Summary: Episode 43: Don’t leave that box empty! Learn simple and creative ways to beef up your medical school application. Podcast transcription provided by Rev.com: research-for-medical-school-application Dr. Dan: “Hi. This is the Premed Podcast. I’m your host Dr. Dan. Today, I’m going to be answering a listener question named Justin M. He wrote me a comment on YouTube about trying to beef up the medical school application with something to put in the research box. He’s in a remote area, doesn’t have a lot of connections out there and doesn’t quite know what to do when it comes to research. I’m going to go ahead and read his comment in its entirety first and then I’ll give you my response after that. He says, “After almost a year of premed planning in coming to terms with my journey and now four semesters of working as a premed. I have come to terms with most of the neuroticisms and uncertainties that initially plagued me. My first step in overcoming these hang ups was information. Your Pre-Med Podcast, student-doctor network, statistics, magazines, everything and anything possible. The second step was time. I realized that four-year program was too short for me. I wanted to study more than just one thing and the overwhelming fear of getting a B in the class due to 18 to 21 credit hour semesters was too much for me to bear on top of everything else. By adding another year to my plan, I’m able to do more towards my application and to devote more time to each class ensuring that I will know what I am learning instead of just cramming for an A. This is an enriching experience for me as I also have sometime look forward to relax and study other things that interest me,” he goes on to say. Now, to answer my initial question about this video on YouTube I put out there send me your questions. He says, “I still have hang ups over the research section of the application. I’m spending three out of five years of my education at a community college where research is virtually unavailable. You can’t even know more about the course you’re taking up. My senior year has research projects and capstones. However, at that point it will obviously be past my application due date for matriculation directly out of college. I’m 24 years old and still looking years ahead of me before entrance so I no longer mind the thought of being a reapplicant. However, I still want to make myself as strong as the first time applicant as possible. Yet the research options are just so little.” Hang in there. I’m going to teach you how to do this yourself what I call Guerilla Research. You can do so much to leave up your application yourself. It’s ridiculous. Traditional academic programs don’t know how to teach you this stuff. I think I learned it the hard way and I will teach you. He’s got one more paragraph here and then I’ll get into my response. He says, “I’m interested in psychological research so I’ve been designing my own project for a while now to include some surveys. The research ties in with my overall goals of becoming a physician. Yet I’m not sure if I will be able to devote the time needed to get it done properly before application time. So again, I wonder what to do concerning this section of my application.” He’s got a little typo there. He says, “I’ve read dozens of articles and forums on the matter, so I have a general plan for the first year I make into a university to hit up the professors for a lab spot. It is a health professions college after all. That is pretty much my only reliable thing that I know I can put in. Anyway, thanks for reading the wall of text, Justin M.” That actually helps us that he wrote a wall of text because we can really understand the context. Most of the questions I get don’t give me enough context or information about the person so I don’t quite know how to respond. So many of the factors of making you the genuine article as a physician and as a premedical student of what you’re supposed to learn[...]
