Building a Competitive Pre-Med Activities List

Webinar Transcription

2026-9-22-Building a Competitive Pre-Med Activities List

Lonnie: [00:00:00] Hello, everyone. Welcome to CollegeAdvisor’s Webinar: Building a Competitive Pre-Med Activities List. My name is Lonnie Burrell, and I will serve as your moderator for this webinar. To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we will first begin with our presentation, and then we’ll have a opportunity to answer your questions during our live Q&A.

Lonnie: We are gonna share a lot of information with you all, great information. And if you would like to follow along, you can also download the handouts by visiting the Handouts tab, and they will be readily available for you at any time. If you have any, uh, technical questions or concerns, feel, please feel free to send me a private message.

Lonnie: Okay, enough of that, of me talking. Let’s now meet our presenter

Dr. Ishaani: Hey everyone, my name [00:01:00] is, uh, Ishaani. I am a resident physician in New York City. Um, I’m a graduate, or an internal medicine resident to be a little more specific. Um, I’m a graduate of Brown, both for my undergraduate education, where I majored in computational biology, and also for my medical, uh, degree.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, I… So that’s, that’s my academic background. Now kind of putting on my advising hat, um, so I applied to combined, like BS/MD programs, um, and pre-med programs when I applied to college, which was now like 10 years ago. Uh, so that’s… I was an applicant myself, so I was in your shoes not too long ago. I also, since, uh, being a sophomore in college, so for about almost, almost 10 years now, I’ve been in this advising space.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, and I, I found that I’ve really built a niche for myself in advising pre-med students and also students applying to these combined BS and MD combined programs as well. [00:02:00] Um, and then also I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to read applications, uh, for Brown’s combined, uh, eight-year program.

Dr. Ishaani: So as a result, I have a lot of experience in this space, both as a f- former applicant myself, as someone who’s advised students, many students through the process, and also as someone who’s evaluated, um, applications. So I feel really confident and excited to discuss, uh, applying to pre-med programs today and share my insights and expertise over the years with y’all.

Lonnie: Thank you, Dr. Ishaani. This is amazing. I’m looking forward to all that you’re gonna share with our audience. But before we dive into your presentation, audience, we would love for you to participate in our poll by letting us know what grade you are in, and then I will share with Dr. Ishaani for, uh, you all to hear what the results are.

Lonnie: And [00:03:00] I see that they are coming in rapidly. Thank you to everyone. I’m gonna allow it to just go for five more seconds, and then I’ll share the responses out loud. Okay, I think I got a good, good amount. Thank you, thank you to everyone for filling out our polls. So we have 30% of our live audience are in the 11th grade, 28% are in the 10th grade, 23% are in the 12th grade, 17% 9th grade, and then we have 1% that is representative of the other category.

Lonnie: Uh, so we have definitely a great variety who is in the space with us. And so with that, Dr. Ishaani, I will turn it over to you to kick us off in our presentation.

Dr. Ishaani: Mm-hmm. Great. Uh, so first things first, um, today [00:04:00] we’re gonna be talking about building a competitive premed activity list. But before we even get into building an activity list, I thought we’d chat about what it means to even be premed in the first place.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so what does it mean to be premed? It refers students to students preparing for admissions to medical school. Um, again, I think it’s really important to emphasize that premed is not a major. You don’t major in premed. You major in a, a major of your interest, whether that’s anthropology, whether that’s biology, whether that’s computer science, whether that’s biomedical engineering, um, political science.

Dr. Ishaani: You major in whatever, you know, suits your interests, and then you take some additional prerequisites, or your premed, they call them pre-reqs for short, you might hear college students call them. So you take the appropriate prerequisite courses in order to, uh- you know, prepare you for, um, being a medical student.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, you’ll probably [00:05:00] realize like, hey, some of these majors like in, in biology, you’re gonna have a lot more cr- uh, classes that you both get credit for. Like, oh, this checks off a biology major prerequisite and a pre-med requisite, prerequisite, as opposed to political science major. If there’s a, if you’re a political science major, there’s not gonna be many requirements for like biology classes and et cetera.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so that’s an important decision to make. But I, I do always encourage my students, um, when you think about college majors, think about what’s really interesting to you. You will be able to find, you know, as, as you’re a freshman in college, you start planning out your schedule and get a sense of like what’s a realistic major and your time and your credits and et cetera.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so that’s what you’re doing in the classroom. But then pre-med, there’s also a lot of stuff you have to do outside the classroom too, as I’m sure you can imagine. So in the same way that today I’m gonna be talking about clinical and research and volunteering experience to, you know, strengthen your application as a pre-med student in, in this high school to college application, uh, discussion.

Dr. Ishaani: In, in the same vein, [00:06:00] when you’re in college, you’re gonna be preparing and thinking about how your application’s looking for medical school. So as a pre-med in college, you’re also gonna be doing similar clinical research and volunteering experience to prepare, first of all, build your interest, get a sense of what you like within the field of medicine, and that’ll inform and guide your application to medical school.

Dr. Ishaani: So that’s what being pre-med is Now that we’ve divined and kind of gotten some semblance of what that college experience is gonna look like, I think it’s often helpful to get a sense of what we’re working towards. We can think, “Well, okay, how do I get there? I wanna go to Y. What do, what do I have to do to prepare for that?”

Dr. Ishaani: And that’s what this t- talk is about. So if you’re interested in being a doctor, you wanna be pre-med w- when you’re in college, what should you think about now that you’re in high school? And if you’re applying to pre-med programs, what are these colleges looking for? So I first wanna say, um, in the prospective pre-med student, they’re looking for the things that they’re looking for for any student.

Dr. Ishaani: So whether you’re pre-med or you want to be a lawyer [00:07:00] or a politician or whatever that might be, we’re l- they’re looking for pretty similar things, um, when it comes to strong academic stats. So GPA, SAT or… And/or ACT scores. Um, a SAT subject test, though I’m, um… Those might be falling a little bit more out of favor.

Dr. Ishaani: I’d say the, the big two stats are gonna be your GPA and your SAT, ACT. Again, sometimes people ask me like, “Oh, which one’s more important?” I think they’re equally important, um, in different ways. So I think, you know, your GPA, uh, is kind of, you know, it’s your, it’s an average of all your grades over four years, so it really sum- encapsulates a lot of time.

Dr. Ishaani: It’s like four years’ worth of effort. The SAT and ACT are also just, they’re just one point in time. Um, so that’s, that’s the difference there. Um, but also I know, you know, certain students, I think sometimes an SAT and ACT helps people, standardize people across people that went to very different schools and have very different academic backgrounds, and that’s also why it’s being utilized as well.

