7 answers
Nsilo
Student
Salt Lake City, Utah
1
Question
Updated
2935 views
How to bolster a med school resume for the future?
What steps y'all took in order to build a med school resume. I am a second year student at the University of Utah. I have completed many of the requirements for my pre-med and I am a psych major. #Spring23
Login to comment
7 answers
Connor Dority
Emergency Medical Technician in Critical Care
1
Answer
Salt Lake City, Utah
Updated
Connor’s Answer
Medical School application are complex and require a lot of work! Here are some area’s a HIGHLY suggest you work on to make your resume standout.
Clinical Hours:
Medical school love to see applicants who have had previous patient contact hours. A hospital or clinic job that requires a license to practice tends to look the best. This can be anywhere from EMT, CNA, MA, or phlebotomist. EMT license tends to be more difficult to obtain but I usually suggest students to obtain one due to the versatility it offers.
Volunteering Hours:
Medical schools want to see you working in the community. I find it more often than not that most pre-meds like to volunteer in hospitals. That is great, however, they want to see variety in your application. Really implement your interests and hobbies. For example, I volunteer at my local international airport as a translator, I work with the Catholic Community Service and translate for refugees who speak French. You should be doing at least 8 hours/month during semesters and 16 hours/months during breaks if possible.
Leadership Hours:
Get involved in clubs on campus! Try to become a president of a club. Seeks ways to help or become a leader in your work place. Med schools want to see people that can step up and lead a team. Personally, I was president over the honors society and pre-med club. That’s what they want to see.
Shadowing Hours:
Find a physician you know from home or have a connection to and ask if there are any shadowing opportunities. This helps you show that you have exposure to what a physician workday looks like. You’ll also have to chance to see different specialities and find what best fits your interests!
MCAT Prep:
This is probably the most important. DO NOT wait till last minute to study for the MCAT. Give yourself plenty of time to study and pace yourself through it. It is extremely rigorous and stressful. But if you do well on it, it will open so many doors.
Don’t let your grades stress you out. As long as you have a great resume to back yourself up and a decent MCAT score, you will do just fine! You anything unique about your personal situation or history to your advantage. Med schools love diversity, anything you can offer them in that aspect will help a lot!
Clinical Hours:
Medical school love to see applicants who have had previous patient contact hours. A hospital or clinic job that requires a license to practice tends to look the best. This can be anywhere from EMT, CNA, MA, or phlebotomist. EMT license tends to be more difficult to obtain but I usually suggest students to obtain one due to the versatility it offers.
Volunteering Hours:
Medical schools want to see you working in the community. I find it more often than not that most pre-meds like to volunteer in hospitals. That is great, however, they want to see variety in your application. Really implement your interests and hobbies. For example, I volunteer at my local international airport as a translator, I work with the Catholic Community Service and translate for refugees who speak French. You should be doing at least 8 hours/month during semesters and 16 hours/months during breaks if possible.
Leadership Hours:
Get involved in clubs on campus! Try to become a president of a club. Seeks ways to help or become a leader in your work place. Med schools want to see people that can step up and lead a team. Personally, I was president over the honors society and pre-med club. That’s what they want to see.
Shadowing Hours:
Find a physician you know from home or have a connection to and ask if there are any shadowing opportunities. This helps you show that you have exposure to what a physician workday looks like. You’ll also have to chance to see different specialities and find what best fits your interests!
MCAT Prep:
This is probably the most important. DO NOT wait till last minute to study for the MCAT. Give yourself plenty of time to study and pace yourself through it. It is extremely rigorous and stressful. But if you do well on it, it will open so many doors.
Don’t let your grades stress you out. As long as you have a great resume to back yourself up and a decent MCAT score, you will do just fine! You anything unique about your personal situation or history to your advantage. Med schools love diversity, anything you can offer them in that aspect will help a lot!
Madison Buchman
doctor
160
Answers
West Hartford
Updated
Madison’s Answer
Get a mentor you trust! Early on in your career/pre-med and med school journey look for mentorship either from students in classes above you who have been successful/you trust or from advisors at your school/attendings at the hospital/professors/teachers in your program. See when you can meet with them and get their advice. Building a mentorship relationship esp with professors/attending physicians is so important not only for advice but because you WILL need letters of recommendation (both for medical school/residency/jobs) in the future and the longer standing that relationship is/the more they spend time with you the better and more personalized that letter will be (and also such a rewarding relationship for both of you!). A personalized letter of recommendation will ALWAYS stand out more than anything standardized to interviewers (esp. for med school/residency).
Shadow: if there is a specific field of medicine your curious about/want to see more of/interested in, find local physicians and see if you can shadow them. I would start by reaching out to teaching hospitals and then if not see if you can find local clinics/offices and email/call them. You would be surprised how many people would love to show you their job for even a few days at a time. This can also help get you exposure but gain knowledge/experience/and even relationships for mentorship/letters of rec and looks good on a resume.
Volunteer/get involved. See what you can do for your local community. Maybe find something related to healthcare/medicine. Make a longer term commitment to it rather than a quick opportunity, get more involved over time shows more commitment/enthusiasm and that you want to give back to others in general which is important in medicine.
Outside activities/clubs: pick 1-2 activities and commit to them! Whether work or volunteer or research based. See if you can get some leadership roles within a club or organization that show you have leadership qualities, that you commit to things, that you have team work skills and work well with others. Don't spread yourself thin. A few activities that you really are excited to talk about in an interview always look better than a million smaller ones that didn't mean as much to you.
