With the medical field having some of the most highly sought after professions, the competition within it is inadvertently tough. It, thus, comes as no surprise that many of its students go to great lengths to prove themselves worthy of being in this realm. If you’re looking to do just that, it’s imperative that you first set yourself apart from the crowd. With that in mind, listed below are eight ways that can help you stand out in medical school. Read on!
1. Take A Pre-Med Program
A pre-med program contains all the coursework and practices aspiring medical students need to succeed. You can expect to be taught beyond what’s simply relevant or generic. These said courses also offer valuable insights that other curricula don’t. Taking a pre-med program can, therefore, earn you a lot of rich experiences, especially because pre-med trains interpersonal skills, too, among other crucial skills.
Overall, taking a pre-med program ensures that you’re adequately equipped to handle all the turbulence the medical field exposes you to.
2. Be Diligent And Smart With Your Extracurriculars
Extracurriculars are essentially your shot at showcasing a more comprehensive array of your skills, talents, and depth as a person. There’s a unique individual behind test results and grades, and extracurriculars are what reflect that notion on a resume or application.
Through extracurriculars, employers or universities will be able to have on file an indication of who you are beyond what med school teaches all of its students. It’s, thus, crucial that you sign up for varied activities that genuinely highlight what you represent and value, all while making sure that each of these activities benefits your resume.
3. Build A Solid Work Ethic
When your foundations are rock solid, you can always count on reaping the benefits of all your hard work. Although this may seem like a given, many have yet to truly grasp the importance of a good work ethic. This is what separates an achiever from an underperformer. Employers and schools don’t want to only see good credentials; they also want to see consistently good work outputs.
4. Vie For Leadership Roles
Student leader roles have always been a telling sign of trustworthiness and capability. Not just anyone can be a leader—this is a sentiment that is sure to be shared by many schools and employers. In general, student leaders are able to accrue more experience than your regular medical student would. These said experiences can allow one to gain valuable lessons not limited to textbook knowledge and lectures alone, and these are factors that can effectively draw some attention.
5. Maintain High Grades Until The End
Needless to say, grades have always been a deciding factor employers and schools alike consider when hiring or admitting applicants. Many of them can even expect that you have high grades, especially when a large number of applicants are competing for the same role or slot.
Maintaining high grades all throughout your schooling can land you in a more comfortable position compared to an underperforming student. And, while good grades aren’t a guarantee in securing your preferred school or job, they’re a nice thing to have on paper. At the end of the day, they’re highly looked upon in many settings.
All in all, there are many advantages to securing high grades and having them certainly invites more opportunities your way.
6. Put In All The Research
Employers and schools consider many underlying factors when they hire and accept students. Some of these factors can be extremely niched as there are a variety of details some prioritize, while some don’t.
If you lack knowledge, gain it through research. If you lack skills, learn them through training. When you become someone who’s well-equipped, you can be akin to someone who’s at the top of their game. When you know all that you need to and utilize it to your advantage, the pathways you can walk expand tremendously.
Knowledge is power and the same is true in medical school settings. So, if you’re vying for a highly-competitive spot, having done your research can be what ultimately separates you from the crowd.
7. Garner Clinical Experience
As with most fields, it’s vital that you garner relevant experience in the same line of work you want to excel in. For medical students, this can take shape in the form of paid or volunteer work for various hospitals, hospices, clinics, and the like. If you’re able to continuously grow your internship portfolio, this means you gain more capability and become more seasoned and accomplished in the process. Not everyone would have this pool of experience to draw from, and this can ultimately be what propels you to bag the positions you want.
Bottomline
The competition in medical school is, without a doubt, cutthroat. It’s a stressful yet highly rewarding environment where it’s difficult to thrive yet easy to falter behind if you aren’t careful. Standing out amongst all your competition can be what lands you your dream school or position. The points mentioned above can guide you in achieving that.
