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Thanks!

And then there were none

A week and a half ago I graduated from Calvin College…and that’s it. It’s funny. You spend so much time at one place studying, figuring out who you are, making friends, eating, talking, learning, and working that in doing so, that place becomes your home. Then in one day, it all crumbles. Okay, that might be a slight overstatement, but its odd how fast it all happens. The weeks before graduation, I was so excited for the big day when I would receive my diploma and celebrate my accomplishments over the past four years, but when I think back to graduation day, it was all a blur. (I do remember how my wonderful family was there and that meant so much!)

The day after graduation, reality really settled in. We were DONE with college. That was it. For many, that meant no more tests, no more papers, and no more late nights trying to get it all done. Even more sobering, however, is that for those of us at Calvin, it also means the end of something bigger: the Calvin community. Sure, we will all remain in some sort of community throughout life; yet I honestly do not think we will experience the unique, intricate, amazing community that was formed at Calvin over the past four years in the same way ever again. And that’s okay, but it’s an adjustment.

As I think back on my community at Calvin, that’s what college is all about. It was the late night talks with friends about deep life issues; partaking in the spontaneous, not-really-my-cup-of-tea ideas of others, going to the beach on a Sunday when there was work to be done; living with 4-7 other guys, which always resulted in something interesting; and knowing that the people you cared about the most, those that knew and understood you the best, were always there for you. For me, there will be many more books to read, tests to take, and skills to learn. But will those other things from college ever happen again in a similar fashion? I don’t know. I do hope, however, that in the future God place me in a community that is at least as half as rich as that of Calvin.

Am I sad? I’m not sure if that is the word I’d use—I’m excited for what lies ahead. I think I’d instead say I’m experiencing the bittersweet feelings that for me come with change. You look ahead and are eager to sprint onward and take on new challenges. Yet as you take that first stride, your other foot drags behind as you look back and see all that you are leaving. It happened when I went to high school. It happened after I worked at Doe River Gorge. It happened when I left for college. It’s part of life. I know that God has placed each and every person I’ve encountered over the years into my life for specific reasons, and I for that I am thankful.

There's always a first time for everything!

Word to the young: when you search for that special person in your life, look for someone who pushes you out of your comfort zone. Thankfully for me, I have Annie Nicholson.

Today, I ran my first 10K. I've done some shorter runs, but this was my first longer run (I say longer because in the grand scheme, 6.2mi isn't that long). Earlier this semester I toyed with the idea of doing it, but I hated running. I went back and forth with the idea for a while and Annie kept encouraging me to run. Finally I decided to sign up....and I loved it! The weather was ugly this morning, but I must say that the rain felt good throughout the race. It was really nice to compete in something again too. It's been a while since I've done any type of competitive sport.

After the run there was another first: we went to Gaia. Now you might think, "hmm okay, what does that mean?" Well, Annie eats healthier than me and my impression of Gaia prior to today was that it was a hippy vegan restaurant with small portions that wouldn't fill me. Boy was I wrong! (God loves doing this to me to keep my pride in check.) The meal was delicious.

Before I go I have one more thing to add: if you know me, you know that I love to find new hobbies, especially expensive ones that allow me to buy cool gear. After today's 10K today, I think I'm hooked. So what's next? Let's just say that instead of studying for this evening's Spanish final, I've been searching for sprint triathlon/duathlons later this summer. Let's see if this happens....

Even better news

I’m thrilled to go to medical school, it’s the reason I’ve invested so much over the past few years. But you know what? Annie and I got engaged this past weekend and I’m even more excited to spend the rest of my life with her! So let me tell you what went down.

Annie and I had looked at rings together a few weeks ago because I really wanted her to love what she got (and thankfully we did because she hated everything I liked!). Once she picked a few she liked, I told her the ring I chose would take about a month or so to get set and sized, but it was actually ready the following week…so she had no idea that the engagement would be happening soon. This past Thursday we went down to Cincinnati because I had a Second Look event at UC’s med school and so the weekend had an “all about me” feel which helped take away any of Annie’s suspicions.

Friday after I got back from UC I asked Annie to go to dinner and boy was it difficult to get her to say yes! She wanted to stay home with her family because she doesn’t see them often but she finally agreed because everyone was “busy” for the night. We went to a great Asian restaurant called Green Papaya in Hyde Park. At dinner I was super anxious and flustered, but I don’t think she was catching on. Toward the beginning of our meal I told Annie I had something really exciting to tell her and to give her. Before I go on, you should know that Annie always loses her water bottles and I had told her when I picked a med school that I’d give her a water bottle from that school. But when I told her I had something for her she started to think that was it…and you know what she thought? “Is he really going to do it here?” But I didn’t. I gave her the bottle and told her that I had chosen UC for med school. (Annie is from Cincinnati so this was exciting news since we will be near friends and family for the next four years.) She thought that was the big news and all her suspicions left, and so did my anxiety….for the most part.

After dinner we were extremely stuffed and I asked Annie if she wanted to go for a walk at a nearby park. What she didn’t know, however, was that three of her good friends had set up something special for us. When we got to the park, I was a mess. I wasn’t familiar with the park so I had no idea where to go. To make it worse, Annie took my coat because she was cold and so I had to put the ring in my pocket which was super obvious. We walked around for a bit and eventually I saw what the girls had set up. The only problem was that Annie had to go to the bathroom, which was right near the overlook where I need to take her. So I awkwardly distracted her as we walked in that direction and tried to get her to run to the bathrooms with me since we had to go so bad….I was so nervous, I couldn’t think of anything else to do! We did what we had to do and when she came out, I was standing by “the place.” There was a blanket, strawberries, champagne, and music overlooking a beautiful view. As she walked over to me, she knew what was going on. She walked over to me, I got down on my knee, and I asked her to marry me!

