Aamc-Anatomy-Applicant-Workbook Final For Web-1
Aamc-Anatomy-Applicant-Workbook Final For Web-1
Learn
Serve
Lead
Association of
American Medical Colleges
Anatomy of an Applicant
Contents
Introduction 2
What the Parts of Your Application Tell Medical School Admissions Officers 3
Preprofessional Competencies 7
Science Competencies 8
© 2017 Association of American Medical Colleges. May be reproduced and distributed with attribution
for educational or noncommercial purposes only.
Introduction
This guide supplements the Anatomy of an Applicant student profiles featured on the Association of American
Medical Colleges (AAMC) website. It is based on the 15 Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students that
have been endorsed by the AAMC Group on Student Affairs (GSA) Committee on Admissions (COA). Many
medical schools have identified the core competencies as important for entering medical students. The guide
was created in direct response to inquiries from applicants, prehealth advisors, and admissions officers who asked
the AAMC for help in better understanding how to demonstrate aptitude in the core competencies. It provides
guidance on how the core competencies could be developed and demonstrated through an applicant’s experiences
in preparation for medical school. The guide contains sections that:
• Demonstrate how an applicant’s responses inform admissions officers about an applicant’s proficiency level
in different competencies
• Help generate ideas about how to show experience and develop proficiency in the various competencies
• Become a more competitive applicant! The core competencies included in this guide reflect the knowledge,
skills, attitudes, and experiences valued by medical schools. This guide will help you better understand areas
where you’re strong and where you want to develop greater competency as you prepare to apply to medical
schools. (For school-specific requirements, be sure to review the Medical School Admission Requirements™
(MSAR®), visit medical schools’ websites, and consult with your prehealth advisor.)
• Help you get started! Use the worksheets in this guide to begin identifying where and how your current
coursework and experiences can demonstrate the core competencies and how this can inform your future plans.
Share your completed worksheets with your prehealth advisor or mentor, and update the worksheets regularly
as you gain experience or develop strength in a competency. (These worksheets will be a helpful reference if
you’re planning to apply to the Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP), medical school,
or postbaccalaureate programs. They will also be helpful as you’re preparing for interviews.) Remember, no
applicant will be proficient in every area—that’s not realistic or expected by medical schools.
Just a friendly reminder: When you submit your medical school applications, you will need to affirm that the
information you have submitted is your own work. Although you may be inspired by the students featured in the
Anatomy of an Applicant profiles, you need to be sure that you are telling your story in your words. Anatomy of
an Applicant was created at the request of and with the guidance of the medical school admissions community.
Admissions officers are already familiar with the stories that appear in Anatomy of an Applicant—your application
is a chance to tell yours!
Primary Application
What it is: The primary application, AMCAS or
the Texas Medical and Dental School Application
Service (TMDSAS), is a verified record of most of
the elements listed below compiled into a centralized
application. This application is distributed to each
medical school that you designate.
Secondary Application
What it is: An additional school-specific
application that supplements your primary
application. It helps explain why you’re interested
in a particular institution; how your goals,
experiences, and plans align with the school’s
mission and goals; and how and what you would
contribute as a learner at that institution. In other
words, it’s an opportunity to answer the question,
why this school?
What it communicates: From the school’s perspective, the secondary application provides an opportunity to probe
for more institution-specific information by, for example, evaluating your fit with their mission, assessing your
reasons for applying to that particular school, and posing other school-specific questions.
What they communicate: Tells part of the story about how you academically prepared for medical school. For example:
• Did you challenge yourself with higher-level coursework in and outside your major?
• Did you formally study another language or take coursework in another language?
• Did you take community college courses or complete coursework at other institutions?
MCAT® Score(s)
What it is: The Medical College Admission Test is a standardized multiple-choice test designed to assess your
problem solving, critical thinking, and knowledge of natural, behavioral, and social science concepts and principles.
What it communicates: The MCAT exam tests the skills and knowledge that medical educators, physicians,
medical students, and residents have identified as key prerequisites for success in medical school and beyond.
The MCAT exam is one tool that medical school admissions officers use in combination with application materials
(e.g., transcripts and personal statements) and interviews to select future medical students.
What they communicate: This is your best opportunity to tell the medical school admissions officers something
about yourself that they wouldn’t necessarily learn by looking at the other parts of your application. You may focus
on, for example, meaningful experiences, how your interests align with a school’s mission, your desire to serve in a
particular community or to work with a particular patient population, or any challenges or obstacles you’ve faced,
including distance traveled. Distance traveled is how admissions officers and prehealth advisors refer to those life
challenges you’ve faced and conquered.
Experiences, Publications,
or Poster Presentations
What they are: An opportunity to highlight your
extracurricular activities, including medically
related experiences and exposure, employment,
volunteer work, internships, and research.
Letters of Evaluation or
Recommendation, Committee Letter
What they are: Confidential letters sent directly to
the application service (or medical school) by individuals
(or your undergraduate institution’s committee) on your behalf.
What they communicate: Your personal qualities, characteristics, competencies, and capabilities as a future
physician from the perspective of someone who knows you.
Biographical Information
What it is: Your family structure, parent or guardian education and career information, citizenship, language
proficiency, self-identified race and ethnicity, legal residence, and criminal convictions.
What it communicates: Your biographical information gives admissions committees more context about your
background, access to resources and services, and family structure. For example, you may include the education
level of your parents or whether you are the first in your family to attend college.
