Secondary Application Madness and a First Interview Invite

So for months now, literally months, my days have been filled with writing essays upon essays for the application process. How woefully naive I was to believe that my personal statement would be the last important piece of writing. Writing essays though has almost become a source of relief, breaking the monotony of the never-ending application process. There is good news though! There may be a light at the end of the tunnel after all.

Last night I received my first interview invite from a medical school in the North East. I was actually finishing another secondary around midnight, when I received an email congratulating me and detailing the process for an interview. I was shocked, stunned, relieved. And then it hit me. My work paid off. OK, so I haven’t actually received an acceptance anywhere, but when you work for months on end, unsure if everything will come together, any validation from schools about your application provides you with a sense of overwhelming relief. I’ve heard people described the admissions process as a roller coaster ride. I guess up to now, my journey has been the slow, creeping ascent as I desperately try to build enough momentum for the ride. Here is my journey thus far:

April: I took the MCAT on April 5th, and received my scores sometime in May. Major hurdle #1 – Check. At this time, I also begin requesting letters of recommendation 

May: AMCAS application opens. I begin working on AMCAS. This includes Work and Activities section with 3 most meaningful entries, personal statement, coursework and letters of recommendation 

June: AMCAS opens for submission on June 1st. I submitted my application within the first four minutes and receive AMCAS verification earlier the next day. I spend the entire month of June pre-writing secondaries (more on this later). 

July:  On July 1st I begin receiving a slew of secondary applications. For each school, I go back to my prewritten responses, view the school website one more time, and have a person or two proof read the essays. I began submitting secondary applications July 1st, and received my first interview invite on July 10th. This interview is scheduled in September. So far I’ve submitted around 11 secondaries out of the 25 schools I’ve applied to. 

Ok. Lets get on to what this blog post is really about….Secondaries. Here is what I’ve learned so far: 

1. Pre-Writing Secondaries is worth it. So what is pre-writing? Well, as it stands, if you are verified EARLY (I suggest applying early, but that is a topic for another time) then you will start to be inundated with secondaries around the beginning of July. In my case, I knew within a few short weeks I would have 20-something secondary applications to fill out. Not only is this an immense amount of work that requires a significant amount of time, but it is also physically and mentally draining. The process of beginning to write secondaries before secondaries are released is called pre-writing. In my case, I began pre-writing secondaries the moment my AMCAS was submitted. So how did I know what questions were going to be asked? Well, I didn’t necessarily, but it’s a pretty good bet that schools will reuse the essay prompts from the last application cycle. Go on to SDN and look up last year’s application thread. Here is Boston University’s 2013-2014 Application thread as an example. Notice that the essay prompt from last year’s application cycle is located right at the top. Begin answering this prompt early. In most cases ~90% this will be the essay prompt for this year as well. The earlier you submit your application, the earlier you will be complete (all parts of application including letters), and ultimately, the earlier you will be able to get an interview. At some schools, students at the first interview spots have around a 70% chance of being accepted. Don’t underestimate the importance of pre-writing to have an early application. 
2. Curtail your Essays to be School Specific. At each and every step along the way, you should be asking yourself: How can I show a particular school that I’m interested in them? Schools want to know that you honestly want to attend that institution. Come up with specific reasons why that school matches your interests. Be genuine. If you like research – talk about their research opportunities. If you don’t like research – focus on other aspects of the program you’re interested in. Also, beware of  giving specific details about the program you like without having something in your personal background to backup this claim. Don’t say you want to attend X school because of their research opportunities without having done some sort of significant research in undergrad. All of this obviously requires a significant amount of research on each individual school. I highly suggest you invest in the MSAR for a centralized source of medical school information. In addition, you’ll also want to visit each school website. Take notes on each school!! What you like, what you don’t like. Make a word document detailing how your past experiences relate to their medical environment. Look at each schools Mission Statement and see if it lines up with yours. As an aside, you should look at the MSAR BEFORE you apply to schools in your AMCAS to get a feel for if you would actually want to go there. DO NOT apply to a school you would NOT attend. Finally, if a school has an Optional Essay fill it out. Leaving blank optional sections of an application makes it seem like the applicant is not doing everything in his or her power to sell themselves to the school. In every way you can you must sell yourself. Optional = NOT optional. 
3. Balance Submitting Secondaries Early with Quality Work. It’s nearly useless to rush through your secondaries if the quality of the writing is poor. Pre-writing secondaries can help with this. By writing your secondaries in advance you can then review them, clean them up, or rewrite them. Also, by pre-writing a TON of secondaries, many questions will be similar, however, I urge you to NOT recycle essays in your pre-writing. By forcing yourself to write information in a different way, you discover new ways of writing. For example, I wrote 5 different versions of a diversity essay for 5 different schools. Which essay do you think was best? Well, the last one of course. By then I had learned how to rehash information, and with each new essay I was able to take only bits and pieces of the last one while improving upon weaker areas. In a way, this is sort of like a step up from editing or revising. Give yourself every single opportunity to write. The more you write, the better your writing will become. 