 The rest of the night we spent with family and friends. It was a wonderful night and a special time for Annie and me. We’re very thankful for everyone who has invested in us as individuals and as a couple over the years. We are excited for what God has in store and pray that through our marriage we will grow closer to Him.

A decision has been made!

After months of anxiety while I waited for an acceptance, I finally got in. And to my dismay, I got into multiple schools. Don’t get me wrong, that was a blessing, but a new type of stress came on. Now I had to choose among those schools and find out which one was the best fit for me. Finally, after months of prayer and thought, I’ve made my decision. My educational resume will now look like this:

Nordonia Hills City Schools—Northfield, OH

St. Edward High School—Lakewood, OH

Calvin College—Grand Rapids, MI

and now...

The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine—Cincinnati, OH

Keep on going

I'm a pretty self-motivated person, but boy is it hard to keep going. It's senior year, I've been accepted to med school, and classes aren't that hard...but there's work to be done. Sometimes I get worried and think that I'm just losing all my discipline and work ethic and that won't make it through med school. Thankfully I have some great friends who slap me in the face (figuratively of course)  and remind me that its good ol' senioritis kicking in. You would hope a future doc could diagnosis that, right? (On a side note, senioritis doesn't really make sense."-itis" means "inflammation of," so in that case senioritis means inflammation of a senior....weird.)

The next two weeks are looking pretty good. I don't have much due this week and we are off on Friday for Good Friday so Annie and I are headed to Cleveland for Easter. Next week we don't have classes Tuesday and Wednesday and the following weekend we will be headed to Cincinnati for a Second Look event at UC and to see Annie's family. After that there's only two weeks left and then finals....crazy! 

I love Calvin, don't get me wrong, but I'm ready to move on. 

Verge

I would like to start this off by saying I feel very cocky posting what I am about to post. I promise, the following link is relevant to my journey in becoming a doc. After I won the AspiringDocs video contest last year, my college did a short news video on me (every week they cover stories of different students throughout campus and I was just one of the lucky ones to get chosen). More recently, Calvin decided to make a magazine called Verge for high school seniors who are "on the verge" of coming to Calvin, clever huh? They wanted to make it fun and artsy and not to "Calvin-y." Well anyway, they wrote the cover story about my Calvin experience and the path along which God has taken me. They are both posted on the Verge website:

Calvin College Verge: The DNA of a Good Doctor

Again, I don't mean to come off self-centered by posting this. My hope is that you can get a better idea of my story from these than you may have from my poorly written blog posts. Thanks for checking this out!

You do what you have to do

It is an amazingly beautiful day today. Just a few days ago it was raining and cold, now its 80 degrees and sunny! And what am I doing? I'm sitting in Starbucks reading about triacylglycerol synthesis...fun. As I was reading I looked outside and saw all these people walking/running/biking and enjoying the day and I asked myself, "why am I doing this? Its gorgeous out and I'm sitting inside studying." To make it even harder, I probably could get away with not doing my work for today; I'm doing fine in my classes, I've been accepted into med school, and I'm almost done with college. Yet I keep going. And to be honest, I don't know why. I guess this is how I am wired; I love to learn and I want to be the best at what I do. I just keep telling myself that in a week/month/year, I wont remember how nice of a day it was. My hope is, however, that I'll know and remember this science stuff though. And so I head back to my biochemistry book and let the beautiful day pass on by.

Video Contest

If you know me at all, you know I'm an "all-or-nothing kind" of guy. Two summers ago (2009) when I decided I would go into medicine, I was doing some  research to get more involved (read "I was going all out"). One day I came across the AAMC's AspiringDocs page, a group that works to increasing diversity in the medical field, and noticed there was a video contest going on. What would I have to do? I would need to submit a 2-minute video answering the question "what motivates you to increase diversity in medicine?"... within two weeks! I knew a ton of people would submit videos, but I figured it was worth a shot. That's how how this video was made:

What motivates me to increase diversity in medicine

And somehow I won! I was 1 of 10 winners (out of... actually, I have no idea...maybe it was just out of 11 people, wouldn't that be funny?). In deciding what to talk about, I was intentional about not limiting my answer to only racial and ethnic diversity. Coming from a middle-class socioeconomic family and a being the first in my family to go to college, I have seen how diversity wears many faces. I really enjoyed making the video because in sharing my motivations with others, I was better able to articulate my passion for medicine. As I prepared the video, I saw how deep my passion for diversity in medicine really is.

There were also some nice "perks." I was given an MCAT study guide, a big book full of all the med school entrance requirements (which came in handy), a dorky AspringDocs tote bag, and a nice monetary gift that essentially paid for both of my MCATs. I feel blessed to have won and am very grateful! Oh, and before I sign out I'd like to give a BIG shout out to Brad Jansen, who offered his time and patience filming and editing this video for me. Actually, that's probably why I won...thanks Brad!

Movement

I'm out of purgatory! I'm officially on the alternate list at Case...hey, movement is movement. So on the table we have Oakland and Cincy, with Loyola and Case in the background (since I'm only on their alternate lists at this point). I honestly believe I'd be happy at any of them. Time will tell...

Options

Alright, so I’m done with what might have been the “boring information” stuff. It may not have been super interesting to read, but I personally think it’s important to share the process I’ve had to go through to get where I am. And through the whole process, the hard work has paid off. I’ve interviewed at six of the eighteen schools I applied to, been accepted to four, wait-listed at one, and placed in this odd “purgatory” at one.

