From Pre-Med to Practice: Admissions Insights from Doctors

Webinar Transcription

2026-06-10-From Pre-Med to Practice- Admissions Insights from Doctors

Anna: [00:00:00] Hello, everyone. Welcome to our webinar, “From Pre-Med to Practice: Admissions Insights from Doctors.” My name is Anna Vande Velde, and I’ll be your moderator today. I’m a senior advisor at CollegeAdvisor, and have been with the company for almost five years. In addition to working with students one-on-one, I’m a co-captain of our essay review team.

Anna: To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’ll start off by hearing from today’s panelists about their backgrounds and initial advice, and then we’ll answer your questions in a live Q&A. On the sidebar, you can download our slides, and you can start submitting questions in the Q&A tab anytime. We are fortunate today to have multiple panelists.

Anna: We have [00:01:00] Dr. Darlene Carter and Dr. Robert Pena with us. We’re hoping to have Dr. Pamela Ng. Um, she’s having some issues getting connected, um, but hopefully she’s able to join us as well. They’re going to each share their backgrounds with you shortly. Um, so I’ll let, I’ll let them do that. But before they do, just to help us tailor our conversation today, it would be helpful if you could share with us what grade you are in, just so we get a sense of who is joining us.

Anna: So I’m gonna open this poll and if you could submit your answers. While we’re waiting for that, for your results, Darlene, I was wondering if I could put you on the spot since you’re our first panelist in alphabetical order, and ask, knowing everything you know now as an admissions expert, what is the one thing you would do differently if you had to reapply to a pre-med program today?

Dr. Darlene Carter: Okay. Okay. Hello, [00:02:00] everyone. Um, okay, great question. So reflecting on when I was applying for medical school, what I would do over again is pretty much diversify my application. So there’s medical school, and there’s also, uh, doctor of osteopathic medicine, like medical schools, so MD and DOs. Um, and pretty much DOs, which are doctors of osteopat- osteopathic medicine, they pretty much do everything similarly to that of a medical doctor.

Dr. Darlene Carter: The difference between the two practices is just the philosophy. So a medical doctor would like to prevent and also treat. A doctor of osteopathic medicine will also like to prevent and treat, but before going to treatment, trying to see if they can look at the body holistically and see if the body can be treated in a holistic fashion.

Dr. Darlene Carter: The reason why I say I would apply to those schools as well is because it doesn’t limit you. When I applied for medical schools, I [00:03:00] think I applied to about 14 or 15 schools. Um, and let’s just say I applied to one in New York, um, and did not … and was not able to get in. Um, if I applied to a DO school that was also located in New York, I probably had the chances of getting in, and this is just an example.

Dr. Darlene Carter: So I think if I was to do it all over again, I would broaden my scope and apply to medical schools in addition to, uh, DO schools.

Anna: Thank you. Really helpful, and I’m sure we can get into that more. If folks have questions, put, put it in the Q&A. Uh, our poll results are in. Thanks everyone. We have about 40% in 11th grade, 20% in 12th grade, uh, 25% in 10th grade, and then the rest are split amongst 9th grade and other.

Anna: So other might be parent, guardian, educator, support folks. Um, thank you everyone for taking that poll. We really appreciate it. [00:04:00] I’m gonna close it now, and then hand it over to Darlene. She’ll get us started. Um, hopefully Pam can join us before it’s time for her slides, but if not, we will skip ahead to Robert’s, and we can go back to Pam’s if she’s able to get in.

Dr. Pam Ng: Sorry, here I am.

Anna: Perfect. Hello, Pam. Um, no worries. I was just handing it over to Darlene for her slides, and then yours will be up

Dr. Darlene Carter: Okay. Good evening, everyone. So the question I was asked was, “What was your pre-med to practice journey?” Um, so pretty much I s- always started out as a pre-med. I still remember vividly in kindergarten, I wrote to my teacher, I think we had, like, a, a moment to just ex- express ourselves stating, “Well, what would you like to be when you grow up?”

Dr. Darlene Carter: And I vividly remember writing, “I want to become a doctor.” My mom has that paper up until this day. It, it, it, it brings me to tears. [00:05:00] So I always knew I wanted to become a doctor. Um, helping people in a clinical way, a clinical fashion, putting Band-Aids on my sisters’ and brothers’ wounds, you know, playing doctor with my parents, watching Bill Nye the Science Guy, 3-2-1 Contact, all these science shows.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, so I al- so I knew when I got into college I was gonna start out as a pre-med major. Um, and after earning my undergraduate degree, um, before taking the MCAT, I went straight to getting my master’s. Now, it’s interesting because I knew I wanted to go into the medi- the, to the medical route immediately, but I got caught up.

Dr. Darlene Carter: I decided, okay, I know I’m gonna go into medical school, but at the same time I wanna learn more. I was really embedded in research. I did a lot of research, medical research, uh, studies with my professors. I traveled to different universities. I traveled to different countries to do those things. So I said to myself, “Let me get a master’s.”

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, and after that my goal again was [00:06:00] to take the MCAT and go straight into medical school, but the master’s program also had a teaching program and I did a pilot, uh, teaching, um, session and the school loved me and they hired me as a middle, middle school science teacher. So I’m thinking, okay, wait, I went from pre-med, uh, at my, at my university to g- got, getting a master’s in biology and then now teaching middle school science, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade.

Dr. Darlene Carter: I’m thinking, “What’s going on?” But I, I figure, I feel that all those three things had to occur for me to figure out if medical school was for me and to kinda just hone in my interest on medical school. So I attended medical school and I graduated in 2023. So think about how… You know, so this is, I’m, I graduated, um, my uni- at my university in 2004.

Dr. Darlene Carter: So 2004 is when I graduated from my, uh, college. So from 2004 up until 2019, I [00:07:00] believe, or 20- I believe 2018, that’s when I decided, “Okay, I’m going to go put myself actually going into medical school.” So those, those are so many years that went- that, that just went, but they weren’t wasteful years. I used to think that they were, but I learned so much in the process.