To wrap it up, I’ll leave everyone with an example of one of my secondary writing prompts. Take note of how I chose to curtail the essay towards the particular school. I’ve left out identifying information about the school. Under no circumstances should you copy any portion of my writing below. I answered these questions in a personal manner. Your writing should reflect your own work and your particular writing style. Research the school and develop your own personal mission while filling out the AMCAS. 

Secondary Prompt Example: If there is any additional information you would like to provide please do so below. Please limit your response to 4,000 characters.

         I was a high school student when I was accepted to the University of Florida’s summer research program. I remember the cultural shock of experiencing for the first time the dynamics of a science laboratory. That summer brought many struggles: tending to a dysfunctional PCR machine, deciding which method I should use for western blotting, and realizing just how little I knew. Research experiences such as this have merged with my inclination to touch people’s lives, instilling within me a strong personal directive. My mission is to be a life-long learner, who consistently stands on the brink of scientific discovery to innovate in health and medicine, transgresses the ethnocentric realms of lecture halls to embrace the wider community, and touches that which is truly human. I am applying to “School Name” with an unparalleled enthusiasm, for the conglomeration of a new expansive curriculum, vast research resources, international ventures, and myriad avenues for community service promise to assist me in these aspirations.

            “School Name” undoubtedly has a scholarly mission, as evidenced by specialized clinical translational tracks, summer research programs, immense funding, and over 2,750 ongoing biomedical projects. It is this scholarly focus that draws me towards “School Name”. New life has been given to “School Name’s” research environment through School Program. This exciting new program distinguishes “School Name” from other institutions, where research occurs throughout a semester or two. These opportunities, combined with the fact that 45% of students participate in biomedical research, indicate that “School Name” nurtures individuals who share my passion for scientific innovation. It is within an atmosphere such as this, that I hope to grow.

            Science and humanism coalesce within “School Name” to create the next generation of physicians who excel in both the art and science of medicine. From a young age, I have envisioned working with the impoverished and marginalized. As I gained more clinical experience this vision evolved into my dream of working for Medicins Sans Frontieres. Programs such as “School Program” and special funding for traveling abroad would help me reach these dreams. Likewise, community service opportunities are numerous, and “School Program” and “Another School Program” would serve as an extension of my volunteer efforts with the underserved. Additionally, the city of *********, with its thriving culture and diverse patient population, allows students to connect to patients from all walks of life.

            I yearn for an intense and rigorous education that satisfies my intellectual curiosity and allows me to realize a new scholastic potential. The interdisciplinary curriculum, small group PBL sessions in the second year, a bedside approach to the clinical sciences and vast clinical exposure provided by ** affiliated hospitals, make “School Name” the epitome of what I am seeking in a medical education. Lastly, a multitude of student organizations undeniably allows students to take charge of their own education. In all aspects “School Name” fosters budding physicians towards a life of discovery and service.  