When I got my first acceptance, it was surreal. They called me and I honestly couldn’t believe it was true. I don’t mean to sound egotistic, but I’ve  always done well throughout school (so when I get a good grade or something, I kind of expected it for myself and it doesn’t really hit me). Yet knowing how hard it is to get into medical school, I was speechless when I found out I had been accepted. It was quite funny too. There I was, excited beyond belief, and all the people I wanted to tell immediately (my mom, dad, girlfriend…) didn’t answer their phones! They were there for me through the thick and the thin and put up with me when I was grumpy/tired/exhausted, yet they were nowhere to be found when the news came in J

I’ve currently narrowed my acceptances down to Oakland University William Beaumont SOM (in Rochester, MI) and the University of Cincinnati COM. Now I know I shouldn’t complain, I’m in a good boat considering I have options, but I’m at a standstill. To be honest, I truly believe I would be equally happy at either school. The biggest draw for UC is the support network Annie and I would have (between my family 3 hours north and her family right there). Med school is going to be rough and many of my mentors have told me that during those times, you can’t underestimate family. UC is also ranked #3 of all med schools for pediatrics! On the other hand, OUWB is a new program; I’d be a member of their inaugural class. While that initially caused some hesitation, I’m very confident in the administration and faculty and like what I see. I just went to their Second Look weekend and feel much more educated and informed about what OUWB will look like next year. Sure there’s some risk in going with a new program, but there is also the opportunity to be a part of something new. I like the idea of making a name for myself, being innovative, and setting a tone for the type of students we will be. In a few weeks I’m heading down to UC for their Second Look day, which will be super helpful. OUWB and UC were my first two interviews, so I had forgotten a lot about what they offer. UC has also made some curricular changes, so I’m excited to hear what they have to offer.

Where do you think I should go? haha Feel free to vote via commenting on this post! I have some time though…students can hold multiple acceptances until May 15. On May 15, however, you must choose your school. Keep in touch and please be praying. We will see what He has planned…

Interviews

The interview is one of the most coveted experiences for any premed. The interview season runs from about October to March. While most schools will tell you that even in March you are still interviewing for a seat in the upcoming year’s class (as opposed to interviewing for a spot on the waitlist, which is not too exciting), there is no denying that a November interview is much better than an April interview

The interview, while exciting because it’s the first sign of hope for admissions, is a nerve-wracking event. You might think a med school interview is like other interview processes—the applicant gets flown out, wine-and-dined, and shown around the medical school. For medical school, that is not at all the case! Applicants to med school are left to pay for everything on their own. Think about the financial investment here. You’ve already paid close to $150 per school, and now you have to pay for transportation, food, and lodging for each of these interviews... it’s crazy. Aside from the money, the stakes are high. There is no room for an ill-fitting shirt, flooding pants, or an improperly tied tie…you have to bring you “A” game.  Everything counts.

That being said, however, interviews are fun too. You walk in early in the morning to find twenty or so other students who are in your same shoes (and I mean that almost literally; we all look similar in our not-to-flashy suits that show class but not cockiness). The interviews usually consist of a tour, lunch with students, and two interviews (one with a member of the admissions committee and one with a current medical student). There are, however, some deviations. When I interviewed at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, they had use functioning like robots…seriously. Cincinnati, along with only a few other schools in the country, has switched to what is known as the MMI, or multiple mini-interviews. Without going into too much detail, you have six to eight 10 minute interviews. In a hallway with room after room, each student stands outside a door and reads a prompt until an overhead voice ushers you in. You answer the question to an evaluator who doesn’t say much, he or she just listens. Eight minutes later, the overhead voice tells you to move on. This is a funny scene. Suddenly, all ten applicants scramble out of the rooms, run to the adjacent door, and begin reading the next prompt. It’s quiet funny to watch…we look a bunch of lab mice running around in some freak experiment. I guess we just do what we have to do.

During the interview day, you get to know the other applicants pretty well. It’s actually really nice. For once you finally find yourself surround by tons of people who know exactly what you are going through. I loved getting to know some of my fellow applicants and hearing their stories. The one thing that hit me is that most of us are very highly qualified applicants. (Look for a later post about that…it’s a shame how many potentially amazing doctors don’t get into medical school simply because there aren’t enough seats. Weird, huh? There’s a shortage of doctors in the US, but defiantly not a shortage of qualified applicants. I recently heard that in ten years there will be a shortage of physicians by 20%!). Meeting these future doctors is a humbling and awesome thing. It’s humbling because you begin to see that you are one of many. However, it’s cool to see how different peoples’ passions affect their career goals. Thank God for all the different interests, otherwise we would only have one type of doctor! I’m learning more and more that medicine is a collaborative job. You never work alone; you’re always consulting with other docs. This is a beautiful thing, a direct reflection of the world God has made. God doesn’t design things to be done alone, He wants us in community. He makes each of us unique so that together, we function perfectly.

Not as great as it's made out to be?

I was surfing the net and came across this blog by some guy and decided to share it: 

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/abinazir/2005/05/23/why-you-should-not-go-to-medical-school-a-gleefully-biased-rant/

To give a quick summary, the guy gives 10 reasons why you should not go into medicine. As someone who is about to embark on a 8-12 year journey to do exactly what he discouraging, I found his words quite interesting. Granted I haven't gone through what he has, I can't help but think that with the worldview I have, my hope in something Greater, and my wonderful support network, it wont be so bad. 

At the end of his blog, the writer says:

"And the one reason why you should go into medicine:

You have only ever envisioned yourself as a doctor and can only derive professional fulfillment in life by taking care of sick people.

