The pre-med journey can feel very long and challenging. It’s filled with hours of studying, volunteering and clinical exposure. Waking up everyday to work toward your dream of becoming a physician is not simple. However, finally opening up that acceptance letter is one of the greatest feelings in the journey.

My journey started when I was 17 years old. I was in high school and I knew I wanted to work in healthcare, but I didn’t know where to start. My parents are from India and they didn’t know how the education system in this country worked.  I also didn’t know any medical students who were willing to discuss their experiences so I felt very alone trying to understand the process of becoming a physician. 

At the beginning of my journey, I latched onto the term “pre-med”.  Each decision I made from that point forward focused on my “identity” as a pre-med student. I faced many challenges because of the lack of guidance. Whether it be studying or finding opportunities, there were many times where I felt like I wasn’t going to make it. 

Now that I will be going medical school, I wanted to share the knowledge I gained in order to help other pre-med and pre-health students with their journeys. These tips are fairly simple and focused on helping you emotionally, mentally and physically throughout the entire journey rather than specific ways to build your medical school application. 

Here are my tips that I believe every pre-medical student should use during their journeys:  

1. Focus on developing your interests. 

Whether you are a freshman in high school or a sophomore in college, develop your hobbies! I wish I could go back in time and tell myself that there is so much more to the world than just being “pre-med”. At the time, medical school was my sole focus. I was ready to sacrifice whatever I needed to make sure I got there. 

However, my pre-med journey quickly revealed that mindset was not the way to live. Developing interests outside of science and medicine will help you feel more fulfilled and remind you that you are an actual person. This piece of advice is all over the internet, but the medical schools really do want to see your personality in addition to your amazing grades and scores. 

In addition to developing your interests and hobbies, remember that you do not have to try to relate them back to healthcare or medicine. Develop them for yourself. You do not need to write about how your hobbies will help you be a better doctor. 

2. Trust yourself. 

There are going to be many instances where you need to trust your gut. You might have to say no to a party invite so that you can study for a test. Or you might have to leave a relationship/friendship that was hurting your mental health. Whatever it is, you will need to learn to listen to these instincts. 

There were many times throughout my pre-med journey where I made mistakes because I did not listen to my instincts. I found this issue to be very prevalent during my MCAT studying.

Initially, I felt confident in my answers. As I continued practicing, I found myself second guessing myself. I didn’t realize until talking to my pre-health advisor that I was overthinking my answers.

The MCAT is designed for this very issue. The questions are usually straightforward, but the exam is written so that students lose confidence in their answers. Learning to trust your gut earlier on will help you for this exam and many other aspects of your journey.

3. Accept the losses, mistakes, and rejections. 

In general, life is full of losses, mistakes, and rejections. There are times that feel like the end of the world and there is usually a great amount of disappointment. It took me a while to realize that some things just happen for a reason even if I don’t know the reason.

Not getting into my dream university? It meant I was supposed to go to another university that supported more of my interests.  That job that I didn’t get when I desperately needed it? It meant that I was going to get a much better job. 

Mistakes are very important in your pre-med journey (and in life). Learning to accept your mistakes and grow from them is incredibly challenging. Quite honestly, I am still in the process of learning this tip and need to come back to it pretty often.

However, without this lesson, I would not have been able to accept the mistakes I made with my friends or in Organic Chemistry II or with the MCAT. I felt embarrassed and ashamed of myself, but you know what? They helped me grow into the person that I am today. Without the mistakes and failures, I would not be able to discuss my experiences either. 

Of course, at the moments we experience loss, mistakes, and rejections, we certainly do not feel like we are going to grow from them. That part is perfectly okay because it is part of the process. Allow yourself to feel the disappointment, anger, hurt, whatever it is you feel.

Just remember that your journey does not end there.

4. Practice self-care. 

When I say “self-care”, I am not limiting this process to only doing face masks and taking baths. (Although I am not discrediting these activities because I love face masks.)

I think of “self-care” as a way of taking care of your whole being. I believe that your health includes your physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual well-being. To take care of yourself in all those areas means you need eat what feels good to you, make time to exercise, and take the time to have fun.

During my MCAT studying, I really lost touch with myself because I felt stressed all the time. My only focus was the exam. The bags around my eyes showed my sleep deprivation. My skin was dull and my hair was a mess. I only wore sweatpants and baggy sweatshirts because I was too lazy to do my laundry.

I was a mess. 

My advisor gave me this tip and reminded me that I had time because I was taking a gap year. However, I realized that this tip was much harder for me to follow and it resulted in poor performance.  

Now that I have completed my MCAT and submitted my application, I know that self- care is essential for pre-meds and medical students.

Take a little “me time” to help yourself succeed. 

5. Reflect.

I put this tip last because I think it is the most important part of the pre-med journey. The other tips are honestly great for life in general, but I believe reflection is key in understanding yourself and why you want to work in medicine.

Reflecting on your experiences will take you from the stereotypical “I want to help people” to developing and expressing true empathy for your fellow human beings. You will also develop enough maturity so you’re not saying “I want to cure cancer” to an admissions committee member. 

The process of reflecting will also help you make connections that you didn’t notice before. It will give you a chance to practice writing and expressing your thoughts. Ultimately, these reflections will help you become the best applicant you can be.

From my own life, I started my undergraduate education with three simple goals: 

1. Find research opportunities 
2. Focus on science classes 
3. Get into medical school

If you asked me “What doctor do you want to be?”,  my answer was “a dermatologist because I had acne as a kid and I might be interested in treating burns.” Fast forward to now, I am interested in public health, women’s health, preventive medicine, and so many other topics. 

I can comfortably discuss the “seed” to my pre-med journey and I even used it in my personal statement. All this maturity came from reflecting and taking the time to really understand my experiences throughout my life. 

(Click here for some tips on finding research opportunities.)

Overview

To reiterate, here are the tips from this post:

1. Focus on developing your interests. 

2. Trust yourself.

3. Accept the losses, mistakes, and rejections. 

4. Practice self-care.

5. Reflect.

These are just five tips that I think every pre-med student should visit and re-visit. Whether you are a recent high school graduate or a non-traditional student going back to school, try incorporating these tips.

Many of these tips are lessons that I learned firsthand, but they might not apply to you. Life happens differently for everyone and we all learn unique lessons. 

Just remember that there will be many challenges, but those difficulties will build you. Hopefully your journey will bring you where you need to end up.

What are your thoughts on your pre-med journey so far? Leave a comment below!