Med School Rocks

The University of Alabama System trustees voted Saturday to increase tuition for the medical schools at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the College of Community Health and Sciences at the University of Alabama.

The tuition costs will increase 10 percent for the School of Optometry, 12 percent for the School of Medicine and 15 percent for the School of Dentistry at UAB, adding thousands of dollars to tuition costs.

These increases will go into effect in July.

“I wish we didn’t have to do it, but I feel it’s completely justified,” said university system trustee Peter Lowe. “We have to keep paying good professors and giving the students the best education.”

The University of Alabama trustee system is comprised of 16 members; two people from each congressional district, as well as Gov. Bob Riley and Joseph Morton, the state superintendent of education.

The increase was approved as a proactive measure in anticipation of state education funding reduction.

What does all this mean?  It means that you had better start saving.  It is also bad for primary care.  There is no way that anyone can go into primary care any more.  You are going to owe 200 thousand dollars when you graduate and family practice, pediatrics, or general internal medicine is just not an option.  too bad!

Congratulations are in order. Greg has graduated from medical school.  What an accomplishment!  Now on to residency.  The great Dr. Ben Carson head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine spoke at the graduation ceremony.  I hope you all continue with your dreams of becoming doctors.  Good Luck!!

Grades – Further Secret Strategies for Success

              How to Make the Best Grades to Get Into Medical School

            Your Grades are indeed critical for admission for medical school.  As mentioned in our other article , Grades, Maximize Them for a Better Chance at Getting in to Medical School, you are going to have to do well on them as well as the MCAT to have any hope to get in.  The question is however are there any other ways to help yourself short of cheating to improve your grades?  The answer to this question is a definite yes!  We of course do not condone cheating.  If you have to cheat to get yourself through college, than you have no business being a physician or being in college for that matter.  However, realize that many grades in school are subjective.  Essays are subjective.  Many test questions are poorly written and can have multiple answers.  Classes are large, impersonal, and many lower level freshman and sophomore pre-med basic classes are taught by graduate assistant.  Furthermore many tests are graded by the professors TA’s.  There is room for compromise.  The following is a few strategies that I used in my undergraduate years to improve my grades and actually made the difference in a few classes in a letter grade.  Remember, getting into medical school is competitive and working your whole life in a career that is not your dream is going to be poor consolation.

            My freshman year, in chemistry 102 our professor was a middle age lady who was obviously lonely.  All of her tests were graded by her assistants.  Rumor had it that if you were male, reasonably good looking, and went to her office after a test, that was good for 10 to 20 points.  I did it every time and got an A in the class.  Now while this is unusual, going to a major professor after every test and arguing that test questions are unfair will likely get you several points added to test questions.  It definitely cannot hurt and at the minimum, the professor will learn your name.  The better he knows you, the more likely he will give you more points in the future.  For example, I took chemistry 103 during my fourth year of college.  I visited my professor at least ten times.  I was the only person out of 200 that he knew personally.  As a result, he basically told me what would be on the test.  I had a 100 average on my tests while the class average was failing. 

            Another option is sweet talking the professor.  My sister would go to her professor every day.  She told her professor that she was going to the master’s program in education and that she needed a certain grade in this particular class.  She was such a pest to the teacher that he gave her the grade.  Likewise, in my 500 level Shakespeare class, I went to his office on the first day of class and told him I was applying to medical school.  I told him I was an awful writer and that I needed a certain grade.  I told him that if I did not get it I would be forced to drop the class. He was so impressed that I was taking his class as an electrical engineer pre-med major, that he gave me that grade. 

            Another option open to you is taking a class pass/fail.  There were several classes in my curriculum that we were given the option of taking pass/fail.  These were mainly in the humanities.  If you are given the option of doing this and you know you cannot make an A in the class, then by all means do it.  I did this in my advanced writing class.  It was a good thing too as I would have made a B.  I also took genetics class as an audit.  Although I got no credit for the class, it really helped.  It was a very large class having over 200 students.  I actually never signed up.  I just came every day, listened to the lectures, and took the test.  I never actually turned in homework or the tests however.  About mid way through the semester when the coursework became more advanced than the MCAT would cover, I quit going. 

            These are just a few techniques for success.  Remember, it never hurts to ask for a higher grade.  If you are on the border line, then plead your case.  Tell the professor on day one, that you are applying to medical school and what will it take to make an A.  Always go after a test and contest your grade.  Never CLEP a class that you know you can make an A in.  I you are taking a class and you know you are going to make a C, drop it before the drop date.  Too many C’s will devastate your GPA.  Take some easy classes to help your grades.  A friend of mine took a whole year of beginning French language classes even though she was fluent in the language from childhood. 

