Why this is "Professional" School

  1. This is the first phase of your medical career. Thinking ahead, your letters of support for residency will be based on your overall performance in medical school.
  2. You will begin seeing patients FAST. They will look to you as a medical professional.
  3. Issues of ethics, morals, cultural competency, etc. will be discussed often. You need to handle the discussions with depth and maturity.
  4. We do not know you well鈥攚e look to your applications for signs of professional behavior.

Exhibiting Professional Behavior in the Application Process

Pre-Application

Working with the Health Professions Office

  • Be respectful, courteous, and on time. Failure to show for appointments reflects very poorly.
  • Be responsive to feedback. 

Be Thoughtful in the Application Process

Don鈥檛 rely on rankings alone.

  • Think about your values鈥攚hat do YOU need in a medical school?
  • Research Schools
  • This is an Evidence-Based Process鈥aying you 鈥渒now you can鈥� do something isn鈥檛 the same as already having proven it.

AMCAS and ESSAYS

Don鈥檛 rely on rankings alone.

  • Never leave someone guessing about your health, your sanity, or your commitment to medicine.
  • Send secondaries back quickly.
  • Proofread鈥攏ot just spell-check. Check your grammar, context, etc. no excuses for errors.
  • Have someone who does not know you read your essays.
  • Use professional language at all times.

Application Process

Make Commitments and Fulfill Them

  • One month here and there doesn鈥檛 work.
  • Don鈥檛 stuff your application with future activities pre-interview.
  • Never over-exaggerate.
  • Do not abandon post-graduate programs after one year.

Deadlines

  • Apply early
  • Anticipate that which you can鈥檛 control.
  • Keep track of application on status pages.
  • Do not assume that the timing of your application is inconsequential if a school is not rolling admissions.
  • No excuses

Email Correspondence

  • Never start with 鈥渉ey鈥濃�攖his is a professional communication and it will be entered into your file.
  • Use Titles, not first names鈥攚hen in doubt use 鈥淒ean鈥� or 鈥淒r.鈥�
  • Although email can be casual among friends, we are not your friends. Use proper punctuation, complete sentences, and capitalize importantly. And use the right medical school name!
  • Add your AMCAS ID number to EVERYTHING you send to a school.
  • Have a professional email address (and voicemail message, too!) and clear junk filters.

Accept Responsibility

  • Don鈥檛 whine. Ever. Not about grades, not about advice you have received, and not about why you were not able to do what was asked of you.
  • We have over 7800 applicants. Some schools have more.
  • No one is perfect. There will be times that each of us messes something up. We need to say we were wrong, apologize, and set it right.
  • Stay in touch with any changes to your contact information.

Scheduling/Canceling Interviews

  • Respond to interview invitations ASAP.
  • Ask EARLY if you need to coordinate visits, but recognize this is not always possible.
  • If you need to cancel due to health, weather, emergency, let us know ASAP. Take both our phone numbers and our email addresses with you to the airport/train/etc.

Interview Behavior

  • Do a mock interview at your school if at all possible.
  • Plan Ahead鈥攃heck where the school is in relation to the airport, train station, etc. Plan flights early.
  • Read EVERYTHING we send you鈥攚e tell you everything you need to know!
  • Purchase or borrow appropriate attire.
  • Be polite to everyone, starting at the airport.
  • Be prompt, and introduce yourself.
  • Be sensitive to body language as well as actual words.
  • Be flexible and go with the flow.
  • Write a thank you, but SAY something in it.

Withdrawing

  • Communicate ASAP.
  • Do not simply no-show for an interview.
  • Think about your friends who are still waiting for interviews/offers.

Social Media/Studentdoctor.net

  • Do not have anything in a public place that you would not want us to see.

Post-Admissions Decision

Revisit/Second Look Weekends

  • You do not HAVE to attend.
  • You are still 鈥渙n鈥濃�攁ll interviewing rules apply.

Financial Aid Decisions

Revisit/Second Look Weekends

  • Be responsible and prompt.
  • We know it is confusing鈥攁sk questions.
  • Understand how to manage competing offers.

AAMC Traffic Rules

  • Know them, follow them:

Written by Joni Huff , Director of Admissions at University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Used by permission.