support@accepted.com
Get Your Free Consultation!

Which program are you applying to?

  • - Select a program -
  • MBA/EMBA
  • Law School
  • Grad School, PhD
  • MD/DO, Residency
  • Other Healthcare Programs
  • College
  • About Accepted
    • About us
      • The Accepted Advantage
      • Clients Accepted At
      • In The News
    • Client Feedback
    • Contact Us
  • Meet the Team
    • MBA Admissions Consultants
    • Med School Admissions Consultants
    • Grad School Admissions Consultants
    • Law School Admissions Consultants
    • College Admissions Consultants
  • Free Resources
    • MBA
      • Free Guides
      • Selectivity Index
      • Sample Essays
      • Essay Tips
      • Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for MBA Applicants
      • MBA Deadlines
    • Med School
      • Free Guides
      • Selectivity Index
      • Sample Essays
      • Essay Tips
      • Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for Med School Applicants
    • Healthcare Programs
      • Free Guides
      • Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for Healthcare Applicants
    • Grad School
      • Free Guides
      • Sample Essays
      • Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for Grad School Applicants
    • Law School
      • Free Guides
      • Selectivity Index
      • Sample Essays
      • Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for Law School Applicants
    • College
      • Free Guides
      • Sample Essays
      • Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for College Applicants
  • Services
    • MBA
      • Complete Packages
      • Essay Editing
      • Resume Services
      • Interview Prep
      • MORE
    • Med School
      • Premed Packages
      • Primary App Packages
      • Secondary App Packages
      • Essay Editing
      • Interview Prep
      • MORE
    • Healthcare
      • Postbac Packages
      • MPH Packages
      • NursingCAS Packages
      • PharmD Packages
      • Essay Editing
      • MORE
    • Grad School
      • Complete Packages
      • PhD Packages
      • Essay Editing
      • CV/Resume Assistance
      • MORE
    • Law School
      • Complete Packages
      • Essay Editing
      • Interview Prep
      • MORE
    • College
      • Complete Packages
      • Common App Package
      • Essay Editing
      • MORE
  • Blog
    • MBA Blog Posts
    • Medical School Blog Posts
    • Other Healthcare Blog Posts
    • Grad School Blog Posts
    • Law School Blog Posts
    • College Blog Posts
    • Admissions Straight Talk Podcast
Accepted

Accepted Admissions Blog

Everything you need to know to get Accepted

August 11, 2014

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Interview with a Duke University School of Medicine MD/PhD Student

Check out more med student interviews!This interview is the latest in an Accepted.com blog series featuring interviews with medical school applicants and students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at top medical schools and the med school application process. And now, introducing Rui Dai…

Accepted: First, some basics: Where are you from? Where and what did you study as an undergrad? What is your favorite flavor ice cream?

Rui: I call Cleveland, Ohio home, but I was born in Kunming, China and spent some of my childhood in Germany before moving to Cleveland at age 10. I went to elementary school, middle school, and high school in Cleveland. It’s the place I know best and I’m a fierce defender of the great city.

I went to Duke for undergrad and majored in neuroscience. I liked it so much that I decided to stay for grad school!

My favorite ice cream flavor is dark chocolate. The darker the better.

Accepted: What year are you at Duke University School of Medicine? 

Rui: I just started my 2nd year at Duke Med, but unlike most medical schools that start their clinical year in 3rd year, clinical year starts at the beginning of 2nd year at Duke. So I’m headed to the wards in a couple weeks, with radiology as my first rotation. Kind of nervous, but super excited!

Accepted: What is your favorite thing about med school so far — med school in general and Duke in particular? 

Rui: I love interacting with patients and taking part in procedures. In the spring of first year at Duke, you can go into clinic as part of Spring Clinic and basically act like a medical personnel. I was able to interview patients on my own and even write notes for the attending doctor to review. I love that there are so many teaching opportunities, for students to just learn. I was able to meet so many different patients and put a face to all the knowledge that we were learning in the classroom. Everyone in the hospital is so friendly. Even scrub nurses, who have to keep a tight rein on the operating room so the procedure proceeds with order and nothing is contaminated, will help you learn everything you need to know, and remind you if you’re about to make a typical med student mistake.

Accepted: If you could change one thing about the program, what would it be? 

Rui: I think Duke really takes to heart a quote by William Osler, who laid the foundation for modern medicine, that “To study the phenomena of disease without books is to sail an uncharted sea, while to study books without patients is not to go to sea at all.” Duke’s aim is for us to be humanist doctors, who will treat patients as a whole, and not just the disease. Our responsibility is to the patients and their wellbeing. And to do that, the Duke curriculum makes sure that we are never too far from the hospital, physically and mentally. This can sometimes take a toll on the basic science material that we are supposed to learn in the first 2 years of medical school for the first step of the licensing exam.