            Finally, take advantage of old test files.  Often, honor societies or fraternities or sororities have old tests.  Get these no matter what it takes.  A professor can only come up with so many questions.  In some classes I had tests back ten years.  I remember taking finals where I had seen every question before.  Needless to say, I made a 100 on the test.  Do anything ethically possible to maximize your grades.  Your future as a medical student depends on it.

MCAT Essentials – What You Need to Know to Take the MCAT

The first hurdle that all students will take when applying to medical school is the MCAT or the Medical College Admission Test.  It is the test administered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).  It will be the first test of whether or not you have what it takes to become a doctor.  Succeed on it, and you will be able to rest easy in the application process.  Do poorly, and you will be in for a considerable amount of grief and worry.  The AAMC has a great website with a guide that is expected reading of all students that are preparing to take the test.  I will try to summarize the guide here, but would recommend that you read the entire handout before taking the actual MCAT.

With the start of the 2007 test, the MCAT will be entirely on the computer.  This is a boon to students as it allows for fewer margins for error, faster turnaround, and the ability to offer the test at more sites and many more times a year.  In fact, it will be offered 22 times a year. 

The MCAT has been a source of grief for students for over 60 years.  It is now essentially a requirement to all US and Canadian medical schools.  There are a few exceptions.  If you read my section on the Alabama Rural Health Consortium, there are a few schools that do not require the MCAT for admission.  This is however the exception and not the rule. 

CONTENT

            The exam tests basic concepts more than memorization.  It concentrates on biology, general and organic chemistry, physics, problem solving, critical thinking, and general writing skills.  The MCAT is divided up into 4 sections, Physical Sciences, Verbal Reasoning, Writing Sample, and Biological Sciences.  The total test is broken down as follows:

Physical Sciences          52 questions     70 minutes

Verbal Reasoning         40 questions     60 minutes

Writing Sample             2 questions       60 minutes

Biological Sciences       52 questions     70 minutes

The test has breaks throughout and is supposed to take a total of 5 hours and 5 minutes with breaks plus check in time.

            A section analysis of the four parts is as follows:

Physical and Biological Sciences – This section will require you to read passages and then take you existing knowledge of the sciences to answer the questions.  There are approximately 7 to 9 passages.  There are also 10 independent questions.

Verbal Reasoning – This portion consists of seven passages.  They are about 600 words long.  The passages are taken from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.  You will then be asked approximately seven questions from the passages testing your ability to assimilate data that you have just read.

Writing Sample – You must write two 30 minute essays according to accepted grammar, syntax, and punctuation.  You must have a central idea and the essay must flow logically.  Knowledge of the sciences is not required for this section.

Registering for the Exam 

It is recommended that you take the exam in the year you are applying to medical school although this is not a requirement.  It can be taken up to three times a year.  I you are taking it, you must sign a statement that you are indeed applying to professional school.  It is recommended that you register as early as possible as space at each testing center is limited.  The fee for registration is $210 with additional fees for late registration, rescheduling, changing your test site, etc.  There is a refund policy.  When you register you will be asked to sign numerous releases to send your scores to AMCAS, your health professions advisor, and other organizations.  This is all basically a formality.

Test Day Procedures 

The following are important formalities that must be followed on the day of the test.  You must arrive early.  AAMC requires that you be there 30 minutes early.  If you are late, you may not be admitted.  Make sure you have a photo ID with your signature on it.  You will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement.  There are numerous other minor rules that are enforced on test day that can be read on the AAMC website.  Several important rules to follow are that you cannot bring food or a watch into the room.  Obviously don’t get caught or give the appearance of cheating.  You do have the option at the end of the test to void your exam.  Think about this carefully.  If you do it, the AAMC will not report that you took your test to any medical colleges.  You will not have this opportunity to void the MCAT once you leave the testing site.

Scoring  

            Physical Sciences, Verbal Reasoning, and Biological Sciences are scored each from 1 to 15.  The writing is scored from J to a T.  After the test, when you are applying to medical school through the AMCAS system (the American Medical College Application Service) you can request that your scores be sent to via the AAMC to the schools which you applied.

