When It Rains, It Pours

I've always really liked that saying and I think it's generally true. Maybe this is because we tend to notice things in groups. Like when you're already having a bad day it's easier to find fault in more things or if you're feeling really great about something you're more likely to be happy about other little things you might not have paid attention to normally.
The reason I bring this up is because during the [re]application process there will be good days and bad days and usually they'll be extreme. Yesterday, for example, was a bad day. I'm still waiting on one of my recommendation letters to be sent in (if you're reading this, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! jk jk I love all the people who wrote my letters but still, I'm working on a deadline here), I've been applying to all the research jobs available in Chicago and having very little luck, and to top it off I'm starting to get a bit concerned about managing application costs.
During weeks like this it's important to remind myself to slow down a bit and focus on the good, like getting my application in early which was HUGE. I've been checking the AMCAS site every day and I should be verified by the end of this week which is amazing considering last year it took over 6 weeks for verification and I only applied a few weeks late. I've also been making a list of essays that I can pre-write so that when my secondaries start coming in I'll be able to turn them around in 24-48 hours (this, at least, is the goal). So if you're in the same boat then take a breath and relax. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We'll get there!

"BOOM!" or "What Happened to JournalistDoingScience?"

The above gif (which is hilarious because I'm pretty sure this has happened to me multiple times) is the perfect embodiment of my feelings regarding the last application cycle: first, I was excited (delicious diet coke!) then I was overwhelmed (OMG THIS IS SO STRESSFUL) then the bottle fell off the table and exploded everywhere and made a mess and I don't know where I'm going with this metaphor anymore.  I joke, I joke, but real talk - last year was tough. After finding out that I didn't get into UVM I was very low. I felt like a failure and it was really difficult for me to share with all of you guys what had happened. Then there were a million other things going on that quickly took over my attention until the idea of writing a "What I've Been Doing Lately" post seemed really daunting and I couldn't get started. BUT I realized over the past few weeks how much I miss writing and how nice it was to feel connected to the pre-med community online and I'm really excited to be back on the wagon!

I'm happy to relate that I bounced back pretty quickly after not getting in. Probably because I had told myself all along that there was a possibility I would have to apply again and also because I realized that just because I didn't get accepted didn't mean I didn't have an amazing list of accomplishments to be really proud of. So very soon after the bad news I got my  head back into the game and started brainstorming what I could do to improve my application. I'm going to save the actual list of things I did for another day but suffice it to say I was really busy! I will tell you that one of the biggest things I decided to do this time around was apply as early as possible. This is why I got up at an ungodly hour on Tuesday to review my entire application before submitting it at 8:30 AM on the dot. Unfortunately I ended up submitting it about half an hour later than originally planned because I lost my credit card (typical me) and was running around trying to find it for a good 30 minutes but I'm very happy to say that I got my AMCAS app in on the first day and am just waiting for it to be verified! 

Anyway, I'll keep this short and sweet but it feels so good to be back :) I want to thank everyone who emailed, tweeted at or commented to tell me how much they like my blog and appreciate what I have to say. I really can't tell you how nice it is and how much I love to hear from you all! I wish you all good luck on your applications (if you're applying this year) and promise that I'll be writing a lot more regularly from now on!!

Love,

Chantal

Sending Some Love

I've been so busy writing articles for The Almost Doctor's Channel (as you can see from my profile here) that I haven't had time to update my own blog! Since it's Valentine's Day, I wanted to send some love out to all of my wonderful readers who still keep up with me and let you all know that I'm determined to do better!

I'm not a huge fan of the consumer approach to today but I do like the idea of using this "holiday" to tell the important people in your life that you love and appreciate them and that's what I want to do for you guys. When I started this blog I had no idea that it would be received with such interest and warmth by so many. The comments that I've received and the feedback I've been given has been amazing and has helped me through some difficult parts of the application process.

I can only hope that I've been able to do the same for all of you. Have a beautiful day.

Q & A Session - Post-Bac Studies, Nontraditional Routes, Taking a Year Off

I was recently contacted by an undergrad who is interested in doing the same Harvard post-bac that I completed and after back and forthing over email a few times I realized that a lot of his questions were probably quite common and maybe it would be helpful to put them here along with my answers in case anyone else was interested in hearing about my experience in more detail than I usually offer up in a typical post. It's difficult sometimes to get insider information on courses or programs that you're interested in. Most forums I've encountered either don't have anything that's actually helpful or they're just extremely negative and discouraging because the kind of people that post on them are disgruntled or unhappy with their experience and their viewpoint is hugely biased. For my part, I tried to be extremely objective when I wrote these answers out so I hope you all find them useful! And of course, if anyone has further questions please don't hesitate to contact with me through this blog or on Twitter or via carrier pigeon (whichever way works best for you). This is an incredibly long post so I added some pictures/gifs to break it up and (hopefully) entertain!

