Prep Advice from Dr. Wright

I recently heard Dr. Scott Wright (former Dean of PreHealth Advising UT Dallas, now Director of Texas Medical and Dental School Application Service) talk about applying to professional programs. I've been privileged to meet him and work with him in my Post Bacc studies and now I want to share some of his insight with you. Whether you are applying to PA school, Dental school, PT, Med School, etc, these basic ideas are important to remember.

1) The things we do now will effect the rest of our lives - Our choices now are effecting the choices we will have and the people we will be in 10 years and longer. Grades you get as a freshman linger, decisions on how you present yourself in public last and will come back up years later when you're applying.

2) Take time to Wander - Wander through investigating different professions, different communities, different cultures. Take some time to explore life and find out what is out there. This will not only make you a better, well rounded applicant, but it will help you grow as a person, have more perspective, and be more sure of who you are.

3) Discovery means new perspective, not new places - New perspective is part of growing. This point reinforced the previous one. You have to be ready to think about things differently. A sign of maturity is being able to understand things from someone else's perspective

4) "Non nobis tantum nati" Not for us alone are we born. The professions we are seeking are serving people. We are looking to dedicate our lives to helping those who are hurting. Make sure that fits you, make sure you connect with that idea, make sure you enjoy service. Serve people, find a way to be around sick people, practice serving others right now.

5) Read, read, read - All of the professional schools include a massive amount of reading. The careers they prepare you for will involve a massive amount of reading to keep up with practice. You have to love reading, and if you don't then start reading now and get to like it. Read for fun, read fiction, read journals from the field you want to be in, read what you can.

6) Clear communication - A large part of these jobs is communicating with patients and if you have a language barrier, it will interfere with your ability to do your job. Make sure you can clearly communicate and if you are dealing with an unfamiliar language on a regular basis, get familiar with it. Get fluent in it.

7) Choices more than ability - Entrance to these programs is determined somewhat by skill and aptitude but more so by choices you have made in preparation. Be careful with how you choose things. Be intentional about how you make your choices. Also, if you have some blight from before (bad grades, etc) then be able to demonstrate how you've made better choices now. By the time you are sitting in an interview, they will had screened you on your ability. They want to see how you process information, how you make decisions, and how you relate to other people. That is what makes us who we are.