Get life experience! Whether it's a job/shadowing. See if you can do something at a hospital or within medicine: ideas such as CNA/tech/scribes/child life/phlebotomy/nursing. Maybe take a medical mission trip!
Grades matter so much and so do scores on exams (MCAT) but they are NOT everything! You want to be a diverse human who offers your own unique experiences/skills to a school/specialty!
Hope this helps!!
Madison
Shadow: if there is a specific field of medicine your curious about/want to see more of/interested in, find local physicians and see if you can shadow them. I would start by reaching out to teaching hospitals and then if not see if you can find local clinics/offices and email/call them. You would be surprised how many people would love to show you their job for even a few days at a time. This can also help get you exposure but gain knowledge/experience/and even relationships for mentorship/letters of rec and looks good on a resume.
Volunteer/get involved. See what you can do for your local community. Maybe find something related to healthcare/medicine. Make a longer term commitment to it rather than a quick opportunity, get more involved over time shows more commitment/enthusiasm and that you want to give back to others in general which is important in medicine.
Outside activities/clubs: pick 1-2 activities and commit to them! Whether work or volunteer or research based. See if you can get some leadership roles within a club or organization that show you have leadership qualities, that you commit to things, that you have team work skills and work well with others. Don't spread yourself thin. A few activities that you really are excited to talk about in an interview always look better than a million smaller ones that didn't mean as much to you.
Get life experience! Whether it's a job/shadowing. See if you can do something at a hospital or within medicine: ideas such as CNA/tech/scribes/child life/phlebotomy/nursing. Maybe take a medical mission trip!
Grades matter so much and so do scores on exams (MCAT) but they are NOT everything! You want to be a diverse human who offers your own unique experiences/skills to a school/specialty!
Hope this helps!!
Madison
Anna Bernal
Recruiter
60
Answers
Oviedo, Florida
Updated
Anna’s Answer
Hey Nsilo,
What a great career path and a difficult one!
Some ways you can boost your resume for medical school would be:
Extra Curricular activities such as joining a pre-med group on campus to help network and engage with others interested in your field is important.
Working on getting shadowing hours within the hospital is a great way to show you are eager to learn and want to really see what a day to day looks like in the field. You can do so by utilizing your schools resources to see what shadowing opportunities they have that you can apply for.
Getting an entry level job such as a medical scribe or a PCA or CNA role can help you gain hands on experience in the filed prior to Medical School and help you stand out from others.
If you are big into research, I know joining groups or projects within your campus for research can help you stand out on your resume and set you apart from other applicants.
Goodluck on your journey!!
What a great career path and a difficult one!
Some ways you can boost your resume for medical school would be:
Extra Curricular activities such as joining a pre-med group on campus to help network and engage with others interested in your field is important.
Working on getting shadowing hours within the hospital is a great way to show you are eager to learn and want to really see what a day to day looks like in the field. You can do so by utilizing your schools resources to see what shadowing opportunities they have that you can apply for.
Getting an entry level job such as a medical scribe or a PCA or CNA role can help you gain hands on experience in the filed prior to Medical School and help you stand out from others.
If you are big into research, I know joining groups or projects within your campus for research can help you stand out on your resume and set you apart from other applicants.
Goodluck on your journey!!
Angela Marie Magsucang
Clinical Lab Technologist
2
Answers
Valley Stream, New York
Updated
Angela Marie’s Answer
Hi Nsilo,
Your school will most likely be of help! If you have a premed/pre-health advisement department, I would start asking there first or your school’s career services center in terms of formatting. For things you want to put in your resume, generally get started with l:
1. Physician shadowing (you can email your primary care provider for shadowing opportunities)
2. Volunteering experiences (clinical and non-clinical such as soup kitchen, hospice or club outreach activities)
3. Paid experiences (clinical and non clinical such as medical scribing, EMT, medical assistant, CNA or PCT)
4. Campus extracurriculars and leadership positions if any
5. Academic awards or achievements
Best,
Angela
Your school will most likely be of help! If you have a premed/pre-health advisement department, I would start asking there first or your school’s career services center in terms of formatting. For things you want to put in your resume, generally get started with l:
1. Physician shadowing (you can email your primary care provider for shadowing opportunities)
2. Volunteering experiences (clinical and non-clinical such as soup kitchen, hospice or club outreach activities)
3. Paid experiences (clinical and non clinical such as medical scribing, EMT, medical assistant, CNA or PCT)
4. Campus extracurriculars and leadership positions if any
5. Academic awards or achievements
Best,
Angela
Marcus McCann
Cook
2
Answers
West Point, Mississippi
Updated
Marcus’s Answer
Well, when I attended at Ultimate Medical Academy, they actually walked me through a Resume and helped me create a professional resume for my job search right after I graduated last year. I would think to contact my academic advisor and ask them about the resume.
Xiaojie Johan Liu
Consultant
91
Answers
Boston, Massachusetts
Updated
Xiaojie Johan’s Answer
Hello Nsilo,
You should look into volunteering at a hospital for experience. This is critical for medical school applications these days. You could also look into paid experiences at a hospital or if you are interested in research, you should also look into medical research positions.
Hopefully this helps!
Best regards,
Johan
You should look into volunteering at a hospital for experience. This is critical for medical school applications these days. You could also look into paid experiences at a hospital or if you are interested in research, you should also look into medical research positions.
Hopefully this helps!
Best regards,
Johan
Karissa Helton
Teacher
212
Answers
Miami, Florida
Updated
Karissa’s Answer
Work as a scribe in the Emergency Room.