PRE-MEDICAL TRAINING at UW OSHKOSH

How to be sure the Physician career is a good match for you.

There are two (2) ways to train to be a practicing Physician: Medical school (allopathy) and Osteopathic Medical School (osteopathy). Both involve the same type and length of medical education. In both cases, you will attend 4 years of medical school, followed by a Residency (further education) in some designated area of medicine, such as family practice, pediatrics, or surgery. Residencies may last 3-7 years.  Osteopathy adds some additional components of practice that resemble chiropractic. Click here to learn more about osteopathy.  Both types of graduates (MD and DO degree, respectively) take the same Board (licensure to practice) exams and perform the same job tasks.

The undergraduate program of study for both PreMed and PreOsteoMed is the same, and you are free to apply to both types of schools at the same time (junior year of college).

Useful links for PreMeds of both types:

Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company, offers an online Medical Student Manual that has a lot of information on it, including the "Top 10 Mistakes that Pre Meds make" (my advising page keeps you from making them ;D). Find it at http://www.positiveprofiles.com/content/pandp/tier_3/pandp_students_manual.asp#mistakes

"As to whether one school or another is better, it’s subjective. Any school will and should be a challenge for students. One criterion [pre-meds] should ask about is the pass rate on the USMLE exam, the National exam required in all med schools."

"Med Schools are rated differently, based on their focus, e.g. research, sub-specialty, etc. [Some] are focused on primary care... in other words: family practice, pediatrics, ob/gyn... ... doc/patient interactions [are emphasized], so [med students] go out into the clinics the first week of school. Other places may focus more on specialties and research."

 

Wisconsin's Two Med Schools

The two Med Schools in Wisconsin are at Madison and Milwaukee.   Following is a side-by-side comparison of their required pre-med courses (as of June 2004).  The UW Oshkosh courses that satisfy these requirements are indicated in parentheses.

Warning: YOU are personally responsible for studying and knowing the admissions requirements of any med schools that interest you.

Other Good Advice for applying to any Med School (some are quotes from recruiters): 

• Extra math beyond the minimum required is not helpful by itself, but some on the admissions committees see it as a positive.

• In your personal statement, write about something that is not elsewhere on your application. Be sure to explain anything on your record that might be a negative (bad early year of college, legal problem, etc.) and to show how you have grown from the experience.  Be sure to mention courses you plan to take in your final year of undergraduate school. You should highlight life experiences including community service, volunteering, shadowing-a-physician.  Explain how you may have overcome obstacles or disadvantages.  
• Be able to answer the following questions in a sophisticated and genuine manner: How do you know about medicine?  Why did you pick medicine?  ("to help people" is not an answer; many occupations help people).   
• Community or volunteer experience is more important than research experience. 
• Communication skills are important and will be closely examined during the interview.  
• Some schools require that you PRE-notify them that a recommendation letter is coming from a specific individual before they will admit that letter to your file.  If you re-apply, be sure to find out if the same letters can be used or not.
• A decision on admission is usually made within a couple weeks of an interview.
• You must have a clean credit record for successful application. Minimize your number of credit and charge cards, even if their balances owed are zero. Your med school loan budget is for living expenses only; credit card or car payments are not permitted, nor does the budget cover costs of supporting a spouse or child.
• There is no sure way for applicants to get accepted to medical school.  Some of the things taken into consideration are those students who have to work a lot to pay for their education, athletes who spend a lot of time practicing and performing, community service (volunteering).  Some applicants have logged in 300 or more hours of service to others while in college.  Strong letters and well written essays are needed.  Some applicants submit materials with typos and poor sentence structure; they cross off words and print in the correct word.  They need to pay attention to detail.  If they were applying for a job, I would hope their resume doesn't have errors.  Some applicants apply late, some miss the deadline and hurry to complete materials. 
• The committee attempts to select a diverse class.  People with different backgrounds, different experiences and the like.  When you get a pool of hundreds of pre-meds (22 year olds who have done some volunteer work, have good grades and good letters of recommendation), it is a challenge for the admissions committee to select a class.  Admissions committees are made up of medical students, basic science faculty, and clinical faculty (those who teach medical students). 

