Why is Leadership Experience Important for Medical School Applications?
Why do medical schools look for leadership experience on your medical school application? Because leadership ability is vital to success as a physician. Doctors serve as leaders in a variety of capacities, including guiding patients, directing hospital or clinic healthcare teams, managing medical practices, teaching medical students, and shaping health policies. By developing your leadership skills during your pre-medical years and showcasing these accomplishments on your application, you’ll prove you have what it takes to excel in medicine.
You can build your aptitude as a leader in a number of ways, such as moving up the ranks in an extracurricular activity in college (e.g., from committee member to V.P. to President), founding and establishing a new organization at your university (or elsewhere), becoming captain of a sports team, serving as a teaching assistant or trainer for students or co-workers, heading a research or community service project, or attaining managerial or executive status at a job. The common factor in these examples is having authority over a group of individuals who look to you for expertise and instruction as you steer them toward achieving shared goals. Medical schools want to know that you have the knowledge, motivation, and social skills needed to interact with and bring people together effectively to meet important objectives.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, medical schools look for a range of
competencies in prospective medical students, several of which are required to be an effective leader: commitment to learning and growth, cultural awareness/humility, empathy/compassion, ethical behavior, interpersonal skills, oral and written communication skills, reliability/dependability, resilience/adaptability, service orientation, teamwork/collaboration, critical thinking, and quantitative reasoning. When describing your activities on your application, keep these qualities in mind, and highlight what you’ve done that best reflects these characteristics.