The tough admissions round of the American medical school

Medical schools in the US present a series of challenges to applicants when applying to ensure they can pursue a difficult and challenging path later on.

Medicine is the most expensive major in the US with tuition fees of about $60,000 (1.4 billion) per year. Statistics from the Association of American Medical Schools show that the number of applicants applying to this field in 2021 increased by nearly 38% compared to 9 years ago.

The average acceptance rate for medical schools in 2023 is 4%, even some schools are at 0.43% of the total number of applicants, lower than many other subjects such as Engineering, Technology, Business business.

Trinh Mai Chi, 25, a PhD student in Medicine with a 100% tuition scholarship at Johns Hopkins University, said that to apply to a medical school in the US, candidates need a bachelor's degree, regardless majors. However, schools put forward a lot of requirements, many rounds of rigorous and rigorous evaluation.

"It's really a harsh process," Chi said. The Hanoi girl used to be a student in a German language class at the High School for Foreign Languages, Hanoi National University, and won a scholarship to the US to study a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry at Wellesley University in 2016.

Trinh Mai Chi at Johns Hopkins University, 2022. Photo: Supplied by Characters

According to Chi, two important criteria are academic achievement in college (GPA score) and MCAT score (Medical College Admission Test) - an exam of the Association of American Medical Schools (AAMC).

In which, MCAT has 4 parts, including: Biological and biochemical basis of life systems; Chemical and physical basis of biological systems; Psychological, social, and biological foundations of behavior and Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills. Each section has 53-59 questions, lasts 90-95 minutes, the maximum score of the test is 528.

US News statistics according to the data of ranked medical schools in 2021 show that the undergraduate GPA of the admitted students is 3.77/4, the MCAT score is 512/528.

Another condition for applying to medical school is that the candidate must have completed some undergraduate coursework such as Biology, Physics, Mathematics (ideally a course in calculus and statistics), Chemistry ( must include general chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry). These subjects all require practical skills in the laboratory. In addition, Psychology, Sociology, English (similar to Literature in Vietnam) or intensive writing.

Some classes are optional but can give candidates an added advantage such as: Art or music (to increase visual or auditory observation skills); Interdisciplinary courses on death and grief (for the care of terminally ill or ill patients); Foreign languages ​​(to communicate with patients who do not know English); Medical Anthropology or History, Religion.

When applying for 2021, Mai Chi had a GPA of 3.97/4, in the top 5% of the score of Wellesley University; MCAT score reached 519/528, among the top 3% in the whole US. She also completed 15 other subjects in parallel with the Biochemistry major, including International Literature, Sociology... by enrolling in available classes at the school.

Having worked for four years in the academic department of a hospital in Reading, Pennsylvania, Nguyen Phuong Anh, 27, says these are essentially required entrances, though some universities may be able to. certain preferences for students of color or first-generation college students.

However, excellent MCAT course and test scores are not enough. In an article in US News in August 2022, Keith Baker, assistant dean of admissions at Virginia Federal University School of Medicine, identified the two most common reasons that hinder applicants: lack of clinical experience and community activities.

"You have to have clinical exposure," he said, saying that medical schools know if a candidate is serious about the chosen path. Typically, strong candidates have several hundred hours of experience, perhaps serving as volunteers in medical facilities or as assistants to doctors. According to Mr. Baker, 50 hours of clinical experience is the minimum number for a candidate to be admitted to medical school. Meanwhile, community support activities aim to "measure kindness" of applicants.

In addition, according to Mai Chi, research experience or international articles are also considered. Because of these things, Chi's summer at university is always associated with volunteer activities and internships and research.

During the summer of her sophomore year, Chi did internships at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital at Harvard Medical School, doing basic-to-clinical medical research on pediatric neuroblastoma. In her third year, she studied the clinical medicine of dermatomyositis in children at the Northwestern Medical School hospital. Here, Chi assisted the professor in analyzing data from more than 3,000 visits over about 20 years of 600 patients to find new, more objective diagnostic criteria.

Chi also runs the Blue Cancer Society charity organization that raises funds for cancer patients, calls for marrow donor registrations, organizes inspirational talks by cancer winners, teaches math and science to students. Born to disadvantaged immigrant families in Boston.

She said, all these experiences help candidates understand the path they will take, have understanding and empathy for patients, the community and show their willingness to support them.

New students wear white blouses on the day of admission to Medical School, Vanderbilt University, 2019. Photo: Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

After grades and clinical experience, medical schools consider many other factors.

Phuong Anh cited a study in the academic journal of the AAMC showing the change in medical school enrollment from 1980 to the present. If in the past, GPA and MCAT scores were considered the most important data for admissions committees to make decisions, since 2008, this is only a factor to consider inviting a candidate to an interview. This round is considered to be the deciding factor in who will be selected.

Mai Chi said that the new application is the first round, in the second round, the candidate is required to write an essay on the topic given by the school. After two rounds, about 30% of the candidates were called for an interview. The school mainly asks about the information the candidate has declared in the application to make sure they really do and understand what is written. It is important that through the interview, the admissions committee wants to know how the candidate interacts with the people around him.

"The medical profession has to work with many people, not just patients, so doctors need to know how to behave and communicate clearly," Chi said.

Phuong Anh said that the medical students she has met speak an hour of the interview round really brainstorm. Many situations and questions are asked for candidates to reveal all aspects, it is difficult for them to hide anything.

Therefore, Chi said that it is not unreasonable for some schools in Vietnam to include Literature in the medical examination. In fact, the MCAT exam covers Psychology, Sociology, and Literature. However, the Literature section of this test requires candidates to read at a complex level, not to analyze the work.

"Through interviewing, asking for knowledge of sociology, humanities or literature in MCAT, the admission committee can assess language ability, reading comprehension, sharing ability, and human behavior. candidate's position", Chi said, admitting that medical schools in the US evaluate candidates very comprehensively.

According to US News, many experts believe that schools intentionally put in place a rigorous screening process to make sure that admissions are qualified to pass the difficult and challenging courses of the medical profession.