Imagine you are the chair of a medical school admissions committee. What would you look for in an applicant?

As a future medical school applicant sitting on the outside, it is probably hard for you to decipher what admissions committees are thinking. Most of the information you get is pretty much “hearsay” from other premeds, who have heard from friends of friends, and friends of family. You might get information from licensed physicians, but often times they are so far removed from the admissions process (e.g. they got into medical school 20 years ago), that their information may just be flat out wrong.

I myself am certainly not on the admissions committee. However as someone admitted to medical school fairly recently, and now with 3 years of medical school under my belt, I have a much better understanding of what it means to be a “doctor”. In addition, if you have read many of my previous blog posts, you know that I like to break down issues in a very objective, logical manner. It’s the same approach I used when applying to scholarships, universities and medical schools, and it’s an approach that I believe works.

So instead of blindly following the information or advice of others, I highly encourage you to stop and think critically about this information, and make your own conjectures about the admissions process. I truly believe if you do this, you can make some fairly accurate assumptions about the admissions process. Admissions committees are composed of smart people – they will think logically about the process, and so you should too.

It’s in going through this process today that I will help you predict what types of applicants medical schools are looking for, and based on that, what you should do to make yourself a better applicant.

So what are medical school admissions committees looking for?

So let’s get back to my original question. Now that I have almost completed my 3rd year of clerkship, I have a much greater understanding of the work involved in being a physician – because clinically, that’s what I’m trying to do every day in the hospital or clinic. And now that I better understand this, I can see what characteristics admissions committees are likely trying to elicit – essentially the traits that answer the question: what makes a good doctor?

Without further adieu, here are the 7 main traits I think admissions committees are looking for in applicants, and what you should do to prove those traits:

1. Intelligence

Medical schools want smart people. Why? I think that should be obvious. When patients are critically ill, you want someone smart making critical decisions – mistakes in health care can be devastating. While I don’t think medicine is rocket science, it does take reasonably intelligent people to gather and synthesize clinical information and make sound decisions.

How you demonstrate this:
Strong academic performance, period. That includes GPA, MCAT and academic awards. This is why medical schools value GPA and MCAT so highly – it’s the only objective measures they have of your intelligence. That’s not to say they are perfect assessments of intelligence, but for now, it’s really all they have to use. So don’t take your academics lightly – it doesn’t matter how great the rest of your application is if your GPA/MCAT simply isn’t good enough. You’re a smart applicant, so you need to put in the work to prove it.

2. Dedicated learner

Of course, medical school isn’t just about being smart. It doesn’t matter how high your IQ is if you aren’t able to learn and store all of the information a doctor needs to know. It’s not just medical students that need to study – doctors need to be lifelong learners. You will need to be able to interpret medical and scientific information and research – what is the latest evidence for X treatment, and what is the validity of that evidence? You will be expected by both your medical community and your patients to keep reading academic medical journals and the latest clinical guidelines to keep up with the rapid developments in medicine.

How you demonstrate this:
GPA and MCAT also demonstrate this as they are a reflection of how well you can study, synthesize information, and apply it – skills a doctor applies on a daily basis. You’ve all heard of those geniuses in school who got poor grades because they never applied themselves? They won’t do well in medical school. You can’t just be smart – you have to continue to learn new information for your whole career and combine that with your intelligence to optimize your patient care. And for now, the best way to prove that is by a strong GPA and MCAT.

In addition, involvement in some form of academic research also helps. This is because 1.) having done research implies you have had to develop the skills necessary to read academic/scientific papers, and 2.) an interest in research suggests you may eventually be involved in contributing to the vast database of medical knowledge in the future. This shows greater dedication to the vocation of being a physician. That’s not to say medicine necessitates a career in academia (it doesn’t, and many great physicians simply are not interested in it), but given that those on the admission committee are often university-affiliated physicians, the truth is that the more similar you are to them, the easier they will connect with you.

3. Hard working

What do you think is the most important trait to have in clerkship? I would guess that most residents and physicians would say it is to be hard working. While knowledge, good communication skills, etc. are all important to have, nothing makes a clerk more likeable than someone who is hard working. While clerks fret about how much they should be studying and getting stuff wrong, the truth is that your supervisors know you have a lot of information to learn. But what’s most important is that you try, and you work hard to help create value for the team. While you might be viewed as simply a nuisance at the beginning (i.e. an educational commitment to the supervisor that doesn’t contribute to patient care), a hard working clerk is seen as an essential part of the health care team by the end. If because of your hard work, more things get done faster and everyone gets to go home earlier, your team and supervisor will love you.

Even more important than trying to impress your supervisors, is that a life in medicine necessarily requires hard work. When you are on your surgery rotation, don’t be surprised to have 6am to 6pm days, or worse. Often in clerkship and residency you will pull 24 hour+ shifts. And on top of that, you are expected to study when you are at home. You have to work hard in medicine and so it makes sense that admissions committees will look for applicants who demonstrate they can handle tough work load.