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Majors & Study Plans

Medical schools admit students from a wide variety of majors, not just biology.  However, as you have just seen, medical schools routinely require undergraduate coursework in biology, chemistry, physics, and math for their successful applicants. Therefore, a Biology or Chemistry major might be the path of least resistance, so to speak.  Your choice of major is also influenced by preparation for the MCAT exam (see below for details).

Note: in Spring 2004, Ron Cardo of the UARC shared the following with me: a 2003 study released preliminary findings from a survey of 2nd year med students asked about the Most Valuable Undergrad Courses for helping you make it through med school.  These were:

Most Valuable Bio courses by 60% or more of respondents: Physiology (Bio 319), Biochemistry (Chem 303-305), Histology (parts of Bio 211, 308, 323), Immunology (Bio 341), Human Anatomy (Bio 211), and General Biology (Bio 105). 

Most Valuable Chem courses by 49% of respondents: Gen Chem (Chem 105 + 106). 

Most Valuable Social Science course by 43% of respondents: Gen Psych (Psych 101). 

50% of those who did research as Undergrads voted it as "helpful" in med school.

Courses med students most often WISHED they had taken were: Immunology (Bio 341), Embryology (Bio 316), Histology (parts of Bio 211, 308, 323), Microbiology (Bio 231, 233, 309, 315, 321), Endocrinology (parts of Bio 212 and 319), and Medical Terminology (not offered at UWO).

The MCAT Exam

Most students take the MCAT in April of the junior year.  You can re-take it the following August if you need to, but that makes your application late enough that it can reduce your chances for admission to some schools.

To learn everything you need to know about the MCAT, go visit this web site: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/  

The MCAT is taken using a computer, so you need to be comfortable with a keyboard and mouse. Students tell us that working with the MCAT practice books is invaluable.   MCAT prep classes are also available.  For example:

• See reparing for the MCAT exam at http://www.mcat-prep.com
• See http://www.kaptest.com for more information about the "Kaplan" courses (administered online or at UW Milwaukee).  
• See http://www.examkrackers.com for more information about the "Examkrackers" courses and materials, which include "Examkrackers MCAT Audio Osmosis with Jordan and Jon", which are audio CDs that you can play while commuting, doing laundry, etc.

One thing I should say is that, if you take only the minimum amount of Biology to qualify for med school admission, you may be UNDER-prepared for the Biology content of the MCAT exam.   Based on feedback from my advisees taking the MCAT, for your best possible performance, I recommend that you complete AT LEAST the following UW Oshkosh Biology courses:

Bio 105 Biological Concepts: Unity (5 credits, with lab) followed by 

Bio 323 Introductory Cell & Molecular Biology (3 credits, no lab) followed by

Bio 319 General Animal Physiology (5 credits, with lab; need BIO 323 Introductory Cell & Molecular Biology plus General Chem 105 + 106 to take 319) AND 

Bio 343 Genetics (4 credits, with lab).

Note: In fall 2003, a med school recruiter told me that the UW Oshkosh course PHIL 202 Symbolic Logic is excellent preparation for the MCAT.  Phil 202 has a prerequisite of PHIL 101 or consent of instructor. Unfortunately, as of summer 2004, it NO LONGER counts as Math toward the Bachelor of Science degree in the College of Letters and Sciences.  However, it could count toward your Humanities credits for the Bachelor's degree.

Rounding out your application

Grades and MCAT scores are not the whole story; far from it. One med school recruiter said, "A student with a 4.0 and perfect MCAT scores, but no volunteer experience, wouldn't get into our program."  There are other aspects to Pre-Medical training that must be planned just as carefully as your coursework.

