be teetering a tottering as you enter the interview room though, go with a more reasonably-heeled shoe.

Doing comparative research on the different med schools background is very important because it will help you decide in the end which one you will want to go with, in case you get accepted to several (lucky you!). But before that it will help you fend questions and give more detailed answers for questions like “What attracted you to this med school?” or “What do you think we have to offer that other med schools do not?”. By knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the med school in comparison with others it will show that you did your homework and the amount of interest you have in really pursuing a career in medicine.

Some of the universities that we have already reported on offering such programs include the University of Alabama in Birmingham and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Other universities that also offer similar programs are the Lake Superior State University, The University of Michigan-Flint, and Michigan State University. Surely we will see more of this trend in the near future, especially with the brewing debate on whether a more holistic education will make for doctors that are more compassionate and caring.

Note though that Harvard has the top spot primarily because of their research programs with John Hopkins University coming in second, the University of Pennsylvania and Washington University in St. Louis tied for third, and the University of California-San Francisco coming in fifth.

Harvard’s overall rank for their primary care programs is just 17 with the number one spot (tied Indiana University–Indianapolis) for that claimed by the Washington University in St. Louis and the 2nd to 5th spots going to the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, Oregon Health and Science University, University of Vermont, and the University of California–San Francisco.

Expect to see intense competition for slots to these universities as always. Hopefully though these institutions will also go with the trend of increased acceptance in keeping with the immediate and future need for more physicians.

Just like University of Alabama at Birmingham, Mount Sinai has a special undergraduate program that allows select students to take an alternate pre-med route to med school. Mount Sinai accepts 35 undergraduates each year in their Humanities and Medicine Early Acceptance Program, which obligates the students to major in humanities or social sciences, maintain a high GPA, make sure they do not incur any disciplinary action, and complete the 8-week summer program at Mount Sinai, in order to automatically get in their med school WITHOUT taking the MCAT.

The program has shown that those from alternate pre-med programs do as well as student from traditional pre-med programs in terms of grades and class rankings. However, they do tend to specialize in fields like psychiatry and veer away from primary care fields and surgical sub-specialties.

While conscientiousness may have always been a factor that everyone knew contributed to academic success, the level at which extraversion affects academic performance positively came as a surprise since many equated the trait with poor grades.

The study, which is an eye opener, will surely have implication on the admissions process of medical schools with interviewers now noting the extraversion and agreeableness of a person as a positive attribute.

What this means for interviewees is that during interviews it is very important to appear as extraverted as possible. Time to brush up on those interpersonal skills!

EMSAP guarantees its pre-med students acceptance to its med school after graduation as long as the student:

• maintains a GPA of 3.6 and above; and
• gets a score of 28 on the MCAT.

Note that applicants from traditional pre-med schools are required to have a minimum GPA of 3.85 to get in to Alabama’s med school.

Another advantage of the EMSAP is that the student’s can take any major as long as they take the required pre-med courses. This gives students a chance to explore their horizons in case they decide not to continue with medicine, while giving those that will a more rounded education.

As can be expected, admissions to the program is highly selective. Once in it is important to note that about 15% of students drop out from the program.

When answering this question it is best to be honest. However, before doing an interview take stock of your strengths and weaknesses because you need to be able to present yourself in the best light even as you say the truth.

According to most interviewers the worst answers to this question would be “I don’t know” or “I don’t have any.” The next worst would be any weakness that would really affect your performance like being a procrastinator or simply lazy. They may be true but since we all have a long list of weaknesses then better choose the one that you can work and an can even convert to a strength. Answers like being a perfectionist is also not a good one since it shouts “safe answer” and thus, doesn’t ring true.

Obviously, what this means to med school applicants is that they will have more choices. This year some new schools are already opening, like the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Michigan, which will start classes this fall (Oakland University will be working with Beaumont Hospitals). Other universities and colleges are
still just in the planning stage but we can expect to feel the boom in med schools in the next several years.

As a med school applicant though, note that while there will be more choices, the quality of education of some new med schools will still be in question. Should you choose to enter a newly opened med school it is best to research on the background of its parent college/university to find out their history and reputation.

As we have mentioned earlier this year, there is a shortage of doctors in rural America, and that their greatest need right now is general practitioners. Because of this North Carolina has been trying to address the issue since 2006 when they aimed for 60% of medical schools graduates to enter primary care fields. Sadly, reality is still far from the goal with just 50% of the graduate going initially intro primary care fields and just 38% of that sticking with it by the end of 2007.

The figures are not surprising considering the discrepancy between the incomes of specialists ($320k – $450K annually) and primary doctors ($160K – $175k). With the mounting medical student debt and plain ambition there is no real reason why we should see the trend reversing anytime soon.

In the meantime, medical schools are trying to address the problem in the their own way by selecting more students who appear to have real interest in becoming primary care doctors.