Dr. Darlene Carter: So after graduating from medical school in 2023, I stepped into my current role as a medical researcher in pediatric neurology. So I work as a pe- as a medical researcher, a physician researcher you can say. Um, and I pretty much finished my board exams, and I’m right now preparing for residency placement.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, so pretty much, I wrote here that, um, I have always had a genuine passion for pediatrics, and of course, uh, in pediatrics I do plan to pe- specialize in pediatric endocrinology. Um, as, as, as you can see with this, with this journey, I pretty much… Everything didn’t happen the way I wanted it to happen. So I state here, if I can give you one piece of advice, [00:08:00] things don’t always happen in the exact order you planned them out to, and that’s okay

Dr. Darlene Carter: So my best advice that I would give for aspiring pre-med students is to first pretty much learn how to study efficiently and avoid burnout. Um, this is very important. Sometimes we feel that we have to eat, sleep, medicine every day, twenty-four hours a day. You also need to balance your lifestyle. You need to do the things that you enjoy doing.

Dr. Darlene Carter: I enjoy reading books of different genres, of different categories. I enjoy being with my kids. Um, I enjoy cooking. So these are things that you wanna ke- continue doing. Also, whether you took a gap year, taught mi- mi- middle school like myself, worked in a lab, had a completely different career at first, that is your edge.

Dr. Darlene Carter: So, um, I state here that it gives you emotional intelligence, maturity, and a unique story that sets you apart from others, and that’s [00:09:00] very, very true. Um, when I, when I pretty much, uh, applied to medical school and was at the interview, I re- I still remember vividly the, um, interviewer asking me like, “How did you get involved in all these things?

Dr. Darlene Carter: You seem very well-rounded.” And I thought initially that me getting into so many different things was probably like not a great, uh, profile, I should say, when it came to medical school, but it was totally opposite. The interviewer told me this was very unique and he loved the idea that I got hands-on work in different fields, um, still related to healthcare, still related to science and, um, that’s pres- that’s pretty much what set me out, um, from other applicants.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Another thing I would say is to get hands-on clinical experience early. So of course, scribe, EMT, shadow, work as a medical assistant. You wanna see the unglamorous side of medicine and you wanna ask yourself, do you still want to be here? So when it comes to becoming a doctor, it’s not just about you being the doctor [00:10:00] alone, you’re working with a team and that’s very, very important.

Dr. Darlene Carter: And this is a quote I like to live by. Um, I don’t know this person, Dr. Jennifer Grandis, but I did look on LinkedIn, um, a few years back for some inspirational quotes and I al- I, I enjoyed this quote. It states, “Sometimes in life everything that you mentally plan out does not go in the order you want it to.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Trust your own timeline. Becoming a physician isn’t about beating everyone else to the finish line, it’s about making sure you are the most resilient, well-rounded version of yourself when you cross it.” And that’s what I… That’s the advice I would give to everyone who are pre-med students. Thank you.

Anna: Dr. Pam, over to you. Thank you, D- Dr. Darlene

Dr. Pam Ng: Sorry, let me unmute myself. Hi, you guys. Thank you so much for [00:11:00] joining us this evening. Um, so I think, Dr. Darlene, thank you so much for queuing this up for me, because I’m g- about to tell you how not to get into medicine through the very, very, very long and circuitous route to not getting there. Um, so I took a very unconventional path to medicine.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, I was accepted into medical school directly from high school. Um, I grew up in Australia, and there isn’t a interim college, um, period where you go and explore other things and then, um, you come back to it. Um, so at 18, I wasn’t ready at all to care for patients, um, so I decided to explore really broadly.

Dr. Pam Ng: So I came to the United States, where I went to Harvard, um, and I studied East Asian studies and computer science. I worked in management consulting and investment banking after graduation, and then, um, I eventually returned to science. Um, I earned my PhD in neuroscience, and then I joined the Stanford faculty in [00:12:00] neuroscience and psychiatry.

Dr. Pam Ng: So I was already … I already had my PhD and my postdoc, and I was clinical faculty by the time I decided to apply to medical school. That whole time I’d been thinking about it, um, but there were a lot of things in the way, um, one of which was my visa. So I, I was an Australian citizen, so that … If anyone on here is foreign, um, they’ll know how hard it is to apply to medical school without, um, residency or a green card.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, so that kind of delayed things. Um, and by the time I was ready to apply, you know, I was really far into my career as a sc- as a scientist. Um, and then along the way, I became involved in a lot of projects that were not traditionally pre-med, but like Darlene said, I thought I was the worst pre-med candidate.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, but then I got told by the directors of admissions who met me that, um, I had a really unique experience and they could count on one hand the number of people … I did a lot of work in prison. Um, so while it didn’t, it wasn’t traditionally pre-med, [00:13:00] um, it showed me a lot about healthcare and human wellbeing.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, so that helped me out a lot in my application actually. Um, and then there are certain medical schools, and we can talk about it in my next slide where I have advice for, um, pre-med students, um, where, like Stanford, they really love non-traditional applicants and people who have unique paths to medicine.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, it’s one school where unlike a lot of other medical schools, you know, up to a quarter of the class might graduate without practicing medicine. Um, and that’s not unusual, and they kind of know that going in. Um, so I did a lot of things before ultimately going to medical school that taught me a lot about healthcare and human wellbeing.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, so I helped launch the Prison Education Project. I traveled to Uganda to study, um, how to, how to reduce recidivism. And then during my doctoral and post-doctoral training and the whole [00:14:00] time, uh, that I was conducting research at the NIH in Stanford, I shadowed in every single specialty possible. Um, I did it for way more than what was necessary, but for myself.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, anywhere from endocrinology, so I was collaborating a lot actually with endocrinologists in my PhD work, and oto- otolaryngology and even pain management, which is where I ultimately ended up. Um, so what was really fascinating to me was seeing how all these different physicians approached similar problems, and that helped me learn that medicine is not one career, but really hundreds of distinct careers united by this commitment to helping people.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, and it really helped me gain a- an appreciation for the complementary roles of scientists and physicians and the entire network of, um, people that surround, you know, caring for patients. So more than a decade after being accepted to medical school, I finally enrolled myself, and while I chose a different career path ultimately, um, the [00:15:00] experiences I had really deepened my respect for medicine and, um, helped me to recognize my own strengths and passions and where they were best applied Um, so if I had advice for pre-med students, I would say from, from the experience of being on a, um, committee, you know, stop trying to be the perfect pre-med.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, I think a lot of students feel that, “Oh my gosh, I need to have, um, research, I need to have shadowing, I need this and this and this and this.” Um, but we can tell the difference between someone who’s just checking the box versus someone who’s doing things because they really love them, and they’re building a life and not just a resume.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, and I know all, all of us are going to be saying today to explore broadly, but if you think about it, medicine sits at the intersection of so many different fields, whether it’s science, policy, technology, ethics, business, human behavior. So some of the most compelling future physicians, like I was saying, they were [00:16:00] musicians, they were Olympians, they were teachers, they’re, they’re engineers, they’re linguists, they’re athletes.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, they’re doing a whole lot of things outside of medicine before they come to it. So you don’t need to say from the get-go, “This is what you wanna do,” and be single-mindedly focused. It’s okay, and it’s actually encouraged to explore, um, all these different areas so that you’re a more compelling candidate down the line, and you can say confidently, “I’ve tried all these different things, and I know for sure that this is for me.”