I’m sure in 20 years, the basic science material that we’re learning in the classroom will only peripherally matter to the patients that we are treating, and some of which will certainly be out of date, but as a student right now it can sometimes be hard to consume all the information in only 1 year. However, there seems to be a trend of medical schools adopting the Duke Model, so there must be something that’s going well with this system. Right?

Accepted: Can you share some advice to incoming first year students, to help make their adjustment to med school easier?

Rui: My number one advice, as numerous other people have told before I started medical school, would certainly be: don’t stress. Things will happen in their own time. Cramming that biochem book before school begins can certainly seems like the right thing to do, but take time to enjoy your summer. It will most likely be one of your last. You will have very little time to do so once everything else starts: residency, fellowship, and establishing a career. Take time and relax at home. Go backpacking in Europe. Spend every single moment you can soaking up the sun at the beach!

Accepted: Did you go straight from college to med school? Or did you take time off?

Rui: I went directly from college to medical school, but there are certainly times when I wished that I had taken a gap year. Senior year of college, while interviewing every other weekend, was absolutely brutal.

Accepted: Looking back, what was the most challenging aspect of the med school admissions process? How did you approach that challenge and overcome it?

Rui: The interview was definitely the most challenging part. Though I enjoy hanging out with friends and meeting people, I am an introvert and need time alone to myself to recuperate. I used to leave Wednesday or Thursday for a 2 day interview, because I was applying for MD/PhD programs, come back on the weekend and just not leave my room until I had to go to class.

Accepted: Can you talk more about your decision to pursue an MD/PhD? What are your long-term goals? What is the structure/timeline of the program?

Rui: I’ve always loved research. My mother is a neuroscientist at Case Western Research University and ever since I was in kindergarten, I’ve spent time sitting in labs with her and my father, poking around here and there. I love the lab environment and I ultimately want to run my own lab in the future. I enjoy the intellectual stimulation when discussing science and the idea that there is a limitless possibilities of what we could discover with the tools we could cook up.

At the same time, I am personally committed to finding a therapeutic cure to help patients. I want my research to be as intimately tied to patients as it is possible. I enjoy the clinic, listening to patients, and meet individuals from all walks of life that I would never had the opportunity to otherwise.

The MD/PhD program allows me to combine the two aspects of science and medicine together. The program is 8 years in total and is structured starting with 2 years of medical school, followed by 4-5 years of PhD, and 2 years of medical school. At Duke, this structure is slightly different, because research is also incorporated into the medical school curriculum, so there is only 1 more year of medical school after finishing the PhD.

Accepted: Do you have any other advice for our med school applicant readers?

Rui: Medicine is a marathon and not a sprint. Depending on what you ultimately end up doing, you will most likely be working till your late 60s, if not 70s or 80s. Be sure to love what you’re doing. Medicine is an amazing career, and there’s nothing else I could imagine myself doing, but physician burnout is no secret. The work is hard, the pay does not reflect the time nor the effort required (especially during residency), and not all patients appreciate how much you care. Take care of yourself. Medicine requires many sacrifices, but be sure you don’t sacrifice too much before you realize it’s too late.

Accepted: Can you tell us about your writing for VOICES?

Rui: VOICES is a student-run bi-annual literary magazine for the medical community to express themselves. We have an open policy of no restrictions on the form or format of the submission. Even if it can’t be physically published, we will still accept a photograph of it. The magazine website has pdf and html links to all the published magazines.

For one-on-one guidance on your med school applications, please see our catalog of med school admissions services.

You can read more about Rui’s med school journey by checking out some of her articles here. Thank you Rui for sharing your story with us!

Do you want to be featured in Accepted.com’s blog, Accepted Admissions Blog? If you want to share your med school journey with the world (or at least with our readers), email us at bloggers@accepted.com.

Download your free special report: Navigate the Med School Maze!

Accepted.com Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

 

Related Resources: 

• Medicine and Engineering: an MD/PhD Student Interview
• School-Specific Secondary Application Essay Tips
• Journey’s with Joshua: an Inside Look at Med School

Article by Accepted / Medical School Admissions / MD/PhD, med school student interview

Get Accepted!

Sign up for a free consultation today!

Which program are you applying to?

Blog Categories

  • Admissions Consulting
  • Admissions Straight Talk Podcast
  • College Admissions
  • Grad School Admissions
  • Law School Admissions
  • MBA Admissions
  • Medical School Admissions
  • Other Healthcare Admissions
  • Uncategorized

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

 

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