Health Professional School Prep
Medical, Dental, PA, Veterinary
If you want to use your science degree in a healthcare field, it’s likely that you’ll need to pursue additional education. Whether you want to care for people as a dentist, physician assistant, or physician, or care for animals as a veterinarian, having an understanding of the process will be key to your success in continuing your education.
Timeline & Application Strategy
When considering what programs might be right for you, be sure to take into consideration...
- Program Alignment: How does this school/program align with your personal mission, values, interests and goals?
- Geographical Location: Do you want to be close to home? Or are you ready to explore the world? Where do you want to live for the next 2-10 years?
- Clinical & Research Opportunities: Depending on your research and clinical interests, there may be some programs that appeal to you more than others. Consider what populations you might be most interested in serving, in addition to the faculty research focus at each school you plan to apply to.
Include timeline graphics here in some sort of accordion block. (reds, these are available in .png and .pdf format)
Medical School Application Timeline
PA School Application Timeline
Dental School Application Timeline
Veterinary School Application Timeline
Pharmacy School Application Timeline
Optometry School Application Timeline
Personal Statements
Personal statements are often one of the most overwhelming pieces of the professional school application process; but they don’t have to be! While the workbook below gives a more complete guide to writing your statement, here are a few quick tips to get you started:
- Reflect on your experiences: What motivated you to pursue this work? How did you solidify that decision? How have you prepared yourself?
- Identify your skills: Making connections between your experiences and skills and the qualities that professional schools are looking for is key to your success. Spend some time reflecting on how you have developed the competencies outlined by professional organizations for future physicians, dentists, and veterinarians.
- Share your story: When it comes to personal statements, showing is always better than telling. Highlight the skills professional schools are looking for by telling specific stories about how you developed your abilities and defined your values through hands-on experiences.
Personal Statement Workbook
Link to:
LBC Med School Personal Statement Guide (1).pdf
Activities
In addition to your personal statement, you’ll have the chance to say more about your experiences in the “Activities” section of most professional school applications. Using the same process of highlighting your skills and values, make connections to the field and demonstrate your readiness for continuing your education in this profession.
Activities Workbook
Link to:
Med School Activities.pdf
Interviews
You made it to the interview round; this is a great indicator that you’re doing something right! When preparing for interviews, there are a few formats that you may encounter:
- Traditional Interviews: Comprised of common questions like ‘Tell me about yourself’ or ‘Why medicine?’ or ‘tell us about a time when...”. These types of interviews could be one-on-one or may be ‘panel-style’, where you will speak with numerous members of the hiring team/school at the same time.
- Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs): This type of interview will challenge your ability to respond to stress under pressure and test your ethical-decision making abilities. Typically these take place over the course of 1-2 hours and are comprised of 10-minute modules that will give you 2 minutes to review a prompt, 5 minutes to respond, and 3 minutes to address follow up questions.
- Group Interviews: In this rare format, you may find yourself interviewing at the same time as several other candidates. Typically group interviews require you to work through a challenge or puzzle with other candidates, making it a good place for you to demonstrate your ability to work with a team, and to show that you can balance stepping up and stepping back when it comes to taking the lead.
Get ready for your interview by researching the school, preparing to answer common questions, and making a plan to follow up; use the resources below to learn more!
Watch & Learn: Interview Strategies
Link to:
https://mediaspace.msu.edu/media/t/1_fk3hezhd
Develop Your Content: Interview Workbook
Link to:
Interview Worksheets.pdf
Practice Your Skills
In addition to doing a mock interview with our team, you can practice using this FREE resource!
Link to:
https://careernetwork.msu.edu/resources/interview-stream/
Gathering Letters of Recommendation
While you may not need them for another few years, getting letters of recommendation starts at the beginning of every interaction you have with professors, advisors, and professionals in your industry. Use this guide to track your connections with potential letter writers, and to develop emails for making the ask!
Letter of Recommendation Guide
Link to:
Letter of Rec Guide.pdf
Testing Resources
Some professional programs may require you to take a standardized exam for admission; these are reflected in the timelines above. For more information, visit the testing website directly. NOTE: It is always best to check the website for programs you plan to apply to, in order to gain a full picture of testing requirements.
Med School: MCAT
PA School: PACAT
Dental School: DAT
Grad School: GRE
Optometry School: OAT
Questions?
For additional resources on applying to pre-health graduate programs, visit the MSU Pre-Health website or connect with an LBC Career Advisor.