There’s really no other reason, and lord knows the world needs docs.  Prestige, money, job security, making mom happy, proving something, can’t think of anything else to do, better than being a lawyer, etc are all incredibly bad reasons for becoming a doc.

You should become a doc because you always wanted to work for Medecins Sans Frontières and your life will be half-lived without that.  You should become a doc because you want to be the psychiatrist who makes a breakthrough in schizophrenia treatment.  You should become a doc because you love making sick kids feel better and being the one to reassure the parents that it’ll all be OK...But woe betide you if there’s anything else, anything at all, that would also give you that fulfillment. Because pursuit of medicine would preclude chasing down that other dream and a whole lot more – a dream that could be much bigger, much more spectacular, much more enriching for yourself and humanity than being a physician..."

I cant argue his points, but thank God I " love making sick kids feel better and being the one to reassure the parents that it’ll all be OK."

The Application Process

Another topic I’d like to explain (or rather bore you with) before I start med school this fall is the application process. In a nutshell, the process is loooong. For those of you who aren’t familiar, most graduate school applications are due in December or January and you hear back around March. Med school, on the other hand, is shifted a few months earlier. The application process is essentially three steps. First is a standardized application, known as the AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service). This application can be sent to as many schools as you want, but you have to pay per school (which adds up really quickly). Second, med schools send you a secondary application if they “like” you based on your AMCAS. Now I say “like” because some schools take the AMCAS more seriously than others. These schools read it fairly thoroughly before they send out secondaries. Other schools, however, use this process (I believe) to make money because you have to pay again to submit a secondary application. The secondaries are school specific, meaning each secondary application looks different. For example, one of my secondaries asked about five questions that could have been answered in less than 20 words total, while another asked for fives essays that needed to be ~750 words each. Think about it a bit…these things take forever; not to mention you are filling them out right as classes are starting up again. I must admit though that we (and I include anyone applying to grad school here) are cleaver. Ask most applicants and they will tell you that you begin to find ways to make your essays “usable” for more than one application :) Third, if you “make the cut” academically and show potential to become a good clinician upon an initial review of your application, an admissions committee may invite you for an interview. Sometime after the interview (a week, a month, maybe even 3 months…its unpredictable!) applicants are told they are admitted, rejected, or placed on the waitlist.

The worst thing about this whole process is that the correspondence is so unpredictable. Once you submit your secondaries, it’s all out of your hands and the waiting game begins. This is the hardest part. Your fellow premed friends start hearing back about interviews and when you haven’t, you freak. You start to play that game I mentioned earlier: You rationalize why you haven’t heard back—Are my grades not good enough? Did I need to volunteer for 60 weeks instead of 52 at the clinic? Should I have majored in biology? It’s silly, but we worry away.

And then it comes. After days and months of checking your email every 10 minutes (purchasing the iPhone around this time was probably the worst thing I could have done to try to settle my anxiety), you finally get an email:

Dear Mr. Alexander Cortez,

The admissions committee would like to invite you for an interview.

And from there, everything changes—you’ve gotten an interview! You’ve joined the club….but just for now.

Hello Ft. Lauderdale

After a 24 hour drive, I think this makes up for every second of it:

We really lucked out. We initially had some "problems" with booking our place, but in the end it worked out. I have to admit, however, when we pulled up to the place, I was slightly nervous something wasn't going to work out...but it did! Our place is amazing...a beautiful view (as you can see), HUGE, nice stuff, comfy. It's going to be a great week of relaxation. No tests, no papers, no worrying about the future and med school. Thank you God! Off to make breakfast!

And we’re off!

In case you were wondering, yes, I have fun; I don’t just do school. In fact, I am currently passing through Tennessee on my way to Fort Lauderdale with four great guys: Henry Hasson, Bart Tocci, and Thad Winkle. It’s been a wonderful day…and quite spontaneous if you ask me. This morning when I was getting directions from Grand Rapids to Fort Lauderdale I noticed there were three equidistant routes—all 24 hours. And the great thing was that one of those routes passed right through Cincinnati! So six hours into our trip, which was right around dinner time, we arrived at the Nicholson household where we found a much needed meal (for which we are SUPER grateful) before the heart of our trip got underway. It’s now 2:58am and we are headed to the beach for a fun, relaxing week in the sun. It’s going to be a long ride, but what the heck, this is college.

We made it

Saturday night was a great night. To share with you why, let me cite my friend, and future world-renown dentist, Alvin's recent blog:

"I just came back from the Derby Station with my pre-med friends. This is our first time hanging out outside the lecture halls and the labs. We decided to celebrate our admission to dental and medical schools. It was good to celebrate things that we all went through: freaking out over Ochem tests, knowing that cat carcass inside and out just to ace the 20 point anatomy quiz, bombing those practice DAT and MCAT tests 2 days before the real deal, dressing up and flying out for interviews, and of course getting that letter confirming that we will be doctors. We’re all excited. We don’t know what we are getting into. The last 4 years flew by. We’re almost there. "

After reading Alvin's post, it made me think. The five of us who hung out that night aren't best friends. In fact, if I were categorizing based on how much time we spend together outside class and such, I would probably refer to them as acquaintances. However, there is something unique about this group--something that brings us together as close friends. You see, over the past few years we have gone though some rough times, times that are difficult to explain to others. If you look back to my first post, I decided to write a blog to share my experiences because I believe the journey to become a doctor is so unique and hard to share. That's why these people in my life are different than most...they do understand. Ask any of us and we love getting together to talk about where we are at—test grades, MCAT scores, recent interviews, acceptances (and rejections). We can talk to our parents, our best friends, or our significant others, but they just don't understand completely (and sometimes they don't care...which is understandable). We’ve endured a strange process getting into medical/dental school and we have made it...together. And I believe the bonds we have made over the past few years are strong. When I think about these friends, I know that 5-10 years from now, while we may not keep in touch daily, or even monthly, we will still check-in with one another to see how things are going. 