Dr. Ishaani: Uh, so that’s the academic [00:08:00] stats. Those are the big two. Then they also look at your extracurriculars, et cetera. Um, so one thing that I like to emphasize when you’re applying to pre-med, uh, you’re basically saying you wanna be a doctor, right? And so I think a really important, um, piece of being a doctor and thinking about who would be a good doctor is thinking about someone’s characters and th- and extracurriculars.

Dr. Ishaani: I’m gonna emphasize this a lot in our call, in our chat tonight. Uh, you really wanna make sure that your extracurriculars Are really what get your character and your personality across. Um, ’cause it’s two stats, they show that, okay, like, you’re a great test taker, you got good grades, awesome. But who are you as a person?

Dr. Ishaani: That’s where your extracurriculars shine, and that’s also what letters of recommendation do as well. I always like to remind my students, you know, even if you’re applying pre-med, I don’t wanna see people, well, this is my- my opinion, but not all of your extracurriculars, and should not, they should not all be related to medicine.

Dr. Ishaani: So, you know, you wanna have maybe a couple related to [00:09:00] medicine, that’s great, but also keep doing the music classes you like, or being part of the sports team, or being a leader in a certain club. It- it’s important, and I would argue it’s kind of needed to also show that you have extracurriculars and interests outside of medicine.

Dr. Ishaani: So don’t, don’t be that pre-med who every single thing they’re doing is related to medicine. I, I would argue that’s sometimes counterintuitive. You’re still young and early in your lives and careers, um, so I think it’s good to be open and exploring lots of new things. And then also, again, extracurriculars, they’re v- like very holistic, so do, you know, a, a variety of things.

Dr. Ishaani: Have some variety in your extracurricular diet So now I think people– I said, “Okay, like you should do some extracurricular related to medicine and some not.” So what do I really mean by that? What are medical extracurriculars then? So I listed some kind of general buckets of how I think about medical, um, extracurriculars or activities you can do in, [00:10:00] uh, in high school.

Dr. Ishaani: So I think there’s three big buckets. There’s one research thing, so that’ll be like more academic, more inquisitive. You get a sense of like how is biological knowledge made? How is medical knowledge actually created? Uh, then there’s volunteering, which I think a really important point here with volunteering is some people think, oh, like medical volunteering, that means it has to be volunteering that like happens in a hospital.

Dr. Ishaani: They’re like, they kind of have a very narrow definition of what it means to be like to volunteer in a medical space. Um, there’s a lot of volunteering you can do that’s not like directly related to medicine, but you can make a tie and a connection to medicine and, and healthcare as a whole, and I’ll talk a little bit more about that later.

Dr. Ishaani: And then there’s shadowing. So going to a clinic or going to a hospital and seeing like what does a doctor actually do? Like what does their life really entail? That is also a really important piece, um, because again, the [00:11:00] things all doctors do have, or most doctors I’d say, they have clinical practice.

Dr. Ishaani: They see patients. Like that’s a bulk of their work. Not all doctors do research. So I would say if you had to… I think, you know, it’s, I think sometimes it’s easier to get involved in research. Shadowing, I know it’s, it’s tricky. I think it sometimes takes, um, having a certain network in place and knowing doctors to get involved in shadowing.

Dr. Ishaani: I also know there’s a lot of like age limitations with shadowing of like, oh, you have to be at least 16 years old, et cetera. And also I think doctors tend to be really busy people and sometimes they just wanna like get through their clinic day and they, sometimes having a student can slow them down a little bit.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so I know, I understand like shadowing opportunities are tricky and hard and I definitely don’t want students to feel like, “Oh, I don’t have shadowing. I’m not gonna be a great, great pre-med.” You have the whole rest of your career in pre, in college and in medical school to continue shadowing. So if you don’t shadow in high school, it is not the end all or be all of your high school, um, your pre-med experience, to be really, really clear.

Dr. Ishaani: So those are the, [00:12:00] the three big buckets of medical activities. Um, and there’s also non-medical activities. So show that you have a, a life interest outside of medicine. So whether that’s music or clubs that you’re involved with. Like if you’re in the school’s comedy club or you are part of the water polo team, et cetera, show that you have those interests too, and that again, that’s totally up to you.

Dr. Ishaani: So the next question I get is: How important is clinical exposure, and what experience, like, counts as clinical exposure? Like, uh, so I first wanna start off with, I think a student- questions from students often being like, “Okay,” like, “Ishaani, how many clinical hours should I have?” Like, “I did 100,” or, “I did 50,” et cetera.

Dr. Ishaani: First of all, I don’t wanna scare you with those numbers. Those are just random numbers I, I blurted out. Um, I like to remind students that, again, as someone who’s read applications, I didn’t, like, specifically, like, scroll through and be like, “Oh, this person had 50 hours. [00:13:00] This person had 100, the 100 person’s better.”

Dr. Ishaani: I think what really makes someone’s, like, clinical experiences shine, it’s not the number on the resume of how many hours it is, but it’s how they speak to it in their essays. So if you did clinical shadowing but you didn’t mention it in any of your essays, it might have… it might fall to the back of my brain.

Dr. Ishaani: I, I think if you did clinical shadowing, it should be explicitly mentioned in some of your essays, and you should be able to speak to it really well. I’d rather have a student who did, like, 20 hours of shadowing but was able to, like, you know, pick a certain moment or have, like, a pearl of, like, a really great thing that happened, um, than someone who did 100 hours and then either didn’t talk about it at all.

Dr. Ishaani: I’m like, “Ugh, that’s such a, such a loss.” Or talks about it in a story that was, like, just okay. So it’s really what you say about it, um, that matters. Again, the more you can show… Like, i- when you shadow, you get a sense of what a doctor does, so the more you can show that, hey, like, I have a- an understanding of what being a [00:14:00] doctor is because I shadowed, um, or because I got exposed to this, then it’s easier to convince someone that you wanna be a doctor because you’re able…

Dr. Ishaani: you know what it l- what it means, like, what being a, a physician entails. Um, the second bullet point up here, like, people who are reading your applications are doctors themselves, that, as a, as a caveat, is actually more true for people applying to these BS/MD combined programs. If you’re applying to, like, just a general undergrad institution, a college, it’s…

Dr. Ishaani: Even if you’re applying pre-med, I think it would be very unlikely that someone who is reading your essay is a physician. If you’re complying to combined BS/MD programs, though, I promise you, in their application reading committee and panel, you’re being, these are being read by physicians. And then also, sometimes when you apply to pre-med, there’s, like, a why medicine.

Dr. Ishaani: Like, why do you wanna be a doctor? Sometimes that exists, like, rarely in pre-med, um, applications, but if you’re applying to BS/MD programs, there will be a why medicine essay. And I think having these experiences are, is really vital to the why medicine essay. Again, for general pre-med, I think, like I said m- in the prior [00:15:00] slide, like, it’s not the end-all be-all to not have clinical experiences.

