Medical students spend a significant amount of time in school. Once a doctor has their M.D., or Doctor of Medicine degree, there’s one last thing to do before they can practice medicine: get licensed. In order to become licensed to practice medicine in the United States, doctors must pass the USMLE. Given in a series of three steps, this exam, administered by the National Board of Medical Examiners, is designed to test a physician’s knowledge and ability to provide appropriate medical care. If you’re planning on pursuing a career in medicine, keep reading to learn what you need to know about the USMLE exam. USMLE basics Th ... Read More About What is the USMLE?

You’ve devoted months—and perhaps even quite a bit of money—to preparing for the Medical College Admission Test, and now that you’ve received your score, all you can wonder is, “Should I retake the MCAT?” Ultimately, everyone has their own opinion about whether a retake is necessary. One way to approach this question is to review the data utilized by medical school admissions committees, as well as several applicable studies. So—should I retake the MCAT? Consider this study, which was a meta-analysis of 23 other studies. It examined MCAT scores and their correlation to medical school GPAs and USMLE ... Read More About Should I Retake the MCAT?

If you’ve been looking at medical schools recently, you may already know that many U.S. medical schools have begun encouraging some study of the arts and humanities in their curriculums. Though it may seem that being able to dissect great works of literature is less important than being able to carefully dissect a human cadaver in anatomy, medical schools now argue that an arts education teaches students to treat their “whole” patients, taking into account the patients’ socioeconomic and cultural contexts when deciding upon courses of treatment. If you’re headed to medical school, consider taking some arts classe ... Read More About How Can Arts Education Benefit Med Students?

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Rishi Mediratta is co-author of the book Cracking Med School Admissions: Trusted Advice from Students Who’ve Been There, as well as a medical school admissions adviser. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Public Health Studies from Johns Hopkins University and went on to complete Master’s degrees in Medical Anthropology and Public Health. Rishi attended medical school at Stanford University, and he is currently a resident physician at Stanford Children’s Health and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital St ... Read More About Ask a Medical School Admissions Expert: Rishi Mediratta

The following piece was written by Dr. Sahil Mehta. Sahil is the founder of MedSchoolCoach, a medical school admissions consulting company. He has been featured in our Admissions Expert series and is a former admissions interviewer for Columbia University. Getting into an American medical school is a difficult task. With more than 60% of applicants rejected each year, it’s more likely than not that you will find yourself among them. There are several important factors to consider if you don’t get into medical school. We recommend a multi-step approach to your application if you find yourself without a seat in medica ... Read More About What Do I Do if I Get Rejected From Medical School?