Secondary Essay Templates

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Secondary Essay Templates for Medical School

View templates below. These are updated annually so that users continuously see different types of work. Please do not plagiarize your work with any of these templates as this can risk your application getting flagged and rejected. Use these templates to help you get an idea of what accepted medical students wrote about in their application for medical school.

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School Specific for 2020-2021

Miscellaneous Secondary Essay Prompts

Drexel University Secondary Essay 2020-2021

If you are a recent graduate, please tell us what you have been doing since graduation. You may answer “Not applicable”. (no limit)

Since graduation, I have taken the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel abroad and learn about the health care systems in other countries. I spent time in Florence, Berlin, London, Toronto, Paris and Zurich. In each city, I reached out to friends of friends who graciously helped arrange time for me to sit down one-on-one with a doctor and hear about what their daily experience is like. I also had the amazing opportunity to shadow some of them and see first-hand what different medical facilities and operations are like around the globe.

I was most impressed by what I saw at Toronto General, which is one of the top hospitals in the world. Toronto General is a leader in transplant research and innovation, which I am now immensely interested in learning more about as I continue onto medical school myself. I was inspired to learn that the world’s first single and double lung transplants were performed at  Toronto General in 1983 and 1986 but I was even more amazed to learn about how far transplants have come since then.

I aspire to attend Drexel, in particular, because I hope to study under Dr. David Reich, professor and vice chair of the Department of Surgery. I recently read an article about David J. Reich, MD, who was featured in a Philadelphia Inquirer story, about a fascinating technique he is studying, called machine perfusion. Dr. Reich is researching how to revive organs that have deteriorated in order to make them more suitable for transplant into patients. This seems like a miracle and is a procedure I hope to one day be able to perform on patients. Just like Dr. Reich, I plan to become a liver and kidney transplant surgeon one day to save many lives with ground-breaking procedures.

What else do you feel is important for us to know about you? You can use this space to highlight something not addressed in your application, including new experiences not in your AMCAS application. You can also talk about how COVID -19 impacted you. For example, it may have caused disruptions or changes in your plans. If there is something you would like to share regarding how this event impacted you, share that information here. (500 word limit)

When COVID-19 struck my hometown, which is a small town a few hours outside of Philadelphia, I was shocked to see how ill-equipped our town was for the pandemic. Our doctors were short on supplies. They did not have enough face masks or personal protective equipment to go around. My friends and I banded together to gather supplies from our neighbors and friends from all over. We even began to sew face masks ourselves from scraps of fabric and old clothes lying around in order to help address the face mask supply shortage. Although I have never taken home economics or handsewn anything in my life, I had to be resourceful in a time of crisis. I tapped into a reservoir of ideas, creativity and resilience that I didn’t know existed deep down within myself. Together, with my friends, we were able to gather donations and handcraft supplies for hundreds of nurses and doctors not only in our hometown but across the entire state of Pennsylvania.

I am sharing this story because it changed my perspective on life and on my future education. Everyone pitching in, doing their best, and supporting their community truly can make a difference in this world. As I go on to medical school and train to become a surgeon, I know that I will face difficult times, setbacks and disappointments. Just like the medical staff who were not prepared for a pandemic, who were scared and lacked basic supplies that they needed, I know I may face classes, a tough workload, or patients that are difficult and demanding. However, I now know that if I think outside the box, ask for help, and tap into my inner resilience, that I can make it through anything. I believe that a strong candidate for medical school is not just someone with good grades but is someone who has the proper mindset to tough it out and stick with it when things get rough. COVID has taught me how strong, creative and resilient I truly am at my core.

Georgetown University Secondary Essay 2020-2021

Why have you chosen to apply to the Georgetown University School of Medicine and how do you think your education at Georgetown will prepare you to become a physician for the future? (1 page, formatted at your discretion)

I have always wanted to work as an obstetrician since I was in the third grade. I remember getting to hold my baby brother in the hospital for the first time. It was amazing to see a human life that was so fresh and new. I didn’t understand why my parents were crying at the time because it seemed like it should be a happy moment. Shortly after, my father explained that my baby brother had a traumatic birth and nearly died because the umbilical cord had been wrapped around his neck. My parents never sugarcoated the truth and they explained it was only because of the doctors in the hospital that my brother survived and was able to take his first breaths of air. Since that day, I knew I wanted to become a doctor who specializes in pregnancy, childbirth, and a woman’s reproductive system. I wanted to help save other babies just like the doctors had saved my brother.