Dr. Ishaani: I think if you’re applying to a BS/MD program, like, it is highly, highly, probably, like, definitely recommended Um, so now talking about second bucket of, like, research. So how important is research? And I get the— and another question I get very often is: How do I even get involved in research? So first of all, how important is research?

Dr. Ishaani: I think it’s helpful. I think it’s… Again, shifting the angle quickly to BS/MD programs if you’re interested in those. I think it’s kinda like a soft prerequisite in a research-heavy BS/MD programs. Some are more like human-humanities-heavy BS/MD programs. They won’t, like, look at your research that heavily.

Dr. Ishaani: Depends. That being said, it’s not necessary for pre-med by any means. Um, there’s gonna be plenty of time for research in college and med school and residency, if that’s the career you want. So don’t feel like it’s a prerequisite, but, you know, if you’re able to get those experiences, [00:16:00] more power to you. The next question, okay, h-how do I even get involved in those experiences then?

Dr. Ishaani: So I was very fortunate, um, of– So I w- I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, so I was very lucky in that there are a lot of research and academic institutions in Chicago, right? There’s, um, Northwestern. There’s UChicago. There’s the University of Illinois at Chicago, et cetera. So there’s a l- a lot of different…

Dr. Ishaani: I like… You know, when I was cold emailing, I could email professors from not even just one amazing academic university, but, like, multiple. So I think that is, like, a, a really important thing to recognize. I think someone, like, if you live in, let’s say, like, rural Montana, of course it’s gonna be harder to get involved with research because you’re not close to an academic institution.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, that being said, I always advise my students, first start off by looking at, like, formal research opportunities at colleges and institutions and also, like, sometimes even at, like, high schools. Um, [00:17:00] sometimes they make these, like, research programs for high schools. I think that is probably, like, for high school students, that’s like ideally your first choice program.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, particularly, like certain, certain programs are like what I call pay to play programs. Those are, are good, but, you know, people recognize that, um, if you’re paying to go to those programs, sometimes the access is just based on how much is your ability to pay. There are also programs that are, like, fully just merit-based, like you apply, and they’re free.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, those programs are, like, looked at a little bit more highly because if you applied to there, that means, like, it’s a pretty competitive program. ‘Cause getting research in these kind of programs is, is competitive. So the ones that are not pay to play are more competitive, and I would encourage you to apply to those because, first of all, you-you’re part of a formal program, so it, like, looks better on your resume.

Dr. Ishaani: And then also, since you’re part of a formal program, there’s gonna be more, like, built-in curriculum. It’s not just you working one-on-one with a researcher, but it’s like having general talks about research in addition to being, like, um, you know, connected to a mentor. So I, I would say look for those kind of [00:18:00] opportunities first.

Dr. Ishaani: I will say that, um- The applications for those come earlier than you think. So the applications for those kind of programs tend to happen in, like, spring. So some of them are, are, are due as early as, like, end of Jan, like February, March. So o- and even, I know it’s still just September, so summer 2027 is quite a ways away, but I would start looking and making a spreadsheet of opportunities by, like, October, twen- like maybe the next month, just to see, like, what’s out there.

Dr. Ishaani: So the worst feeling is, like, when you find an amazing opportunity, and it’s January 30th, and you’re like, “Oh, God, I found this great opportunity for me, but hey, the deadline was January 25th, and now I can’t apply.” So get ahead of, like, looking for the opportunities by looking early, and then when you’re making your spreadsheet of, like, opportunities, your most important column is when’s the deadline so you don’t miss any deadlines.

Dr. Ishaani: So that’d be my first step. Second step, let’s say, like, I did that in, [00:19:00] in high school. There was, like, one program I applied to. I was lucky enough to get it, but let’s say I hadn’t gotten it. What would my backup be? Then I think the next thing you have to do is kind of cold email, um, PIs at u- local universities.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so look through, like, s- schools’ departments of medicines and, um, their biology departments and see whose research interests you. Also, I think you have to kind of take a step back and ask yourself, what kind of research do you wanna do over the summer? Do you wanna do what’s called, like, wet lab research, which is a lot of, like, pipetting solution.

Dr. Ishaani: Sometimes you have to work with, like- There’s, at least in the college, things like you have to work with, like, animals and mice that honestly I don’t know if you’d be able to get clearance to, ’cause it, like, requires extra training and clearance. I don’t know if that would make sense for, like, a high- high school student to work with mice like that.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so first question is do you wanna do that? Um, then the next piece is, like, there’s translational research, and then also I think [00:20:00] one thing, like, especially after COVID, there’s a lot of research that is now being done, like, totally remotely on your computer. Some of it can be, like, clinical analyses, like meta-analyses, et cetera, and, um, that can be helpful, too.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so first think about the kind of research you wanna do, and then start just CCing and emailing, reaching out to these PIs. Uh, my tip is, again, these PIs are very busy people who have, I’m sure, very full inboxes. So as you’re emailing them, I’d recommend, like, CCing a grad student. Um, like let’s say, like, “Hi, Dr.

Dr. Ishaani: So-and-So who runs lab XYZ. Like, I’m interested in your project, blah, blah, blah, and I’m especially excited by your work, the work being done by your grad student So-and-So, who is CC’d here. Um, would I be able to work with them?” And I think if you CC the grad student, the grad student’s more likely to, like, respond, um, and, like, be like, “Hey,” like, and talk to them.

Dr. Ishaani: They, like, get that email, they might tell their PI, like, “Hey,” like, “did you see that email from that high school student?” [00:21:00] So I think getting people in, of different levels involved is, would be your best bet. And also if there’s, like, a lab manager, someone else, like, y- if you’re not certain, certain about, like, whose project or whose PhD student you’re, like, most excited their, by their work.

Dr. Ishaani: Just I think cold emailing a PI, I think the more people you add on the email, the more likely you are to get a response. Last piece, if you have any, like, personal network, like you have friends of friends who are academic, or, like, a, you know, like, you have a, a teacher at school, like, you like to maybe ask them if they know anyone.

Dr. Ishaani: If you have, like, a fam- ca- favorite chemistry teacher or biology teacher, or a, a parent’s friend. Again, I know that a lot of those things, it’s, it’s tough, but I think access is sometimes limited by, like, who you know, and I think that’s a really tough and true part of, like, the entire college process. Like, there’s a lot of, you know, inequities built in, um, to the whole process.

Dr. Ishaani: But if you think there’s someone you might know, try your luck and at least ask. Um, [00:22:00] so Um, now the next piece is volunteering. Um, so what roles do, like, volunteering and community service play in building a competitive pre-med profile? So I, I think, this is my opinion again, and I think… I went to Brown, and I think, uh, the ethos of Brown is very, like, focused on being a great clinician and also thinking about the community that you serve.

