THE

PREMED
SCOOP
MAKING SENSE OF THE
PREMED PROCESS

ROBERT COMBS IN
COLLABORATION WITH
UNG PREMED
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 1 TAKE A CHILL PILL

Part 2 WHY A DOCTOR?

Part 3 IT'S REALLY LONG

Part 4 WAIT, THERE'S TWO TYPES

OF DOCTORS?

Part 5 THE MCAT

Part 6 EXTRACURRICULARS

Part 7 THE PRIMARY APP

Part 8 THE PERSONAL STATEMENT

Part 9 SECONDARIES

Part 10 ACRONYMS AND SLANG

Part 11 GENERAL TIPS

PART 1: TAKE A CHILL PILL
THE PREMED SCOOP
 PART 1: TAKE A CHILL PILL

Hey there, Premed.

Rob here. Thanks for reading this book. I wrote

it because I, too was once an overwhelmed,
struggling premed student trying to find my
way through the crashing waves of the premed
process.

If nobody has said it to you yet, I'll be the first:

Go ahead and take a chill pill. Really. This
process isn't as hard as it seems, and the next
29 pages are going to show you why. But
really quickly, let me share my story.

I decided to become a doctor when I was 19

years old. I'd never worked in a hospital or
doctor's office, and my only experience even
being in one was when I nearly cut my right
index finger off when I was 12. My mom was a
homemaker, and my dad, who worked in
construction, died shorty after my 23rd
birthday. I had no doctors in my family, and as
a poor, homeschooled student, I didn't have
very many resources.

What I did have, however, was tenacity.

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 PART 1: TAKE A CHILL PILL

The decision I made to become a doctor was

pretty unrealistic. I mean, I hadn't even gone
to college when I first made the decision,
much less made it through any of the tough
science courses that scare so many hopefuls
away from this career.

Either way, I was set. My girlfriend at the time

was a nurse; she, along with my experience as
a GNC store manager, convinced me that
medicine was right for me long enough to get
started in the process.

Here's the thing. You may not have it all

figured out either. In fact you probably don't.
Maybe you don't know what the MCAT is, or
maybe you didn't know doctors can be MD's or
DO's. Either way, it's okay. That's what this
book is for. It contains all the tips, tricks, and
secrets I learned along the way. Hopefully, it'll
help you, too.

Let's dive right in.

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PART 2: WHY A DOCTOR?
THE PREMED SCOOP
 PART 2: WHY A DOCTOR?

If you haven't asked yourself this question

already, you should. I mean, there are a lot of
interesting healthcare jobs out there. You
could be a nurse, Physician's Assistant (PA), a
Radiation Therapist, or a Nuclear Medicine
Technologist. So, why a doctor?

What it boiled down to for me was 3 things:

1. I wanted to do medicine autonomously.

2. I wanted to be able to have my own

practice, make my own decisions for my
patients, and lead a team of nurses and
assistants.

3. I wanted the challenge and the reward that

came with it.

It's not secret that becoming a doctor is a long

process, so if you don't already know why you
want to do it, I recommend you take time to sit
down and try to write a one-page summary of
your reasons. It'll help you flesh out the desire.

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PART 3: IT'S REALLY LONG.
THE PREMED SCOOP
 PART 3: IT'S LONG. REALLY LONG.

When I first found out just how long it takes to

become a doctor, I was blown away. I didn't
realize how much training came after medical
school, or that to become a fancy
subspecialist, I'd need even more training.

Given that so many premeds don't actually

know what they're getting into, let me break it
down.

College: 4-5 years. You gotta start somewhere,

right? In college, you'll be taking science
classes, getting involved in clubs, and
studying for the MCAT (more about that later).

Medical School: 4 years. Here's where you get

the coveted MD (or DO - more about that later,
too). 2 years are for classes, 2 years are for
clinical work. Some schools do have a 3-year
campus, but it's usually for primary care track
students only.

Residency: 3-7 years. Here's where you get

trained for the type of medicine you want to
practice. Don't worry - you're making some
money at this stage (like 50k - 60k per year).