            Finally the AAMC offers several resources for the pre-med student about the take the MCAT on their website.  One of these is a practice MCAT.  It can be found at www.e-mcat.com.  There are also practice writing samples and other articles and publications available to help you.  In short, while difficult, the MCAT is a necessary rite of passage for all students on the road to a career in medicine.  Developing a plan to take this test will ensure success an ease the anxiety brought about by a low MCAT score when it comes time to apply to medical school.   (Adapted from MCAT Essential by the AAMC)

We are pleased to announce the creation of the medschoolrocks forum.  Here you can collaborate with your peers who are in the same boat as you.  Check it out here directly from this link, or from links thoughout the site.

http://www.medschoolrocks.com/forum/

What Should I Major In To Get In ToMedical

            As I discussed in my previous article, there is really no right or wrong answer to this question.  An undergraduate student can really major in anything and get into medical school.  The question is really, “Is one major going to help me get into medical school over another one?”  I don’t know if anyone truly can answer that question.  As I said, you must major in something you enjoy, something you can excel at, and something you can fall back on and earn a living if you do not get accepted into medical school.  The purpose of this article is to present some information released from the AAMC concerning applicants, their GPAs, MCAT scores, and their undergraduate major.  I think that you will see that the news is encouraging to some degree.

The following is from the AAMC website.  It is the MCAT and GPA for Applicants and Matriculants by Primary Undergraduate Major, 2006:

            When analyzing the following information, you will see the difference in grades and MCAT score between applicants and Matriculants.  However a close analysis shows that it really does not matter what one majors in as far as acceptance goes. 

The average MCAT for Biological Science in 2006 applicants was a 27.2 with a 3.49 GPA.  For accepted students, the average was a 30.1 and a 3.65 respectively.  If you look at the same statistics for Humanities major, you would see 28.6 MCAT and 3.48 GPA for applicants with a 31 MCAT and a 3.61 GPA for accepted students.  In a similar comparison, Social Sciences major had a 27.3 and a 3.43 for the applicant and a 30.2 and a 3.58 for the accepted student. 

            Now what does all of this mean?  Biological Sciences had 21,603 applicants and 9,439 accepted students for an acceptance rate of 43.69%.  Humanities had 1,411 applicants and 750 accepted for an acceptance rate of 53.2%.  Social Sciences had 4,319 applicants and 1,960 accepted for an acceptance rate of 45.4%. 

            This is quite amazing!  The Humanities and the Social Science majors  beat out the Pre-Med majors.  For accepted students across all majors, the MCAT scores and the GPAs on average are about the same.  What is the difference?  I will leave that for you to decide.  There are a lot of people that have no business applying to medical school.  They will mainly major in the biological sciences.  I would recommend majoring in something else.  Get yourself out of the herd.  Read some of our other articles on separating yourself from the herd.  You can major in anything you want to.  The facts prove out that really, you may have a better chance if you major in something else anyway.  My brother and I majored in electrical engineering.  My grades were not very good and my brother’s MCAT wasn’t too great and we got into four schools between us.  Think about it.

I am currently here at a medical conference at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.  It is a great school.  I actually interviewed here for medical school back in the day.  Vanderbilt just this week welcomed their incoming freshman medical school class.  Just to show you how competitive the process has become to enter medical school, according to their figures and according to our medical course director,  the entering freshman medical school class has an average MCAT score of 34.5 and a GPA of 3.8.  Vanderbilt has accepted 20 students from Tennessee, but the rest are from around the country including seven from Harvard and many from other countries including Thailand, Kenya, and Taiwan.  I am not reporting this information to discourage you but to encourage you.  Vanderbilt is a top school and a private one at that.  Look strongly at your in-state schools.  See our articles on doing well in college.  Develop effective study habits from day one. You need to do well on the MCAt.  You really need a 30 if at all possible.  Read Separating Yourself From The Herd.  You will need to be top notch in this competitive environment. - Geoff

What Should You Major In?

The burning question a lot of upcoming college freshmen have is, “What should I major in to maximize my chances to get into medical school?”  I don’t know if there is a right or wrong answer to that question.  It will depend on so many factors including student interests, ability, scholarships, academic aptitude, etc.  It is probably the most important decision that you will make however so it cannot be taken lightly.  I will try to discuss in this article some of the variable that you will need to think about, and some of my thoughts on the process.

First of all, you can really major in anything you want and still get into medical school.  A common misperception is that you need to major in “pre-med” to go to medical school.  Both my brother and I majored in electrical engineering and it really I think helped us in the application process.  Of course it took me five years to graduate and my brother six although he worked at NASA for 4 quarters during his college years.  Regardless of what you decide to take, you still will need to take your required basic sciences to go to medical school, so if you decide to major in basket weaving, you had better have a 4.0 in your pre-med curriculum.  I have always felt from talking to all of my classmates that the top applicants were not traditional pre-med majors.  They were not biochemistry, chemistry, or biology majors.  The top people in my medical school class were engineers, business majors, neuro science majors, physics majors, veterinarians, or something “different.”  We had numerous engineers.  Remember that almost everyone interviewing with you will be some variation of biology major.  Therefore, if you do something different, you will stand out. 