Dr. Ishaani: This could be my bias as someone who went to Brown for medical school, and that really colored how I, how I think and change about medicine. I would argue that community service and volunteering is really, really important to your, and maybe more so important than research, depending on what kind of doctor you wanna be, to your pre-med profile.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, I, I think at the end of the day, like, medicine is a service-based profession. Um, so there are incredibly smart physicians that are amazing. Um, but when you really sit down and ask yourself, like, “Hey, am I in, in… If I’m in a…” If you’re in medicine to be a [00:23:00] researcher, or are you in medicine for, like, the, the people interaction, um, that can really color how you approach medicine.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, it can also color, like, do you wanna go the MD route or, like, the straight PhD route? Like, if you wanna be just purely an academic and not see patients, then you probably be a PhD, not a medical doctor. Um, both such important careers, but you really have to think about what, what’s more interesting to you.

Dr. Ishaani: And to be clear, there’s also, like… You can do both. There are MD PhDs out there too. Um, so I, I would, I think, and like I said prior, like, all doctors see patients in clinically practice. Not all doctors do research. So I think focusing on the community service and volunteering and really showing off your ability to work with others is what’s really gonna make your application sparkle.

Dr. Ishaani: Um- I know I mentioned earlier, like your essays and the whole application process and, and your resume is what kind of imbues your application with a sense of character and, like, who are you? [00:24:00] So I think having… Just as I said, like, these shadowing experiences should be mentioned in your essays. I think equally important, these community service and volunteering essays experiences should be mentioned explicitly in your essays.

Dr. Ishaani: And really try picking nuggets that, like, show how you work with others, how you interact with the world, how you think about the world, how you provide support to those in need. Um, having character come across in your applications is so important, and I think these volunteering experience often lend themselves to having moments that are really great.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so that is my, my two cents there. I also know prior I was talking about, I think a lot of people have this misconception of, like, “Oh, I need to do healthcare-related volunteering, so, like, I have to be at a hospital.” Um, that’s not necessarily the case. I, I often find that also, like, sometimes students are like, “Oh, I do this volunteering at my hospital, like, where I help, like, restock the shelves.”

Dr. Ishaani: And I think, again, like, that’s important work. That’s really helpful. That’s fantastic. But if you’re in the hospital, but, like, not [00:25:00] really interacting with people, um, it’s, like, good, but I- I’d rather… Like, if you’re totally solitarily, like, just restocking supply closets, that experience is, is good to get a sense of, like, how a hospital works.

Dr. Ishaani: But if s- an- let’s say student A did that, but student B did something not in the hospital, but they, let’s say they volunteered at their local library and read to s- to young students, like, once a week and then taught students, like, how to read, I honestly think that would be more of an exciting volunteering opportunity to talk about.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, and I think you could also make a really clear… Even though it might seem a little bit indirect, I think you could make a clear connection between the reading experience to kids and, like, healthcare. ‘Cause I think it’s important to, when you think about healthcare, take a step back and remember that, like, uh, health- healthcare is just, like, one piece of someone’s health.

Dr. Ishaani: There are so many other factors that go into people’s health, and that’s, like, we, we talk about in medical school. It’s called, like, the social determinants of mel- of, of health. Um, so things like [00:26:00] literacy and, um- literacy in people’s lives and like their diets, et cetera, insurance. Like, there’s so many ways to get involved in health kind of related volunteering, not healthcare related volunteering.

Dr. Ishaani: So like I have students that, um, they kind of do the, the reading at the library. I’ve also encouraged students to look into opportunities at like local community centers. So like I know a student who like volunteered in a role where they would help, um, older adults pick what Medicare plan was best for them.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, people that would just like generally work in soup kitchens. Um, so again, take a really broad sense of the, the term health and think about all the ways health can be impacted. And also just take a look at your community and think like, w-what’s like a good community organization here that I could potentially work with and partner with?

Dr. Ishaani: And I think doing volunteering with them, um, is great. I remember I read … It’s an essay that I read as [00:27:00] an, um, an, a writer for my, the program that I was reading applications for, and it was someone who talked about how they volunteered in this group that was for students who had parents that like had, um, kind of passed a little bit untimely and how young adults dealt with like grief of parents, um, and losing their parents really, and that was like his key volunteering experience.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, y- I think also he was someone who had also lost his parent in like a kind of young, like in, in his teenage years. Um, and so he was … He like went through this program and then he was like a volunteer in this program, and it was really meaningful to him. Um, again, it wasn’t like in a hospital or anything like that, but it’s like a very meaning and, and moving experience and a

Dr. Ishaani: And I think for him, and you could clearly see that in the essay as well. Um, the last piece of things I wanna talk about is leadership experience. Again, they’re important because they show character, I think in the same way that healthcare is like a very service-oriented profession. It’s also a, a, a pretty teamwork heavy, um, profession, especially in the hospital.[00:28:00]

Dr. Ishaani: You work with so many different people of like different backgrounds, area of expertise, and sometimes you’re leading those teams as well. Um, like to give you an example, today in the hospital, like we have s- we work with so many different people of like different backgrounds. So like we work with the amazing nurses, um, that we also work with fantastic like speech language pathologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists.

Dr. Ishaani: So healthcare is really a team sport. Um, and sometimes as the doctor and the nurse, like we’re all kind of coordinating this patient’s care and working together. So y- if you’re in healthcare, you- you’re on an island, you, you have to be a great team player. Um, and these leadership experiences are where you show your character and your ability to work with a team.

Dr. Ishaani: I also think I wanna point out in that, uh, too, like there are sometimes you can be in, in a group setting. Like you don’t have to be like the main leader to show that you’re a great team player. Sometimes it’s like a, a, a leadership board or, um, like a group of [00:29:00] people that shows that you’re a great team player too.

Dr. Ishaani: So it doesn’t… You don’t have to be like, “I’m the captain of the swim team,” is leadership, but like, if I’m not a captain, it’s there’s no leadership. There’s also like, you know, like maybe if you’re not the captain of the swim team, but you’re a senior and there’s like a… You saw, um, a new freshman on the team that was like struggling and you helped them through that, that’s also something you can speak to, even if you weren’t like captain, you know?

Dr. Ishaani: I also think a- as I think about and reflect on those experiences in high school, um, and also beyond, you think about your leadership style, um, and what you’re like as a leader and how you prioritize different things and listening, but also taking action, et cetera. Um, I also think s- again, in all these activities, try getting letters of recommendations from people that know you in these, in these ways and also like sometimes they’re non-academic ways.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, because again, your essay, I think that the two things that are the most like imbued with character in your [00:30:00] application are one, of course, your essays, and that’s something you’re able to control ’cause you’re writing it yourself, so you can really see and have a lot of control over like the vision and what you’re trying to portray.