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, and then I know this might sound silly, but I think it’s really helpful to learn what physicians actually do. Um, it helps you to understand the different specialties out there, and then helps you to inform what kind of doctor you wanna become. Um, and I’ll let the others who are actually doctors um, comment on that as well.

Dr. Robert Pena: All right, I guess I’m, I’m up. Last, last but not [00:17:00] least, I hope. Um, so my name is Robert Pena. I, I am gonna follow this trend of unique, uh, pathways to medicine. Um, so I will kinda tell you how I ended up in medicine. Um, so my father’s a physician. He’s a family physician doctor, so I grew up with medicine in the family.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, I grew up in a hospital. Dad was on call, so I spent a lot of times in the emergency rooms, in the, in doctor call rooms, just, um, soaking up the environment and, you know, kind of walking around the hospital and observing what it’s all about. Um, truth be told, though, as a, as a child, I did not want to be a doctor.

Dr. Robert Pena: I wanted to be a Southwest Airlines pilot, and that was kind of my goal growing up. Unfortunately, um, as you can see with the glasses, um, one of the things I couldn’t overcome was the, the vision requirement. So, you know, I had the interest in academics. That wasn’t something I could pursue at the time, although [00:18:00] things have changed.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, so, you know, in a typical family where there’s physicians in the family, you know, growing up, I was really big into academics, very big into science. Um, had looked to maybe becoming an, an aerospace engineer. Um, and, um, one thing I’ve always was told- I’ve always, was always told from family is, like, “Why don’t you become a doctor?

Dr. Robert Pena: Why don’t you look into this? ‘Cause you have an aptitude for this field, and, you know, your father’s in it. Why don’t you s- maybe consider doing that?” So I always put it off like, “No, I don’t wanna do that. I wanna be an engineer. I wanna do this, do that.” So I kind of, like, put it off for the longest time and, you know, went to college, um, was a biology major.

Dr. Robert Pena: Went to Southwest University, and I really loved, literally loved learning. Um, wasn’t really sure what I was gonna do with it, but I thought maybe I’d become a researcher or something along those lines. Um, ended up, ended up taking a, a job after college as a high school science teacher because, let’s be honest, you know, once you [00:19:00] graduate, everybody’s either going to work or to grad school.

Dr. Robert Pena: So you don’t wanna be left behind. So I was like, “Oh, I’m not gonna do grad school, so I might as well get a job.” And they were hiring, uh, in my area, so I got to become a high school science teacher for a year. And it was the roughest year of my life, to be honest. It was… I had no classroom management skills.

Dr. Robert Pena: Kids were bouncing off the walls. I was teaching freshman biology, and that little voice in my ear, “Why don’t you become a doctor?” Started to become r- really loud. And, you know, talking about my experience as a teacher, um, to my family, um, you know, I think it got to April of my first year as a high school teacher, you know, I, I was just exasperated.

Dr. Robert Pena: You know, “I don’t wanna do this anymore. I don’t wanna be a teacher.” So finally, I think it just clicked, like, “You know what? I should apply to medical school.” So I did. So at the end of the, my first year of teaching, I did not continue my teaching career. I put it on pause, and I went to Half Price Books, which is a big bookstore in Texas, [00:20:00] and I bought all the MCAT books on the shelves, all the Princeton Reviews, anything I could find.

Dr. Robert Pena: I bought some note cards, and I just took a year off to just study. I, I studied, studied, studied over that whole summer, and I applied to medical school after I took the MCAT in August Um, thankfully I did well enough on the MCAT to actually get some interviews. So that next few months after leaving teaching, I was interviewing for medical school, and I was…

Dr. Robert Pena: Spent the whole next year interviewing, and I was blessed to get accepted to a medical school in Nashville, Tennessee, and, you know, I was very excited. Um, ’cause, you know, being a lifelong learner, that’s, that’s kind of like the next goal is you wanna keep learning. So, um, I graduated from medical school in 2013.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, I credit my teaching background. I had- did a lot of research in, in college, uh, as kind of being something that helped me, um, in addition to good grades and test scores, but, um, you know, I, I, I loved [00:21:00] medical school. It was a great experience. Um, continuing on from that, I matched into residency in, into a family medicine program in San Antonio.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, so I did my internship here in family medicine, where I delivered babies, worked the ER, in-patient units, um, and also had, uh, clinic patients I was in charge of. So, um, really good experiences under my belt. Um, got married and, um, you know, I, I– it got to the point where I, I started to do a lot of reflection once I got married.

Dr. Robert Pena: And, you know, I was like, you know, I’m 30, 31 at the time. I was like, you know, this field is very fun, but if I’m being honest with myself, I got into it because, you know, I, I, I didn’t have other options. I kind of had that family influence. So I really, really c- reconsidered and, um, ended up switching to become a school counselor, um, and, and going back to education.

Dr. Robert Pena: So, um, I think my journey to [00:22:00] medicine and eventually school counseling, um, led me to the realization I really like helping people. Um, a lot of the students I work with are, um, prospective physicians and they, they definitely wanna go down that, that path, so, um, I think my inexperience, um, in both fields as a counselor and a physician that got to practice, uh, especially in residency has been really helpful.

Dr. Robert Pena: And, um- Kind of go to back to my slide to see if there’s anything else I would recommend. Um, one thing that I always tell, tell students that wanna be, um, successful, especially if they’re, uh, have aspirations to be a doctor, is kind of what some of the others have said is, um, you know, extracurriculars, you know, you wanna be genuine.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, we’re not filling our resume with activities and check boxes. Um, we’re filling it with things that actually interest us. So I always encourage my students to, to shadow, um, do [00:23:00] research, and learn about the fields. Um, looking back, it’s something that I probably didn’t spend a lot of time doing, learning about the field, ’cause I took it for granted that, you know, I grew up in medicine, I, I know enough about it.

