Categories
Becoming a medical practitioner is a common dream for most young and talented individuals. The journey starts with an interview with a reputable medical school. From there, an intellectually and financially challenging journey starts. As a result, you need to physically and psychologically prepare yourself for successful academic progress in your destined medical school. Here are the essential tips to prepare yourself.
Table of Contents
Decide on the Medical Course to Take
The first decision to make involves choosing your favorite medicine program. You can study anesthesiology, radiology, dermatology, psychiatry, emergency medicine, pediatrics, general surgery, gynecology and obstetrics, pathology, internal medicine, and neurology. Your real interests should dictate the medicine program.
However, every medical program requires you to fulfill this first before applying. Most medical programs will revolve around biology, Mathematics, Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, English, and Physics. Therefore, you must have performed exemplary in sciences and mathematics in high school.
Decide on the Medical School
After deciding on the medicine program to take, now it’s time to decide on the specific medical school to join. You should conduct thorough research on admission requirements for specific medical schools. You might even get a medical school offering scholarships to needy and deserving students if you are lucky. However, consider joining a reputable medical school that will give you the relevant knowledge, skills, and experience.
Prepare for MCAT
MCAT is a computer-based medical program and an admission requirement for every aspiring medical student willing to join any US medical school. The MCAT is a multi-choice test that assesses students’ scientific knowledge, writing skills, and critical thinking skills. During the medical school admission interview, the MCAT test is part of the factors the committee considers when deciding whether to admit you.
Getting ready for the MCAT tests requires you to purchase informational MCAT Books. The books are rich in knowledge and skills of all the four assessable areas; which include:
- Chemical and physical understanding of a biological system.
- Psychological and social behaviors.
- Biological knowledge of living systems.
- Critical and reasoning skills.
However, you should first know whether you are eligible for the MCAT. In addition, you should get conversant with the overall testing requirements and an MCAT testing experience. For instance, ExamKrackers prepares aspiring medical students with MCAT textbooks and practice exams in their Online MCAT Testing Center. Such a platform will give you the necessary MCAT testing experience before the big day.
Pre-Expose Yourself to Medical Field Experience
Pre-exposing yourself to medical field experience help you to know whether you are making the right career choice. Many students enroll in medical programs in prestigious medical schools but drop out within a year as they can’t withstand the hospital experience.
One way of learning more about your favorite medical program is getting a pre-admission work experience in the medical field. You can volunteer in a hospital, nursing home, or doctor’s office. Exposure to real-life situations is not a prerequisite during admission into medical school. Still, it will help you determine whether you are following your passion in that career. Therefore, you may opt to change the medical program if you are not comfortable with the experience you get during your volunteer time. In addition, the exposure may favor you during the admission interview by the medical school. It conveys an individual’s commitment to the field of study.
On the other hand, you may opt to get a shadow health professional to learn more about the career you are about to undertake. The initiative will help you investigate your career choice within a limited timeframe. In addition, you will have medical field experience before joining your favorite medical school.
Final Remark
Though a medical course is financially demanding, it’s personally rewarding once you get into the career. Despite the journey becoming long and tedious, don’t give up. In addition, after admission, you should get clinical experience and explore available research opportunities. Lastly, you should foster a good relationship with your professors and mentors to get more skills and expertise. The initiatives will ensure you should come out of medical school as a more resourceful, skilled, and experienced professional.
Read more: Motivating Your Team – What You Need to Know
