8 Pre-Med Habits That Will Help You Shine in Medical School ✨ PART 2
Vested
🗣️Last week, I shared 4 pre-med habits that will help you stand out in med school (click here in case you missed it!), and as promised, here is part 2!
5. Build relationships.
Medicine is a team sport. From classmates to mentors to patients, your success depends on your ability to connect, collaborate, and communicate. Take the time to find your people. Invest in relationships with friends who will be there to support you when the going gets tough, and take the time to collaborate with peers with whom you can study and share resources and advice. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for help, guidance, or mentorship. Take the risk to be vulnerable, to ask questions, and to find mentors who are willing to invest in you – more often than not, they’ll be excited you asked. As you work towards someday being a physician, these experiences will also build your skills in communication and relationship-building with your own patients.
6. Pursue your passions.
A lot of medical students think there is a checklist of things they need to do to get into medical school, but I found that pursuing things I was genuinely passionate about was far more effective than trying to tick off some arbitrary boxes. As medical school becomes increasingly competitive, I think that is especially true. Admissions committees and interviewers can very often tell the difference between someone who did this research or that volunteering opportunity just to put it on their CV, and someone who did it because they loved the work – that passion (or lack thereof) comes through. If you want to stand out as an applicant and medical student, identify your passions and find ways to pursue them. Most of the time, if you intentionally seek those opportunities out, doors will open. Pursuing medicine is a bit of a marathon, but if you take the time to be authentic and seek out your passions, it will be a much more fun (and sustainable) race to run.
7. Take time for reflection.
Take time to reflect! When life gets busy, I often find it challenging to make time to sit down, write, and reflect, and yet I have never regretted doing so. Building the habit of reflection can help support your well-being and emotional resilience, while also building self-awareness and encouraging continued growth and improvement. It can also be remarkably handy as you begin to work on applications and personal statements! Strive to make reflection a regular practice in your life – whether that’s about why you’re pursuing medicine, how your recent class has been going and how you might be able to do better, or about a patient you recently saw. Making it a regular habit will set you apart – and help you grow into the physician you want to become.
8. Set goals and track your progress towards them.
In a similarly reflective vein – take the time to set goals and track your progress! I have always loved goal-setting, whether that’s related to small things like fitness goals (“I want to be able to do x number of pull-ups!”), or bigger, more existential aims (“I want to be a terrific surgeon!). Goal-setting helps turn dreams into actionable steps. I think almost all of us have heard about SMART goals at this point, so aim to set down specific goals – like when you’ll do the MCAT, or what you’d like to have accomplished in your research lab, or how you’d like to do in thus-and-such-a-class – at regular intervals, and then set aside time to periodically assess your progress towards them. Sometimes we don’t achieve our goals – or at least in the allotted timeframe – and that’s okay. At a minimum, writing down what you want to achieve – and tracking your progress – makes it far more likely you’ll follow through. Becoming a doctor is a long road. Thoughtful, intentional goal-setting can make the path feel clearer AND more achievable.
There are obviously many more habits and practices I haven’t mentioned here that are also likely to support your success in medical school and beyond! Each person is different, and what works for you might look a little different from what works best for your fellow pre-medical colleagues. That said, I hope these tips help to provide a bit of guidance as you set about the next steps in this exciting journey toward medical school.
What's one habit from this list you'll begin working on today to prepare for your medical journey, or what's a unique habit that has already helped you succeed? Share your insights in the comments below!