Trust the process of medical school admissions

For the over 6,500 candidates who applied to Canadian medical schools this cycle, the term “admissions” has taken on a whole new meaning. For some, the word has become a kind of divine judgment — a determinative force defining the individual’s value or worth. For others, a long road of struggle has led them to acceptance of the next step in their career. To most, however, the word has morphed into a menacing dragon, which many have taken on the heroic responsibility to slay. It’s no wonder that young students from as early as high school begin to prepare for this trying journey — taking MCAT prep courses and finessing highly coveted research positions as flask cleaners and abstract readers. A glimmering treasure is guarded behind the medical school admissions process, and many of these ambitious young adults want a piece of it. I, too, want a piece. But what really is the moral of the story when a high-achieving, hard-working student earns their spot in medical school? We can read into these tales of accomplishment through one of two lenses: outcome or process. By focusing on outcomes, we appraise the value of actions and events by their end result. This line of thinking proves extremely useful where specific actions predicate specific results: If we put in hours of work at a full-time job, we will be furnished with a hard-earned paycheck every two weeks. However, as actions become nested in more complex networks of factors and effects, outcome-oriented th...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Education Medical school Source Type: blogs