            I want to do more than help people. I want to touch lives, cure the sick, heal the wounded, and help mend the disparities within our healthcare system. From the bench to the bedside, I am aiming to translate scientific discovery into clinical action. I desire to be a skilled and compassionate physician who embraces patients as his own, and I am convinced that “School Name” would best prepare me to realize these goals. I hope that “School Name” will be the platform that helps bring these ambitions to fruition.

________________________________________________________________

Well, there you have it everyone. Thanks for reading, and good luck! 

by Brian Covello

MCAT: Learning to Overcome Fear

Overcoming the MCAT = Overcoming Yourself 

Perhaps one of the greatest learning experiences of my life was overcoming the MCAT. When I say overcoming, I don't mean passing or scoring the magic score you need to attend dream school X. I mean overcoming, as in learning to overcome the fear and self-doubt, the anxiety and intensity that results from an exam that seems like it has the power to change your destiny. Here are the lessons no Kaplan, Princeton, or Berkeley Review could have ever taught me. 

1. The Biggest Enemy is Yourself 

 The first time I took the MCAT I choked. I remember sitting there looking at the first problem of physical science. Gravitation. I knew about gravitation, I even knew the formulas, but I hadn't specifically worked on a problem like this in my review. So I sat there for fifteen minutes trying to work through problem number one. The thoughts ran threw my head: 

 "You're going to fail....You won't be a doctor...This is the biggest exam of your life...You've wasted too much time...Everything you've done up to this point won't matter if you do poorly on this exam"

By the time I snapped out of it, fear and anxiety had won. I hit the void button and left heartbroken. In retrospect, this lesson was exactly what I needed to grow. The next time I prepared for the MCAT, I knew that a good score wasn't so much dependent on intellect as it was on mental stability and positivity. What did I do differently next time? Several things... 

         A. Positive affirmations work - tell yourself you are proud, during your breaks build up your spirit as if you are talking to a team and want to win the game

B. Find and use a support group (they may have a better perspective on YOU than you do). 

C. Practice deep breathing and meditation. While this may sound corny, deep breathing has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety levels during tests 

2. You Must Believe You Can Do It 

The median separating arrogance and self-abasement is confidence. Finding this median is the key to doing better on the MCAT. I'm not talking about manipulating yourself into some form of pseudo-confidence. I'm talking about believing you have what it takes to past the MCAT because it is the truth. Seriously, building up the confidence makes the daunting MCAT much more easily surmountable. 

3. Nothing Is Worth Your Health and Well-Being

The second time taking the MCAT was much different. For two months, I studied 8 hours a day (albeit quite unhealthy). In order to accomplish this task I stopped hanging out with friends, I stopped going to the gym, and I started to neglect my health and well-being. I thought I had a good excuse. I mean after all, passing the MCAT takes time and effort. I believed that the more intellectual effort I put in, the higher score I would receive. This was completely false. I learned that just as important as scholastic endeavors, I needed to keep myself healthy. The week before the exam I realized this critical mistake and started to take care of my mental and physical health. Why isn't your health and well-being worth being sacrificed? Well, because of #4. 

4. There Will Always Be Another Hurtle

My mind often makes things seem so black and white. I get into medical school or I get rejected from medical school. I score an acceptable score on the MCAT or I bomb the MCAT. This isn't reality. Reality has hints of grey. I use to tell myself, "once I get _____ I'll be happy". Happiness, I've learned, doesn't work like this. I have to learn how to be happy now, in the moment because there will always be something to stress over. 

I left the MCAT room for the second time a couple of months ago. I managed not to hit the void button again, but I came out feeling like I failed everything. And I mean everything. Good news though! I managed to pass the MCAT, but more importantly, I learned how to overcome my fears. 


By: Brian Covello

A Doctor Explains Why Everyone On 'Game of Thrones' Should Be Dead

A trauma expert gives us the scoop on whether you could survive beheadings, disfigurements and wang removals.

by Kat Rosenfield

When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die — or, sometimes, you sustain life-altering horrible injuries that are agony to endure and disgusting to behold!

