A client emailed me to say that after a recent interview, the medical school dean called her to say he was impressed with her candidacy and the hand-written thank you notes she had sent. The client thanked me for my help with her application and the thank you note tip. Needless to say, she was admitted.
Writing thank you notes is easy and goes a long way. Remember to hand-write the notes, keep them brief and send them immediately after your interview day.
Here‘s a recent NYT article about medical students at my alma mater. Frankly – as one of my friends and former classmates emailed me – it makes HMS students sound a bit socially inept. But this piece is written from a patient’s perspective, and she should know best what does and does not make her feel comfortable. It’s a good lesson on doctoring well.
For those of you interested in my upcoming “Getting Into Residency” lecture who have written me saying you can’t attend the AMSA national conference, I am currently working on an affordable CD-ROM with a version of the lecture, including video, audio, printable slides and a transcript.
I’ll keep you posted as the project comes to fruition. Thanks for everyone’s interest.
I had a sweet client recently tell me that, although she will feel uncomfortable showcasing her accomplishments throughout her upcoming application process, she thinks her mom might be able to help her learn to speak about them fluidly.
If you have a supportive mother (father, grandparent), and you are having trouble highlighting your achievements in your personal statement, application, interview, even letter of intent, consider channeling your inner mother.
Remember: You must distinguish yourself from the other competitive candidates, and the best way to do that is with explicit examples of your accomplishments.
There’s an interesting Malcolm Gladwell article in the latest New Yorker on the pitfalls of U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings. Gladwell’s points regarding the deficiencies of a system that tries to be “comprehensive and heterogeneous” and the flimsiness of quality proxies can be applied to medical school rankings as well.
Despite their many shortcomings, however, I do use U.S. News and World Report’s medical school rankings on my website because they are more descriptive than alphabetic order in listing where my clients have been accepted.
Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital. She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more
