[Notes] What It Actually Takes to Get into Medical School | Dr. Ryan Gray at UC Davis Pre-Health Conference (1)

Don’t Let Anyone Stop You

Don’t allow the consideration of others to stop you from pursing medicine
If medicine is something you truly want to pursue then truly do your best to pursue it
Don’t let a bad grade destroy your dream
Many a common story for individuals becoming interested in healthcare is that they interacted with a healthcare professional or they saw a family member do it and help them and they became interested in it afterwards
The first time the speaker applied they didn’t get in.
They did more research and got in their second attempt and paid for the school via air force scholarship
However, the air force didn’t allow him to become an orthopedic surgeon
After medical school they ended up becoming a flight surgeon

Many pre-meds view applying to medical school as a giant checklist
It seems that way: There’s a conception of things you need to do and you’ll get into medical school
However, if an applicant applies as if they just followed a checklist:
- They did shadowing, clinical experience etc.
- Those individuals don’t get into medical school
- There needs to be a meaning attached to these experiences
- b/c there’s a lot of medical school applicants and the schools are looking for those people that have passion
No one activity or thing you will do will make you stand out short of curing cancer

<aside> 💡 Instead of thinking: “What I have to do?” think, “What do I want to do?”

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For example: if you want to be a soccer coach be a soccer coach b/c this one activity has many overlapping qualities good to be a physician