• Application Readiness

Medical school applications can be lengthy documents.  Therefore, nearly all U.S. medical schools use the centralized application service called the AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service).  To get up-to-date information on using this application service, visit the AMCAS web site at http://www.aamc.org/audienceamcas.htm     You might expect to invest a few hundred dollars in your med school application (MCAT fee, AMCAS fee, application fee to each med school).

Your application needs to reflect your ability to pay attention to detail.  Some things to do AHEAD of time include:

1. Have 2"x2" photos of yourself taken and printed out; they are required for the secondary application.
2. Request college transcripts early; many colleges are notoriously slow at sending these out.
3. Contact letter writers early (more on this below).  Do NOT use Teaching Assistants (graduate students).  Do NOT use family members.  DO use professors or job supervisors.  At smaller colleges like UW Oshkosh, you have an advantage here; it's far easier to get to know a prof than if you are competing for attention from hundreds of others.  
4. Every school to which you apply is able to see what other schools are on your list.  If you apply to only one school, that may look bad.  If you apply to 50 schools, that may look bad, too.

• Volunteer or clinical experience

Part of your med school application will be your volunteerism and exposure to clinical medical situations. This stuff can't be found in the classroom, but it's part of your schedule nonetheless.  It can come at any time, but you might need to concentrate on your studies in fall and spring, so on the Sample Study Plan given below, volunteer work has been put into the Summer slot. 

An excellent way to gain this experience is to "shadow-a-physician".  Contact the human resources department of a hospital or clinic near you, and explain that you are a pre-medical student seeking a shadow opportunity.  If you have already spoken with a particular physician and gotten his/her agreement, so much the better.  Shadowing a physician involves dressing nicely and showing up promptly with a clipboard, pencil, and paper.  You will follow the physican through his/her day, making notes to yourself as you learn about the practice of medicine.  You might do this one afternoon a week, or daily for a week, or whatever.  The important thing is to get the experience.  Don't be shy; call around; shadow!

What if you just haven't had time to get the appropriate kind of experience?   There is no harm, and sometimes much good, in waiting to file your application to med school until your senior year at UW Oshkosh.  That means you'd have a year off (the "5th year") after graduation waiting to hear.  In a good economy, you may well be able to get a job with your Bachelor's Degree that will provide you with valuable experience prior to beginning medical school (hospice, nursing home, clinic, research lab, etc.).  You could also take a course here and there, to bolster your record (but be sure to get good grades).

Also, if you have been unable to obtain volunteer experience for a good reason (e.g. extensive participation in athletics or supporting a family through employment), simply be sure to explain this mitigating circumstance in your personal essay.

• Personal essay

You should start a "pre-med journal" today. Whenever you read an article, see a program, hear a speaker, or experience an interaction with a patient or clinician (especially one whom you are shadowing), make a note of the date, what happened, who was involved, and how it made you feel about becoming a physician.  These personal stories can be a powerful part of your application, particularly in the personal essay, in which you are usually asked to explain why you want to become a physician.   You can't say, "The body is fascinating and I want to help people."   That's far too generic to be of any use.  You want to stand out from the crowd.  A vivid and unique story can do that for you.

The UW Madison campus has prepared a fantastic web site of advice for writing personal essays. Go visit http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/apessay.html.

Your one page personal essay should fill the one page.  Don't write fiction.  Make sure that spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar are correct.  Consider having it edited (the UW Oshkosh Writing Center can help here!).

Your journal entries come in very handy at the interview when you may be asked, "What kinds of experiences have you had that make you think you'd be a good doctor?"  If you write things down as they occur, you don't have to rely on your memory to come up with specifics.  (To learn more about what kinds of questions come up at interviews, click here.)

In the personal essay, also be sure to include a sentence at the end which lists the courses you plan to complete prior to beginning med school.

• Recommendation letters

You will probably need three (3) recommendation letters for your application. Think carefully before asking someone to write a rec letter.  Weak letters are worse than none at all.  Instead of asking, "Would you write me a letter?", ask: "Would you be able to write me a strong letter?"  Try to pick people who can say more than "This student got an A in my class."   If you have worked with a physician in any capacity (volunteer, shadow, paid position, etc.) and have had a good relationship, be sure to ask that physician. 