Dr. Ishaani: Uh, the second thing in your application that also, um, is what shows your character are the letters of recommendation. So I think being very mindful of your letter of rec writers, of course you’re g- most of them are gonna be from teachers, but if you’re able to get like one from like a physician you worked with or a volunteer coordinator you worked with, et cetera, that I think will really go a long way Um, but another question I get a lot is, um, how, like how many app- how many

Dr. Ishaani: Okay, you’re trying to talk about all these different volunteering experiences, and things I should be doing, and all these activities. How many should I do? My- I think the, the big takeaway here is qu- oh. Oh my God, I think I wrote that slide wrong. It should say quality over quantity. Definitely that, that’s the [00:31:00] opp- It should be quality is better than quantity.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, everyone’s extracurricular profile is different. Play to your own strengths. So I think some people, uh, like do a lot of different things, or like, and they can speak them all well. Some people like doing a couple things well. But my main recommendation is even if let’s say you do seven different things, have it really clear in your applications like what are your main things.

Dr. Ishaani: You should have … You could be doing seven extracurriculars, fine. But you should have like two to three that are like your main ones. ‘Cause if you have seven that are like equally important, people will be like, it- it’s just kind of confusing. Like maybe like two to three are the main ones, and you kind of mention like some of the other ones like in passing and weave them through your essay.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, that’s ideal. I think also having some people are like, “Oh, like I just have this like one main activity and that’s like my main thing.” I find that like just having one thing you do, like it’s great to get depth on something, but if you just do one really well and that’s all you can speak to in every essay, you kind of read as a one-trick [00:32:00] pony.

Dr. Ishaani: I think it’s okay to have like one overarching theme. So like I remember I had a student once who like his whole thing was like, “I’m really interested in neuro,” and he was able to take neuro into like different aspects. So he’s like, “Oh, like I actually I volunteer on, with s- with s- with like kids that have like neurodevelopmental delay.

Dr. Ishaani: So like that’s my volunteering piece but the way it’s neuro. But I also do like research related to neuro, and then I like have shadowed a neurologist.” So again, the theme, it’s not like he only has one activity, but his overarching theme is neurology, but he’s able to like do it in, in different avenues.

Dr. Ishaani: So it’s like still a cohesive story, but it’s multiple extracurriculars to be c- clear. It’s not just like I did one neuro research project and that was it. Um- So that’s my, my, my two cents is again, quality over quantity and try to have, you can have multiple, like I remember when I applied to college, I think I had like I’ve got like seven or eight listed in my Common App, and of note in your Common App, you can only list 10.[00:33:00]

Dr. Ishaani: So like, don’t be like, “Oh, I’m gonna volunteer at, at this health fair next week and then this other health fair 12 weeks, like two months from now.” That’ll be two activities. Like, you only get a certain amount, so try doing things in a long-term way. I’d much rather see a student that did like five activities, but they did all five like all four years of college than someone that did like 10, but like some of them were like, “Oh, like I did this for a weekend, and then I did this for like a year.”

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so focus on like really quality, like long-term activities. Um, so it’s again, the quality over the quantity. Then the next piece is it has to consider, it’s like you have all these activities, how do I, like, now create them into, like, a cohesive and authentic narrative? Um, I like to remind people, the people reading your essays read a ton of essays.

Dr. Ishaani: It’s impossible to have, like, an entirely uni- uh, unique, um, and [00:34:00] cohesive pre-med essay. But, you know, what is… what can be done is, like, writing one that’s specific to you, ’cause you are unique and specific. Um, but also at the same time, don’t feel like you have to make, like, the coolest, most out there essay ever.

Dr. Ishaani: What you should really start with, and I think this is especially good advice for my, my juniors who are starting to, like, maybe think about their essays, and this is probably good advice of, like, how to even make these essays when you’re doing that in the spring. I think it’s great t- sometimes if I have, like, a lot of ideas, and I think it’s just good to just get all your ideas and write them on a piece of paper.

Dr. Ishaani: So what I would do is, like, get a Word doc or a blank piece of paper if you’re, like, an on paper kind of person, and just start with, like, writing stuff down. Like, what’s everything you did? Like a word cloud, you know? Of like, okay, I did this activity, and that activity, and that activity, and that activity.

Dr. Ishaani: And then for each of them, kind of take a second and reflect. What did you learn about this role? What did you learn? Like, what did that show you about yourself, you know? [00:35:00] Um, what it didn’t, like, did it make you realize, like, what’s, what’s important to yourself? Like, you might be like, “Oh, I did this shadowing opportunity and it made me realize, like, wow, I really like this about medicine.

Dr. Ishaani: And when my practice of medicine, I really wanna have longitudinal patient care,” or whatever that might be. Or it could be even more general like, “Oh, I was captain of my swim team and I realized I really love mentoring students. So like maybe mentorship should be part of my, my career as a, as a doctor,” et cetera.

Dr. Ishaani: So, a- and note there like how I took something that wasn’t related to medicine at all, like being captain of the swim cap- swim team and still found, you know, it still showed you something about your career and, like, what kind of leader you are, like, what’s important to you in your future. So with that, you’re sometimes able to connect, like, topics that seem kinda different.

Dr. Ishaani: So you might be like, “Oh, I love the mentorship aspect of being captain of my volleyball team. But in the same way, like, I liked working with, like, these younger freshmen when I was, like, a senior. Um, and in the same way, like, when I was volunteering at the library, I liked working with… I really liked, like, working with, like, again, not, like, [00:36:00] juniors or, but, or freshmen, but I liked working with these, like, seventh or eighth graders, um, who were, like…

Dr. Ishaani: to, like, provide additional tutoring at the local library.” So they’re, they’re pretty diff… Like, being captain of the swim, swim team and, um, volunteering at your local library are pretty different, but you’re able to, like, find this, like, common theme between them. And so that, that helps you connect these kind of pretty different topics and different extracurriculars, um, and kind of weave them into, like, one cohesive narrative by finding that connection between them.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, and then your whole essay can be like, “Hey, mentorship and working with, uh, like, adolescents is, like, my favorite part of…” And that’s what I… It made me wanna be, like, an adolescent medicine doctor. Again, this is just an example. Um, and then you can be like, “And I realized that from my experience,” and you can talk, like your swim, swim team, or your volleyball team captaincy, and then you can also talk about, like, volunteering at the local library.

