What Do Med/PA Schools Want?

Med Schools Want 3 Things (The 3 Pillars)

Med schools want applicants to have three things: (1) exposure to healthcare, to show commitment; (2) a high GPA/MCAT, to show ability; and (3) certain personal competencies, also to show ability. The point of focusing on these three pillars is not just to get in anywhere; the goal is to have choices, ideally multiple offers, and even better, with some scholarships.

A very helpful page on this topic is this section of the AAMC website; the entire AAMC website has a wealth of knowledge that every pre-med should be acquainted with. Here in our website we also detail why Atlantis brings great healthcare exposure, helps you focus on your stats, and refines/highlights competencies for applications and interviews. Here on this page, in the below sections that follow, we describe more on why medical schools work the way they do, and, later on below, how Atlantis impacts the actual sections within the AMCAS application (and similar applications for other healthcare programs).

Healthcare Exposure

Compared to typical clinical experiences, 360 Shadowing with Atlantis means far greater depth, breadth, quantity, and intercultural perspective.

Focus on Grades

Most students don’t prioritize GPA/MCAT enough. Doing 360 Shadowing over break accomplishes so much extracurricular-wise that you can cut out some of your other activities during the year.

Show Competencies

360 Shadowing lets you refine and showcase most of the key AAMC competencies for entering medical students, creating powerful stories for your applications and interviews.

“Can Do” and “Will Do”

If you were to put yourself in the shoes of a medical/PA School, you would want students with both “can do” and “will do.” You would want students who can actually do the job – “can do,” shown primarily by grades and the MCAT, but also by certain personal competencies) – and you would also want students with a passion for healthcare – “will do.” Without that deeper motivation, a student may easily drop out, or worse, be stuck as a doctor or PA who doesn’t love their job – unfortunately, a rising trend. Motivation is often assessed by an applicant’s level of clinical experience, such as shadowing.

Medical schools may talk about other things they would like to see in applicants, but for most schools, including top ones, everything else is subordinate to or less important than the three pillars showing “can do” and “will do”: 1) exposure, 2) stats, and 3) competencies.

It is very important to understand and to have confidence in your knowledge of what med/PA schools really want. Tune out Reddit and tune in to your pre-health advisor; or, if you don’t have one, look at the pre-health advising sites at elite undergraduate institutions, such as Princeton.

Watch Video: 20+ Alumni Unfiltered:
What Role Did Atlantis Play In
My Med School Interviews?

We asked Atlantis alumni to answer the questions “What about Atlantis did you highlight in your med school interview?” and “How helpful do you think Atlantis was in the actual med school interviews?”
We asked alumni to describe this in their own terms in a video made at home through their phones!

How Atlantis Impacts Key Sections
Of the Med School Application

Nine Sections

Here we focus on the example of the MD track, but keep in mind that what we are saying here applies also to applications to other healthcare degree types. The AMCAS has 9 sections. Atlantis helps with all of the ones that require more effort – the ones that capture who you are on a deeper level.

The AMCAS application showing the different sections that need to be submitted.

1. Identifying Information

Here you’ll list your name, ID numbers, and birth information.

2. Schools Attended

Here you’ll list your high school, college(s), majors and minors, and whether you’ll need to request transcripts.

3. Biographic Information

This section asks for addresses, demographic information, and details about your family background.

Students speaking to a medical professional in the hospital. — Atlantis students speaking to a medical professional in the hospital (Athens, Greece).

4. Course Work

Atlantis can impact your course work by (1)bring some of your extracurricular life away from semesters and into academic breaks and (2)increasing the overall quality of your extracurriculars. This frees up time and energy to study during the semester that would otherwise be spent doing other things, including lower-level clinical experience, or trying to find such experience, or (especially) doing less impactful extracurricular activities. This doesn’t mean you should avoid U.S. clinical experience or even non-clinical extracurriculars. But everyone agrees that nothing beats more “A”s on your transcript. It’s also good to have the space and energy to enjoy your classes.

Students working on notes at a table. — Atlantis students working on notes at a table (Athens, Greece, 2016).

5. Work/Activities

Atlantis can play a large role in the Work/Activities section. You can summarize up to 15 experiences from work, service, shadowing, research, athletics, conferences, teaching, other extracurriculars, etc. You’ll be prompted to enter the number of hours spent, in what country – these are key areas where Atlantis will stand out. You’ll also be asked to identify 1–3 experiences as the most meaningful, considering the impact you had and the personal growth you experienced. Atlantis will be one of the most meaningful experiences you bring into med school, even compared with many other valuable pursuits. Moreover, since admissions committees prefer clinical experience that is similar in essence to the life of a doctor in the U.S., Atlantis shadowing will be able to help fulfill this need in a way that experience in low/middle income countries would not. Volunteering in low-resource countries, though in many ways noble, often does not count as shadowing experience, since medical schools deem it too different to provide the benefit they’re looking for: ensuring that their future medical students know what they’re getting themselves into. Atlantis provides a similar environment in that your future job will be similar to that of the doctors you shadow, while also providing the cultural competence that comes with leaving your country for a few weeks. (Note, our team provides you a point of contact to list under your shadowing experience as well.)

