PreHealth Spotlight: Tess Curran

Class year: 2016
Major: Public Health

Be flexible with the pre-med time frame—taking a year off (or two or five) between undergrad and grad for another degree or job only prepares you to be an even better physician.

Vitals

• Master’s in Public Health candidate ’17 (through the 4+1 Program at UMass Amherst)
• Recently accepted medical student to seven schools—undecided!

When I matriculated at UMass Amherst as an undergraduate majoring in Biology, I knew that I wanted to be a physician. However, I quickly became the ultimate exemplar of “the more you learn, the more you learn how much you don’t know.”

During my first semester in a general education course, I quickly learned that an individual’s health status is not only a result of genetics and biochemistry, but social, political, and economic forces as well. I felt that I could not be the most effective physician if I only focused on hard sciences, so I decided to switch my major to public health. Public health addresses human illness and wellness from a variety of perspectives, and I felt that these perspectives would diversify my education before focusing more intensely on human physiology, etc., in medical school.

To those pre-medical students out there who want to switch out of a “traditional science” major, but are nervous about how it “might look” to medical schools—stop worrying! Studying what you are truly passionate about will not only get you better grades, but will provide you with a breadth of knowledge that you will call upon even as you buckle down in tough med courses later on.

Following my passions not only diversified my knowledge of human health and behavior, it provided me with first-hand experiences that solidified my drive to pursue medicine. Yes, you know you have to do a LOT of extracurriculars in order to get into medical school. But it’s not just for them—it’s for you! I cannot tell you how often reflecting on an inspirational moment with a patient, or witnessing a broken aspect of health care (that I would like to fix), motivated me to get back to studying.

Speaking of experiences—I would highly recommend seeking out a paid, entry-level healthcare position to really get a feel for medicine. While volunteering at a nursing home during my freshman year was fun, it wasn’t until I worked as a nurse’s assistant that I developed long-term relationships with individuals needing care, worked as a true member of a healthcare team, and experienced the frustrating aspects of healthcare.

I also completed my honors thesis project with Dr. Lisa Wexler in Public Health (check out her research!) and realized that I would really benefit from an MPH degree in community health education in order to more effectively impact population and individual-level health. This realization taught me to be flexible with the pre-med time frame—taking a year off (or two or five) between undergrad and grad for another degree or job only prepares you to be an even better physician.

As for the interview process, spend time on every statement you write (from personal statement to secondaries) and plan well so that you turn your applications in ASAP. I spent every spare moment I had during the month of July writing well thought-out secondaries. This was NOT fun, but it paid off in the end because I received sixteen early interview (September/October) slots. I do not think this is possible for people who apply later in the cycle. So, play the long game! Start writing your personal statement in December! Listen to Wilmore and Cathy’s advice—they won’t steer you wrong.

My final piece of advice is to relax. It all seems so overwhelming when you look at everything you have to do before you even apply, but take it one day at a time. The extracurriculars I felt I “couldn’t possibly have time for if I wanted to get grade X in class Y” turned out to be the most meaningful things I have done so far. The interviews I was so nervous about fostered some of the best conversations and personal connections I’ve had (one interviewer invited me to dinner at her husband’s school, where I would be interviewing a week later!). The students in my classes who others called “competition” became some of my dearest and lifelong friends.

Published March 2017