Fellowship: 1 or more years. Here's where you

do more specialized trianing to do fancy work.
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PART 4: THERE'S TWO TYPES OF
DOCTORS?

THE PREMED SCOOP

 PART 4: WAIT, THERE'S TWO TYPES OF DOCTORS?

Yep. MD's aren't the only doctors in the game.

The DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) is
the popular counterpart to the MD. They have
the exact same privileges, and can practice
any type of medicine they want.

The only real difference is that DO's learn an

additional technique called OMT (Osteopathic
Manipulative Therapy) which is kinda similar
to chiropractic. If you want to learn more
about what makes DO's special, give it a quick
Google search. There's not much to know;
honestly the two degrees are almost identical.

The main thing to be aware of is that most

medical schools will be either 'MD' schools or
'DO' schools, but not both. If you see
'Osteopathic' in the school's name, you can bet
it's a 'DO' school. There's only 34 'DO' schools
in the United States as of 2019, and they have
their own application portal called AACOMAS
(American Association of Colleges of
Osteophathic Medicine Application Service -
whew, that's a mouthful). Don't worry, we'll
talk about application services shortly.

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 PART 5: THE MCAT
THE PREMED SCOOP
 PART 5: THE MCAT

The MCAT is easily the scariest part of the premed

process. It's 7.5 hours, and consists of 230 questions
from 4 sections:
- Chemistry / Physics (C/P)
- Biology / Biochemistry (B/B)
- Psychology / Sociology (P/S)
- Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS)

It's no secret that this is a difficult exam, but it

doesn't have to be a nightmare. The AAMC has
already broken down the details of the MCAT with
an eBook on their website. You can find it here(I
compressed the URL to make it easier to type).
shorturl.at/ezST9
There are a lot of resources to help you prepare for
the MCAT. Companies like Kaplan, Princeton Review,
and Next Step have fantastic book sets and practice
tests you can use. The question is, how should you
use them? What's the ideal way to study?

Well, the beautiful (and scary) thing is that it's really

up to you. You get to decide what works best.

Some people can score a 520 or above with very

little studying, but not most. The question is, how do
you gauge where you are and what you need to
focus on when you study? Fortunately, there's an
easy answer: take a diagnostic exam.

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 PART 5: THE MCAT

Next Step offers a Free MCAT Bundle you can get

just by giving them your email. It has a bunch of
stuff: a half-length diagnostic MCAT to give you a
performance baseline; a full-length practice
exam with answers, thorough explanations, and
analytics; Lesson 1 of their interactive MCAT
video course, constituting over two hours of
instruction; Qestion of the Day emails, content
review videos, and much more.

I used this bundle when I started out and it was truly

helpful.But how much time should you devote to
MCAT studying? Well, that's a matter of opinion, too.
So far, I've studied 2-3 hours a day for about 9
months, for a total of about 375 hours.
By the time my test day comes, I will be at about 500
hours. That's higher than the average (400 hours),
but I'm very serious about scoring well.

The main thing to recognize with MCAT studying is

that you need to pace yourself in a way that doesn't
burn you out. You want to be able to stay with it,
consistently, without growing to hate it. If you start
to hate it, you won't be able to learn as well.

There's 4 major strategies that I've been using

that seem to work very well. I'll explain them on
the following page.

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 PART 5: THE MCAT

1. Start with a diagnostic test. Comb through it

thoroughly so that you can understand where you are
and what you need to work on. Do not be discouraged
by this score: it will climb. Spend the first month or so
of studying by reviewing content that you may have
forgotten, then take another test.

2. Take a third-party (non-AAMC) practice test every

75-125 hours of studying. Make sure to spend a
reasonable amount of time(15-20 hours) going over
these tests. You NEED to understand each question
you got wrong (and right, for that matter). Make sure
you replicate the testing environment as best as
possible. This means including a 10-minute break after
each section, as well as a 30-minute lunch break.

