Get Some Pre-Med Friends!

My college roommate for 3 of my 4 years at Duke knew she was going to be a physician the day she walked on to campus. She was/is so smart and was so determined (even as a Freshman!) to reach her goal of becoming a doctor. I don’t think I’ve ever told her this, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be a physician today if I’d not lived with her. She motivated me and held me accountable to my goals and always reminded me that the world needed more Black doctors like us. I was definitely a better pre-med student because of her and other pre-med friends and my line sisters in college. I realize now what an amazing network of Black pre-med friends I had. These folks are now oncologists, pathologists, surgeons, ophthalmologists, pediatricians, dermatologists, you name it, we’re everywhere! We prayed together, studied together, cried together, and de-stressed (!) together. We recommended to each other MCAT prep courses to take and summer opportunities to apply to and we read and edited each other’s personal statements.

There is a lot of advice that I can, and will, give you. One of the most important is this: get you some pre-med friends. Of all races and backgrounds, yes. But there is an extra level of how amazing and encouraging it is to be in the midst of other students who look like you who have the same dreams and goals, so I’ll take that a step further and say make sure you get some Black pre-med friends, and with your shared experiences and goals, y’all go hard for one another. 

Here are some of the benefits of having pre-med friends.

They understand your struggle

Let’s face it, being pre-med gets onerous and you have to stay committed. While your non-pre-med friends are out kicking it, there are times (many times) that you will have to choose to study, shadow, volunteer, etc, instead of being able to do other things that they are doing. Your non-pre-med friends may not realize why you chose this path and may give you a hard time about it. They may try to talk you into slacking or taking unnecessary breaks. But your pre-med friends will understand and support you… and they’ll probably be sitting right beside you studying too! Everybody doesn’t realize that there’s a huge difference between an “A” and a “B” – but your pre-med friends will, and they won’t judge you for going the extra mile for that A in biology! We all need support and we all need someone (or multiple people) who understands what we’re going through.

They keep you motivated

And because they understand your struggle, pre-med friends can help to keep you motivated. Your end goal is the same as theirs. Find people who will build you up and will help you get where you want to go and, at the same time, be a good friend to them and encourage them also. 

They help you stay on track

For the most part, your schedule and coursework should be the same as all the other pre-med students. Generally, everyone is taking BCPM classes at generally the same time and asking for letters of recommendation, applying for summer programs, etc, at the same time during their undergraduate years. So having friends who can remind you what should be doing and when, based on what they are doing and when they are doing it, is essential to keep you on track. You may even want to identify some pre-med friends who are a year or two ahead of you also; they should really be able to help you with knowing what to do and can help to steer you clear of making some poor choices that they may have made.

You can share opportunities

Having pre-med friends who have similar goals and interests as you can be helpful because you can share information about professors and classes to take (and to avoid), volunteer opportunities, medical exposure options in your area, summer programs, research opportunities, etc. I learned about SMDEP (now called SHPEP, see earlier post) from my peers and did it because they were all doing it—and it turned out to be one of the best things I did as a pre-med student as far as preparation. You’re not in competition with your pre-med friends, share your knowledge of opportunities, you’re in this together.

How to find them?

I promise that other Black pre-med students exist, and you can find them! People don’t usually take organic chemistry just for the heck of it. If they’re in your Orgo class, you can probably assume that they’re pre-med too. Just ask them! If your school has a MAPS chapter or other minority pre-health group, join it! This is a great way to meet other Black pre-med students on your campus. And who says “friends” have to be people you can put your hands on? There are several Black pre-med groups you can follow on social media, look into those also…but don’t spend all your time on IG and Twitter!

Don’t get me wrong, all your college friends should NOT be pre-med (we can be kind of an uptight bunch) so there’s definitely a post for another day, titled: Get some non-pre-med friends 🙂

But for now, the task at hand, right after scheduling that appointment with your pre-med advisor if you haven’t already done so [see earlier post], is to go find a new pre-med friend or two, join MAPS or its equivalent at your school, find a Black pre-med group on social media, and send an encouraging message to one of your Black pre-med friends. 

Let’s all win together. 

Do you have any thoughts or questions about the importance of identifying pre-med friends? If so, please include them in the comments section below!