• Business School
    • Free MBA Admissions Consultation
    • MBA Admissions Services
    • School-Specific MBA Essay Tips
    • Executive MBA Essay Tips
    • MBA Admissions Calendar
    • Free Guides
    • Video Tips
    • Podcast
    • Selectivity Index
    • EMBA: The Ultimate Guide for Applicants
  • Medical School
    • Free Med School Admissions Consultation
    • Med School Admissions Services
    • Med School Admissions 101
    • Secondary Essay Tips (by School)
    • Student Interviews
    • Free Guides
    • Video Tips
    • Podcast
    • Selectivity Index
  • Law School
    • Free Law School Admissions Consultation
    • Law School Admissions Services
    • Law School Admissions 101
    • Selectivity Index
    • Free Guides
    • Podcast
    • Video Tips
  • Graduate School
    • Free Grad School Admissions Consultation
    • Grad School Admissions Services
    • Grad School Admissions 101
    • Free Guides
    • Video Tips
    • Podcast
  • College
    • Free College Admissions Consultation
    • College Admissions Services
    • Free Guides
    • Supplemental Essay Tips
    • Video Tips
    • Podcast
Accepted

Speak with an Accepted admissions expert for FREE!

Blog HomePodcastContact Us

Accepted Admissions Blog

Everything you need to know to get Accepted

December 20, 2018

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Determine Your Career Goals in Medicine

Struggling with the AMCAS Essay? Get Your Free Guide Here to Creating an Impressive AMCAS Essay!

This post is the fourth in our series on applying to med school in the most efficient and timely manner. You’ve got six months to make this happen. Make sure you do it right by following the tips in Med School Action Plan: 6 Steps for the 6 Months Before You Apply.

One of the best ways to clarify your career goals in medicine is to learn about it from successful people in your fields of interest. Seek advice from some of these people and perhaps one or more will become mentors to you. A mentor can provide guidance in identifying career goals as well as gaining exposure to the different roles and options available. A little more distantly, reading the stories and biographies or autobiographies of inspirational doctors or pioneers in your areas of interest can provide you with valuable career maps. Most effectively, internships, shadowing, or assisting doctors in the field will help you narrow your interests.

To get started:

1. Review CV’s of successful people. You can obtain the CV’s of doctors by looking for them online—some school and hospital websites provide them along with a bio for their staff—and by requesting them from the doctors you work with or with whom you have established a professional relationship.

2. Seek out a mentor. If you have shadowed or assisted a doctor with whom you had a connection, you can ask that person if they would be willing to spend time with you over coffee and tea. The mentor-mentee relationship is sacred—one that is based on mutual respect. You can ask to meet with your mentor once or twice a week or month, depending on their availability. It’s best to have a regular appointment or meeting to foster the relationship, at least in the beginning.

3. Read stories, biographies and autobiographies. There are so many wonderful books that can help you map out potential career paths. It would be useful to read the stories of doctors in as many different fields as possible—until you are able to determine which direction you think you would like to follow. As you become more certain about what you want to do, you can focus your research. Many doctors follow academic paths and teach for medical schools, others work in a hospital setting or a private practice in either a general capacity or as a specialist and some work in basic science or clinical research. There are some doctors who do it all. Others may take a less traditional pathway—like becoming a journalist who reports on the latest medical news and research and explains it to a general audience. There are many, many possibilities—you could end up creating your own job in the future.

Here are a few podcast interviews with medical students and new doctors that you can start with:

• M3 and Entrepreneur: An Interview with David Eisenberg, Co-Founder of PreMD Tracker

• MD/MPH Tulane Student Tells Her Story

• Becoming a D.O.

• The Unbelievable Story of an Orthopedic Surgeon

• Learning by Osmosis: Premeds, Med Students Take It All In!

• The Doctor as Renaissance Man

• Overcoming the Odds: A Story of Med School Inspiration

• Elliptical, Meet Med School: Interview with Andrea Tooley

4. Intern for, shadow and assist doctors in the field. In pursuing any career path, interning, shadowing or assisting will immediately help you decide whether you are on the right track or not. Gaining direct exposure provides valuable insight that will educate you and inform your decision. It’s one thing to read about a job, but another altogether to actually gain hands on experience. When in doubt, try it out.

Using the methods described above, you can most effectively determine what your career goals should be. Knowing what they are can help you narrow your focus in selecting schools and gain the credentials to support your application. For more guidance, you are always welcome to contact me or one of my colleagues.

Navigate the Med Maze - Download your free guide today!

Alicia McNease Nimonkar admissions expertAlicia McNease Nimonkar worked for 5 years as the Student Advisor & Director at the UC Davis School of Medicine's postbac program where she both evaluated applications and advised students applying successfully to med school and other health professional programs. She has served Accepted's clients since 2012 with roughly a 90% success rate. She has a Master of Arts in Composition and Rhetoric as well as Literature. Want Alicia to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Ace The AMCAS Essay, a free guide
• The Best 4 Things to Do Before Med School
• The BEST Advice for New Med School Applicants

Article by Alicia Nimonkar / Medical School Admissions / Med School Action Plan, optimize your med admissions profile

Get Accepted!

Sign up for a free consultation today!

Which program are you applying to?

Most Popular Blog Posts

1. 7 Simple Steps to Writing an Excellent Diversity Essay

2. 4 Ways to Show How You’ll Contribute in the Future

3. How to Write About Your Research Interests

4. Tips for Answering the Yale University Supplemental Essays and Short Answer Questions [2022-2023]

5. When Will Medical Schools Give You an Answer?

6. Sample Essays from Admitted HBS Students

7. Tips for Answering the University of Pennsylvania Supplemental Essay Prompts [2022-2023]

8. Top STEM MBA Programs: A Comprehensive List and Overview of STEM-OPT Eligible B-Schools

Sample Essays

MBA Personal Statement Examples

Medical School Personal Statement Examples

Graduate School Personal Statement Examples

Law School Personal Statement Examples

College Application Essay Examples

 

This Site is Featured on GMATClub

Home Page Services and Prices MBA Med School Law School Grad School College

About Us Press Room Contact Us Podcast Accepted Blog
Privacy Policy Website Terms of Use Disclaimer Client Terms of Service

Accepted 1171 S. Robertson Blvd. #140 Los Angeles CA 90035 +1 (310) 815-9553
© 2022 Accepted

BBB A+ RatingStamp of AIGAC Excellence

Copyright © 2023 · Education Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in