3. Use a Question Bank like Uworld or the AAMC

version to help you work on questions without having
to be in a test-taking mode. You can do this from your
phone or at a computer. Working questions will
quickly become superior to reviewing content alone.

4. Save the AAMC tests for the weeks before your

actual exam date. Most people recommend taking one
per week on the weeks leading up to your exam.
There's 4 AAMC tests; use them accordingly. The
average of those scores is a good indicator of your
actual score, so don't assume that a 505 practice test
score will magically become a 515 on test day.
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 PART 5: THE MCAT

It's important to understand how your MCAT score

interacts with your GPA to help your chances of
an accpetance. It's also important to realize that
grades and MCAT are not the end-all, be-all
statistic that schools use to determine whether
they want you. Having a really high GPA and
MCAT do help, but the time you invest to perform
that well can preclude you from being able to
invest time in volunteering, clinical experience,
and hobbies.

Regardless, the AAMC published a report that

shows a chart that reflects the number of
accpetances for students with "X" MCAT score
and "Y" GPA. You can see it here:

shorturl.at/msGKM

Look over this chart closely. It's not a perfect

resource, but it shows you an idea how GPA and
MCAT interact in the application process.

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PART 6: EXTRACURRICULARS
THE PREMED SCOOP
 PART 6: EXTRACURRICULARS

Extracurriculars (ECs) are arguable as important to

your medical school application as GPA and MCAT.
Plenty of people get accepted to medical school with
lower-than-average grades, but rarely do they get
accepted without showing a background in a variety
of ECs.

The thing is, ECs are really your way of showing the
admissions committees who you really are. Sure,
there's your personal statement, but that's relatively
short and you can't put your whole resume in there (at
least, you shouldn't). Instead, being involved in
volunteer activities and clinical experience shows
admissions committees what you care about, and
that's what they really want to know.

So, what are some EC examples? Obviously, any club

or campus organization you're a part of would be an
example. It's not so important what club you're a part
of, it's just important that you invest heavily and be
actively involved. Your experiences and
accomplishments within the club are more important
than what they club is for.

Similarly, if you volunteer, it needs to be substantial.

Spend time seeking out good volunteer opportunities
where you can show your skills and talents. The more
involved you are, the better you'll be able to speak
about it in your essays and interviews.
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 PART 6: EXTRACURRICULARS

Let's talk about shadowing. Usually, shadowing just

consists of following a doctor around while he or
she works. You'll learn what it's like to be a doctor
and what it's like to see patients. If possible, you
should shadow several specialties; as always,
though, remember that quality is better than
quantity. If you hate your first shadowing
experience, move on to a new one. If you love it,
stay with it.

If you want to shadow a doctor, it's actually pretty

simple. One of the easiest ways to find shadowing is
to get on a hospital website and look up a list of
providers. Send each of them an email asking to
shadow. In my experience, only about 1 in 10
doctors will let you shadow them. Most won't even
reply. As such, make sure to express individual
interest in each of their specialities - you really want
to convey your passion; don't be bland or
disinterested.

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PART 7: THE PRIMARY APPLICATIONS

THE PREMED SCOOP

 PART 7: THE PRIMARY APPLICATION

First, definitions. The primary application is the

generic application that goes to all the schools you
apply to. It contains a variety of components,
including a personal statement, activities section,
and coursework. It's a surface-level glimpse at a
candidate at best. Overall, there's 3 primary
application services. The MD application, AMCAS,
charges $170 for the first school and $40 for every
school thereafter. Remember, with the primary, all
schools get the same application. You can't tailor to
a particular school. That comes later. So, that said:

AMCAS: This is the application service owned by the

AAMC. It is used for all MD schools, except for public
schools in Texas. Its personal statement is limited to
5300 characters and the activities section is limited
to 15 entries.

AACOMAS: This is the application service owned by

the AACOM. It is used for all DO schools in the US. It
also has a personal statement limited to 5300
characters and an activities section that is not
limited.

