The Road to Medical School Brandon Free Devashish Joshi Andrew Stein Jacob Patz

Brandon F. Hometown: Sauk Prairie, WI College: UW-Madison Major: Spanish and Biology Interesting Activities: 6 months abroad in Dominican Republic with host family 6 months abroad in Tokyo, Japan 4+ years at free clinic in hometown (shadowing/Spanish interpreting, etc.) Monkey research at UW-Madison

Drew S. Age: 25 Hometown: Lino Lakes, MN College: University of Northwestern - St. Paul Major: Started Business - Switched to Biology Activities: Sports, Music, Cultural Experience

Jake Patz Age: 23 Hometown: Mukwonago, WI College: UW-Madison Majors: Microbiology, and Neurobiology Activities: Hospital Gift Shop Mosquito Research EMT Volunteer CPR instructor

Devashish (Dev) Joshi Age: 23 Hometown: Sunnyvale, California College: California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Major: Bioengineering Activities Research Tennis MDA Volunteering Shadowing

How Long is Training? Undergraduate 4-5 years Medical School 4 years 2 basic science years 2 clinical rotation years Residency (Paid training) 3-8 years Fellowship (Paid training) 1-3 Examples: Family Practice 4 years of medical school 3 years of residency Optional 1 year fellowship Total years after college=7-8 Neurological (Brain) Surgery 7 years of residency 1 year fellowship Total years after college=12

Getting accepted to Medical School Shadowing Volunteering Research Leadership Roles Extracurricular Activities Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) Pre-medical Requirements Connections for Reference Letters

Medical Schools in Wisconsin Private: Medical College of Wisconsin (formerly Marquette University School of Medicine)-Milwaukee Public: UW School of Medicine and Public Health-Madison

Tips and Tricks to Shadowing Start with asking your pediatrician and/or family physician Ask in-person during an appointment Call the front desk Send an email to the physician/front desk, wait 4 days and if no response, try again! Persistence and politeness are key Work towards a minimum of 50 hours Example E-mail: Hello Dr. Peterson, My name is Brandon Free and I am a high school junior at Memorial High School. I am eager to learn about the career of a physician and am wondering if you allow students to shadow you? If so, I would be interested in joining you for an afternoon. Please let me know at your earliest convenience and I look forward to hearing from you. Best regards, Brandon Free

Volunteering Very Important! Find something you enjoy doing, whether or not it is healthcare related! Try to make a consistent and organized volunteer schedule-most places are willing to take volunteers Examples: Play piano at a nursing home Work with wildlife conservationists Deliver food trays/flowers/gifts to patient rooms at a hospital Help at a local free clinic Participate in regional, national or international mission trips Anything that gets you involved with the community!

Does your major in college matter? No! Study what you would want to do if you did not get accepted to medical school (i.e marketing, nursing, engineering, etc.) Being “pre-med” is not a major. Pre-med means you are taking additional requirements needed to apply to medical school Example: Business Major + Requirements in chart Source: UW-School of Medicine and Public Health

Application Statistics The average science grade point average was 3.73, and 3.76 overall. The average MCAT score of applicants accepted in 2015 was 32/45 (the 88th percentile). Source: UW-School of Medicine and Public Health

MCAT Overview Subjects tested on the MCAT: Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Biochemistry, Biology, Physiology, Psychology, Critical/Verbal Reasoning Skills

Special Entrance Programs Programs consisting of 6-8 years combined undergraduate degree (BS or BA) and medical degree (MD) Brown University University of Florida University of New York Upstate University of Minnesota University of Missouri Usually apply senior year of high school, but most programs require a minimum of 26+ ACT score to be eligible to apply Successful applicants have extensive shadowing/volunteering/extracurricular activities in high school and have shown a dedication to pursue medicine

What We Wish We Would’ve Known Work towards your clinical hours while working as a scribe, EMT, CNA, etc. Pick a degree that you can excel in and one that you enjoy studying Try to study consistently and work towards long term retention of the material, since you will apply it later on the MCAT

Questions?? Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have! Brandon Free bfree@mcw.edu Dev Joshi djoshi@mcw.edu Jacob Patz jpatz@mcw.edu Andrew Stein astein@mcw.edu

Being a Medical Student

What is a typical day like for a medical student? Years 1 and 2: Classes and Studying Typically 4 hours of lecture each day with 1 clinical day per week Years 3 and 4: 4-8 week long rotations (family medicine, psychiatry, general surgery, emergency medicine, OB/GYN, additional electives)

Dual Degree Programs in Medical School MD/PhD Physician Scientist Pathway MD/MBA Running a clinic or management and leadership MD/JD Medical ethics or malpractice law MD/MPH Public health MD/DDS Medical and Dental degree