As anyone who’s ever spent a Sunday night glued to HBO’s “Game of Thrones” knows, living in Westeros is a risky business. At any moment, you might take a sword to the face, or a screw to the foot, or have your Hodor hodored off by some crazy hodoring bastard.

And yet, strangely enough, most of the show’s grievously injured characters are still alive, in some cases seemingly against all odds. But in real life, could they really survive?

We brought in Dr. Deborah Mogelof, a physican with special expertise in trauma, to give us the rundown on “Game of Thrones’” most exciting medical mysteries.

The Face Wounds of Tyrion Lannister
Thanks to a traitorous swordsman, Tyrion’s face isn’t quite as pretty as it used to be — albeit in better shape than in the source material. In “A Clash of Kings,” he loses his entire nose in the Battle of the Blackwater. Our medical source, consulting footage of the petite Lannister’s injuries, had this to say.

Dr. Mogelof: Even if the nose were cut off completely, there are no major vessels right there. I’ve also seen people get their noses shot off and recover.

MTV: So despite getting slashed, it’s reasonable for him to still be alive?

Dr. Mogelof: Well, looking at his wound, you can see that golden-yellow kind of crusting to it. It does look like impetigo, which is a staph or strep infection. So it would already be infected there, although I don’t know if they meant for it to look like that. But provided that it’s cleaned out immediately, this is a survivable injury.

CONCLUSION: Assuming that Tyrion’s crusty face was the mistake of an overzealous makeup artist, our favorite Lion of Lannister would still be alive and kicking, even if he weren’t living in a Westerosian fantasy world.

Get All Caught Up On Who’s Who In Westeros With Our Interactive Map

Jaime Lannister’s Lost Hand
After being ignominiously relieved of his hand by one of Roose Bolton’s men, Jaime nevertheless managed to make a full (albeit stumpy) recovery. But according to Dr. Mogelof, a real-life amputation wouldn’t be so easy to contend with.

Dr. Mogelof: The biggest thing you would worry about is infection, which would happen quickly, in a matter of hours, especially if he’s walking around in the forest. It would spread to his lymph glands, then throughout his body. And the loss of a hand, that’s a big problem, too, obviously. But sepsis and dying of sepsis would be the primary risks.

MTV: He does encounter a sort of healer (Maester Qyburn) who cuts away the gangrenous tissue from his stump. Would that make any difference?

Dr. Mogelof: Getting rid of the dead, septic tissue is helpful, but I don’t think it would 100% treat him without antibiotics. Doing only the surgical part would probably prolong his survival, but not cure him.

MTV: On a completely different note, Jaime Lannister is also involved in an incestuous sexual relationship with his twin sister. Any medical risks associated with that?

Dr. Mogelof: Not with the sexual relationship specifically. Although at that time [the 1400s, the historical era which "Game of Thrones" most closely resembles], one thing that was rampant was sexually transmitted disease. And of course, if she gets pregnant, there would be a lot issues with that baby.

MTV: Like, he might grow up to be a power-hungry little sadist? Because that would explain a lot.

Dr. Mogelof: …No.

CONCLUSION: In real life, Jaime Lannister would probably be dead of septic shock, and possibly riddled with STDs given to him by Cersei. We cannot, however, blame him for Joffrey Baratheon.

Watch Peter Dinklage Sum Up ‘Game Of Thrones’ In 45 Seconds

The Decapitation of Ned Stark
No, you can’t survive a beheading. Yes, we asked. But if you were curious about it:

Dr. Mogelof: There are people who claim that they’ve seen beheaded bodies with reflexes after, where the head still makes facial expressions. The research supports that: you might get some blinking or twitching. But your spinal cord is completely severed, there’s a lot of blood loss, there’s no oxygen going to your brain. It would just be a reflex, the last bit of neurons firing off and that’s it.