Dr. Robert Pena: But realistically, it would’ve been more beneficial in hindsight to shadow some of the specialties. And then I’m looking at my next slide My best advice for aspiring pre-med students, always have a backup plan, especially when choosing a major. Um, I was very fortunate in not having a backup plan that actually was successful in getting to medical school and beyond.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, but from my personal experience in college, I would say about 50 to 60% of my classmates that started in medicine, um, did not end up getting to the point of applying due to grades, uh, changes in ambitions, et cetera. So I always… When I work with my students, I always ask them, one, [00:24:00] worst case scenario, we don’t wanna think of the worst case scenario, but it does happen if you don’t get accepted, what are you gonna do next?

Dr. Robert Pena: Do you have… Is this major that you’re pursuing, is this something you actually wanna do if it became your backup plan or, and what can you do with it? So that’s, that’s kind of a conversation I always like to have with my students. Um, and then I always re- recommend that, um- Sorry, I got my slides messed up.

Dr. Robert Pena: I always recommend that they also consider other careers. Um, from my experience in medical school, a lot of my classmates did not do the straight path. They didn’t go from high school to college to medical school. Some of the most successful physicians I’ve met started their careers as nurses, um, EMTs, military.

Dr. Robert Pena: I had one that started as a lawyer, real estate agent, um, respiratory therapist, um, physician assistant. And they all brought a unique, [00:25:00] uh, experiences to the table, but what I noticed is that the, the best clinicians were ones that had that actual experience working in hospitals. So, uh, even as a, a nursing assistant or a nurse or, or respiratory therapist, et cetera, any experience you get in a hospital, even if it’s not your long-term goal, would be good.

Dr. Robert Pena: So I think all medical careers have a place, and, you know, really excited to, you know, share our knowledge tonight with everyone. And, and, uh, my last piece of advice is to, uh, participate in undergraduate research and get published. Um, in medical school, I sat on some of the, uh, mission interviews, and the applicants that had participated in undergraduate research, and even better got published, um, really had a feather in their cap and really helped them along.

Dr. Robert Pena: So if that’s something you can do, um, not necessarily for a check mark, but to get that experience to, to deepen your knowledge of medicine and science, [00:26:00] I think that’s something worth pursuing. And I’m gonna leave it at that for now.

Anna: Thank you so much, doctors. Uh, now that you all know a bit about our panelists, we wanna open it up to Q&A. Before we do, just some quick housekeeping items. Remember, you can download the slides from the link in the Handouts tab. And I forgot to say at the top that this is being recorded, and it will be emailed to everyone who registered, so you can tune back in if you want to remember what was said.

Anna: Moving on to the live Q&A, I will read each question out loud and paste it into the public chat so everyone can both see and hear them before our panelists respond. If you have a question specific to one of our presenters, that is totally fine. Just mention their name in your question so I know who to direct it towards.

Anna: Um, and as a heads-up, if your Q&A tab isn’t letting you submit questions, just double-check that you joined the [00:27:00] webinar through the custom link in your email and not from the webinar landing page. All right. Let’s see. Um, here’s a question for each of you. Um, and maybe we can– We did alphabetical order, so maybe we could do reverse alphabetical order.

Anna: So Robert, you could go first this time. Um, how did each of you know what you wanted to major in in undergrad and what type of doctor you wanted to be? How did you figure those things out?

Dr. Robert Pena: That’s a good question. Um, so when you apply to medical school, there’s a lot of classes that are required to even apply, so the…

Dr. Robert Pena: A lot of them would be biology, physics, chemistry, organic chemistry, um, English, history, uh, and you gotta take the MCAT exam. So just from a logistical perspective, the biology major is very popular because those are all classes that students have to take as part of their graduation requirements. Um, so [00:28:00] the reason I p- picked biology was just being practical.

Dr. Robert Pena: You know, I didn’t wanna major in something and have to take a lot of electives outside of my major, so that’s how I picked biology. Um, as far as why I picked family medicine, uh, my father’s a family medicine physician, so, like, again, I had the exposure to it. Um, but I also have a firm belief that, you know, primary care is a very important part of medicine, and there is a dire need for more primary care physicians in the United States.

Dr. Robert Pena: So, um, my passion was to, um, kinda enter that area that’s mostly unappreciated in a lot of, uh, rural areas and kinda make a difference. And, um, having the teaching background, I really like, um, working with families, um, educating others, and I just thought it was a good fit with my educator background. So, um, that’s kinda why I went into it.

Dr. Robert Pena: And also personally, like, I get bored easily, so I like to learn. So family f- [00:29:00] physicians have a lot to keep track of, um, women’s care, chi- children care, OB, so it kind of, kinda jived with my interests of just kind of learning a little about everything. So that’s why I picked

Anna: it. Thank you. And Pam, can we go to you next?

Anna: How did you know what you wanted to study as an undergrad, and how did you know you wanted to go into neuroscience?

Dr. Pam Ng: Okay, the short answer is I didn’t know what to study as an undergrad. Um, I told you mine is the please don’t follow this route route. Um, I studied E- East Asian studies because I had tons of electives.

Dr. Pam Ng: So unlike Robert, I was like, “Oh, I want all the electives I can get,” because I wanted to take all these classes that were really exciting that didn’t quite fit a major. Um, and, uh, but looking back, you know, one of my favorite classes at Harvard was Children and Their Social World, and I ended up going to neuroscience and psychiatry and it…

Dr. Pam Ng: I was really very interested in developmental psychology, I think, the whole time. Um, so it probably was there all along. I just didn’t know it was a [00:30:00] major that I could do. Um, and then it wasn’t until I graduated and then I was taking classes, um, when I was working as an investment banker. I was very bored as an investment banker, um, so I took classes at Berkeley in the evenings and, um, on top of working 80 hours a week, like, that’s how much I didn’t like it.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, anyway, so that’s how I ended up getting my PhD in neuroscience. I just would come home every night and tell my partner all about everything I was learning. I was, like, so intrigued and so excited, and he was like… He was in grad school at the time, um, getting his PhD in material science, and he said, “You know, you can go to school for this, and they’ll pay you.”

Dr. Pam Ng: And I was like, “What? Really?” I just thought, “This is the best thing I’ve ever heard.” Um, so this is what I did. Um, and then by the time I applied to medical school, I was already, already had my PhD in neuroscience and psychiatry, and I thought I was always going to be a physician scientist running a lab and then, um, seeing patients, um, on alternate days of the week was my vision.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, but that’s how I ended up getting [00:31:00] into it.

