The Weekly - Issue #1 (Nov. 18)
It's here...leggo!
We’re covering how we all mess up — plus, MCAT test-taking mistakes, the X factor of having emotional intelligence, and more.
Oh and see if you can find Ella the Premed hiding in The Weekly. This is our way of giving you an excuse to take a break LOL, thank us later.
Rather listen to this week’s issue. Here’s a fun audio version:
Announcements….
🫵 Join our Student Advisory Board. (This is a low commitment opportunity). We’re looking for a group of dynamic premed students from diverse background who are passionate about helping others. This board will play a pivotal role in shaping our content by offering insights, feedback, and fresh ideas from the premed perspective.
Apply here. Deadline Nov. 30.
🏫 Want a unique leadership opportunity to add to your medical school application? Start your own PreMedLife Campus Edition. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Want to be featured in an upcoming issue of The Weekly or have a story idea, tell us about it or just message us:
A quick message
I’m Tasheema and 14 years ago I started a magazine called PreMedLife. I wanted to give pre-meds the kind of content I was looking for when I was studying Biology at Stony Brook University. Over the last decade, I’ve been dedicated to seeing pre-meds win. I’ve been rooting for y’all since Day One and I’m here to let you know that I’m still here. I’m back and while it was tough being away for a while, it still feels like home. To all of our readers who have been checking on us and telling your friends about us, I appreciate you! As a girl from the South Bronx to be able to have a vision and make it reality, helping pre-meds reach their dreams of going to medical school – the feeling is unmatched. As we continue on this journey together, I hope to continue serving you just as much as you’ve served me.
Medical school minus one
Medical students can easily graduate in three years, according to new research that shows that student outcomes from these programs rival those at the 4-year programs we are used to. “The general medical world has been stuck on the four-year [curriculum] for 100 years,” said Dr. Joan Cangiarella, director of the accelerated medical degree pathway program at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. “We want to make sure people know that these [three-year] students are just as good.
Tuition free conundrum
Most of us were excited to hear about the rise of medical schools shifting to a tuition-free model. Like who wouldn’t? However, a recent report in The Atlantic rocked us out of la-la land when we learned that going tuition-free has in fact made for a wealthier student body. Like WTF?!? Despite potentially being a game-changer for some brilliant premeds whose only barrier was the money part, health economists say the move will not have the impact on producing more gradutes who pick lower-paying fields like primary-care and pediatrics.
HBCU premed
Students who attend historically black colleges and universities face challenges on their premed journey, acccording to a study published in JAMA Network Open. When 26 premedical student advisors were asked about helping students matriculate to medical school, researchers found that there was an access problem. There were some complexities around preferential treatment given to predominantly white undergraduate schools.
Admissions loading…
It’s the waiting game for us. No matter if you think you’re a shoe in or if you’re praying for a miracle, waiting to receive news about your medical school application and whether you’ve been accepted to medical school is a doozy. One user on r/premed had an idea - what if we take a page out of a popular pizza joint’s book and have a tracker. Like can we please know what part of the process our application is at? Like is it baking or what?
MCAT hot topics
Studying topics that appear the most on the MCAT makes total sense. They officially known as high-yield topics and show up more often on the test. “The mistake test-takers make is they tend to want to treat everything equally, not realizing that there is a proportions game that comes into play,” said Petrov Mines, senior director of pre-med programs at Kaplan. “Pre-med students should be strategic on where they are putting their emphasis.” With the first MCAT test date for 2025 quickly approaching, premeds will be hunkering down to make the best of their studying.
Altruistic doctors, duh
Doctors who make patient care their number one priority, over profit or cost reductions get better outcomes, particularly among older patients. This is according to a new study titled “Physician Altruism and Spending, Hosptial Admissions and Emergency Department Visits. This paper is kind of strange in the first place because shouldn’t all doctors be altruistic? Anyways, the fact of the matter is, based on the health organization they work under, unfortunately the patient is not always first. Maybe the findings from this study will shed some light on the possibility of getting back into the spirit of putting the people first.
Let’s play nice
The first step is awareness. Do you know your interpersonal skills? Well, you might want to pay attention because they are lumped into the AAMC’s pre-med competencies that are the standards expected of all medical school applicant. And if you don’t already know, these competencies are a big deal. So, yea, take note, there they are: Communication, active listening, emotional intelligence, relational intelligence, persuasion, decision making, teamwork, collaboration, objective effectiveness, problem solving, conflict resolution, negotiation, tolerance. The competencies were originally developed over 10 years ago and were recently updated last year. According to the AAMC’s website, the entire set of competencies were developed to help better understand what medical schools, MD and DO, consider essential for prospective medical students to demonstrate. Make it your business to review this the competency list and be proactive about pursing opportunities that will boost you to X factor status in the eyes of admissions committees.
Emotional superpowers
n a future where artificial intelligence has the potential to perform any cognitive task, many wonder if (or when) machines will compete. AI has already mastered the logic, problem-solving, information processing thing, so what’s next. In such a world, experts say that emotional intelligence (EQ) “could be the primary competitive edge for humans.” For all you premeds, having a high EQ will be your competitive edge. Your ability to navigate the subtleties of your patients and colleagues will go beyond AIs ability to just analyze data.
Chat with us
"We'd love to hear your thoughts on this week's stories in The Weekly. And tell us if you found Ella the PreMed. We’ll tell you the reason behind making Ella our mascot.