My parents have always been supportive of my dream. I actually am the oldest of six children and they made special arrangements to allow me into the hospital for the other births of my younger siblings, even though that is not typically allowed. I was never squeamish or scared of the labor process because I was so fascinated by it. Instead, I read every book I could get my hands on and asked the doctors lots of questions. By educating myself, I was only amazed by the process rather than afraid of it. It seemed like the more I learned about the human body, science and the work of doctors, the more I appreciated life itself. My interest has never waned since the third grade. I continue to remain curious and eager to learn as much as possible about health. I know that becoming a doctor is my destiny, which is why I’m applying to med school.

I am applying to Georgetown University School of Medicine in particular because I recently completed the GEMS program. GEMS is an unprecedented one-year, non-degree, post-baccalaureate program that helped to equip me to succeed as a med student down the road, with an eye toward attending Georgetown University as my top choice. GEMS offered me the chance to experience what it’s like to take a rigorous curriculum that is similar to what first-year med students go through. It really helped to improve my test-taking skills and also helped me to learn how to be a better student in the classroom. I took advantage of 1:1 customized advising offered through GEMS, which offered extremely tailored advice to further prepare me for what lies ahead at Georgetown. My mentor helped me understand that though I may have a lot of knowledge about the reproductive system, for example, I need to have a well-rounded understanding of the human body, the medical system, and a variety of other skills in order to succeed and earn my degree. I feel that GEMS helped me recognize and address my weaknesses and gaps in knowledge that primarily stemmed from me being a non-native English speaker. However, now I am more prepared than ever to succeed at Georgetown thanks to the GEMS program.

I am confident that if I get into Georgetown, I will succeed in my life-long goal to become an obstetrician. It’s been reported that 78% of students who complet GEMS are admitted into Georgetown’s school of medicine, and 94% of those students go on to successfully get an MD degree at Georgetown. Furthermore, Georgetown’s curriculum specializes in training students to become well-rounded physicians, who are knowledgeable, ethical and skilled. I know that at Georgetown, I will be equipped to become a doctor, who is not only an expert, but who is compassionate, respectful and mindful about caring for both individuals and society at large. I envision myself as becoming an obstetrician with a degree from Georgetown who goes on to deliver thousands of newborn babies in Washington D.C. over the course of my lifetime.

The Georgetown University School of Medicine strives to ensure that its students become respectful physicians who embrace all dimensions of caring for the whole person. Please describe how your personal characteristics or life experiences will contribute to the Georgetown University School of Medicine community and bring educational benefits to our student body. (1000 characters)

“Cura Personalis” is a Latin phrase that essentially translates into “care for the entire person.” Cura Personalis suggests that individualized attention to the needs of other human beings is important. We can’t just assume that we know what another person needs. We must listen to what they say, assess their strengths and weaknesses, consider what they might be too scared or ashamed to express out loud, and understand that a person’s health extends beyond just physical health.

I believe it is essential to consider a person’s emotional and spiritual health, too. The Latin expression is a signature of Ignatian spirituality. I have actually attended Jesuit schools since elementary school and am currently a practicing Catholic. My upbringing alongside the church and my steadfast sense of faith benefits the student body at Georgetown because I believe it has taught me how to demonstrate through my presence alone that I am both compassionate and caring. This is an important skill because it helps translate into a bedside manner that is reassuring and calm under stressful situations, such as during childbirth. While many med school students do not believe in God, I can serve as an alternate example to my peers.

Is there any further information that you would like the Committee on Admissions to be aware of when reviewing your file that you were not able to notate in another section of this or the AMCAS Application? (1000 characters)

I would like to add that I am fluent in Spanish and am well-equipped to offer care to the Hispanic community in either English or Spanish languages–whatever they are most comfortable with. Research has found that over 8% of the population in D.C. are native Spanish speakers. I am passionate about getting in touch with and giving care to this population in particular. I am eager and prepared to help my fellow Spanish-speaking neighbors. This is a skill that I believe sets me apart from other students who may be applying to the same program.