How you demonstrate this:
There are 2 main ways to prove this to admissions committees. The first is through your GPA. Your GPA is an accumulation of hours upon hours of hard work and studying. Anyone can do well on one test or course, but it takes great diligence to achieve great grade over 3 or 4 years.

The second is through your involvement outside of school. Whether it is through school clubs, sports, music, community involvement – it doesn’t matter too much. What matters is that you have proof that you can handle a very busy schedule. Someone who can both excel at school and achieve great things in their extra curriculars is more likely to be able to handle the rigorous hours of medicine than someone who has only excelled in one or the other.

4. Team work

Most doctors work in teams, especially those working in hospitals or large multi-disciplinary clinics. As an example, doctors in hospitals must be able to communicate and collaborate with individuals on their own team (other staff doctors, residents, medical students, nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, administration) and those on other services (e.g. diagnostic tests, home care and community services, etc.). In order to be a good doctor you must be able to work well with people. And this starts even at the medical student level.

How you demonstrate this:
Get involved in activities that require teamwork, simple as that. School clubs, sports, music, community groups, employment – anything really. In addition, these need to be useful experiences – you need to have developed real team work skills. Because you are going to asked in your applications and interviews about these team work experiences, and you will need examples and stories to talk about. Don’t just sign up – actually contribute, develop real team work skills, and have stories to tell.

5. Communication and interpersonal skills

Communication and interpersonal skills are different from teamwork skills. They are more about how you interact with people on an individual level. Are you someone easy to get along with? Do you communicate clearly with others? Will you be able to demonstrate compassion and empathy for your patients? These are questions admissions committees would like answered about you.

How you demonstrate this:
The first is by doing activities that help you develop your interpersonal skills. Personally, I volunteered for several years at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab, where I did recreational therapy with children with disabilities. It was fun, and it was an experience where I actually got to directly interact with patients. I found it a lot more valuable than traditional hospital volunteering. Often times I see premeds volunteering in hospitals doing activities completely unrelated to medicine (e.g. administrative tasks). As some side advice, don’t just volunteer in a hospital because it’s in a hospital – volunteer somewhere where you can actually develop skills relevant to your future profession. Developing interpersonal skills outside of the hospital is much more relevant to being a physician than doing unrelated tasks inside a hospital.

The second way this is demonstrated is through your reference letters. This is the one part of your application where someone who has worked with you on a personal level can vouch for what of person you are, how you communicate and how you interact with people. Take the reference letters seriously. Pick people who like you and want to support you, and can comment on how well you interact with people.

Thirdly, this will come through in your interviews. Be friendly, speak calmly and confidently, and be yourself. Remember, the doctors who pick you may have to work with you at some point down the road – they want someone they will get along with.

6. Initiative

One of the other traits that marks a good clerk and eventually resident is someone who takes initiative. One of the challenges you will face in clerkship is to do more than just collect the patient history and do a physical exam – the harder part is to think about what might be going on in the patient and what you should do next. Physicians don’t want to have to tell trainees everything they have to do. They want trainees to take the time to stop and think about the situation, and formulate a management and treatment plan for the patient. Of course, this sounds easier than it is. Nonetheless, medical schools want applicants who can be leaders and take initiative. They want people who will be active in their learning and training.

How you demonstrate this:
Go and take initiative in your extra-curricular experiences. Take on leadership roles in school clubs or activities. Start a community activity that benefits others. Learn a new craft, such as an instrument. Whatever you do, take charge and go after something. And the more you take initiative in your life, the easier it is as you progress through your career.

7. An interest in medicine

Look, no one expects a medical school applicant to know really all that much about medicine and what it means to be a doctor. You may not even understand much about by the end of 2nd year of medical school. What medical schools do want to see is that you have had mature reflections about a career in medicine – that you can demonstrate you have spent time thinking about why medicine may make sense for you, and that you have done some due diligence in trying to explore that interest.

How you demonstrate this:
Like I mentioned before, for the most part, volunteering in a hospital will not be useful. Your goal here is to try and explore what physicians actually do, so you can make an informed career decision. Ask your family doctor if you can shadow them. If not, at the very least ask if you can discuss a career in medicine with them. See if your mentors or friends know any physicians willing to take you on for a day. Follow health care news and get engaged in discussions with others. Do what you can to explore health care both for the sake of making a good career choice, but to also show the admissions committee you are a mature adult making an informed decision.

Where to go from here

Reflect on what you’ve read in this article and what you have done so far in your journey as a premed. Where have you succeeded and where are there gaps in your application? Work towards filling those gaps and making yourself the best applicant possible. I truly believe if you cover all the bases we discussed today, you will be as competitive an applicant as anyone else. Good luck!