Dr. Ishaani: Again, they seem pretty different, but you can distill it to, like, one point. Um, my personal example is, so in some of the, [00:37:00] uh, essays I wrote for medical school, I talked about, like, this idea of personal medicine. Um, and so I talked about some of the computer science research that I had done that was about, like, you know, uh, identifying, like, genomic changes in people’s tumors, so we could find targeted mutations and treat people’s cancers better, et cetera.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, not to get too in the weeds, but you know, like, we get all, we get this personal information and this genomic information to guide and make sure people get exceptional treatment. So like medically and scientifically, we’re, like, really doing right by them and make sure, making sure they’re on the ideal treatment.

Dr. Ishaani: And in a similar vein, like, I also want to treat my patients, like, individually and make sure that I really, like, hear their stories and understand what they’re going through, um, a- and know them really well, like the social factors of their life, of, like, their kids and their parents And that’ll also inform my treatment of them too.

Dr. Ishaani: So I was able to take this concept of like personalized medicine, both in like in a very academic, like science translational research way, but also I use this kind of idea of like I wanna treat the individual and be like a humanistic [00:38:00] doctor. And again, very two different things, but I had this like over- overarching term of like medicine for the person in front of me or…

Dr. Ishaani: So that, those were two disparate experiences I, again, connected with like a similar theme. My one piece of advice there is when I gave these examples, when I was trying to mention, like, two activities and combined them, I wasn’t talking about how I combined, like, and found an overarching theme between five different activities.

Dr. Ishaani: So really focus when you’re, you know, making these cohesive essays, maybe, like, one to three activities. I think three is, like, a max. Um, four would be probably, like, a lot. Again, you don’t wanna rehash your resume. They… You know, people have a list of all the activities you did in the first place. They wanna see in these essays, like, a story and what’s important to you and a sense of character.

Dr. Ishaani: If they wanted to read all the activities that you were doing, they would just read your resume. So do not rehash your resume. Do not go talking about too many activities. Um, they’ll just talk about all of them kind of [00:39:00] poorly. And so to wrap things up, um, we’re at a good s- time for a spot for Q&A. Um, quality over quantity, no typo on this slide.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, have non-medical extracurriculars, please. Like, do not show that you’re, like, a blinders on medicine only. You’re still so young, so early in your lives. You should be exploring lots of interests, both, like, personal interests of, like, I like art and movies and those kind of things. In addition, like, academic interests of, like, oh, I’m interested in, like, economics and medicine and et cetera.

Dr. Ishaani: We talked a little bit a- about how to weave this cohesive narrative and take two different activities and, like, try finding, like, common threads or themes between them to kind of weave into a good narrative. And then we also talked about the importance of incorporating character into your application, um, which w- I think can be highlighted in two places.

Dr. Ishaani: One, your essays. I think I’d really focus on your interactions with others, how you work well with others, et cetera. And then also, your letters of recommendation. Again, you can’t really [00:40:00] control what’s written in there, but what you can control is who writes them, so be really mindful of who is y- your re- letter of rec writer.

Dr. Ishaani: Uh, let’s say if you have, like, a, a teacher who was, like, your teacher but also knew you as, like, was, like, also, I don’t know, like, one of the… Like, he was a, what, maybe one of your teachers who was also knew you in, like, a, in a, in a leadership role in a club or in a sports capacity or in, like, a music capacity.

Dr. Ishaani: If you have these letter writers who, like, maybe know you in multiple ways, both as, like, a student and as a leader, or as a student and as a athlete, I think those writers can be especially strong ’cause they can speak to, like, multiple aspects of your personality and, like, how you exist in different settings.

Dr. Ishaani: So that’s also helpful. Um, so really think about that one and be really thoughtful of when you’re thinking about who do you wanna select as your letter of rec writer So those are… Well, that’s all the, um, wisdom I had to impart for today. Um, and I’m looking forward to opening up to Q&A, ’cause I did see some hand raised, so I’m excited to answer [00:41:00] some questions.

Lonnie: Thank you. Yes, absolutely. Okay, so we are now gonna move into our live question and answer. So Dr. Ishaani, are you ready for the first question?

Dr. Ishaani: Yeah.

Lonnie: All right. So the first question that came in says, “Is taking the SAT or ACT better for pre-med?”

Dr. Ishaani: SAT versus ACT. Um, honestly, I, I think for pre-med, like, either is fine.

Dr. Ishaani: I don’t think there’s, like, a strong preference either way. Um, my, my two cents, and maybe things have changed in the past 10 years, but when I was applying, I just at home took, like, a practice test in each, and then was like, “Wow, my, my baseline test for an ACT is more impressive than my baseline test for an SAT,” so I think the ACT is more suited for me, so I just really focused on the ACT and then ended up getting a great score on that.

Lonnie: Okay, great. Okay, next question. Would doing a CNA program through my high [00:42:00] school look good for college?

Dr. Ishaani: Yeah. Uh, that’s a really good question. I think I’ve, I’ve heard of people doing that. If it’s like, you know, it’s like built into your curriculum and it’s like easy for you to do, I think y- it’s a really great clinical exposure.

Dr. Ishaani: And also it’s like a, a formal like certification. Um, you can like, if you wanted to, like during college, like if it was like do that like a couple hours a week. Obviously it’s like a, a real job, so you get paid, and also you get a really good exposure to the, um, the clinical environment and like what it is to be in the hospital.

Dr. Ishaani: So I, I would encourage. Like I think that sounds like a great idea, yeah.

Lonnie: Okay. When given the option, should I take dual enrollment or AP classes?

Dr. Ishaani: I’m gonna be, maybe this is age, but I don’t even, I don’t even know if I know what dual enrollment classes are. Um-

Lonnie: Yeah. Yeah, no, I’ll remind you. I remind you. Um, so dual enrollment is when a student is also taking a community college class.

Lonnie: Um, generally they may go to the community college and take the [00:43:00] classes during or after school, or the high school may actually have a contract with the community college where the teachers are teaching, uh, the dual enrollment. But you essentially are earning college credit.

Dr. Ishaani: Hmm. Um, he- I think, you know, either are, are great.

Dr. Ishaani: I think just like think about what’s gonna be … When, when college and when these college, uh, applic- like admission committees are really advising or reviewing your coursework, they’re really trying to sh- what they’re really trying to like get at is like are you pushing yourself and are you taking like the hardest classes you can at the, the high school you’re at?

Dr. Ishaani: Um, and like given the circumstances that you’re in. So like if you’re at a, a school that offers two AP classes, they’re not gonna fault you for taking on- only two AP classes ’cause that’s what’s, what’s available to you. That being said, if you’re going to a, a high school that offers like 10 AP classes and you only take one, and then some of your classmates are like [00:44:00] taking like all 10, a- again, it’s, they’re, they take, take

Dr. Ishaani: Like all, whenever you apply to college, these colleges re- receive something that’s called like your school profile, where your college, like your high school says like, “Hey, like this is our school. This is how many AP classes are offered. On average, a student takes this many. On average, like the GPA is this.”