MTV: So, just to ask the ridiculous question: how beheaded could you be, and still survive?

Dr. Mogelof: You would have to miss the spinal cord. If there’s any destruction of the first and second vertebrae, you’re not going to be able to breathe. But if you miss the major vessels, and someone gets you somewhere where you can be sewn up and fixed immediately, you might survive.

CONCLUSION: Sorry, kids, but Ned Stark is really, truly dead.

The Theon Greyjoy Catalog of Pain
It’s the one you’ve all been waiting for: Theon Greyjoy! Beaten, tortured, flayed, impaled, and cruelly relieved of his fingernails and his wiener, the poor captive of Bolton bastard Ramsay Snow made for a lengthy medical discussion.

MTV: Let’s start with the least of Theon’s woes: he’s strapped to a rack and deprived of food and water.

Dr. Mogelof: Right. In that case, your worry is pure dehydration. Your kidneys start to shut down, you get an electrolyte imbalance. Your potassium can go up or down, which can eventually cause cardiac arrest.

MTV: And assuming you survive that long, then there’s the fingernail pulling, the screw through the foot, the flaying. Plus, they’ve broken his teeth.

Dr. Mogelof: Most of this hurts a lot, but it’s not going to kill you. You have to worry about infection; you have to worry about the screw going through the bone, or with the teeth, if there are roots or nerves exposed.

MTV: And this is all just a prelude to the big one: penis amputation.

Dr. Mogelof: Although that’s very painful, it’s survivable. There are no major vessels in there.

MTV: What would be the challenges of living with an injury like that? I’m especially curious about how he’d pee.

Dr. Mogelof: Well, in today’s world — like when Lorena Bobbitt did it — they do a reconstruction. You’d have a kind of fake penis going on there. But in this case, there would still be some part of the urethra hanging out, and it could dribble out of there. As long as he continues to use it, it’ll remain open.

Really, it’s probably most difficult to recover from this psychologically. The big problem for guys is that their sexual impulse isn’t from the penis, so [if the penis is amputated], they’re still having that impulse, but they can’t do anything about it. I think it’s extremely frustrating.

MTV: So what you’re saying is, at this point, it would actually be better for Theon if they went back and cut off the rest of his… equipment?

Dr. Mogelof: Basically, yes. I think that would alleviate the need to, ah, do something about it.

CONCLUSION: In real life, Theon Greyjoy would most likely be just as miserably, horrible, sexually frustratedly alive as he is in his fictional universe — and probably praying for a nice, fatal potassium imbalance to put him out of his misery.

“Game of Thrones” returns to HBO on Sunday, April 6 at 9 p.m. ET, ready to release a whole new set of injuries on all of your favorite characters.

Brian Covello

The AMCAS Personal Statement: Why MD?

Brian Covello: Writings of PreMD Post #2

5 Tips and Tricks to Help You Write Your Personal Statement

It's funny how five simple letters, Why MD, can cause premeds such despair. For people applying to MD programs, the AAMC has a common application service called AMCAS. Amongst other things, AMCAS has a section to answer this crucial question. MCAT, GPA, and extracurriculars aside, this is one of the rare opportunities aspiring medical students have to tell an admissions committee who they are. The exact prompt is:

"Use the space provided to explain why you want to go to medical school. The available space for your response is 5300 characters, or approximately one full page."

Yes, you have 5300 characters to describe and detail your entire motivation for becoming an MD. At first, a full page of writing seems insignificant to the coursework required to pursue medicine, but being able to express your motivation in an appropriate manner is harder than it looks. Thankfully, resources abound on the internet, and schools such as Johns Hopkins has some particularly great advice for how to approach this essay. For more links head to the end of this post. 

The biggest lesson I've learned about personal statements are that they have to be personal. Each of us has a story and a lifetime of experiences. Use your personal experiences to show the admissions committee your motivation. I cannot stress this enough. Show don't tell. Instead of writing, "I am compassionate," gives examples of situations you believe best shows your compassion. 