I'm thankful for these friends and wish them the best of luck over the next years as they embark on a difficult, but exciting road ahead. And though it will be tough, I don't think we will be too surprised. We’ve prepared for this for years; we know what we are getting ourselves into. So as you read my blog in the time to come, remember that it’s just my experience and that there are many on a similar path with their own unique experiences and stories to share. 

I’ve loved my time at Calvin and I’ve met so many wonderful people. However, I’m ready to move on. I feel well prepared and excited about what God has in store. I’m excited for my friends too. I can’t wait to call them up in 4 years and have to call them Dr. or to get an email from them that says MD or DDS at the end of their name.

We all have a story

Now the more important question is what is required to get into med school—and this question is next to impossible for me to answer. For one, I just did my thing and it’s worked at some schools, but not at others. To be honest, I don’t really know exactly what they are looking for. Second, every school is different—they are looking to produce certain types of doctors so they are looking for certain types of applicants…very unpredictable.

That being said, I’ll give it a shot. For the most part med schools want to make sure you can cut it academically (so here is where your GPA and MCAT come into play), but also that you can relate to, care about, and interact with your patients (and now enters the volunteer experiences, trips abroad, work, clinical exposure, research, and any other extracurriculars). I was recently asked by a junior who was getting ready to apply to med school if she needed to have research. That’s the thought by many: whether or not they need to have some specific experience or score. It’s not about whether or not you have this or that; it’s about how you “package” your this and that as a whole. A good application needs to be balanced; you can control this by building up one area if you lack in another. For instance, I didn’t do any research and my MCAT score wasn’t that great (29) so thought I might appear a little weak in the science area. So, I made for this by making sure to got good grades and adding on the biochemistry minor. I also supplemented the “hard facts” of my application by including all (I really do think I included almost all of them…) of my extracurricular experiences throughout college and really how I grew from them.

I know the last post and this may have been a bit boring, but since I’m writing about what it means to become a doctor in our country, it’s important to know the hard requirements. Let me say again, however, this “getting in” stuff is drawn from my experiences. Everyone’s story is different and getting into medical school is about having a story. Med school is so competitive that sadly most people who don’t get accepted are still AMAZING applicants. It’s simply that there are not enough seats available for the number of applicants. So you have to be sure to work hard, collect experiences, and package that well. You need to stand out and share with med schools why you are unique and how your story sets you apart from all the other students who are applying with a 3.9GPA, 34MCAT, and traveled to Malaysia to work with the poor.

Sometimes we compare ourselves to others (as I’ve done so many time throughout life and especially during this whole process) and think we don’t have anything unique about our lives…but trust me, you do. We all have a story to tell; what’s yours? 

The First Steps

You might wonder what is required to get into medical school. Well, there are really two questions: what is required to apply to medical school and what is required to get into medical school. The first one is quite objective, the second much more subjective. While some schools differ from the norm, most schools require the following:

• 1 year of biology
• 1 year of general chemistry
• 1 year of organic chemistry
• This is not “hippie” chemistry, as my dad called it; it’s more or less just carbon chemistry, which is the fundamental type of chemistry that takes place in the body
• 1 year of general physics
• the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test)

 Like I said, most schools differ in a few ways. For the most part, they differ in the additional courses they may require, usually a calculus, a social science like psychology or sociology, or biochemistry. More or less, however, this is it. Some medical schools don’t even require a degree! How do you feel about that? Your doctor might have his MD, but he or she may have never even received a BA! (It’s not really that big of a deal, so please don’t start freaking out.)

While the course load differs for everyone, most students take general chemistry (commonly known as “gen chem”) and biology (“bio”) their freshman year, organic chemistry (“o chem” or “orgo,” depending on what college you go to) their sophomore year, and physics (no fancy name for this one) their junior year. This is fairly easy (in terms of taking the courses within 3 years, not necessarily easy in terms of content) to accomplish if you are the more traditional science major such as biology, chemistry, or biochemistry because these courses are part of the major anyway. Since I switched into premed right before my junior year, and I wanted to apply to med school with my class, I didn’t have much time. I had to take bio, gen chem, and physics my junior year, and then o chem the following summer over 10 weeks—thankfully Calvin offers this unique program. (It went like this for me: school straight for a year; 3 days off; 10 weeks of ochem—which is normally a 32 week course—2 days off; 3 weeks of studying; and then the MCAT…fun!) Not everyone is a science major though. I, in fact, will be graduating as a Spanish major and a biochemistry minor.

The most dreaded “things” by premeds are organic chemistry and the MCAT. I enjoyed organic (I think most people think this class is so bad because, although it does require a lot of work, its reputation is perpetually passed on year to year—if you think something is going to be terrible, then of course it is!). But let me tell you, the MCAT really is a terrible, terrible thing. The test covers the basic sciences and is divided into four sections: critical thinking, writing, biological sciences (bio and o chem), and physical sciences (gen chem and physics). The test lasts about 5 hours, including a few short breaks, and you really have to operate like a machine just to answer all the questions within the allotted time per section. After taking the test twice, I’ve come to the conclusion that about 40% of doing well on the test is knowing the material, the other 60% is knowing how to take that specific test—the format, the question styles, the timing, etc. The test is computerized, which is stupid. We spend years taking test after test on paper with a pencil and then this thing comes along! It might sound like a minor concern, but it’s a big difference.