Give letter writers AT LEAST three (3) weeks prior to the deadline; some are so busy, they may need considerably more advance time.  Provide each of them with the form to fill out (if any) and stamped, addressed envelopes.  

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A Sample Pre-Med Course of Study:

You do not have to be a Biology major to be a pre-med, but you will need to take quite a bit of Biology and Chemistry to satisfy the entrance requirements of most med schools.   Also, having had a solid biology education prior to med school makes med school itself a bit easier.  Therefore, many pre-meds elect some kind of Biology major for their undergraduate work.  It is often possible to get a minor in Chem or Psych at the same time.  Here is some general advice that applies to all.

The sample schedule below is one of many, but is in fact a plan often used by my pre-meds. For best results, get your math and communication classes (i.e. ENGL 101 and SPEECH 111) underway as soon as possible, because they will help you to be a better student in your other courses.   Putting them off just hurts your study skills.  Get your Inorganic Chemistry underway in good time (CHEM 105 + 106) because you will need to complete Organic Chemistry (CHEM 235 + 335) before attempting the MCAT.  

Pre-med students are encouraged to spread out their classroom effort (which tends to help the GPA) by planning to take a Winterim course whenever possible.   Not many science courses are offered in Interim, but many Gen Ed courses are.

To get a Bachelor's degree in Biology at UW Oshkosh, you must complete a Physiology course. The choices are: Animal Phys BIO 319, Plant Phys BIO 345, and Microbial Phys BIO 450.  Note: Human Phys BIO 212 no longer counts toward the Biology major.  The topics covered in Animal Phys are usually on the MCAT in some form and will certainly be a big part of med school, so most pre-meds choose BIO 319. 

If you want to take an Anatomy class prior to med school, you should probably choose BIO 308 Comparative Anatomy (offered in Spring only) because as a Bio major, you need those 300+ level credits and as ANY sort of major in the COLS, you need 300+ level credits from ANY class, period. However, if you have space in your senior year for a "just for fun" course, BIO 211 Human Anatomy is a good choice.

Sample Schedule: Biology Major with Liberal Arts Emphasis ("the blue sheet")

You will need to take at least 11 Gen Ed courses to get your Bachelor's degree. Suggested slots for those are shown, but there is a lot of flexibility in the schedule.  A list of Gen Ed courses that are particularly appropriate for pre-meds is given below this chart.

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Math Requirements: To get a BS degree, you have to take:

• Either (a) Math 103 and 108 
• OR (b) Math 103, 104, and 106; AND
• Calc 171 OR Statistics OR Computer Science. 
  •  If you decide to take Stats, many students recommend the Psych 203 stats course, which means you have to take Psych 101 first; not a problem, since that's a recommended course for any pre-med, and it counts toward any Bachelor of Science degree.
  • One med school recruiter highly recommends symbolic logic (= Phil 202; with Phil 101 as the prerequisite) as great training for the MCAT.  However, as of summer 2004, it NO LONGER COUNTS toward the Math requirement for the Bachelor's Degree from the College of Letters and Science. However, it could count toward your Humanities credits for the Bachelor's Degree. 

The 11 (eleven) Gen Eds you must complete for your UW Oshkosh Bachelor’s Degree:

If you started at UW Oshkosh prior to Fall 2003: Early Civ OR Modern Civ; must choose one.

If you started at UW Oshkosh Fall 2003 or later: any History course.  STAR report lists menu of choices. 

Non-Western Culture course (3 credits).  STAR report lists menu of choices.

Ethnic Studies course (3 credits).  STAR report lists menu of choices.

Humanities (Lit, Art, Drama, Lang, Philos, Ethics, Music) (4 x 3 credits).  STAR reports lists menu of choices.

