Making the Most of Pre-Med Advisor Meetings

If your school has a pre-med/pre-health advisor, then you’re in luck. If you haven’t yet met your advisor or didn’t meet with them last semester and don’t have an appointment scheduled to meet with them this semester, then you’re doing this pre-med thing all wrong. Literally, their job is to advise pre-med students. Their whole job. So take advantage of them being available– you don’t have to figure this all out on your own!

Pre-med advisors often have access to folks on campus and throughout the community who can help you decide if medicine is truly for you and, if so, can help you get the experiences needed for a strong application. Many advisors have been working with students for a long time and can let you know, generally, what activities pre-med students at your school usually take part in and what resources are available locally. This can really help remove a lot of the guess work for you. (With that said, you don’t have to follow a cookie-cutter model; we’ll talk later about identifying activities that are interesting to YOU and that you can do long-term.)

If you’ve been putting off meeting with your advisor because you don’t know what to ask or think you have nothing to talk about, see the list below of things you can (and should) be asking and talking about during these sessions:

1. If you’re having a hard time finding a physician to shadow, ask if they know of any local physicians who commonly allow students in clinic.
2. If you’re having a hard time finding service opportunities, ask about common community agencies they may know of who are usually looking for student volunteers.
3. Ask about research opportunities and if they can provide a list of faculty who have openings in their research labs.
4. Ask about summer pre-health programs offered through your college, within the state, or nationally.
5. Review your class schedule to make sure you’re taking the right courses, especially BCPM (biology, chemistry, physics, math) courses.
6. Make sure you’re on track to take the MCAT the Summer of your junior year and to apply for admission soon thereafter, if you don’t plan to take gap-time before applying.
7. Share interesting/personal stories with them to help them remember you from ALL the other pre-med students they advise. 
8. Remind them of your desire to be a physician and your willingness to work hard to reach your goal.

In addition to helping ensure that you are on track during your pre-med years, the pre-med advisor is also very important when considering the “committee letter” or “committee packet.” Many colleges have a pre-health advisory committee that compiles your letters of recommendation and they may also prepare a summary letter to go with your application. Some schools hold committee interviews to get the content for this letter, some use other ways of gathering information, like meetings with your pre-med advisor throughout your college career. You really want this letter to have a personal touch so the writer is able to effectively relay your interest in a career in medicine. If they really know you, they can also help to account for any possible shortcomings in your application while highlighting your strengths. The last thing you want is for that letter to say anything like, “Unfortunately, we did not have much interaction with this student during this time at our University…” (I’ve seen that, you don’t want it.) No, this person needs to be rooting for you like I’m rooting for you. They need to be so ‘in your corner’ that if things don’t go as planned with admission the first go-round, that they feel compelled to help you find a post-bac or gap year opportunity and will advocate on your behalf for acceptance. 

So, the bottom line: you need to make friends with your pre-med advisor. It’s 2021 and all of a sudden everyone loves a good Zoom meeting so you likely don’t even have to go in to their office. Heck, you don’t even have to wear pants (but you should, of course). So schedule a meeting with your advisor if you haven’t already met with them in 2021. And plan to do so each semester from here on out. Start with the questions above and see where the conversation goes. But seriously, make the appointment. ASAP.

Now, with all of this said, some schools may not offer pre-med or pre-health advisors. While this is unfortunate, it doesn’t lessen your chances of being accepted to medical school. It just means you may need to work harder to carve out your path and stay on track. Did you see the Checklist in the Pre-Med Perks section of the website? If you don’t have access to a pre-med advisor, even more than other students, you need to download it, print it out, and stick to it! 

Have you had great experiences with your pre-med advisor? How often are you meeting with your advisor? Do you have any questions about what you should or should not ask them/tell them about? Feel free to leave any comments below!