TMDSAS: This is the application service owned by

Texas public schools. Its personal statement is
limited to 5000 characters. The activities section is
not limited to a total number of entries.

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PART 8: THE PERSONAL STATEMENT

THE PREMED SCOOP

 PART 8: THE PERSONAL STATEMENT

The personal statement is one of the first items an

admissions committee sees when reviewing your
application. It is a relatively brief summary of why
you want to be a physician. It is a part of the primary
application (AMCAS/AACOMAS/TMDSAS).

Start Early: writing your personal statement will take

much longer than you think. You can easily have a
first draft completed in a day or two, but the
evolution that will occur as you edit, proof, and
revise the essay will end up taking months, most
likely.

Make it personal: Do not throw your resume into

your personal statement. Don't even do anything like
that. You need to talk about WHY you want to be a
physician and the experiences that led to the
decision, and not much else. Do not quote facts or
state what you did. Tell a story that introduces the
experience you're writing about and generates an
understanding in the reader's mind of who you are
and why you want to pursue medicine.

Organize: Don't let your great stories and great

experiences go to waste due to lack of organization.
Essays that feel disconnected, choppy, or scattered
will likely get dumped. And of course, this goes
without saying: there should be absolutely no
misspellings or lousy grammar in your essay.

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 PART 8: THE PERSONAL STATEMENT

As you prepare to write, keep your audience in mind.

The committee members reading your essays want to
understand who you are. They're trying to determine
whether to offer you an interview! If you can convey
your experiences in a manner that resonates with
them, you'll have more success in the application
process.

The biggest issue students face is understanding

what experiences to talk about. What if you don't
have any? Well, get some, of course! Truly, if you
have no legitimate experiences that compel to be a
physician, you should seek out opportunities that
help you understand what a physician does and how
you can contribute to the field of medicine.

As you complete your draft, remember the character

limits: 5300 for AMCAS and AACOMAS, and 5000 for
TMDSAS. These essays are not long; you need to
exercise precision with your language. Fluff will not
serve you well on a personal statement.

If you want expert advice on the personal statement,

consider purchasing Dr. Ryan Gray's book in the
Premed Playbook s e r i e s c a l l e d Guide to the Medical
School Personal Statement.

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 PART 9: SECONDARIES

THE PREMED SCOOP

 PART 9: THE SECONDARY APPLICATION

That's right, more applications. Secondaries (as they

are called) are specific to each school. You'll receive
a secondary from almost every school that you apply
to, but some will screen for minimum GPA or MCAT
scores.

Generally, secondaries are just essays. Schools will

ask you to provide detailed (but often brief)
examples of your experiences, motivations, and
accomplishments, and you'll write essays to provide
the answers. These essays, unlike the personal
statement, often have specifc prompts. The struggle
with secondaries is simply answering the question:
many students fail to do this, and it can preclude you
from getting an interview.

Bear in mind that secondaries are possibly the most

expensive part of the premed process. Schools often
charge $75 to $125 dollars for secondary
applications, so you should factor this into your
budget.

The MAIN TIP I can provide to you is simply to PRE-

WRITE your secondaries. Several companies,
including Dr. Ryan Gray's MSHQ) have online
databases containing every school's prompts.
Fortunately, they don't often change, so you can get
a head start. If you don't, you'll be writing secondary
essays for all the schools you apply to in the same
two-week period, and that is incredibly difficult.
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 PART 10: ACRONYMS AND SLANG

THE PREMED SCOOP

 PART 10: ACRONYMS AND SLANG

It's no secret that there exists a plethora of acronyms

relating to the premed process. Let's elucidate a few
of the more common ones.

MCAT: The 7.5-hour admissions test taken as part of

the medical school application. It is scored from 472-
528 with the 2019 median being 511.

C/P: The Chemistry/Physics section of the MCAT.

B/B: The Biology/Biochemistry section of the MCAT.

P/S: The Psychology/Sociology section of the MCAT.

CARS: The Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills

section of the MCAT.