The Essence of Healthcare in The U.S. and Europe Is the Same, but With Cultural Differences — Making Europe the Ideal Place for U.S. Students to Shadow, Since It Is Both Realistic (for Your Future) While Also Allowing You to Build Cultural Competence (1 of The 15 AAMC Competencies)

	U.S. Hospital	European Hospital	Low-to-Middle-Income Country (LMIC) Hospital
Population Health Conditions	High	High	Low
Technology Level	High	High	Low
Complexity of Regulatory Environment	High	High	Low
Complexity of Healthcare Processes	High	High	Low
Degree of Hospital Specialization	High	High	Low
Cultural Perspective	Unique	Unique	Unique

A student shadowing a doctor. — An Atlantis student closely shadowing a doctor (Athens, Greece, 2019).

6. Letters of Evaluation

AMCAS will allow you to upload specific letters for specific schools (up to 10 total, though often letter entries will include multiple letters in one file). Atlantis provides an opportunity for you to receive letters from doctors who have worked with you closely and can speak to your passion and cultural competence. As always, the advice you’ve been given about letters of recommendation applies: letters from someone you met very briefly do not have as much value as letters from someone you had a lot of experience with. Since Atlantis programs usually rotate specialities every week (we do this because we know medical schools crucially value breadth of clinical experience), Atlantis will only be an opportunity for a letter of recommendation in certain cases. Use your judgment. It is true, however, that every year countless letters are written for Atlantis alumni regarding their Atlantis hospital experience.

7. Medical Schools

Here you’ll list the medical schools you are applying to. Remember that ideally you would not just get admitted, but get admitted to multiple places, i.e., ideally you’d have options. The better a candidate you are, the more options you will likely have.

Students smiling with a doctor in the hospital. — Doctors abroad taking care that the Atlantis students have the best possible experience (Athens, Greece, 2019).

8. Essays

Your Personal Comments Essay is a crucial part of your application. Here you’ll explain why you want to go to medical school. More than anything else, medical schools are here looking for “will do:” ok, this person has the ability, but do they have the motivation? This has always been important, but it is more important today than it was ten years ago. In 2021 we had a top 25 medical school dean tell us how much their admissions criteria have moved toward a more holistic view just in the last half-decade. Above all, admissions committees want to see motivation, and that motivation should be based on experience (as opposed to simply feelings, dreams, or TV shows you watched). Atlantis not only gives you more experience, but it gives you experience that has greater depth, breadth, quantity, and intercultural perspective than most clinical experiences. Also, you want a story that’s unique, that shows your ability, passion, perspective, and depth of experience in the healthcare field. Depending on your circumstances, Atlantis may be able to differentiate you, and with concrete examples from 360 Shadowing, you’ll be able to demonstrate the hard and soft competencies that med schools look for in applicants. Note also, finally, that much of what we state in this paragraph also applies to your performance in medical school interviews. See a comparison of interview answers between a good and a great Atlantis alum med school applicant here.

Students walking down the hallway in scrubs. — Atlantis students walking down the hallway in scrubs (Lisbon, Portugal 2019).

9. Standardized Tests

Here you’ll find your MCAT scores, mark upcoming test dates, and add other exam scores (optional). This is also a key section. And what are MCAT scores often a product of? They’re often a product of how well you’ve mastered the topics in your classes, and on that topic see the section above on how Atlantis can contribute to your course performance. Moreover, when it’s time to actually take the MCAT, Atlantis can free up your time then as well.

Students in a library at the hospital. — Atlantis team members in a library at the hospital (Trieste, Italy, 2016).

Our Alumni Are Admitted to 40 of the Top 50 MD Programs in the U.S.

Our alumni are often admitted to top MD programs, and many other programs and tracks (such as DO, PA, and beyond). Hear more from them on their experiences during and after Atlantis, including the many medical schools that they have been admitted to.

Alumni Outcomes & 100+ Testimonials

An Atlantis student standing outside the hospital where she is shadowing. — An Atlantis student standing outside the hospital where she is shadowing (Barcelona, Spain).

Atlantis Alumni Have
What Med Schools Want

97%

Referenced Atlantis on their application and the vast majority said Atlantis “strongly” or “very strongly” impacted their admittance

81%

Of alumni accepted into med/PA school said Atlantis impacted their passion for medicine

93%

Of our pre-health alumni progressed on the AAMC Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students

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