To Be...A Spartan MD

The College of Human Medicine Office of Admissions has announced that we will be requiring the CASPer test as part of our admissions requirements beginning in the2019-2020 application cycle. The first set of testing dates through June have now officially been announced! But beyond the testing dates, there are many things to know about CASPer and you can read our announcement to learn more about the online assessment tool, including information on the format, cost, and rating system. Along with that initial information, it's also important to note that each school who uses the CASPer test may utilize those scores in their own individual way and at different points of the process. This brings us to why and how the College of Human Medicine decided to adopt the CASper. So...Why CASPer? As we've mentioned before ( here , here , and here ), the trend in medical school admissions has been to take a more holistic approach in admitting what are to become well-rounded p...

Beginning in the 2019-2020 admissions cycle, the College of Human Medicine Office of Admissions is adding the CASPer test as one of the application requirements . Part of the overall holistic review process , the CASPer furthers our efforts for a robust evaluation. A more focused preliminary review, in particular, will help the Office of Admissions in better determining which applicants receive interview invites . Standing for C omputer-based A ssessment for S ampling Per sonal Characteristics, CASPer is an online assessment that recognizes both personal and professional characteristics, such as ethics, resiliency, empathy, communication, collaboration and more. By way of being a situational judgment test, the exam determines behavioral tendencies and assesses how an individual will behave in certain situations. FORMAT The CASPer is made up of 12 sections and takes about 90 minutes to complete with an optional 15-minute break halfway through. Sections include vide...

Second-year student and  content contributor  for the admissions office , Harminder Sandhu, is taking his experience as a current College of Human Medicine student from the page to behind the camera as he gears up to take over the college's official Instagram account . From his morning routine through class, clinics, and group study, Harminder will spend two days taking followers on an inside look of what it's really like to be a modern medical student. Follow the college's Instagram stories on Wednesday and Thursday (Feb. 20-21) as Harminder will be video streaming about his training and giving his thoughts on the benefits/challenges of medical school as well as the Shared Discovery Curriculum. Who knows? Maybe a guest or two may join. ;) Feel free to interact with Harminder in real-time and DM us your questions/comments. We'll see you then! For now, we'll let Harminder take it from here... Harminder Sandhu is a second-year  College of Human Medici...

Just a few months down the line in April, new guidelines will soon affect how applicants handle acceptances. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is enacting new procedures that guide how an applicant chooses their preferred medical school. The Choose Your Medical School Tool is an online resource to help applicants make indications about where you may attend.  It's important to note, however, that while the AAMC has set the following deadlines, each medical school still may set their own policies and deadlines. As for the schools, the tool will assist in managing enrollment. Per the AMCAS , "Using the AMCAS Choose Your Medical School tool as directed by each school gives admissions offices a better idea how many seats they need to fill in their entering classes and helps other applicants receive timely notification about the outcome of their applications." "PLAN TO ENROLL" While the big decisions come down to April, the Choose Your Med...

With Shared Discovery only in its third year of implementation at the College of Human Medicine , the truth is that we in the Office of Admissions naturally still receive plenty of great questions about our relatively new, innovative curriculum. For this reason, we chose the SDC as our topic of discussion in this, the third installment of our Facebook Live Stream series. Francisco, from the admissions team, moderated the hour-long discussion and was joined by second-year students, George and Enrique, as well as first-year student, Maryssa. The panel touched on a variety of points regarding the curriculum, including the transition to a curriculum without lectures or constant testing. The students gave their own takes on how the curriculum, as a vehicle for medical training, has prepared them well for boards and offered some anecdotes about the great opportunities they've had with patients as part of real clinical teams. You can watch the whole discussion here: Don...

As medical students it is critical we zoom in and understand the science of medicine. It is critical we understand cellular processes, the mechanics of our body, and the chemical and physiological impacts our treatments have on a person. It is critical we achieve a deep understanding and respect for those things that make us tick and those changes and injuries that can make us sick. This deep-dive makes it all the more crucial for me to remind myself to zoom out, recognize and honor the human experience. This system can feel like it pulls you away from those very things that inspired you to become a physician. At times it can feel like those things that keep you rooted in serving your community are the things that drain you the most. Yet, what we chose to build our framework and what we choose to build our career from cannot be forgotten as we dig deep and study for the exams we must take. I just ended a two-week rotation on Palliative Care and I am grateful for the experienc...

“What are you majoring in at college, Elizabeth?” That question came from the mailman. It came from my hairstylist, my friends, my coworkers, and the lady-who-used-to-go-to-my-church-who-I-ran-into-at-the-grocery-store-after-ten-years. Fair enough. I was about to leave my quiet Ohio town to set off on a new adventure at Indiana University, and I counted myself lucky to have others sharing in my excitement. “Organ performance.” I had spent the last year practicing my tail off for college auditions, getting up at 6am to get an hour in before school each day. At the end of audition season, I was headed to my top-choice school, to study with my top-choice instructor, and spend the next four years learning how to be the best church organist possible. “Huh! So you want to be a doctor? A surgeon?” Mr. Runner, a family friend, was much more familiar with the organs of the body than the pipe organs of Europe. I had very fond memories of the summer that I spent shadowing in an orth...