        Strongly recommend Ethics (PHIL 105) for pre-health professionals.

        Phil 102 (Logic) may help with the MCAT!

        If you have Spanish already, don’t miss SPAN 341 (3 credits), Spanish for Medical Professionals!  It is offered every 3rd year during Springerim (2003, 2006, 2009, etc.).  Open to students who have completed the Intermediate College level of Spanish.

Social Sciences (Psych, Hist, Soc, Anthro, Econ, Geog, Poli Sci, Relig) (4 x 3 credits). STAR reports lists menu of choices.

        Strongly recommend introductory Soc, Psych, Econ, and Relig for pre-health professionals.

"Two For One" Gen Ed courses help the busy pre-med keep a decent undergraduate schedule. Check out:

African-American Literature ENG 219 (3 credits) which counts as both a Humanities and Ethnic Studies course.

Native American Literature ENG 220 (3 credits) which counts as both a Humanities and Ethnic Studies course.

Asian American Literature ENG 221 (3 credits) which counts as both a Humanities and Ethnic Studies course.

Especially appropriate BIO 300+ electives to consider:
Note: with state budget cuts, courses that don't get around a dozen students enrolled are in danger of being canceled. Enroll early in the below courses and have a back up plan ready.

ComparAnat 308 (spring only)
Bact 309 (spring and fall)
Virol 315 (spring)
DevelBio 316 (spring)
Cell/Dev Lab 317 (spring of EVEN years)
Mycol 321 (fall) A med student told me that THIS is the one BIO course MOST like med school!
Immunol 341 (fall)
Parasit 354 (spring)
AdvCell Molec 372 (fall)
Immunol/Virol Lab 374 (fall)
Neuro 306 (spring of ODD years)

CHEM 305 Biochemistry is strongly recommended; its prereq is the year of OChem plus permission of the instructor.

Your BIO 300+ electives may also include a BIO 446 Independent Study or BIO 456 Related Readings for 1-3 credits.  All you need is: at least 60 earned credits; a 3.0 or better GPA; and a BIO faculty member willing to supervise your efforts and then to evaluate them.  Ind Study may be lab research with your faculty mentor.  Rel Readings can be a "super" term paper on a topic agreeable to you and the sponsoring faculty member that reflects your particular interest in medicine.   There is a form to fill out (obtained from the Biology office) and a simple contract to write up with your chosen faculty mentor.

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Advice from UWO students who are "IN":

The following quotes are from UW Oshkosh undergraduates who have been admitted to med school.

• From various UW Oshkosh alumni in medical school: "If you're looking for any recommendations of courses for pre-meds, TAKE BIOCHEMISTRY!!!!!  I can't stress this enough.  It won't get you through the whole semester, but at least it'll help for most of the first two blocks."

• From a UW Oshkosh alum who started at UW Madison in Fall 2003: "I am an interviewer for applicants and the school (UW Madison) LOVES volunteer stuff, so have the applicants call Vicki Moen at Mercy Medical Center....my volunteer hours are what got me in....and have them tell her I told them to go to her because she loves me!! Also have them page through the yellow pages and follow a few docs around. I was NEVER turned down for a follow and I think I did a half dozen or so. I premised every follow by telling the docs I wanted a letter of rec so they knew exactly where I was coming from......and they ALL complied!  A letter from a clinician is HUGE! ANYONE can call me or email me or come down and stay with me for their interview, or if they just want to check out the school or the city...I will do all I can to help anyone out. There is so much I wish I had known before I interviewed...I am almost ALWAYS available to talk to an applicant." Note: email Rob at mheb_bor@yahoo.com if you want to take him up on this generous offer!

•  From a UW Oshkosh alum who graduated from Osteopathy school in Spring 2005: "[I found] your pre-medical advisement page.  I thought that was a great page....  Here are two of the [web] sites that I used to prepare for my medical school interview.  I thought they were very helpful, especially since I did not prepare as well as I should have for the MCAT...  However [my MCAT score] was high enough to qualify for an interview [and, at some schools,] the admissions counselors... mentioned that, if I had qualified for an interview, then the interview would have more weight versus the MCAT score."  

