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The current medical school selection process is potentially corrosive to the wellness of future physicians.

The selection paradigm may negatively impact personal diversity in our physicians.

Most students feel they must delay application to med school for one to four years to maximize their chances.

Heavily prescribed pre-medical requirements potentially limit students' adult psychosocial development.

Anyone seeking admission to medical school must put untold hours into assorted extracurricular activities such as research, experiential healthcare jobs and volunteerism, and "community service"—making sure they demonstrate “leadership accomplishment” in several or all of said activities. The medical schools give no clear indication of how much time should be invested in the activities other than providing fifteen spaces in the universal application to describe them in all their glory. The students fret incessantly about the worthiness of the activities they select and their time invested within them. In addition, of course, they must put huge amounts of time and effort into their studies, and more still into preparing for the MCATS.

When I say untold hours, I mean untold hours. The competition is so stiff that a bidding war has resulted where students feel compelled to log in one, two, four, perhaps six thousand hours in key arenas. Most students, now, are finding that they have to take one to four "gap" years beyond college to reach what they perceive to be adequate representations of their commitment to the said arenas.

The schools assert that this distills the field down to the “best of the best.” But one has to question the logic, the science, and the outcomes of such a rigorous and time-dependent war of attrition.

What Are We Selecting For?

What kind of doctor do we believe we are selecting for? After all, admission to medical school is really admission into “the guild,” into the profession of medicine. What should matter most then is the type of doctor that eventually........

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