Anna: Thank you. And then Dr. Darlene.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Yeah, so for major, um, I always knew I wanted to be a biology major. Biology, it encompasses so much. Life science, earth science, space science, um, all types of things. So that, that was always my interest. Uh, when I got into, uh, college, I took on a work study job at a s- a psychology office in the psychology department.

Dr. Darlene Carter: So I added psychology as my double major because I enjoyed it there, and I also had to take some psychology courses to satisfy the pre-med track, so I kind of like had a liking to that as well. So I was a double major for biology and psychology. Um, when I got to medical school, and, and keep in mind, I was a middle school science teacher, so I was always around kids, but when I did go– When I started medical school, I said to myself, “I want to become an internal…

Dr. Darlene Carter: an [00:32:00] internist, an internal medic- medical doctor.” I didn’t want anything to deal with kids. I just didn’t. And that was so interesting because it was like, I taught kids. I’ve been around kids. I would watch my siblings. I would be the one who’s always babysitting my kids’, uh, I mean my sister’s kids. So I, maybe I was in denial.

Dr. Darlene Carter: But when I went through my rotations in medical school, I realized that internal medicine was just very daunting to me. Um, I’m working with adults, and adults are stubborn. But you know, adults have their ways. Uh, I would, I– things were just getting so repetitive. When we, uh, would interview the patient, you know, “Did you stop smoking?

Dr. Darlene Carter: Do you plan on stop smoking?” “No.” “Do you plan on losing weight?” “No.” “Do you plan on d-” “No.” Everything was just rigid, and the charts were just massive. And I felt like, you know what? When I did my pediatric rotation, I enjoyed it a lot because it was more educative. Like, I was educating parents. So [00:33:00] that’s another thing you have to take into consideration.

Dr. Darlene Carter: When you’re going into pediatrics, um, you’re dealing with, you know, from birth to the, the ages of eighteen, twenty-one. Um, but kids don’t like to talk to doctors. Um, and I found, uh, a skill that I have just at that moment that not only was I connecting with the parents, I was also connecting with their children.

Dr. Darlene Carter: So I figured that was my gift because I did, I used to teach middle school science. I was around fifth, sixth, seventh graders all my li- you know, for a good, good amount of time. I taught for three years. And it, that’s when I realized pediatrics is for me. I enjoyed it. It was more of an educational component to it.

Dr. Darlene Carter: The, the parents loved me. The kids loved me, and sometimes the parents are not gonna love you, but I felt like this was where I needed to be. So it kind of was just felt, it, it kind of was just more of a denial because I figured I don’t wanna be around kids, but then I really enjoyed being around kids.[00:34:00]

Anna: Thank you. Um, I’m gonna open this question up, panelists. If any of you feel strongly, please just volunteer to answer. Um, do you think it’s more important to go to a prestigious undergrad university or a prestigious medical school?

Dr. Robert Pena: I can answer that question

Anna: Great

Dr. Robert Pena: So I, I think as far as undergrad is concerned, like it does not matter. Um, like I tell my students, there’s talent everywhere. Um, and I don’t know how the other panelists feel, but I, I just remember in my medical school class there was kids from everywhere, and I would say a lot of the schools I’d never even heard of because they’re so regional.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, you know, we’ve had the traditional Harvard, Yale, Princeton, whatever, um, and those are great schools, but not a lot of s- students come from those schools. [00:35:00] In medical school from where I was at, but you had some like UT Tyler, you have Smith College, Clark Atlanta, so there’s, there’s… It was very, uh, informing that there were so, such a broad swath of the country represented in, in my medical school class.

Dr. Robert Pena: And w- I guess what that really showed me is, you know, at the end of the day it’s about grades, the person, and, you know, your experience, what you bring to the table, if you’re a good fit. So I, I think if you can get to a good prestigious university, by all means do it, but I don’t think it’s, it’ll hinder you necessarily.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, so, um, as far as medical school, go for it. Um, I… But at the end of the day, you know, getting into medical school is a very prestigious honor, and if any of us are accepted to medical school in the future, that, that’s, we’re very fortunate. Um, a lot of times we don’t get to pick where we go because, you know, getting in is very, very difficult.

Dr. Robert Pena: So if you get in anywhere, especially multiple schools, you [00:36:00] just find the one that’s the best fit. And, um, you know, especially tuition these days, you gotta also consider that. So there’s a lot of things to consider other than just the name, but, um, I’d definitely shoot for the stars is what I would say

Anna: Thank you.

Anna: Uh, Darlene, Pam, anything you would add to that?

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, yeah. So, um, it’s, it’s an interesting question because it really depends on who is viewing the application, and it depends at the moment, it depends on the person, it depends at the time of the day, it depends on the time of the week. Um, I would say I agree with, uh, Robert that if you can get into a prestigious university, by all means go for it, um, undergrad and also graduate.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, but I would say from my experience, I noticed that in most… For instance, I have a, my brother who is a PhD, uh, he, he earned his PhD, um, at Columbia. [00:37:00] Um, and it seemed like, seemed like job viewers were looking more at the Columbia p- uh, graduate than his undergraduate. I attended a public Ivy League school, uh, Binghamton University in New York State.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Very, very well-known school. Um, so sometimes up to this day I’m getting people to look at my application and say, “Hey, you went to Binghamton.” I went to Ross University School of Medicine. Um, it’s not as popular. Um, it is an offshore school. It’s a school that US students attend offshore in the Caribbean.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, but it’s also, um, popular to s- it’s also, it could be popular to other institutions. So I guess what I’m saying is it really depends on the committee if they, where they glare their, their gaze at. If they’re looking at the undergraduate alone and just looking at your MCAT grades, or are they also taking into account, okay, maybe if your undergraduate wasn’t as prestigious or your graduate school is more prestigious, we’ll look at that.

Dr. Darlene Carter: And sometimes it just doesn’t matter, ’cause getting into medical school is, is, is, [00:38:00] it was a difficult journey for me. And again, my earlier statement, if I was to do it all over again, I would also apply to DO schools because I also limited myself in that pool when I applied only to medical schools. So it’s, it’s just a different formulation of things when it comes to the medical schools

Anna: Thank you both.

Anna: Uh, Pam, anything you want to add? Or if not, we can move on.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, I don’t wanna belabor this question, but I would say that it’s not so much about the prestige of your undergrad or your, or your medical school, but you wanna go somewhere, especially in undergrad, where you can do well, um, because your GPA matters a lot in medical school.

