Over the span of his 50 year career, Dr. James Weiss has reviewed literally thousands of medical school applications in his 18-year role as Associate Dean of Admissions at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is known to dispense a wealth of advice and stories generously, especially to aspiring medical students.
Occasionally we will share Dr. Weiss’ views in an informal conversation we call “A Word With Jim.”
Jon:
Let’s say I’m a college undergraduate, or even a high school student, and know I want to become a doctor. You have said that experience with service activities, humanistic endeavors, and clinical exposure are highly desirable in the eyes of admissions committees. Can you expand on that a little bit for me? What would that look like?
Jim:
The opposite of that is somebody who’s interested only in science or math. I hate to use the word ‘geek’ because it’s insulting, but a narrow background is less desirable than a background where the candidate has pursued a non-scientific endeavor. Because what committees like to know is what kind of a person is the whole person, and most importantly, is this person really dedicated to a career in medicine, which is difficult and time consuming. What are his or her qualifications besides the MCAT and the sciences? Is he or she someone who can relate to patients? It’s a special skill. If an applicant came to me, I would recommend that they become well-rounded in this respect.
Jon:
Gotcha. So how does one get examples of an ability to relate to patients? If you were going to advise someone on these kinds of humanistic endeavors, what would be some examples of that?
Jim:
Well, certainly exposure to clinical medicine, in one way or another, would be a very, very beneficial thing for an applicant to pursue, and to make certain that he or she is comfortable around patients. The experience must be sustained over a prolonged period of time. They don’t have to be directly involved with patient care, changing pajamas, cleaning bed pans, and the like. But they need to have the personality traits that gives them, and ensures comfort on their part, in talking to a patient who is ill. They need to be prepared for the unexpected, too.
Students also need to show a committee or an advisor that they’re not going to turn off a patient. That they aren’t going to say something inappropriate. Maintaining one’s equanimity is a minimal requirement to be suitable for medicine. In fact, equanimity is the byword in medicine.
Jon:
I would imagine to some degree, a medical school candidate has to know that they’re comfortable with the squeamish, with the surprise, the calamity, with the emotion that goes into this profession.
Jim:
Precisely. Here’s a true example. When I was a student, I was on rounds on the medical floor with six or seven of my fellow students, plus residents and interns. We went into the room of a young man who was not in control of himself. I don’t remember his primary illness. But he seemed rather short-tempered, and he took a urinal and flung the contents at one of my contemporaries, one of my fellow students.
Jon:
That wasn’t nice.
Jim:
No, it was not nice. Now there were a bunch of us in the room, and I think it might have hit more than one person. One student reacted very badly and started yelling and using obscene language at the patient, and almost picking a fight with him. The rest of us cleaned ourselves off and, fortunately, had the self-control to say nothing. That encounter was remembered by the faculty. And this particular student was, in the course of time, found to be completely unsuitable for patient care. Instead of a clinician, he became a bench researcher.
That patient unknowingly did the medical profession, and the student, a big favor that day.