Here are some tips and tricks that really helped me along the way: 

1) Make a list of all your volunteering and clinical experiences. I'm not talking about that time you worked as a scribe. Instead, write down those moments with patients and doctors that affected you. Maybe as a scribe you saw a patient pass away. What affect did that have on you? Has your heart ever ached when you have seen someone in pain? How did you react? Don't just list the event. Go into detail. Explore your feelings. It is this type of introspection that will help you craft a heartfelt essay. 

2) Free Write. Let's be honest. As premeds we are heavily science based, and writing isn't always our forte. I'll be the first to admit that more college courses in writing would've benefited me in this process. The answer for me is to free write. Write whatever comes to your mind when you are in the midst of introspection. Don't worry about grammar or fancy words. Just write. 

3) Give yourself ample time. I started the first drafts of my personal statement nearly one year before I applied. Giving yourself time allows your essay to soak in and gain new life. With introspective writing especially, time away from the work allows us to view it with a fresh mind. Countless times I have written something that I believed to be of quality, only to come back a month later and realize it's garbage. 

4) Instantly grab your reader's attention. Imagine it's a Friday night. You have just come home from a stressful and long day at work. Time to relax? Not yet. You've been assigned 100 personal statements to read, and they must be read by Monday. So you sit down and begin to read. Stop for moment. Imagine what it would be like reading 100 essays with the exact same topic. This is exactly the task admissions committee members are faced with. You must grab your readers attention. Make it fun for them to read. When you are done writing, take some time away from your essay. With a fresh mind read your first paragraph only. Ask yourself, if this were someone else's essay would you want to keep reading? Would you be entertained? Would this essay cause an emotional response? 

5) You are not unique, but you are unique. Being an applicant who brings something to the table that admissions committee's haven't seen is nearly impossible. They've seen it all, from the person who worked at NASA to the army veteran who earned a purple heart. This, combined with the fact that applicants must fulfill roughly the same general requirements (clinical work/volunteering, non-clinical volunteering, research, etc) means none of us are unique. Contrary to popular belief, your personal statement doesn't have to "stand out" from the thousands of other applicants. What should stand out though is your own personal experience. You might not be the only applicant to have volunteered in a homeless clinic, but maybe you are the only applicant who formed a close bond with Linda and helped teach one of her children how to read. Bottom line: You might not be original, but you do have experiences no other applicant does. 

So what does all this mean to the premed who has yet to start the application process? It means you must acquire the experience necessary for all this messy introspection. More than anything, your personal statement is a reflection of who you are. The more exposure you have, the more you have to write about. 

When I was writing my personal statement, I made an effort not to look at other personal statements because I didn't want to subconsciously imbibe their style. If you've already written your personal statement, or if you think having an example will help you, I have placed an essay from a Stanford Medical Student Below: 

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A tampon and a condom. According to backpacking folklore those two little items comprise the most basic first aid kit capable of managing injuries encountered in the wilderness; a tampon to stint blood flow and a condom to act as an elastic bandage and protect wounds from bacteria. For most of my twenty-one years I assumed the closest I would ever come to practicing medicine would be makeshift bandages and the occasional CPR class. Now I think back on a day six years ago when I fought a losing battle with the anesthesiologist. In the time it took me to drool all over myself a surgeon skillfully removed the tattered remains of my ACL and screwed a piece of tendon into its place. Hours later I stared with fascination at the video of the reconstructive surgery filmed from within my knee. Unbeknownst to me at the time, what had initially seemed a cruel blow of fate had in fact guided me onto the path that was to become my life's passion: medicine.

