The Path To Medical School

“When you’re a pre-med student, everyone tells you you’ll figure out your specialty once you get to medical school,” explained Victoria, a student at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Honors College, who is slated to graduate in 2021. Victoria recently participated in Summit Medical Group Foundation’s 1-On-1 Shadowing program, geared towards students 18 and older who are interested in pursuing a future in medicine. The one-day experience allows students to shadow a healthcare provider in a specialty area of interest to gain unique insights into doctor-patient interactions, testing, exams, procedures and all of the real-life elements of becoming a doctor in that particular field. “I wanted to explore lots of options while I’m an undergraduate student,” Victoria said. “Shadowing orthopedics made me feel more informed about making choices for my medical career and how I pursue it.”

For Victoria, the experience helped her narrow down her focus to trauma and orthopedics. She was surprised at the orthopedics patient population, having a preconceived notion that the specialty would be full of younger patients who were injured through sports activities. “There were so many older patients who were dealing with arthritis or a complication from a previous surgery,” she explained. “It made me restructure how I think about each specialty – who is the demographic? What’s the most common problem I’d be seeing on a daily basis?”

But for Victoria and many 1-On-1 Shadowing participants, the most exciting aspect of the day is to actually interact with patients. Pre-med students are often bogged down with the heavy coursework they face. Victoria explained that they tend to lose sight of why they’re studying medicine and what they’re actually looking forward to. “Once you interact with patients, you find your love again for why you want to help people. It’s very inspiring.”

At Summit Medical Group Foundation, we’re inspired by people like Victoria, who are dedicated to helping those around them. As she works towards her undergraduate degree, Victoria already has her sights on medical school. “Right now, I’m thinking of Mt. Sinai, but Robert Wood Johnson would also be great. I’m a New Jersian at heart so I’d love to go to a school that would support my state.”