Applying to Med/PA School
2 Pros and 2 Major Cons of Using Reddit Pre-Med
About Aldridge
Aldridge is a recent graduate of Indiana University and finished with a B.S. degree in Human Biology, as well as a Religious Studies minor. Aldridge is currently applying to med schools in his gap year and is planning to start his journey to become a physician in fall of 2022
What even is Reddit Pre-Med?
POV: You are a stressed-out 2nd year pre-med student and you go searching on the internet to see if other people are struggling with balancing physics and OChem as much as you are. If this sounds familiar, using the social media app Reddit can be a great resource. It is a pretty understated social media place compared to the big boys of Instagram and Facebook, and it lets you search for really specific topics…like being a PRE-MED! Before you dive into the rabbit hole of memes, opinion pieces, and horror stories, you should take a second. As a recently graduated pre-med myself who is in the process of applying to medical school now, Reddit pre-med can be a very topsy turvy place, so here are my two pros and two cons of using pre-med Reddit:
Drawbacks of Using Reddit Pre-Med:
1. You Can End Up Wasting Time and Reddit Becomes Another Social Media App
If you fit into that initial first description of being stressed, it’s more than likely that you’re also strapped for time! While this is totally normal and expected in being a pre-med, what is also true is that you shouldn’t be wasting your time picking up another social media app on top of using Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. I’ve personally fallen into the trap of Reddit pre-med where I’m supposed to be reading about study strategies people were using ended up looking at funny memes for two hours. BE AWARE that it can become a slippery slope, so doing things like setting time limits for apps on your phone can be helpful in avoiding this.
2. You End Up Comparing Yourself to Others
It’s inevitable as a pre-med that you are comparing yourself to others. You see someone else’ Biochemistry grade was 99.5%y think about your own grade that may have been a bit lower. Or you see that someone went on this awesome physician shadowing trip overseas sponsored by Atlantis and you may not believe your extracurriculars stack up the same way. This is OK! The downfall of humans is that we always compare ourselves to others and end up feeling like we fall short, and Reddit pre-med can have a role in that. By reading post after post of how successful everyone else is you may be raising your own stress levels rather than lowering them. Be confident that you are doing enough and try to protect your mental health by limiting the number of posts you look at every day!
Benefits of Reddit Pre-Med
1. Motivation & Constructive Ideas
While I outlined some stressors in about seeing other people’s successful experiences, this can also HELP you if used correctly. Through different college advisors, different families, and frankly different financial resources, all pre-meds do NOT have the same advantages in finding out what volunteering or extracurricular opportunities to do. For example, if someone were to post about traveling to Portugal on their Atlantis shadowing trip, you may have never heard about this organization if not for that Reddit post! Reddit can be a great place to be a bit of a copycat and see what other resumé building experiences other pre-meds are having.
2. Stress Relief & Common Solutions for Problems
The life of a pre-med is undoubtedly STRESSFUL. Reddit can be a fantastic place to unwind from all of your commitments and just laugh for a while. There is very much a “we’re all in this together” vibe on the site, and it can be reassuring to know that you are not the only one going through these struggles. It is extremely likely that someone else in the world has gone through the same exact problem you are experiencing as a pre-med.
All in all, the territory of being a pre-med means comparing yourself to others and that can be unhealthy. Reddit pre-med usually does a good job of providing helpful information and alleviating that stress, but it can also do a number on a person’s mental health and end up increasing stress levels if you’re not careful. Overall, you should use this as a positive resource, but be aware of what too much time on Reddit could bring!
Our Alumni Enter Great Medical Schools
John Daines
- Atlantis '17
- Brigham Young University '19
- Washington U. in St. Louis MD '23
Zoey Petitt
- Atlantis '17
- U. of Arizona '18
- Duke MD '23
Zoey Petitt
Hungary ’17 || University of Arizona (undergraduate) ’18
Completed Atlantis Program Location and Date:
Hungary, Summer 2017
Do you believe your Atlantis experience helped you get into your graduate program?
I believe it was very helpful.
Generally, why do you think Atlantis helped you get into your graduate program?
For me, my Atlantis experience played a key role in confirming my decision to go into medicine. This was important for me to discuss during the admissions process.
Specifically, did you talk about Atlantis in your interviews?
Yes
Yong-hun Kim
- Atlantis '17
- Stanford '19
- Mayo Clinic MD '24
Yong-Hun Kim
Budapest, Hungary ’17 || Stanford University
Program:
Budapest, Hungary – Winter 2017
Undergraduate:
Stanford University class of 2019
Major:
Computer Science
Honors:
Bio-X Grant (award for research)
Undergraduate Activities:
President and Founder of Stanford Undergraduate Hospice and Palliative Care, Volunteer for Pacific Free Clinic, Research Assistant in Wernig Pathology Lab, President of Hong Kong Student Association, violin performance
Describe Atlantis in three words:
Eye-opening. Spontaneous. Exhilarating.
Why did you choose Atlantis?
I chose the Atlantis program because it combines opportunities to shadow physicians and travel abroad, both of which I had little prior exposure to.
