February 23, 2012
On Sunday Feb. 19, Valerie Valant ’10 spoke about her experience applying to medical schools. Since her graduation she has worked for Massachusetts General Hospital as a research technician.
The talk began with Valant’s discussion of how her academic and extracurricular activities at Hamilton College provided her with a strong framework for a career in medicine, as well as clinical research. She particularly emphasized exploration of non-scientific disciplines. As a Women’s Studies minor, she learned to appreciate issues of international women’s health, and wants her medical career to allow her to further confront them. However, this is not to deemphasize the role that science played in her education; she majored in biology and loved organic chemistry. She said that she was more than prepared for the chemistry and biology sections of the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test).
Another point of emphasis for pre-medical students was commitment to the practice of patient care. She spoke passionately and at length about her experience with the Burke program—an affiliation that Hamilton has with the Burke Rehabilitation center in White Plains, New York. While there, she had the opportunity to work closely with geriatric patients. This experience helped to cement her desire to become a physician.
While at Hamilton, she also participated in research in Professor McCormick’s laboratory in the Biology Department. This was an important experience for her, and she said that medical schools like to see evidence of independent and original scientific inquiry in their applicants’ resumés.
In the two years she has taken off from school, Valant has been working at Massachusetts General Hospital as a Research organizer—a promotion since she arrived—in a lab focused on stroke genetics. She gushed over her experiences there, elaborating on the support she has received from principal investigators and postdocs. Because of her experience there, the head of neurology at Mass General is writing her a letter of recommendation for medical school. Finally, and importantly, during her time at the hospital, she has published two papers, one in Nature Genetics (a major scientific research journal). She is also continuing to volunteer in both clinical and community settings.
As she is currently applying to medical schools, Valant gave many tips about the process. Primarily she said that planning is very important. Take your MCATs early so that you have time to take them again. Also, apply promptly to schools, and return applications to them as quickly as you can. If you do not, admissions officers will believe you to be uninterested. Applying to medical school is a lot like applying to college but also very different. For example, many students do not visit medical schools before applying; where you get in is the right place for you. Finally, she said that the road to medical school is different for everyone. Some people apply twice, whereas others get in their first time.
For some students this was very good to know. Noah Levinson ’14 said of the event, “It was comforting to see a human face put on the beast that is applying to medical school.”