What it communicates: Increasingly, admissions officers may view these sites to learn more about your opinions,
biases, social behaviors, and judgments. This can be both positive and negative. Note: Be sure you know what’s
available about yourself (or about someone else with your name or a similar name).
Read more about how social media can affect your application.
Interview
What it is: An in-person (or sometimes video) meeting between you and one or more individuals representing
a medical school.
What it communicates: If you are invited to interview, it means that the school is interested in finding out about
you and whether you would be a good fit there. It is an opportunity for the school to see how you present yourself,
how you communicate, and how you engage with other current and future members of the school’s community. It
is also your opportunity to assess how you feel about the medical school and its environment and to ask additional
questions.
Financial Information
What it is: This is a snapshot of your ability to finance or pay for your education.
Note: Your ability to afford medical school will not factor into the admissions decision.
What it communicates: Medical schools make different use of financial information. Some may use it either to help
distribute need-based aid and scholarship funds or to develop a financial package to help you finance your education.
What it communicates: This confirms your integrity and whether you have been forthcoming and truthful about
your criminal history on your application or during your interviews. It also communicates to medical schools your
potential ability to become a licensed physician. Some medical schools may require an additional form asking you
to disclose any other information.
Preprofessional Competencies
Service Orientation. Demonstrates a desire to help others and sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings;
demonstrates a desire to alleviate others’ distress; recognizes and acts on his/her responsibilities to
society—locally, nationally, and globally.
Social Skills. Demonstrates an awareness of others’ needs, goals, feelings, and the ways that social and
behavioral cues affect peoples’ interactions and behaviors; adjusts behaviors appropriately in response
to these cues; treats others with respect.
Cultural Competence. Demonstrates knowledge of sociocultural factors that affect interactions and
behaviors; shows an appreciation and respect for multiple dimensions of diversity; recognizes and acts on
the obligation to inform one’s own judgment; engages diverse and competing perspectives as a resource
for learning, citizenship, and work; recognizes and appropriately addresses bias in oneself and others;
interacts effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.
Teamwork. Works collaboratively with others to achieve shared goals; shares information and
knowledge with others and provides feedback; puts team goals ahead of individual goals.
Oral Communication. Effectively conveys information to others by using spoken words and sentences;
listens effectively; recognizes potential communication barriers and adjusts approach or clarifies
information as needed.
Ethical Responsibility to Self and Others. Behaves in an honest and ethical manner; cultivates personal
and academic integrity; adheres to ethical principles and follows rules and procedures; resists peer
pressure to engage in unethical behavior and encourages others to behave in honest and ethical ways;
develops and demonstrates ethical and moral reasoning.
Reliability and Dependability. Consistently fulfills obligations in a timely and satisfactory manner;
takes responsibility for personal actions and performance.
Capacity for Improvement. Sets goals for continuous improvement and for learning new concepts and
skills; engages in reflective practice for improvement; solicits and responds appropriately to feedback.
Scientific Inquiry. Applies knowledge of the scientific process to integrate and synthesize information,
solve problems, and formulate research questions and hypotheses; is facile in the language of the sciences
and uses it to participate in the discourse of science and explain how scientific knowledge is discovered
and validated.
Written Communication. Effectively conveys information to others by using written words and sentences.
Science Competencies
Living Systems. Applies knowledge and skill in the natural sciences to solve problems related
to molecular and macro systems, including biomolecules, molecules, cells, and organs.
Human Behavior. Applies knowledge of the self, others, and social systems to solve problems related
to the psychological, sociocultural, and biological factors that influence health and well-being.
Step 2. In the top right corner of each page, select one of the options from the list that best describes your current
level of proficiency:
Step 3. If you selected “Planning,” complete the first five sections of the worksheet (see Step 4). Next, use the
“My plan(s) to develop this competency” section to draft a strategy to gain experience or mastery in this area.
Include next steps, a timeline, and any additional notes for yourself, such as whether you need to speak to a faculty
member, attend a meeting, or join a club.
• Describe the knowledge or skills you gained from the experience and enter the information in the section
“How I demonstrate(d) this competency.”
• Reflect on what you think the experience says about you as a unique individual and enter the information in
the sections “Why it’s important” and “What this says about me.”
• Explain why the experience was important and how it allowed you to grow as a person and enter the information
in the section “What I learned or how I grew from this experience.”
• Describe ways in which you believe your experience influenced your pursuit of a career in medicine and enter
the information in the section “How this prepared me or influenced my interest.”
• Use the “My plan(s) to develop this competency” section to draft a strategy for building on your experience
in this area.
Step 5. After you have completed the worksheets, share them with your prehealth or academic advisor or
mentor. Your advisor or mentor may be able to help assess your performance and perhaps help you plan future
opportunities to improve your skills.
Step 6. Update the worksheets regularly to reflect your current level of performance. The worksheets will be
extremely useful when you complete your primary and secondary applications and prepare for interviews.
Next steps:
To develope this competency, I plan to try to go out and volunteer in my community.
Timeline:
Since I will have a month off of school, I plan to use this time to get out into my community and help
where there are areas in need.
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Next steps:
Timeline:
Notes:
Chloe Nickens, Intern, Public Health and Prevention, Diversity Policy and Programs
17-179 (08/2017)
26 Association of American Medical Colleges