The next thought, of course is what are you going to do if you do not get in to medical school?  You are not going to do too much with biology major.  You may get a job, but it may be making $30,000 a year.  Not everyone that plans on going to medical school is going.  Life has a habit of taking unexpected turns.  Plans change, people get married, have babies, get sick, bomb out of school, or just decide to not pursue medicine.  It really is discouraging to spend three years of college only to decide or have decided for you that you are going to graduate in biology and you are not going to be able to find a good high paying job.  Or that you really don’t want to go to medical school or that you don’t like biology.  I therefore suggest deciding on a major that you like, that you could see yourself doing if you do not go to medical school.  Pick one that you can make a decent living at should you not go to medical school.  My brother and I could have had our pick of jobs in electrical engineering had we not gone the medical route.  Or course engineering is pretty hard and our grades did suffer as a result.

The next thing you need to consider when picking a major is what kind of grade you are going to make. If you major in electrical engineering and you stink in calculus and physics and end up with a 2.0 GPA, you are not going to get in medical school.  No matter what you choose, you better make sure you can make the grades.  It does you no good to bomb out in a hard major in the hopes of impressing the admissions officers.  It also may not look too good taking physical education and having a 4.0 when you are interviewing with that physics major with a 4.0.  Think about that. 

Should you get a masters degree?  Probably not unless you meet the following criteria:  If your grades stink, you may need masters to prove you can make the grade or to bring your GPA up.  If you have some compelling reason to advance your studies or to learn something that you could not get in your undergrad classes, then by all means do it.  If you like to stay in school forever, then go ahead.  You could get a Masters in Public Health. I wouldn’t but that is my opinion.  Now that I am in practice, I wouldn’t mind having another bachelor’s degree in a totally off the wall subject like meteorology or southeast Asian studies, but I wouldn’t have gotten it back then.  I don’t think I would get a master’s degree unless you need it for some of the above reasons. 

No matter what you major in, it goes without saying you need to do your best.  Put your best effort into it.  Come up with a plan, stick with it, and make the grades.  You should strive for a 3.5 or better.  I graduated with a 3.34 but that was in electrical engineering and the interviewers gave me a pass.  It is more competitive now.  See our article “Separating Yourself from the Herd” for more information.  Finally, I guess you want to know our opinion of what you should major take in college and what your major should be.  Well our expert opinion is Electrical Engineering of course!!!

Grades, Maximize Them for a Better Chance at Getting In

Grades are a big cause of angst among pre-med students as well they should be.  People sweat over them, worry, talk with other students about them and constantly fret over whether their GPA is high enough to get them into medical school.  Medical schools are getting harder and harder to get into and the GPA is one of the main factors in their decision.  The pre-med needs to do their very best to maximize their GPA.  This means working hard from their first semester in college and not wasting a semester or two partying or drifting.  It also means you had better not major in something too hard that is out of your league that is going to bomb your GPA.  Both Greg and I majored in electrical engineering which was quite hard, but we managed to persevere anyway with respectable grades although mine weren’t the greatest.  My pre-med required classes helped bring my engineering grades up. 

I think an effective strategy is as follows:   The pre-med student could consider taking some the known “killer” classes at his school at a neighboring school with an easier curriculum.  This would assure that their grades would be higher.  Another option would be to take the classes as an upper classmen.  This is the strategy that we used.  We took all of our classes in our engineering curriculum as scheduled.  We then took our 4^th year of college to take our pre-med requirements.  This is when we took organic chemistry, biology, chemistry, etc.  We were in class with a bunch of freshman and our grades were straight A’s. 

Another strategy is to take a light load the first year of college until you get your feet wet.  This will let you “learn how to study.”  Of course you will not graduate on time.  However, what is the rush?  You have a lifetime to work and learn medicine.  Why do you need to kill yourself rushing through college? 

Do not clep any classes.  If you had a year of college level calculus, chemistry, physics, history and you KNOW you can make an A in college, then take it in college.  If you are fluent in Spanish or another language, then take a year of basic foreign language.  One of my friends was from the French speaking area of

Finally, take advantage of your schools drop policies or taking classes over policies.  If you know you are going to make a C.  Then drop the class before the drop date.  If you make a D, then retake the class if you know you can make an A and bring the grade up, especially if your school will erase the D.

Remember, don’t sweat the occasional bad grade, I made 8 C’s and 10 B’s and got into 3 schools.  That was with an electrical engineering degree.  If you are straight pre-med though, you need to do a bit better. - Geoff