Dr. Pam Ng: So if you’re going to be at a Harvard, but then it’s really cutthroat, that may not be the best environment for you if you don’t think that you can rise to the very top, because that’s who they’re gonna be picking. But if you’re in the middle, a lot of medical schools are not gonna say, “Oh, that’s okay,” because that was in the middle, but at a highly prestigious school.

Dr. Pam Ng: They’re going to be able to pick from students who have four [00:39:00] point ohs at any other school. Um, so y- I, I don’t think that the question is, is about prestige. I think it’s where can you do and thrive the most as an undergraduate. And then similarly for medical school, um, ’cause you’re setting yourself up. I mean, they can talk more about it than me, but, um, you’re setting yourself up for, for residency, so you wanna be able to go somewhere where you can do well.

Dr. Pam Ng: But again, you guys please feel free to chime in if I’ve said something incorrect

Anna: Now, I, I think those are all really valid and helpful perspectives, so thank you all for sharing. I’m gonna take a minute here, um, to share some stories, uh, of some CollegeAdvisor students that we’re really proud of. The first one is DJ.

Anna: He grew up wanting to be a physician, perhaps like some of you. He was active in relevant extracurriculars and sought out challenging coursework. As a scientist, writing narratively was challenging for him, so the college essay style didn’t come [00:40:00] naturally. He signed up to work with CollegeAdvisor and was accepted by five colleges, including Johns Hopkins, where he received an institutional scholarship of around sixty-one thousand per year.

Anna: If you look closely, you can tell he’s wearing his Johns Hopkins T-shirt, proudly representing. Uh, another student we’re so proud of is Abby. Abby reached out because she was an aspiring first-generation college student, meaning her parents did not attend a four-year university. Uh, her parents were immigrants and had no experience applying to US colleges.

Anna: She felt she wasn’t receiving much support from her teachers or counselors at school and was feeling alone in the process. She was thinking ahead though and connected with CollegeAdvisor as a sophomore. She ended up applying early decision to Cornell, where she was accepted and received full financial aid.

Anna: These are just two examples out of the ten thousand clients CollegeAdvisor has guided through the application [00:41:00] process. Our team of over three hundred former admissions officers and admissions experts, like our panelists today, are ready to help you and your family navigate the college admissions process in one-on-one advising sessions and essay editing.

Anna: To learn more about how you can get started with CollegeAdvisor, scan the QR code to sign up for a free sixty-minute strategy session with an admissions specialist on our team. During this meeting, you’ll receive a preliminary assessment of your academic profile, along with some initial recommendations from our team on what we think you can do to stand out on your applications.

Anna: At the end, you’ll also learn more about the premium packages we offer that pair you with an expert who can support you in building your college list, editing your essays, and much more. We are here for the whole process. Uh, it’s a free hour with us. We would love to meet you and get connected, um, give you an initial round of, of feedback on your profile.

Anna: We’re gonna use the rest of the time to go [00:42:00] back to the Q&A, but I’ll leave that QR code on the screen. Please make sure, um, you scan it and sign up for that free hour with us. We’d love to meet you. All right, panelists, we have some students asking to hear about- your daily life. So could you each please walk us through what a day in your career looks like?

Anna: And we also have some questions about w- how your time is split between research and science and, and providing medical care. Um, so if you could include that in your answer, that would be great. And Pam, we haven’t started with you yet ’cause your name is in the middle, so can we go to you first?

Dr. Pam Ng: Sure. Sorry, what am I doing?

Anna: Could you describe a day in your life- Oh, yeah … career and how your time is spent- I… … between research and practice.

Dr. Pam Ng: Yeah. I was gonna say, we should probably skip me on some because I’m not [00:43:00] a doctor, so we- let’s talk to the doctors about what they… I think that’s what people are interested in hearing.

Anna: Well, we have two different questions, so could you actually just describe a day in, in your career?

Dr. Pam Ng: Okay. Um, I… Do you mean, like, on the admissions committee or at College Advisor?

Anna: Um, I think maybe when you were working in neuroscience.

Dr. Pam Ng: Oh. I mean, I was a scientist, so my whole day was a running clinical trials. And I mean, I did have patient contact there because we were enrolling patients in, um, in a study, and so I had to consent them and run them through.

Dr. Pam Ng: I did fMRI studies, so, um, we had a lot of– I was running the study. But I think most people are probably more interested in hearing what they’re doing, so I’ll pass it over to them. Go ahead, Darlene and Robert.

Anna: Sounds good. Go ahead, Darlene. I saw you start to speak.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Oh. Oh, um, okay. So, oh, my day is [00:44:00] so unpredictable at times.

Dr. Darlene Carter: So I don’t, so I am a medical researcher awaiting residency placement, and what that means is that I complete, I graduated medical school, I completed all my board exams, and I am in the midst, I’m in the moment of applying to a residency program in pediatrics. So right now, I currently work as a medical researcher in pediatric neurology.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, so I, when I walk in, I have the plan. I prioritize as much as I can, but I see a mixture of things. I’m seeing patients, I’m seeing administrators, I’m seeing nurses, I’m seeing… Sometimes I’m traveling and leaving the hospital to go to the outpatient clinic, or from the outpatient clinic to the hospital.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Sometimes I’m just running, I’m just running all around the place at times. Um, I think what I, and when I, w- uh, Pam mentioned clinical trials. I pretty much run a lot of the studies that go into our department with pediatric neurology. I work with kids who are severely [00:45:00] autistic. I also work with kids who have epilepsy, uh, cerebral palsy, muscular genetic disorders, um, migraines.

Dr. Darlene Carter: So I see everything in neurology, um, when it comes to kids. So I am, my main thing is to test certain treatments to, um, for these, on these kids, uh, before it’s, it gets FDA-approved, meaning before it gets approved to be on the market. Um, every, nearly most of the drugs that we take, um, things that you see like Tylenol, you know, Neos, th- these things that we see that we, you don’t, you have to realize that before it gets on the market, you have to run trials.

Dr. Darlene Carter: You have to run tests on these dru- on these drugs. And you have, and you need participants that can voluntarily, you know, help you out in this and say, “Hey, can you… Yeah. I, I’ll, I’ll sign up for the study.” Um, when all the ethics are in place, you’re able to allow your patients to run, you know, to be in these studies.