  • "The first site [is]  http://www.medplaza.com/premed/index.php3.   This site had the general discussion, what to wear, sample [interview] questions, what to ask, etc."

  • "The next site is [one that has been taken over by the Student Doctor Network; click here].   This web site was probably one of the most important ones that I found...  It had a section where [students] comment on two of the most difficult questions asked [at their interviews], questions that were unexpected, etc.  Using this web site, I was able to prepare about 20 different questions that the school normally asked and, during [my 40-minute] interview, of the 8 questions asked, all of them I had already prepared... this helped... with my lower MCAT score...  This site breaks down the questionnaires to each specific school, therefore if one wants to find out information about UW-Madison... or MCW-Milwaukee... they could look specifically at those schools."

• From a UW Oshkosh alum who is now a practicing MD: "Good afternoon, I graduated from UW Oshkosh and it is an excellent school, but the competition for med school admissions is fierce. I read the UW Oshkosh pre-med page and it has some excellent advice for pre-med students. One major suggestion would be to advise students that studying for the MCAT by taking the Kaplan course is mandatory.  I actually discussed this with some of our new doctors and ALL of them took the Kaplan course! I will tell you from experience that scoring at the top of the MCAT will be the biggest factor in getting admitted to med school. The students should make a major effort to spend at least six months studying for the MCAT. You can have a 3.7 GPA from Oshkosh and not get accepted. If you have a top score on the MCAT, your chances are markedly improved.  I would advise students to beg the money if necessary to take that course and seriously study for six months prior to taking the test. If you don't make the cutoff on admission formulas they wont even look at you."

"The MCAT is a major factor in those [admissions] formulas, which can be complicated.  [For example, at Saint Louis University, the admissions formula] was GPA, science GPA, a school conversion factor, and MCAT scores, all in a math formula. [Note: the school conversion factor rates the perceived quality of your undergraduate school as a way to weight your GPA; schools perceived as "easier" are rated lower.]   "Please advise the students to do everything possible to get a high GPA, as the conversion factor [for UW Oshkosh] reduces it when you are applying to [some med schools] [not all med schools use those conversion factors; for example, MCOW does not, according to their recruiter.]  Scoring at the 99 percentile of the MCAT is possible coming from UW Oshkosh if you seriously study for it with Kaplan, and that one factor will certainly put your name on the list."

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If you don't get in the first time: Study your rejection letter for any insights on the weakness of your application, then TELEPHONE the Admissions Office and politely ask to speak to someone about the particular weaknesses that kept you out of the running this time.   Don't just passively listen to the med school official; ask "What action would you recommend to improve my chances for success when I re-apply?" Take careful notes on your conversation.  Develop an action plan to address your shortcomings.   This may mean additional coursework with "A" grades, or additional volunteer experience, or another shot at the MCAT after a formal MCAT prep course.  

Rosalind Franklin University (formerly Finch University) in Chicago has a one-year program called the "Master of Science in Applied Physiology".  For 3 quarters, you take classes right alongside the first-year med students.  From what I understand, this may be another way to prove yourself capable of medical education.  For more details, click here.

If you have a strong record but didn't get in, you should PLAN to re-apply the following year. Competitive students often get in the next time around. Remember that med school admissions committees try to combine students of different backgrounds and histories to create each entering class.  They want "a green one, a blue one, a purple one, and a yellow one"; not "all yellow ones". Maybe the first time around, you were a "blue one" and they already had enough "blue ones". Next year, you could be the "blue one" they need. 

There are MANY OTHER HEALTH CARE CAREERS besides being a physician. Consider the alternatives if medical school just isn't in the cards for you at this time of your life. For a list of these careers and what it takes to pursue them, check out www.ahec.wisc.edu. 

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Last updated 09/29/05.