Q: I am currently a senior at a liberal arts college in MA. I had initial intentions of going to medical school before starting my time in college, but that quickly changed after my first year was complete. It wasn't until my junior year that I began considering other alternatives such as a Physician Assistant program before finally coming to the realization that medical school was the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, I passed up a good amount of time to take the medical school requisites and have only taken Gen Chem 1/2. I am currently in the process of applying for research assistant positions in the Boston area as it is close to home and hopefully at an academic teaching hospital to get my tuition reimbursed to a certain extent. I have been applying to a lot of Partners locations as well as BU School of Medicine. In the event I get offered a position through a Partners affiliate, I would plan on taking classes at Harvard Extension School during the evenings. This is where I thought your input could be useful.

How did you come across this program and what other programs in the area did you look in to? I think this program in particular is a great option for me because it offers the opportunity to take classes when it works with my schedule as opposed to completing all the courses within one academic year. In your case, what courses did you take and when? Working full time, did you find taking two courses in one semester to be overwhelming at all? Along these lines, do you think medical schools look down on this approach to taking a reduced academic load while working as opposed to taking a full course load without working? Also, how were the professors in the program? My classes during my undergraduate tenure have been very, very small (~25 students/class) in comparison to some of the class sizes offered at Harvard. How do the students typically do in the classes who aspire to go to medical school and what types of grades do you need for sponsorship through the program? 

A: I had a lot of really great people encourage and support me when I was thinking about doing a post-bac so it's nice to do the same for someone else. Your story is really not that unusual. There are a huge number of current medical students who majored in something completely unrelated to the science field and only later decided they really wanted to pursue a career in medicine. I think your plan to get a research assistant job is fantastic but I would also make sure to get some clinical experience. Schools who interview students in your situation in particular want to make sure that you're really dedicated and that you haven't just changed your mind on a whim - they want proof that you have experience in a clinical setting and that you still want to (or are even more determined to) pursue medicine.

I would also definitely recommend getting a job that will help pay for classes. I didn't end up doing that until now (I work at Northwestern and am taking an Anatomy course) but I had friends who did at Brigham & Women’s and it worked out very well for them.

I heard about the Harvard post-bac through a coworker whose son had done it and had actually met his wife through one of his classes. I did a bit of research about the program but honestly didn't really consider going anywhere other than Harvard because even though it's the extension school it's a great name to have on your application. I didn't end up completing my "certificate" because I applied before I had finished the number of courses required for sponsorship but I did take quite a few classes there. I had pretty low/average undergraduate grades (I was a COM major and they didn't really matter when I was planning on being a journalist!) but I still was accepted into the official Health Careers Program so unless you literally failed half your undergrad classes you should get in. It doesn’t really matter if you are officially in the program or not anyway unless you really want to get sponsored (For those of you who don’t know, Harvard will “sponsor” your application for a fee if you get above a certain GPA in their post-bac which basically just means they will write you a committee recommendation letter that’s all official and comes from the University and looks good on your application). If you aren’t in the program you can still take as many courses as you’d like as an at large student, which a lot of my friends did.

The classes are VERY large and lecture-style but the labs are smaller and I actually had a great experience in a few of them (depends on the TF's. If you get a chance to choose I have some recommendations!). I struggled in the courses not because of the material (except for Physics) but mainly because I didn't have enough time to dedicate to straight studying. I was working full time and taking two or three classes and it just wasn't working out well for me. Ultimately I ended up taking one class and having a full-time job and that was much easier. I think if you are already used to studying for difficult science classes you could juggle two classes and work but I didn't give myself the time to ease into it and that was definitely reflected in my earlier grades. 

Q: In regards to the classes, how easy was it to seek out help from either the professor or the TA given the large class sizes? I'm so used to being able to stop into office hours whenever I'd like with little to no line to get my questions answered. Also, in terms of recommendations for the med school application, or maybe it's just my undergrad's requirement, but I believe they require a letter from a from a science professor. Is there any chance at all that at a place like this, you have any shot of getting a decent letter of recommendation from a professor or is there no interaction? Finally, do you know if admissions committees for medical schools take into account whether you took all the courses in one academic year, which may prove you're ready to handle the medical school curriculum, or can you take the classes piece meal without being penalized? 