The test is out of 45 (each of the three sections is out of 15, except for writing, which goes J-T). From what I know, the writing section isn’t THAT important…as long as your score isn’t brutal. Now the scores range all over the place, but no one gets a 45. The highest score of someone I personally know was a 38…incredible. To help you navigate, here are some average scores at certain med schools

Wright State~28

Michigan State University ~31

University of Cincinnati ~34

Case Western Reserve University ~36

University of Michigan

Harvard University ~36

Mayo Clinic ~38

*(These are off the top of my head from back when I researched. Please don’t correct me if you know I’m wrong, unless you just can’t resist the urge.)

  

Average GPAs are all over too, I’d guess around 3.4-3.8. So this is what you need to apply and the how the “numbers” of your application work. However,getting into medical school cannot be reduced to a formula; it’s all relative to the person and what they possess beyond good numbers….

Why worry?

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."-Matthew 6:34

I am a worrier and for me, I need to ponder this verse every morning. Its crazy how much I let myself worry sometimes. I've recently descovered that I take my current situaiton and run with it! I'll come up with crazy scenarios of what I tihnk will come about of my situaiton in the future, only to find myself thinking the most ridiculos things. God is in control and we need to be  "confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6).

So why do I bring this up? Because I caught myself doing this just these past two weeks and the events that followed were God's way of bringing light on my foolishness. What happened? Well I started envisioning my future by mentally selecting my med school and thinking of all the things that would happen...yet as of now I have no idea where I will wind up. You see, it's funny because two weeks ago I thought I was going to Case Western Reserve University, but then my application was placed on hold. Shortly after I interviewed at Loyola and knew that where was I was supposed to be. My letter that I mentioned just came in...alternate list. After those two schools fell through, I started thinking about the University of Cincinnati a lot and began to feel super good about it; a 3rd year student called me over the weekend and I really appreciated that. As I was thinking about that, I began to rule out Oakland. Then the unexpected happened, I got a call from Oakland and they offered me scholarship worth almost half the cost of tuition. (While there are tons of scholarships for undergrad, there are barely any for medical school. I think the thought is that doctors will make money, so we don't need to help them pay for their education. From the schools I've visited, most seem to offer 5-10 large scholarship to their class of 150 or so students...that's not many.) 

So now I have no idea what is going to happen, but I'm thankful that the One who is alongside me does.

Waiting

Waiting to hear back from medical schools is horrendous. Like seriously, it’s terrible. Now I know I’m not in the best place to complain since I’ve heard back from, and thanks to God have been accepted to, three medical schools thus far. Nonetheless, I can comment on this because I’ve done it, and am doing so right now. At this point I like the schools I’ve been accepted to; however, I really like two of the schools where I most recently interviewed, Case Western and Loyola, but have yet to hear back from them. Now there are two types of waiting in this instance: just waiting without any idea when you may hear back and waiting for the “magic” date when you were told you’d hear back. No doubt it’s hard when you have no idea when to expect a response, but there comes a point where you let go and you get over the daily anxiety of “could this be the day.” The worst, I think (or maybe it’s just because I’m currently in this situation), is when you are told by the school when their committee will make decisions, but the decision letter doesn’t come as soon after that.

I interviewed at Loyola on February 12, 2011 and loved it there, so it was exciting when they told us we would here back soon after our interview. The committee was meeting the following Monday (February 21). The schools I have heard from so far have sent out emails and letters with admissions decisions, which means students hear on that very day the committee looks over their files. But that isn’t the case with Loyola. By Wednesday I still hadn’t heard anything and was beginning to get a little worried. That is why the wait is so bad: your mind begins to run. I started to wonder if maybe they only emailed admitted students and if regular letters were sent to rejected students. But then I remembered that most of my communication with Loyola has been via telephone or regular mail, they don’t do much email. And on and on the thoughts went (I’ve talked to a lot of my friends who are applying to med school and they say the same thing, the anxiety is terrible and the thoughts/worries/speculations that run through their heads only make things worse). The past few days have been so hard for me. Since I still hadn’t heard from Loyola three days after the committee met, I couldn’t wait any longer. I didn’t want to be “that student,” but I need to at least know when and how I would hear back from them so I could relax a little. I sent the admissions office a quick email and they said decisions letters went out via regular mail that Wednesday (February 23). Well, Chicago isn’t very far so I thought I would get that letter soon after but Thursday came and no letter. Friday, no letter. Saturday, still no letter! Come on post office...don’t you realize what this letter says? Can’t you hurry up with my letter? (This whole process can really make you think the world revolves around you. Thankfully God and my wonderful friends and family remind me each day that it doesn’t.)  It’s Monday and I’m pretty confident that the letter will arrive today…but who knows? I can tell you this though, if it doesn’t come I’ll probably come up with some crazy, pessimistic rationale for why I haven’t heard yet and how that probably means I wasn’t accepted.

It’s funny how much I worry and how anxious I get sometimes. I think a lot of us do this throughout life. And it’s so easy to do. But why? What does it mean? Well, I know it’s because I’m not depending on God fully, resting in His will, and placing my confidence in the fact that He is in control…but that sure is easier said than done.

