Voices of Diversity
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Day 5: Mentor Perspective – The Mentor in You
Multiple students during the tour have asked me how they can get involved with T4D with the aim of mentoring students just like them. There isn’t a special switch that turns on once getting involved with T4D. The skills of mentoring are in all of us, however, it needs attention that can be developed throughout [...]
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Day 4: Mentor Perspective – You have a Story!
“I don’t have anything unique to say about myself” shared a brave student at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Campus while speaking regarding her concerns about the medical school personal statement. The personal statement required by any educational institution, whether at the college level or the health professional level, may seem like a daunting task to [...]
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Day 4: Mentor Perspective – Dealing with Adversity
On this path to medicine, I have been faced with adversity many times. Actually, I do not know too many African Americans or Latinos that have gone through this process without having to deal with some adversity. I have had people tell me I couldn’t do it; I have had fellow classmates and friends tell [...]
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Day 4 – Mentor Perspective: Maintaining Balance
Today, we had an amazing tour stop at the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi campus. During conversations with their wonderful pre-medical and pre-dental students, there were many questions concerning the amount of personal time that the mentor had during our tenure in medical/dental school. Although medical and dental school can be time-consuming and demanding, time away [...]
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Day 3 – Mentor Perspective: How do I Decide?
How do I decide between medicine and <blank>? (Insert any other field of your choice.) The implication was that this student had to make a choice – that you could either do medicine or something else, but not both… I believe I’m a true testament to the fact that creativity of thinking and mentoring [...]
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Day 3: Dentistry Outside of the Box
It is important to think outside the box. Often Pre-Dental students think that they should shadow local dentist only. While that creates great local ties, it is also important to diversify your portfolio. Consider applying to structured enrichment programs. There are several dental focused opportunities available. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsors SMDEP and the [...]
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Day 3: Mentor Perspective – Love and Marriage… and Medicine
“On a personal note, has it been hard during undergrad or medical school to be in relationships?” What an insightful question! It’s an issue of central importance for the aspiring health care professional, and this high school student clearly understood that. How does a medical student involved in a serious relationship for nearly two and [...]
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Day 2: Mentor Perspective – Why Medicine?
Yesterday during the Tour Stop in San Antonio, several students asked a very common question – Why Medicine? That is a tough question and one that took me almost a month to answer. My interest was peaked, as a child, when my grandfather ended up requiring heart surgery. I got the opportunity to watch the [...]
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Day 2: Mentor Perspective – The Polygamy of Mentorship
Today during the Tour for Diversity in Medicine’s second stop at the University of Texas at San Antonio, the role of mentors and mentorship introduced a lively discussion. Dr. Sanchez likened the mentor relationship to dating. I agree. Mentoring is like the courtship process. Boy meets girl Mentee meets mentor. Through cultivation, a beautiful relationship [...]
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Day 2: The MCAT is a-changin’ in 2015
Times, they are a-changin’. The process of applying to medical school is always under revision. At this point in time, the newest changes are coming to the Medical College Admission Test, or better known as the MCAT. The MCAT traditionally covered knowledge gained in biology, chemistry, and physics classes. Students are also expected to critically [...]
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