Dr. Ishaani: So they get a some like- To get some context for like what’s normal at your school. So with that in mind, like, I think if the question is like, okay, AP dual enrollment, I kind of ask, you know your specific school way better than I do. So I’d, you know, think about the people who are seniors that graduated and, and got into these competitive schools.

Dr. Ishaani: Like, what were they doing? Were they taking mostly AP? Were they doing dual enrollment? Were they doing all the APs first, and once they’d exhausted the APs, then they moved on to the dual enrollments? So I’d look to the people, to your senior at your school, and see what they did for success.

Lonnie: Yes, I love that response.

Lonnie: Uh, so next question, [00:45:00] are clinical hours helpful? I am an ME- EMT and struggling to s- to decide how to incorporate that into my application.

Dr. Ishaani: Yeah, and I think first of all, congrats on being an EMT. That’s amazing. Yeah. I know a lot of people who are EMTs, and I think it’s a gonna m- a great, um, first of all, it’s a great experience.

Dr. Ishaani: You can learn a lot from it, and I also think it’ll definitely something that’ll shine a lot in your application to these pre-med, and if you think about BS/MD programs and BS/MD programs as well. Um, so I think that is one, a great clinical thing to be doing, so hats off for that. Um, for how to incorporate it, I think, again, it’s talking about the experience.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so after your years of being an EMT, I think, you know, if you come home from a shift and you have like a really like crazy day or really crazy encounter or something that’s like really struck with you, I think I’d write about it and like just journal about it really quick. So then let’s say like you’re writing your application like nine months later, you have a like little clinical moment to refer to and kind of [00:46:00] incorporate into your story.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, I think it’s… If you’re applying pre-med and/or BS/MD, that’s like 100%. Like, and if you’re an EMT, you should definitely be writing about that in your, um, application.

Lonnie: Okay, okay. I am going to give Dr. Ishaani a break, just a short one, to grab some water because she’s been sharing a lot of great information with you all.

Lonnie: And I just wanna take a moment to share about our clients that work with us within CollegeAdvisor. So CollegeAdvisor has guided more than 10,000 families through the college admission process. Our team makes up approximately 200 plus admission experts and former admission officers, so our team knows exactly what it takes to get that acceptance letter.

Lonnie: And the, from the class of 2026 alone, one in three [00:47:00] Ivy League applicants were admitted to at least one Ivy League school, and two out of the three applicants applying to top 25 schools were accepted to one or more. So we’re due on my next slide. Okay. So to learn more about how you can get started with CollegeAdvisor, scan this QR code to sign up for a free 60-minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team.

Lonnie: During this meeting, you will receive a preliminary assessment of your academic profile, along with some initial recommendations on what you can do to stand out. At the end, you’ll also learn more about the premium packages we offer that will pair you with an expert who can support you in building your college list, um, thinking about the different pre-med [00:48:00] programs that perhaps you want to apply for, BS/MD programs.

Lonnie: We support you with editing your essays and much more. We’re here for the whole process. So I’m gonna leave this QR code on the screen, and we’re gonna continue with our questions and answers. So I’m gonna move on to the next question, which reads, “If someone’s GPA ha- if someone has a GPA that’s perhaps lower than a 3.75, however they have, um, a really good SAT, they have good extracurriculars, will they still have a chance at being admitted into a top school?”

Dr. Ishaani: Sorry, could you repeat that again?

Lonnie: Yes, yes, yes. If someone has a GPA that’s lower than a 3.75, but however they, they have a good SAT score, they have good extracurriculars, um, do they still [00:49:00] have a chance at getting into a top school?

Dr. Ishaani: That’s a, a really a good question. Um, so I think first of all, hats off on the strong testing scores and the strong extracurricular profile.

Dr. Ishaani: I think ag- again, so much of the answer to that question is really based on your school. So I know some people go to schools where, um, they’re like, they’re top high schools where like grades are, are… the A’s are not given out easily. So a, a three… a less than a 3.75 at, at a school that’s like really, really rigorous where like no, you know, A’s are, are rare to come by, that means something different than, um, a school like where most people are getting A’s and maybe that, that GPA is like a little bit more of like a, a little bit more concerning.

Dr. Ishaani: So I think it really depends on the context of your school, uh, to like really guaran- like to kind of help me like think about like how competitive, quote-unquote, is your GPA. Again, that’s the piece of like every school is different. The schools send out these, uh, high school reports about [00:50:00] like, “Hey, our average GPA is X.”

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so that’s to answer that one piece. And then the second piece to the question is like a competitive school. It, it really depends on how you depend- define competitive school, and I think that’s like the key piece here. Um, if competitive school means like only Stanford or Harvard or Yale, that’s like something than saying, uh, like a really amazing state school, like a top state school or another strong private institution.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, I do wanna reassure though, like a big picture point, I think you’ll, you’ll be fine with whatever school you end up at. I think as someone… I remember when I was in your shoes, I was like, “Oh, I have to go to school like this and school like that.” And I think now that I’m at the total other end of the process, like, you know, done with undergrad, done with med school, now in residency, I have so many co-residents, like we all went to like a variety and like a broad swath of like undergrad institutions.

Dr. Ishaani: Some people went to small liberal arts colleges. Some people went to Ivy League schools. Some people went [00:51:00] to state schools. Um, some people went to smaller ones. Some people went to like flagship ones that are like well-known, like the University of Michigan or Berkeley, et cetera. Some people went to like, not even like top 10, like the most top 10 famous public university in the US, and they’re, we’re still all in the same exact spot and all becoming great doctors at the same internal medicine residency program.

Dr. Ishaani: So I also wanna… Just like a general life advice, I think the college application process is crazy, and sometimes I think we make it a little bit crazier than we need to be. Um, so also wanted to impart that piece of wisdom. Maybe a bit of a tangent. I don’t know if that fully answered the question, but I did wanna say that anyway.

Lonnie: It did. It did. It did. It did. It did. That was great. And I know I’ve received a few questions around is this webinar being recorded, will it be available to access again, and yes, it will. You will have the opportunity to receive a link through your email, and you’ll be able to access it. Uh, so now I’m gonna move to the [00:52:00] next question.

Lonnie: Let’s see. Okay, it reads: When applying for summer research programs, should I apply to ones that include fees or ones that are more rigorous to join, but har- perhaps they don’t have any fees?