A Short Reflection

As I look back, I can’t help but think about how sometimes God takes us down a road, away from some “thing” that we deep down believe we need to leave, only to find ourselves back at that same “thing” days/months/years later. In my case, I now know exactly why He did this. You may have caught earlier in one of my posts that I said “I quickly began to uncover my motives for becoming a doctor” at the end of high school. During that time and the first few years of college I realized that I wanted to go into medicine for all the wrong reasons. As the first college student in my immediate family, I wanted to really blow the top off and not just go to college…but go to college for as long as I could. I also wanted to make my parents proud because of all they had done for me. Finally, I knew the pay would be nice (little did I know that it would take a 12 year, ~$500,000 educational investment to get to that point). But this time, as I wrestled with switching to premed midway through my college experience, I realized that God completely remolded these motives. Sure, I still wanted to make proud those who had supported me and I knew the job/financial security would be nice, but this time I was passionate about pursuing medicine so that I could serve those who has no voice—specifically children and Spanish speakers. Also, my experiences with the Hispanic and urban communities birthed within me a desire to bring needed resources to those who are so under resourced in our country.

So that is my “enlightenment” in a nutshell. It’s amazing to think about how I’ve arrived where I am today and how faithful God has been to me. It’s also quite humorous trying to put all my thoughts into words because this whole processes was so much more than just words; I spent days and nights thinking about whether or not this was what God wanted for my life. I worried whether or not I could take, and succeeded in, all the science courses required of me since I hadn’t taken a science class in almost 3 years. But as I have learned in my few years on this earth, God is faithful. If He places something on our hearts and we have the courage to follow that lead, He will provide. 

The Switch

So back to my story: towards the end of sophomore year I began to ask myself what I really wanted to do. I wasn’t really enjoying my education classes, I had taken most of the Spanish classes I need toward my major, my CORE classes were quickly dwindling, but I still had two years of college left. Then one day during summer break I was driving in Grand Rapids through a poorer area that has been determined by minimal resources, opportunities, and hope. As I looked around I saw a ton of people, many young people in fact, who were just doing their thing. I began to think—Alex, you’ve been given the valuable opportunity that only about 63% of high school graduates in our country have: the opportunity to go to college. Even more so, God had provided me with the financial resources to afford an amazing college education at Calvin where I was challenged and stimulated me socially, spiritually, and academically. I had been given such a big blessing and I completely missed it. What was I doing? I thought back on my last two years and while I had grown and learned a lot, I had been pretty lazy. I realized something that I didn’t see before. You see, I did very well in high school and was quite proud of myself; there’s nothing wrong with that, right? However, when I got to college, the pride swelled up and I thought I was all set for life. I subconsciously decided I didn’t want to work hard anymore and would find something that, for me, would be easier. Now that’s a TERRIBLE idea for someone who has the opportunity to go to college—a place where you should be working your tail off and expanding your knowledge tenfold! As these thoughts began to enter my mind, something from the past crept up out of nowhere: what if I had stuck with the premed program? Could I have excelled in those classes? Didn’t I want to be a doctor when I was younger? And so it happened. The “what ifs” turned into reality. I met with some wonderful mentors at Calvin, shadowed some doctors and Physician Assistants (to see which field I wanted to pursue), and mapped out how I would take 3 years worth of medical school prerequisites in a year and a half. 

Passion

So after Honduras I knew I loved Spanish and I enjoyed being able to answer questions and teach, so I thought why not be a Spanish teacher? I’d be able to better my Spanish and teach, and I had already begun the course sequence for education…sounds good. (Now there’s one small detail that I have to add at this point in the story. When you are young and in love, you’ll do anything. You see I thought I might want to teach, but I sure didn’t feel called. The only reason I had taken an education class prior to going to Honduras was because I wanted to take a class with the girl I liked—the one who is now my girlfriend—and she happened to be an education student. So that’s really why I “decided” to be an education major). That semester I did some classroom observation and saw the behind-the-scenes work that teaching involves. While I enjoyed the experience and still love to teach, I felt teaching high school Spanish was not what I wanted to do the rest of my life (and I noticed that I wasn’t very creative; every time I had to come up with a lesson, my first thought was lecture-style instruction…not very ideal for antsy high school students). I also quickly realized that I was not deeply passionate about teaching.

I’d like to digress for a moment. You may have noticed that I use the word passion/passionate a lot. I love it…so let me spend a few minutes on it. My generation has been taught to “do what you love to do,” which is both a blessing and a curse. I call it a curse because finding what one is passionate about does not happen overnight. A quick search on the web shows that the average number of career switches for my generation is about 7! This is very different than most of our parents’ experiences. They, instead, pursued where the jobs were. It didn’t matter if you were passionate about that job; it was about working hard, rising up, and supporting your family (thanks mom and dad!). That’s not so much the case with my generation. Now it’s a blessing, however, because we have the opportunity to enjoy what we do; we are able to find what we are obsessed with and do that (hopefully we don’t find were obsessed with something creepy…). We have the hopes of finding a job that we actually LOVE (not just like or bare).

Ask someone who knows me and they’ll probably tell you I am a very passionate person (well, at least I hope so…otherwise I just lied to you). Just watch me and you can see. If I’m working on something I really care about, I give it my all. But give me a project that doesn’t catch my attention and the end result will be subpar at best (though I’ve learned how to make it look like I’ve been working hard…). As a Christian, I believe that my purpose, my vocation, in life is to glorify God by using the skills and talents He has given me. Or in the most Calvin Collegesque words I can think of, it is to usher in shalom through good stewardship of my skills and talents. Unfortunately, this idea of glorifying God through your work tends to get misunderstood. People sometimes think this means they have to pursue a “Christian” job—pastor, missionary, worship leader, etc. However, God created life for us TO ENJOY, and I believe He wants us to glorify Him doing whatever it is that we enjoy doing. So how does that translate into glorification? Passion. We carry out this life mission by finding our passion, pursuing it ferociously, and translating it into an impactful service to others in God’s world. So it doesn’t matter if you are a doctor, teacher, landscaper, or stay-at-home mom—if you’re passionate about what you do and serve others while doing it, I believe that glorifies God.

