PreHealth Spotlight: Jamie Truax

Class year: 2017
Major: Kinesiology

Before undergrad, I had no prior military service. I was merely a cadet within ROTC on campus. This portion of my college experience is what steered me straight to applying for the Army Health Profession Scholarship to serve my country post medical school

Vitals

• Currently in the Application Process (Interviewed and Accepted to 5 Osteopathic (DO) Medical Schools)
• Accepted for HSPS Army Scholarship
• Cadet with Campus ROTC (Left NCAA Div1 Rowing Team at UMass to join ROTC)
• Continued Competitive Rowing During Summers
• Teaching Assistant for Anatomy and Physiology
• Research Assistant in Muscle Physiology Lab of Professor Jane Kent
• Volunteered in ER
• Worked as an EMT with AMR in Springfield, MA

Like most premeds I started as Biology, taking 151 and 152. Then, I needed to fit more courses into my schedule so I chose Kin 100. The professor sparked an interest and I wanted to change my major. For me, I thought Kinesiology melded with medicine more so than biology. I knew when I became a doctor I would want the knowledge of preventative care on the forefront before intervention in the form of pills. Exercise, diet and everything public health gave me that background.

If your undergrad years were anything like mine- always studying and worrying about GPA- then take a year off just to enjoy life again. I have been able to reconnect with people and activities that make me who I am. At the end of the day it is more important to continue being a well rounded person than just a school robot.

For extra-curriculars, I volunteered in the emergency department at a hospital for two years and then went on to work on an ambulance as an EMT. Being a volunteer might look good on paper but being an EMT made me 100X more prepared to enter medicine than volunteering in the ED ever did. While interviewing for medical school I was able to prove how certain I am that I know medicine is for me and I was able to answer decision-making questions because I had similar experiences already.

Before undergrad, I had no prior military service. I was merely a cadet within ROTC on campus. This portion of my college experience is what steered me straight to applying for the Army Health Profession Scholarship to serve my country post medical school. Although I did not commission through ROTC I did gain some insight into the Army family and I am very ready to raise my right hand.

If any of you are interested in applying for the HPSP I suggest starting early as nothing in the military is quick, everything takes a long time. At the very least get in contact with a med recruiter and start gathering information. I started the process in early June and didn't have everything squared away until February. The application itself isn't too challenging its just physically filling out the never ending paperwork and passing the med physical.

My interest in medicine started at a young age. I grew up listening to ICU stories from my mother and grandmother, both whom were nurses. Early on, I knew I wanted to be in something involving medicine (since I wasn't going to be a professional dolphin trainer). I volunteered in a nursing home for 8 years prior to college where I developed great appreciation for medicine and recognized that I truly enjoyed spending time with the patients. I didn't have to be there every weekend but I wanted to be. For about 3 or 4 years as a young kid I spent days at a time at Boston Children's hospital. One of our close friends, Ethan, was suffering from Leukemia so my whole family was tested for blood and bone marrow matches and was always willing to donate. So if I ultimately go into pediatric medicine I think it will be because of him. Right now I am leaning towards emergency medicine because of the Army, but once I am out I think I'll take a fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine.

To give myself time to study for the MCAT, I decided to graduate a semester early and take that time preparing for the test. I set up a pretty strict study schedule on my own only utilizing books, I did not think I needed a course. This course of action worked well for me but definitely took discipline to get up everyday and study for 8 hours. That was definitely the hardest part, just getting myself to do the work.

During the application cycle, I pre-wrote as many of the essays as I could and sent them to peers to edit. That definitely made the application cycle a little bit easier not having to cram write a bunch of essays. If you have any close friends or family that studied english or is good as proof reading I would suggest asking them to follow your essays. Only have a few people proof read because if you have too many people read them and make edits you will loose your voice in the paper.

I have interviewed 5 times thus far and stopped at the 5th one because that was my top school, I canceled my other interviews. I have gotten into all the schools I have interviewed at.

I chose Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine because of the military medicine program. The university as a whole is very military friendly and helps guide the HPSP students in the process that is military medicine. I think it will be very beneficial to have an advisor that knows the military side as well as medical school. They also offer great opportunities to get involved in extra training.

Published February 2019