Dr. Ishaani: So I think, again, in the application process, cast your net wide. Um, apply to all of them. But if the question is like, hey, like…

Dr. Ishaani: and I think you kind of alluded that, like the more rigorous ones, like which ones will look better on the application, I think you hit the nail on the head. The ones that are more competitive will look better on your application. So I’d apply to all of them, and let’s say you hear back from a handful of them, but like you hear…

Dr. Ishaani: y- you get accepted into one of them that does not have a fee, I’d pick that one

Lonnie: Great, great. Okay, let’s see. These are some really great questions. Okay, so as a 10th grade student with limited space for extra curric- curriculars, [00:53:00] is HOSA or Science Oly- Olympiad of more worth on a pre-med resume? What advice could be given?

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so the question is like does… Are s- like science Olympian and HOSA, like, helpful for an application? Is-

Lonnie: Yes, ’cause they’re in the 10th grade, they have limited access to extracurriculars.

Dr. Ishaani: Yeah, I think those are g- like, a- again, it’s like those are… You have limited access, those are, like, amazing, um, inst- and things, and I also think it’s a great way to get to know other students who are interested in those topics, like beyond your, your school, ’cause like there are these, like, kind of like nationwide networks.

Dr. Ishaani: So I think those are great, great opportunities.

Lonnie: Okay. Uh, next question: “What are the pros and cons of a BS/MD program compared to the typical route of going to medical school?”

Dr. Ishaani: Yeah. Um, so I think that, um… Hmm. I think BS/MD is a really- I was in a BS/MD program, so there’s, [00:54:00] like we could… I have a whole, I could do a whole talk on this-

Dr. Ishaani: but to, to kind of summarize it really quick, I think BS/MD, first of all, every BS/MD program is not the same. Um-

Lonnie: Mm-hmm …

Dr. Ishaani: they have, like, different condit- conditional acceptances. Some of them you do have to take the MCAT, some of them you don’t. Some of them, yeah, you’re in this BS/MD program, but you have to have a minimum of a GPA of this to kind of get accepted kind of conditionally into the medical school.

Dr. Ishaani: So there are more conditions on, like, how do you even go from undergrad to med school. So that varies from program to program. Obviously, if the program has more lax requirements, like Browns for example, is, like, pretty lax. Like, there’s no GPA requirement. We didn’t have to take the MCAT. So I was able to, to bypass a lot of the pain of applying to medical school, ’cause as I tell everyone, I think the most…

Dr. Ishaani: For most people, like, without a doubt, the most difficult, like, step and application step in the whole pre-med process is the undergrad to the getting into the medical school. That is, like, the pain point for most people. Med school to residency, like, people make it happen. High school to undergrad, [00:55:00] people make it happen.

Dr. Ishaani: But it’s the getting into medical school, which is, like, the, the tricky part and kind of the bottleneck in the whole process. Um, so some BS/MD programs, like Browns, for example, I was really lucky and I was able to, to bypass a lot of that, which I’m super grateful for. Um, so that was a benefit of the, my specific BS/MD program.

Dr. Ishaani: But again, some of them are like, you still have to get a 3.75 GPA and you have to take an MCAT and get an XYZ score, so you still have to go through that challenging bit. So that, that’s like an one point. Um, I also think being at one institution for eight, like seven to eight years, there’s a lot of continuity, um, which is really great, in that, like, you get to work with the same researchers and really get, get to know people there, which is awesome.

Dr. Ishaani: That being said, uh, on, on… You can make the opposite point of like, hey, like, if you practice at more institutions, you get a better sense of, like, what different research institutions are like and what clinical practice are like at different institutions. So you also, by moving around more, you get more exposure.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, so both, you know, there’s- For all the other kind of things, there’s like pros and cons to each. [00:56:00] Um, but I’m glad I did it. I think it really worked for me. I, I love the ethos of both Brown as an undergrad and a medical school. So it was an amazing fit for me and I, I’m grateful for it, but, um, I- there’s pros and cons to each.

Dr. Ishaani: I, I think if you’re… Also, again, of note, BS/MD programs are very extremely competitive. Um, it’s, I’d all liken their competitiveness up to like a top, like a, a top Ivy League school. Like, getting into a BS/MD program in your state is just as competitive usually as it is to like get into like Stanford or Yale or Harvard, with like acceptance rates usually like under 10%.

Dr. Ishaani: So if you think you’re strong enough to apply to a BS/MD program, I’d say go for it. Apply and see what happens. But again, when you’re applying to anything of… Like, that’s gonna be a, a reach for anyone, no matter what your application is, in the same way that applying to like an Ivy League school is a reach for everyone, just ’cause at that level of competitiveness, like the, the distinction between the people that don’t [00:57:00] get in and don’t get in, and do get in and don’t get in is sometimes like minuscule.

Lonnie: Yes. Thank you for sharing that insight. And I think we’re gonna take this to our last question, which has come up a few times. And so our audience would love to hear, how was your experience in the PLME program- Mm-hmm … and how did you think that it would help you become a better doctor?

Dr. Ishaani: Yeah. That’s a, a really good question.

Dr. Ishaani: So I, again, as I already said, I was really happy to be, um, a PLME student. Really enjoyed it. Um- I am really grateful for like all the, the friends and the connections I made over the eight years. And again, I think the ethos of Brown as an undergrad and student and as a medical school, I think has really shaped me into a doctor that thinks a lot about like the social determinants of health, um, people’s life conditions and how that all affects their health.[00:58:00]

Dr. Ishaani: Um, I think I, I really got amazing exposure, and I think I was exposed to a lot of great important ideas, both like related to social things and also like it was … I think I got really strong clinical training there as a medical student at Brown. Um, so it was just a really lovely experience, and I think it made me the great doctor that I am.

Dr. Ishaani: And then now as a resident, I’m learning more from these experiences. So I think every institution that you’re at, um, imparts certain values and priorities in you, and it, it’s really, it’s really great to see how you, you change and how you, you know, pick up things that are important to you. And sometimes also there are things that you’re like, “I like this about this healthcare institution, but there are some things I wish I could change.”

Dr. Ishaani: So you really get to realize like what’s important to you and what you wanna incorporate into your clinical practice and like maybe what are some things you also wanna leave behind in your clinical practice too.

Lonnie: That’s awesome. That is awesome. Okay, so that was actually our last question for our webinar.

Lonnie: Thank you so much, Dr. Ishaani, for [00:59:00] this great information. Congratulations to you as well on your journey and sharing that experience with our aspiring, uh, future med students that are in the audience. Definitely appreciate it. And I just wanna let everyone know if you didn’t get the chance to scan that QR code, I know there were a few specific questions that were coming up about how you can receive support.

Lonnie: There will be an additional pop-up screen that will show up once this webinar ends. But with that said, audience, we are now gonna clu- conclude this webinar, and we look forward to seeing you in an upcoming webinar. Thank you everyone. Good night.

Dr. Ishaani: Good night, guys. Bye.