Dr. Darlene Carter: And then I document, um, we do a [00:46:00] lot of, uh, research on if the drug is working, if the drug is not working, should we stop the drug? I work very closely with our providers. I work closely with the residents. I work closely with the summer research team. Um, when it comes to research, um, in my department, I actually, uh, work with the research.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Uh, any pers- any person that’s applying for research at my department, I actually am the one figuring out who gets acce- who gets accepted. So I sit on, on the admissions committee for that. So I kinda do like a hand- a handful of things. Um, clin- clinical, also administrative, also research. So a day is just never boring for me when I go to work, and I hope that’s clear for everyone.

Anna: Thank you, Darlene. Robert, how about you?

Dr. Robert Pena: Sure. And I see a question in the chat from Abraham that’s kind of related, so I’ll answer that as well. It says- Great … “Robert, what are some difficulties of medical school?” So that’s a great question, and it’s kind of related. So the, the most difficult part of [00:47:00] medical school is it is kind of, you have to kind of treat it like a job.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, you know, if you think of, like, your college days, um, your soon to be college days, I’ll tell it ’cause we’re talking to high school students mostly, um, you typically have classes for an hour here, hour there, maybe squeeze in a few classes a day, and then you have a lot of free time to, um, study or kind of do what you need to do to take care of business.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, medical school is a little different, at least for me, in that classes were typically 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM every day. Um, and that includes time for lectures, um, anatomy labs. Um, you can be in the lab like five, six hours a couple times a week, um, especially when starting, like every, every day pretty much. So it’s a lot of time and typically when…

Dr. Robert Pena: and as an adult with most jobs, you work 8:00 to 5:00 and you go home and rest. Well, medical school’s not like that. After you get the 8:00 to 5:00 of classes done, now you gotta go study Because the board exams are always coming up. The, [00:48:00] uh, in medical school you have to, you pass, um, subject board exams, you have to pass the US medical license exams, step one and two.

Dr. Robert Pena: So those are things that are always in the back of your mind. And, um, they’re requirements for graduation. So, um, I think the challenging part of medical school, if I’m being honest, is, you know, just the fatigue and keeping yourself fresh, especially your mind, because you have to… A, a rested mind retains more information, so you gotta always keep that in mind and figure out ways to overcome the fatigue.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, so, so that, that’s kind of a challenging part. And kind of moving into residency, residency is the same way. So, um, as a family physician resident, um, back in the day, um, my day was very different based on what rotation I was on. So a family physician has to, uh, spend some time in the emergency room, so they typically spend about four weeks in the emergency room, uh, during internship year.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, I [00:49:00] think we spent three or four months at the inpatient, which is the h- hospital, you would take in, uh, patients from the ER and admit them to the hospital, and then you would manage their care while they’re hospitalized, that’d be inpatient. So you usually spend about three months at a time doing that.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, we did, uh, a public health rotation for a month in, in San Antonio, so that would be kind of out in the community learning public health issues. Um, OBGYN, I think we’d spend, like, three months on labor and delivery. So that would be admitting patients, um, going to checkups with them and examining them, and then when it’s time for delivery, um, helping deliver the babies.

Dr. Robert Pena: Um, and after a couple of deliveries that are supervised, you’d pretty much be running the show. Then all throughout the time, you know, you’re in a hospital, so things happen unexpectedly. There’d be patients coding, so you go manage, uh, patients that were, um, having some issues and help with resuscitation efforts.

Dr. Robert Pena: And then, um, one of the parts about a [00:50:00] physician that’s very difficult is, uh, especially in residency, is you have a lot of responsibilities. Um, so at any given time, I’d be carrying three, three beepers, three pagers. Um, I don’t know if you guys know what pagers are, it’s probably too young for that, but a pager for my patients that I saw in the clinic, a patient’s, a pager for the OB clinic, and then pager for the emergency room.

Dr. Robert Pena: So just juggling all the ti- all the responsibilities, um, in the hospital is very difficult, but also, um, jumping from one rotation to another is pretty difficult. But very rewarding career and it w- is very exciting. There’s never a dull day. So, um, that’s kind of what a typical day would be like. Um… You know, let, let’s just say on inpatient, for example, um, I would start the day at 6:00 AM in the hospital.

Dr. Robert Pena: A night team would come in and, uh, kind of present the patients that had, were admitted overnight. So there might be 15, 20 patients who were admitted overnight, um, and our team of interns would [00:51:00] kind of assign them. So I’d, I’d probably have five or six patients at a time, and then we’d go round and go see our patients and, um, kind of assess the plan, where they’re at, the vitals, the, the strategy, and then, um, present to our attending physicians, um, kind of what our updated plan would be.

Dr. Robert Pena: Uh, and then afternoons would typically be rounding with the, the attending and kind of adjusting plans and then following up on labs, um, orders, um, procedures that were planned and kind of rinse and repeat. Um, you typically in residency you’re, especially inpatient, you’re on, on the service for about 12 straight days, for about 12 hours a day for 12 straight days, then you get two days off, then 12 straight days, two days off.

Dr. Robert Pena: So like I said, just managing the fatigue in the kind of while studying for your boards is pretty difficult, but very doable. But that was a typical day for me So I’ll point it to number three

Anna: Thank you. I actually think all three of you have responded to that. [00:52:00] Um, we have gotten a handful of questions about BS/MD programs.

Anna: Um, do any of you have thoughts, opinions? Could you share the pros and cons of BS/MD programs versus traditional programs or pathways to med school?

Dr. Darlene Carter: Well, um… Oh, sorry, I just, I’m just chiming in. Um, so I, I work with BS/MD applicants, uh, for at College Advisor, and what I do notice is that, um… So when I was in high school, they didn’t really have these programs available, so I just kind of knew after high school was college, after college was medical school.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, so I’m seeing a plethora amount of programs coming up for BS/MD. So some pros with BM- BS/MD, um, definitely it’s, it’s a, it’s a pathway to medical school without having to write the MCAT, and that’s, that’s a [00:53:00] big, like, relief for, for many students. Um, so it does deem you el- eligibility to attend a medical school right after high school.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, I would counter that to say that when it comes to BS/MD programs, they’re not as flexible as opposed to going the traditional route. What I mean is that these, the curriculum, the courses are already set. There’s no changes to your schedule. Things are just kind of like locked in from the time you enter the program till the time you graduate.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, so there’s, there’s really no flexibility. Um, I would say going in the traditional route, there is, there are flex- there is flexibility. You can take some electives while in college that interest you personally, um, just to kind of balance you out. And this kind of goes with, um, what Robert was saying.