A: The classes really varied in terms of getting help. I had a very hard time in Physics and the first semester felt like there was no one who could do a good job explaining things to me. The TA's (called Teaching Fellows, TFs at Harv) were very, very smart but I felt like their ability to actually teach was quite limited which was frustrating for me because Physics is not an intuitive science in my case. I had friends who found outside tutors they were very happy with but I couldn’t really afford that so I ended up just getting help from whoever I could at the moment. On the other hand, there were some classes where the professor was very available, incredibly helpful and held regular office hours (Biochemistry was a particularly good example and I ended up getting a recommendation from the professor who taught that class). I also felt like the Gen Chem and Organic Chemistry courses were very well handled and there was always someone there to ask for help if needed. Definitely take advantage of office hours and I'm sure it won't be difficult to have several options for recommendations.

In response to your question regarding medical school admissions committees, it seems like you're really concerned that your nontraditional approach is going to be looked down on in some way. Please don't think that. Everyone that I have spoken to, both of the schools I have interviewed at so far and all of the friends I have who are currently in medical school have said many times that it doesn't matter what path you take to get to medical school, what is important is that you are able to show them your passion for medicine and your ability to succeed in a busy and stressful environment. For you, this may mean trying to get a publication while you are taking two classes. Being able to juggle work AND school is an incredible accomplishment and is absolutely not looked down upon. It's just not the reality anymore that most students apply to medical school straight from undergrad. More and more students are coming from varied backgrounds where they had to take one or two classes at a time while working to support themselves. In no way will you be penalized for this and if anything, many of the professors and admissions experts I spoke with are impressed when they see someone who is able to do well in both areas. The key is to not bite off more than you can chew so that you are succeeding as both a student and in your work environment and I definitely had a bit of trouble initially learning that lesson. You want to be able to show definitive proof that you had just as full a plate as a normal student (full time job + classes is even more than a typical full time student workload) and that you were able to do well regardless (good grades + work accomplishments such as a poster/presentation/author credit on a paper). Hope this helps!

Public Service Announcement - Take A Break From Stressing Out and Watch This Adorable Video!!

This is for all of you stressed-out premeds who haven't heard back from schools yet, who just got ANOTHER rejection or who are waiting to find out if you've been accepted after a recent interview. This post is also for all of the M2s in schools across the nation who are gearing up to take the Step 1 exam (I know some schools take it early and some have a few months to go but anxiety knows no boundaries).

Here is a video of what my friend and I like to call "raccooning." It's fairly obvious after you watch it what we mean by this term - it's when you are snuggling someone so intensely and with such affection and they are just sitting there with a look on their face sort of like "I'm too tired and comfortable to make you stop but you're being ridiculous and I am not going to respond to your gregarious outburst of savage snuggling."

Know what I mean? I'm sure some of you have been there and if not, well, I bet you'll still enjoy this super cute video. After viewing, I highly recommend going and finding a friend and re-enacting the scenario because you will both end up feeling much better, I promise!

Interview Day At UVM Part II

Here it is! The much-awaited (I'm sure) follow up to my initial post about my experience interviewing at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

I left off at lunch, which, after touring the school and sitting for long periods of time through several diferent talks was very much welcome. We were lead down to a cozy cafeteria where a group of M2 students met with us to discuss their experience at UVM and answer any questions we had. First of all, the food was quite delicious and if I remember correctly some of it was locally sourced/organically grown which I really appreciated. Secondly, the M2s were so incredibly welcoming and eager to answer any and all of our questions no matter how inane they may have been. I definitely took advantage of having a first hand resource to talk about the school so before I knew it our lunch hour had passed and it was time to meet back at the office to be taken to our interviews.

I don't want to talk in specifics about my interview because I honestly don't even remember what exactly we talked about the whole time but I DO know that it was the most wonderful, unique, and encouraging interview I have ever had. My interview was a woman named Anne Sullivan whose daughter was attending UVM Med and who had been working at UVM for a number of years. What struck me most about our interaction was that she was genuinely interested in getting to know me and learning my story. She had all of my application materials but referenced them only occasionally because she was mainly concerned with finding out about my life off paper. Our discussion, because it was a discussion really, beyond anything else, made such an impression on me that I can't quite articulate how I feel about it. Not only did I feel like my accomplishments and successes were acknowledged, I felt like my interviewer was able to get the true measure of me as a person and that was something I hadn't experienced in an interview before. 

After the interview (there was only one) we were taken on a guided tour of the Fletcher Allen Health Care Facilities but I was honestly so mentally exhausted at that point that I didn't retain much except the vague recollection that the hospital was beautiful and spacious and there was a weird quilt sculpture in one of the halls. 

Because all of the interviews and tours were at different times, we all ended up meeting back at the admissions lobby at different times but happily were surprised to find that the staff had put out cider and doughnuts for everyone! It was a taste of home and I was very impressed with the suble touches present throughout the day that reminded me I was in Vermont. 