I am often amazed at the remarkable ability with which living systems adapt to extreme environmental variation. After listening to a friend recount his nude run around the South Pole and back into his research station's sauna, an incredible 350 degree temperature swing, it would seem the human body is robust enough to withstand any force of nature. Yet, as I know all too well from my research on Alzheimer's disease, even something as miniscule as a single point mutation can have profound and deadly consequences. Continuously designing and analyzing my own experiments has not only taught me the value of diligence, patience and replication in the laboratory setting, but it has also instilled in me a profound respect for the biological intricacies that make life possible. In my mind the rewards of medicinal research stem from its practical application. A physician acts as a conduit between the test tube and the bedside, thus they are able to experience both the joy of investigating the unknown as well as developing the gratifying doctor-patient relationships unique to medicine. As a physician the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills I have honed through research will enable me to tackle difficult, and sometimes unknown, problems with sound reasoning and confidence.

When the doctor gravely told me I had torn my ACL he was met with a blank look. Realizing my confusion he pulled out a model of the human knee and proceeded to explain my condition in a way I could see and understand. My experience highlights one of the most critical skills a physician must master, the ability to communicate. As a math and science tutor at my university I have discovered I have the ability to explain difficult concepts to people whom are seeking help and clarification. I must not only find the answers to student questions, but also determine the best way to convey the information in terms they can comprehend. In the future my communication skills will enable me to effectively explain a patient's condition so that they understand what is happening to their body and are not left feeling bewildered or out of control. This bedside manner will help me gain the patient trust and intimacy that is so crucial to medicine and the recovery process.

The interpersonal relationships in medicine appeal to my deep appreciation for human life and my desire to serve society in a beneficial way. As a physician I will be able to make a direct and immediate impact on my patient's wellbeing; whether in the form of a complicated medical procedure or simply a hand to hold during the final hour. Already, through my volunteer work at St. Joseph's Hospital, I have come to appreciate the unequivocal importance of human compassion. My most rewarding responsibility is delivering flowers to patients in the ICU. When presented with a cheery bouquet of fresh flowers their eyes light up and the severity of their situation is forgotten, if even for only a moment. Sometimes empathy is the best medicine and I will never underestimate the healing qualities of a smile and a flower.

Fortunately not all aliments warrant a trip to the ICU and many once-incurable conditions can now be overcome with the aid of a practiced physician. For nine long months after my surgery I battled my way through rehabilitation, sometimes wondering if I would ever play competitive sports again. But my doctors and therapists patiently facilitated my recovery; such was their skill that when I competed at the National Track and Field Championships last spring the only observable evidence of my injury was a few small dots of scar tissue. The road to recovery is not easy, but having been through the process myself I will be better prepared to connect with my patients and guide them through their experience.

I smile at the irony of my situation, it took a personal injury for me to realize I wanted to spend my life working to alleviate the pain of others. The sheer pleasure I derive from helping people and sharing what I know, coupled with the mental stimulation intrinsic to the profession, make medicine the clear career pathway for me. Hopefully, if someday my first aid kit falls into the river and I am forced to resort to condoms and tampons, I will wield those tools with the expertise and confidence of a practiced medical doctor.

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Well that about sums it up. Good luck to everyone! You can find some helpful links below. 

Student Doctor Network Advice

Thoughts from Yale

Harvard's Open Courseware

Brian Covello

The First Writing of a PreMD

Brian Covello: Writings of a PreMD Post #1

The First Writing of a PreMD

My name is Brian Covello, and for the past four years I have been an MD-hopeful. I have just recently graduated from a small liberal arts college, where I pursued majors in Biochemistry and Math. My dream of becoming a doctor has been with me from a very young age, but it has taken many experiences for me to truly know that this is the path for me. 

Hopefully this blog will help me share what I have learned along the way and record what is to come as I walk through the long and tedious process of medical school admissions. By and large, medical school admissions can feel like a number game, but I'd to talk about more than "stats" by diving into the personal qualities that often escape the pen and ink of a resume. This blog will be dedicated towards that end. So here it is. My first blog post. Short & Sweet. Thank you for reading, and hopefully you'll follow me on this journey. 

If you'd like to know about me, please visit: 
www.facebook.com/brian.covello
www.pinterest.com/briancovello

Brian Covello