AdCom: Medical School admissions committee

URM: Underrepresented minority

uGPA: Undergraduate GPA (also known as cGPA or

cumulative GPA)

sGPA: Science GPA (includes BCPM)

BCPM: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math (the only

types of courses that are considered science for the
purpose of calculating science GPA)
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 PART 10: ACRONYMS AND SLANG

AMCAS: The American Medical College Application

Service for allopathic (MD) schools.

AACOMAS: American Association of Colleges of

Osteopathic Medicine Application Service for
osteopathic (DO) schools.

USMLE: US Medical Licensure Examination, broken

into Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3. Also known as
"boards".

COMLEX: The DO equivalent to the USMLE

EC: Extracurricular activity

EDP: Early decision program for medical school

acceptance

IS/OOS: In-state, out-of-state

LOR: Letter of Recommendation

Post-Bacc: any undergraduate coursework you do

after obtaining your bachelor's degree. It could be
for GPA elevation or just to get prereqs

Stats: GPA and MCAT score (either yours or a

school's average)

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 PART 11: GENRERAL TIPS

THE PREMED SCOOP

 PART 11: GENERAL TIPS

The goal of this section is to tie together some of the

information described above in the previous
sections.

1. When you're making a list of schools you want to

apply to, use Excel or Google Sheets to lay out all
the information you want to see, like location,
cost, class size, stats, etc.
2. Buy the MSAR. It's the most helpful resource you
can possibly own as a premed - it shows you every
US and Canadian medical school with each of their
locations, costs, matriculation statistics, median
GPA and MCAT, and much more.
3. Don't apply to public schools that aren't in your
state unless you can see that they accept a lot
(more than 50%) out-of-state students (most don't).
Your focus should be the public schools in your
state as well as private schools.
4. Watch for special requirements. Some schools only
accept residents of their state (Mercer). Similarly,
some schools have specific prerequisite
requirements. Get into the habit of looking at their
websites.
5. The AAMC has an ebook for literally everything.
They can help you with debt mitigation, applying,
taking the MCAT, self-advising, and so much more.
6. See if you qualify for AAMC's Fee Assistance
Program. It gives you 20 free AMCAS applications
and most schools waive your secondary fee if you
have FAP.
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 PART 11: GENERAL TIPS

7. Do not take the MCAT until you've taken all 4 of

the AAMC practice tests and scored at or above your
target score on them. If you want a 515 and you're
scoring a 505 on the practice exams, you aren't
ready.
8. After taking a practice MCAT, spend a few days
going over EVERY question and making sure you fully
understand the concept being tested.
9. Get clinical experience as early on as you can. It's
a critical part of your medical school application.
Clinical experience involves working directly with
patients in some fashion; it usually (but not always)
distinct from shadowing, which is typically passive
and observatory in nature.
10. Don't check boxes. Don't get involved in
activities you don't really care about just because
you think schools will like it. They won't, and they
will see right through it. Also, longevity is far
superior to variety.
11.Understand how AMCAS and AACOMAS will
calculate your GPA. It will possibly be different than
how your school calculates it. Try using
whatsmygpa.com t o f i n d o u t h o w m e d i c a l s c h o o l s
will see your stats.
12. Start saving money. Even 20-50 dollars a week.
Everything about this process is expensive. Don't be
caught off guard when the application season costs
5-10 thousand dollars.

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Well, that's it. I hope you found this content useful
and informative. Of course, there are a million more
fantastic resources that can be found for free on the
internet, and you'd do well to check those out. If you
haven't already, make sure to follow the MCAT Bros
facebook page, as well as Dr. Ryan Gray's Medical
School Headquarters page. Both of them will elevate
you with more information and resources.

And, as always, reach out to me if you need help. I'm

not an expert, but I'm relatively well-informed due to
years of research and conversations with experts.

If you need to reach me or anyone on my team, you

can email [email protected] or
[email protected] anytime with questions.

We offer incredibly high-quality personal statement

editing/advising for low, low costs, so be sure to ask
about that when the time comes.

With that, carry on, and do well. I'm rooting for your
success.

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