Dr. Darlene Carter: When you’re, when you’re in medical school and, and after medical school, even going to residency, you, you wanna avoid [00:54:00] burnout, and the best way to do that is trying to find a balance and trying to better time manage yourself. So I am not saying that BS/MD doesn’t allow you f- allow that, but it’s just limited, whereas going in the traditional route, you have more of a flexible approach on how you wanna do things, and you’re kind of taking more control of how you wanna enter medicine.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, but other than that, the BS/MD program, it, it, it was the rigor, the, the actual curriculum was built for the student who is just looking to go straight into medical school, um, predetermined to go in. So if you’re having doubt on if medical school’s for you, I would suggest researching BS/MD programs, asking questions- Um, and also looking at alternatives in case, you know, well, if I don’t wanna be in the strict curriculum, maybe I can go and just do it the traditional route.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Um, so th- the pros and cons are there, [00:55:00] but I would say I, I, I highlight more of the, uh, fl- the limit on flexibility for BS/MD.

Anna: And I would just add, um, to look at each specific BS/MD program, ’cause there is a lot of variation. Some do still require you to take the MCAT, but you come into undergrad with a guaranteed admission to their med school, assuming you meet the criteria once you finish your undergrad.

Anna: Um, and some, like Brown’s, offer very flexible, um, undergrad programs, and some, like Darlene said, are, are very scripted. So it’s hard to give, like, pros and cons when each BS/MD program is so different and specific. Um, but I wanted to add that. I know we have just a few minutes left. Um, here’s a question if someone wants to volunteer to answer it: What’s your advice for students who [00:56:00] haven’t been interested in medicine since they were young and only recently developed an interest?

Anna: And I would just add that you’re all still young. I,

Dr. Robert Pena: I guess I can answer that. So I, I would definitely wanna know more information, you know, if this was my student. You know, what do you mean you just became interested? So is this… How did it come about? L- uh, what, what experience do you have in medicine? Um, I think it’s very important to have, um, experience.

Dr. Robert Pena: I think it’s one of the other panelists was saying, is to learn about all the different specialties and kinda catch up on that process. Um, so I, I, I would just wanna know, like, what, what caused this change and, you know, what can we do to accelerate the process of learning about the field before we have to make a decision whether to apply to medical school or not.

Dr. Robert Pena: In the meantime, you know, if, if especially if you’re about to go to college, um, would definitely encourage them to take a lot of the math and [00:57:00] science if they’re not traditional science major. And, um, th- definitely keep the grades up so we have options later while we’re exploring this new interest. So yeah.

Dr. Robert Pena: Good question.

Anna: Yeah. Thank you so much. Um, we are getting close to time. I wanna give you all, um, all of our panelists a final word. Uh, so, you know, in 30 seconds to a minute, any last insights or advice you want our students to take away from this webinar?

Dr. Darlene Carter: Well, I can say, um, if you know for sure what you want in life, go for it. And create your long-term goal, but how you get there, um, try not to stress about those incremental steps you’re [00:58:00] taking on how to get there, because those things can always change as far as the order and what you wanna, and, and how you wanna get there.

Dr. Darlene Carter: So pretty much set your long-term goal, and then also do your short-term goals, baby steps on how you can get there from one end to another. Um, and it’s okay. It’s really okay if, if it doesn’t go into the order that you want it to go, but as long as you get to your end point, you succeeded

Anna: Thank you, Dr. Darlene. Uh, Dr. Robert, any last advice? Yeah.

Dr. Robert Pena: Yeah. So I, I think the, the last piece of advice I would give is, um Keep your grades up. Like, I mean, I know there’s more to medicine than grades, but the bottom line is medical school admission is very numbers-based. There’s more students applying to medical [00:59:00] school than there are seats in this country.

Dr. Robert Pena: So at the end of the day, you know, if you have a lot of passion for medicine, that is great. To get all, to get your passion projects, you, you volunteer, you’re shadowing, all that stuff. But if you do not have grades to back it up and test scores to back it up, um- You’re not gonna g- is unfortunately not gonna be able to go very far.

Dr. Robert Pena: So what I would say is just be very, be honest with yourself. You know, if we need to put more time into schoolwork, um, you know, not everybody’s a great test-taker naturally. If you’re one of those people, um, you know, get into a, a program to do some test prep. Uh, try to find a mentor. So if there’s a physician in your family or in your community that you can, uh, get with, kind of pick their brain and ask questions and learn about the, the career fields.

Dr. Robert Pena: And if you have no one in your life like that, you know, scan that QR code and join College Advisor, ’cause I’d be happy to work with you. Um, you know, I’ve had a lot of success working with students, uh, just as like you guys and, you know, [01:00:00] I’ve been very fortunate. I had a girl get into George Washington University BS/MD program this year.

Dr. Robert Pena: It has under 5% acceptance rate. So, you know, it’s, it’s possible, you know, if you’re a strong student, um, to get that extra push through College Advisor. So, um, find, find somebody that can mentor you, and if you don’t have anyone, I’d be happy to do that.

Anna: I love that. Thank you, Robert. Pam, last word, last advice.

Dr. Pam Ng: So I think a lot of the questions as I scan them are a lot about process, um, and logistics, like how to. Um, so I think one thing to maybe think about is getting… Actually, this is kind of, um, piggybacking off Robert’s comment, but get- getting strong pre-med advice. So I happen to be really fortunate, and it was such a privilege to attend a school with a really strong pre, pre-med advising program.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, so long after I graduated, 20 years, um, I went back, uh, to Harvard, and they, they still mentored me through the process. [01:01:00] Um, so I would say try to find a school that has really strong advising, ’cause they’re gonna… Not every school does this, but you know, they wrote my committee letter, um, 20 years after I graduated.

Dr. Pam Ng: Um, so I think that was really helpful, if that’s something that you can do.

Anna: Thank you, Pam, and thank you to all of our incredibly accomplished panelists. We are so grateful for your time. Thank you everyone for joining us for this webinar. If you haven’t been able to scan that QR code to schedule your free assessment with us, just keep your browser open until the webinar officially ends, and at that time, you should be redirected to the booking page.

Anna: This is the end of the webinar. We had a great time talking about pre-med pathways. Thanks everyone for joining us, and best of luck.

Dr. Darlene Carter: Thank you.