Where to begin...

The summer before I started at Calvin I met with the premed advisor and was ready to begin my premed experience. However, my wonderful college thought it would be a nice idea to hand me a course catalog. Now to you that might sound quite simple, but a course catalog can be a dangerous thing when you’re a young, overzealous freshman with many interests and a desire to explore new things. In the end I decided to go with my competing interests and not take the science courses I would need for medical school. To be honest, I was essentially letting go of my dream to become a doctor…but God was not. (Little did I know that what was about to happen the next few years was his way of refining my motives for studying medicine.) I wasn’t sure what else I wanted to study, but I knew for sure I wanted to take some Spanish classes. I was so sick of everyone thinking I spoke Spanish because my last name is Cortez that I decided I needed to learn to speak Spanish. In fact, when I took my placement test the summer before starting at Calvin, one of the proctors came up to me and said something along the lines of “oh, we know you’ll do just fine on this test,” as if I was a native speaker and would hop right in to the upper-level Spanish courses!

To make a long story short, I floated between many majors the first two years of college. Spring semester of my freshman year my Spanish professor, Maria Rodriguez, “tricked” me into going to Honduras. I say trick because she told me just to fill out the application to see what would happen and the next thing I knew I was reading an email that welcomed me to the fall semester’s study abroad group. (My wonderful girlfriend Annie was not too excited when I, out of nowhere, told her that I wouldn’t be around next semester…but thankfully she forgave me by going to Spain and making me endure a semester at Calvin all alone). My experience in Honduras was amazing and it really shaped me into the man I am today. When I got back from Honduras, I felt very comfortable with my Spanish and began to think about what I would do the rest of my life. Now that I was competent with Spanish, I recognized that my profession could extend itself to an even larger community. However, what discipline was I passionate about enough to study for the next few years, and would also result in a resource I could offer to others?

Was this something I really wanted?

The first sentence of my story is similar to that of many doctors: I always dreamed of becoming a doctor when I was little. Well, not exactly. When I was about 8 years old I cracked my head and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. And while my mom was freaking out and my aunt was cleaning up the mess, I was LOVING the experience. I thought it was so cool that the paramedics had me wear a little nose “plug” that shot oxygen up my nostrils; that they got to wear cool uniforms; and that they could ride in the back of the “car” while facing the rear and not wearing seatbelts. From then on I wanted to be a “health man” (at that age I didn’t understand the difference between a paramedic, a doctor, a nurse, and the many other jobs in health care). As a got older, I decided I wanted to be a doctor but I never really began to pursue that as a tangible goal. The only time I really brought it up was when I was asked what I wanted to do when I got older.

Once high school came to an end, however, I was forced to think seriously about this dream because it would affect the college I would attend. Also, as any high school senior will tell you, adults have this odd habit of constantly asking what students want to do for the rest of their lives, as if an 18 year old has any idea! For me, I quickly began to uncover my motives for becoming a doctor. I also realized that it was easy, and quite gratifying, to tell all adults that I wanted to be a doctor. I mean, it’s a pretty respectable profession I thought, right?

Why I want to do what I am about to do

MD… Medical Doctor. Many of us know doctors, or know people who know doctors. And when they are referenced in conversation, it usually goes something like this: “Oh yea, my one friend is an endocrinologist.” Or “I met a woman who was a cardiothoracic surgeon and...”In just a few words a physician can be described; however, it took more than just a few years for them to acquire those two letters following their name. I hope what I am about to do is not seen as a pat-on-the-back for the profession I am entering, or a petition to praise the many who have chosen to study medicine as if they were better than others. Rather, it is a story; and more particularly, it is my story about my journey.

After 16 grueling (though I’m afraid the meaning of this adjective will quickly change over the next few years) months of nearly nonstop studying, it came time for me to finally apply to medical school. So much work had been invested and now I was ready to share with medical schools why I thought I was a good candidate to study medicine and become a physician. As the application process progressed, I quickly realized how unique this experience was. Many students begin undergrad as “pre-med majors,” (a commonly heard phrase, but one that makes no sense considering there actually isn’t a specific pre-med major), but less than half make it to the day when they can click submit on their AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) applications. While my mind was consumed with anxiety and apprehension about whether or not I would get accepted, I found a small crevice of space left to reflect on what I was doing. And, after meeting and interacting with others in my position, it became clear that becoming a doctor is a journey not easily explained.

One thing you should know about me is that I love telling stories; another, however, is that I hate writing. As you may now be thinking, this is a bad combination for someone who wants to share his thoughts and experiences without having to verbally repeat them 956,403 times. I once half-jokingly told my English-major friend that he should write a book about people becoming doctors, starting from undergrad, because it is such a unique endeavor (and the book would probably sell because it would be read by either the thousands of students who dream of becoming a doctor or the bazillions of “preoccupieds” who want to know where everything comes from—their food, their clothes, and even their doctors.) Unfortunately, my friend didn’t take me seriously and so this is what I set out to do—to share my journey with you over the next 7+ years. I’m sorry to say that I did not begin writing this at the start of undergrad (I’m sure you’re quite upset), but I hope to spend a short time recapping my past four years, as it relates to my getting into medical school and beginning my medical career, and then continue on a regular basis as my medical education progresses. So, do what I will be doing for the next 6 yea…9…11...no, for the rest of my life: sit back and grab a cup of coffee. This is going to be a long ride.