Premed Student Resources

Taking a gap year

As a sophomore in college, I was sure I wanted to go into the medical field. So sure, that I took a gamble and took the MCAT before the new changes were initiated in 2015. At that time, I was determined to go straight from college to medical school, residency, and finally to my career....

Shadowing a Trauma Surgeon: One Student’s Experience

By: Jennifer Tran-Kiem Shadowing a trauma surgeon can teach you more about emergency medicine than any textbook. A few years ago, my fascination with medicine started with emergency medicine. Now as an EMT, I’ve transported patients to the emergency room and have seen the kinds of emergency room patients that the emergency medicine physician handles. I’ve...

My Clinical Experience as a Volunteer EMT

By: Jennifer Tran-Kiem Should I volunteer as an emergency medical technician (EMT) or a medical scribe? That was the question I faced during my sophomore year as I started to think about adding clinical experience to my medical school application. How I chose my clinical experience Of course, there are many other opportunities for gaining clinical experience apart from...

Taking a gap year before medical school

By: Jennifer Tran-Kiem One student shares how visiting Peru inspired her to wait on medical school.   A year ago, I started to wonder if I had traveled enough and if I was satisfied with the experiences I’ve had so far. As the end of my junior year was coming to a close, I found...