The last hour of the day was dedicated to a debrief with Dr. Janice Gallant (Associate Dean for Admissions) and a few other faculty members. We went around the table and discussed our impressions of the school and our "take-away" from the day. I was able to meet for a few moments with Dr. Gallant and discuss holistic review and was surprised at how quickly she was willing to engage with me. 

The last thing I want to say about this experience is that it really showed me what it means to be a part of a school that cares deeply not just for their students, but for their applicants as well. I think UVM did a particularly amazing job of conveying that and it's proof positive that they are such an excellent, successful, and high-caliber medical school because of this attitude. 

Fletcher Allen

Interview Day At The University of Vermont College of Medicine

I'm sure many of my poor readers have lost hope that I would ever actually post this but GUESS WHAT, YOU WERE WRONG! And that's good news for everyone :)

Unfortunately I underestimated how incredibly busy I would be for the holidays with work and a very much needed trip to Boston to visit friends during which I did not get anything productive done (unless you count R&R which I think is pretty important!). I finally arrived home yesterday after a very long and convoluted return journey that included an unplanned stopover in Minneapolis due to a mad storm buffeting Chicago and although there's about a foot of snow outside I'm really glad to be back.

Mostly though, I'm glad that I finally have time to sit down and write about my UVM interview! I know it's been a long time in coming but better late than never I suppose.

I have to admit that I was incredibly nervous for this interview for several reasons. One being that I had to travel to get there and during the winter flying, especially to tiny airports in New England, can be very unreliable. Also, the disappointing news I had recently received from Rush had really been quite a blow to my self-confidence. Having a school reject you outright (as opposed to just putting you on a waitlist or, ideally, accepting you) is akin to having someone important that you like and respect very much tell you point blank that you aren't good enough to fraternize with and it's more than a little tough to get over. I know that's not the truth of it but that's just how it feels. With that in mind, I'm sure you can imagine my anxiety at the thought of going through the same process of interviewing at a school that I was really interested in and then facing the possibility of being rejected again. 

Early on in the day, my experience at UVM quickly dissipated all of those feelings. I had arrived in Vermont quite late so I didn't attend the optional class with a medical student that was offered and instead got to campus around 8:45 AM. I checked in at the admissions office and then had a few minutes to wait and mingle with other students who were also slightly early. There was an M2 (I think?) that several students had attended class with around to answer questions and I just hopped right into the discussion which didn't faze her a bit.

At about 9:30 AM the group of us (which had grown to about 16, maybe?) were ushered into a small conference room where we were greeted by a representative from the admissions office. I have to say here that Liz was without a doubt the friendliest person I have ever encountered during this application cycle. I had emailed with her previously regarding a question I had about my application and her prompt and helpful response was very much appreciated. It was very clear during her introduction that she was genuinely interested in making the process as stress-free for us as possible and I appreciated her attitude so much. It was truly refreshing. She immediately put everyone at ease and the relief in the room was palpable when she explained that UVM was really looking to make the day a positive experience for everyone.

The rest of the morning proceeded much like it had at the Rush interview. There were talks with a representative from financial aid, the dean of medical education, and (most interestingly) someone from technology services. This is where I got hooked. Not only does UVM have an amazing and unique curriculum that they are incredibly proud of, they have a history of utilizing technology to assist students in learning as effectively as possible. I won't go into details of the VIC - Vermont Integrated Curriculum - except to say that they are constantly working to improve it (you can take a peek at some info here) and that while some of their practices and scheduling may be unusual when compared to other schools, UVM's results, scores, and satisfaction rate among students are impressive to say the least. Most of all though I was impressed by the opportunities and encouragement for research and assisted learning. When we heard from a woman who worked with the office of technology I was excited to see that the medical school was intent on taking advantage of the latest and greatest in modern tech for learning as well as for research. I'm interested in informatics research so I especially liked that they heavily focus on use of electronic medical records, meaningful use etc. As a bonus, they provide laptops to every student free of charge, a fact that I particularly appreciated since they offer full service for your laptop throughout your four years at the school and I am notoriously terrible with electronics!

After the talks and a lot of sitting we were taken on a tour of the college of medicine which was probably my favorite part of the whole day. UVM boasts a high-tech sim lab as well as state of the art classrooms and I was undeniably impressed by the facilities. It was so comforting to look out the windows and see such beautiful and familiar territory - Fletcher Allen, Lake Champlain, the mountains. I felt like I was home. The best part of the tour came right at the end when we were introduced to the MAP (Mindful Awareness and Practice) room in the student lounge aka the napping room. I think it was then that I fell in love.

This post is getting pretty long so I'm going to cut it off here and pick up with the rest of the day starting at lunch with an awesome group of M2 students. As always, feel free to comment!

Did I mention the campus is beautiful?