Where to Begin
Choosing to become a physician, dentist, veterinarian, or other healthcare professional is an important and rewarding decision! It requires commitment, hard work, and many years of training but also provides many benefits including a career that allows you to make a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals and communities.
If you have decided to pursue a career in medicine and healthcare, there are a variety of ways to begin preparing to ensure you are a strong candidate for the application process.
Preparing for the medical and health professions application process includes:
- Taking the required and recommended coursework
- Gaining exposure to the medical and clinical setting
- Demonstrating the skills medical and health profession schools are seeking
- Taking the standardized exams (e.g. MCAT, DAT, GRE)
We can help
If you have any questions on how to begin preparing a strong application for the health professions application process, MIT Prehealth Advising can help:
- Meet with us – we can guide you through the process
- Visit our virtual drop-in sessions on Tuesdays from 12 – 2 pm. Spring semester Drop-Ins restart in February.
- Join the prehealth email list. Email prehealth@mit.edu with the subject “Please add me to the [year] prehealth email list” Use the year you plan to enter medical school, not the year you graduate from MIT.
- Log into Handshake to schedule an appointment
- Join the MIT Prehealth Advising Facebook Group
Your next steps
So you’re interested in pursuing a career in health. Here are your next steps:
Gain medical exposure
Wondering if a health field is really the right choice for you? Take the time to explore while at MIT or beyond. To get a realistic sense of health profession careers, do research, shadow, and find hands-on opportunities to learn. Start early, ideally, you can do some of these activities as soon as your first year and continue throughout your time at MIT.
Gain skills for medical school
You know that managing your coursework, getting good grades, and doing well on the MCAT are important. Medical schools also want to see that you have non-academic qualities. The AAMC includes these personal qualities in their list of core competencies.
Prepare academically
The MIT Committee on Prehealth Advising has provided the following information to guide MIT students on how to fulfill the academic requirements for admission to most U.S. medical schools. Since specific requirements may vary for particular schools, this resource also provides advice on how to find a school’s guidelines.
Prepare for standardized testing
If you apply to medical school, you will have to take a standardized test, the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). If you are a predental student, you will take the Dental Admission Test (DAT). These standardized tests measure your knowledge and critical reasoning skills. They provide an objective score for medical schools to use along with your GPA.
Reach out to us for support
Prehealth Advising is here for you through every step of the process. Need advice? Plan an appointment that fits your schedule or join a virtual Prehealth Advising Drop-In session. Stay up-to-date by joining the prehealth email list; just email prehealth@mit.edu with the subject: “Please add me to the [year] prehealth email list.” (Use the year you plan to enter medical school, not the year you graduate from MIT.) Also, find your MIT prehealth community by joining the Prehealth Advising Facebook group.
Consider applying to medical interpreting courses
This 4-week IAP course trains multilingual MIT community members in core principles, standards of practice, ethics, and medical terminology. Participants will be qualified to work or volunteer as interpreters in healthcare settings upon completion of the 40-hour course.