What was your favorite experience as an Atlantis participant?
My favorite experience as an Atlantis participant came in the stories exchanged over meals or excursions and the breadth of conversation that reflected the diversity of backgrounds within our cohort and site managers.
What was the most meaningful aspect of your time shadowing?
I appreciated the chance to speak with physicians in Budapest and hear their personal motivations for pursuing medicine because it really helped better contextualize and validate my own interest in medicine. The physicians were also just really welcoming, relatable, and down-to-earth people.
How has Atlantis helped equip you for the future?
The Atlantis program has equipped me with a better understanding of what a career in medicine looks like, which I think is an invaluable gift considering the long road ahead of those who aspire to be a physician.
How has Atlantis equipped you for active leadership in the medical field?
The ability to interact and empathize with patients of diverse backgrounds and communities is a necessity to be a leader in the medical field. I think the Atlantis program, through my interactions with mentors and their patients, has helped me take my first steps toward attaining the cultural vocabulary and literacy required of a physician.
Megan Branson
- Atlantis '18
- U. of Montana '19
- U. of Washington MD '24
Sarah Emerick
- Atlantis '19
- Eckerd College '20
- Indiana U. MD '25
Snow Nwankwo
- Atlantis '19
- Catholic U. of America '21
- Georgetown U. MD '26
Tiffany Hu
- Atlantis '16
- U. of Maryland '17
- U. of Michigan MD '22
Tiffany Hu
Tereul, Spain ’16 || U Michigan Medical School
Program:
Teruel, Spain – Summer 2016
Undergraduate:
University of Maryland class of 2017
Admitted medical student at:
University of Michigan Medical School
Major:
Neurobiology
Honors:
Honors Integrated Life Sciences Program, Banneker/Key Scholarship
Extracurricular Activities:
American Medical Student Association Co-President & Advocacy Day Liaison, Alternative Breaks Experience Leader, Health Professions Advising Office Student Advisory Board, Biology Teach Assistant, Health Leads, Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, NIH Research Intern, Physicians for Social Responsibility Environment & Health Intern
Describe Atlantis in Three Words:
Educational. Eye-opening. Exhilarating.
Why did you choose Atlantis?
I wanted to expand my horizons and understand a culture of health different from the ones I am accustomed to. I had shadowed doctors in the United States and Taiwan prior to my Atlantis program experience, and being able to see first-hand the healthcare system in Spain allowed me to draw comparisons between the different complex healthcare systems.
What was your favorite experience as an Atlantis participant?
Bonding with the other participants and celebrating our time together along with the doctors we shadowed. We would discuss our interests, passions, and motivation for medicine, and it was an incredible experience to learn from and alongside them.
What was your experience with the doctors you were shadowing?
Because of the pre-established relationships with the hospitals in which we shadowed, all the doctors were very welcoming and accommodating. They were willing to translate for us and explain in detail all of their medical decisions. My doctors and I had wonderful conversations about the differences between life in Spain vs. the United States.
What was the most meaningful aspect of your time shadowing?
I was excited to scrub in on surgeries and watch as the doctor explained what he was doing throughout the operation. Before and after surgeries, as well as in my other rotations, I observed how the doctors reassured and communicated with their patients. I was able to glean insight into differences between the experience of health in Spain versus the United States through observation as well as conversations with the doctors.
How has Atlantis helped equip you for the future?
Besides the wealth of medical knowledge I gained from shadowing the doctors, I challenged myself to step outside of my cultural comfort zone and explore more than I thought I was capable of. Atlantis allowed me to make connections with people from all around the United States and abroad, and the friendships I gained helped me learn so much more than I would have on my own.
Lauren Cox
- Atlantis '18
- Louisiana Tech '20
- U. of Arkansas MD '24
Lauren Cox
Libson, Portugal ’18 || Louisiana Tech
Completed Atlantis Program Location(s):
Lisbon, Portugal
Year of most recent program:
Fall ’17 – Summer ’18
Season of most recent program:
Summer
Do you believe your Atlantis experience helped you get into your graduate program?
Extremely helpful
Generally, why do you think Atlantis helped you get into your graduate program?
It exposed me to shadowing that was hard to come by in the states. It also gave me a chance to see other systems of healthcare.
Specifically, did you talk about Atlantis in your interviews? If so, how much relative to other topics?
Yes – they wanted to know about my experience, and specifically how the healthcare I saw in another country compared to what I had seen in the USA.
Kayla Riegler
- Atlantis '18
- U. of Kentucky '20
- U. of Kentucky MD '24
About Atlantis
Atlantis is the leader in pre-health shadowing and clinical experience, offering short-term programs (1-10 weeks) over academic breaks for U.S. pre-health undergraduates. Medical schools want 3 things: (1)healthcare exposure, (2)GPA/MCAT, and (3)certain competencies. Atlantis gives you a great version of (1), frees you to focus on (2), and cultivates/shows (3) to medical school admissions committees.
Watch Video: The Atlantis Shadowing Experience and How it Helps In Your Med/PA Admissions Future
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