For my interview, I spoke with Dr. Katie Buck, an emergency physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Below are the questions I asked her and a summary of the responses to these questions. All of her answers were very helpful to me in my undergraduate career and preparing for my future medical career.

1. Where did you for go for your undergrad?
   • University of North Carolina
2. Where did you go for medical school?
   • University of Virginia
3. What should I do to prepare myself for going to medical school?
   • Prepare a ton for your MCAT
   • Take the in-person class for your MCAT so they can tell you tips and tricks
   • Take part in some research
   • Make sure you have good letters of rec and shadowing hours
   • Obviously do your best in your classes and get good grades
   • Make sure you are taking part in service
   • Get leadership experience through extracurriculars
   • Go to practice interviews
   • Studying abroad will be a good talking point in interviews
   •  I used all these methods and I was successful
4. Did you always want to be an emergency physician?
   • Yes
   • Got involved in emergency medicine research in undergraduate career as a bio-statistician major and loved it
   • Continued this type of research in medical school
   • However, it is okay if you change your mind; only about 10% of people coming into medical school stick with their previous wanted area of study.

For my interview, I spoke to Paul Emenogu. He has been my RA for the past year and I enjoy speaking to him on a regular basis. He is a junior with a Neuroscience major on a pre-medical track. Below are the questions I asked him and his responses to these questions. All of his answers were very helpful to me in my undergraduate career and preparing for my future medical career.

1. Why did you choose the pre-medical track?
   • “I chose the premed track because I obviously want to be a doctor. I want to help people (which is a cliché and you should never use in a med school interview) and I want to be the doctor that was there for me and my family when we had our medical emergencies”.
2. What is something you would tell your freshman self to improve in your academic life?
   • “Go to office hours and learn to say no to hanging out with friends. Especially when I was struggling in a class. Also space out my classes there’s no need to pack 16-18 credit hours of science hours a semester”.
3. What extracurriculars do you take part in at Ohio State?
   • “So I’m an RA, I’m in a political science club, a fraternity, a mentor, and as of yesterday going to be helping with a foundation that will help educate people about politics and world affairs”.
4. What is the hardest class you have taken at Ohio State?
   • “The hardest class I’ve taken would be biochemistry 4511. Strangely enough though out of all the premed classes though this has been my favourite one”.
5. How are you preparing for the MCATs?
   • “Lots of studying and taking the Kaplan Prep course”
6. How much have you shadowed and what was your best shadowing experience?
   • “I’ve shadowed about 50 hours and my favourite experience was watching the pulmonary doctor place a chest tube in a lady after her lungs collapsed from a procedure”.
7. How much should I shadow in order to be competitive for medical school?
   • “This varies but from what I have heard 30-40 hours is a safe number. Obviously the more the better but at the very least 30-40 is suffice”.
   • “If you need shadowing experience I strongly recommend taking the shadowing class here at OSU (MedColl 2022)”
8. How many letter of recommendations do you have?
   • “It varies from school to school, but usually 4 is a safe number. 2 from science professors, 1 from a physician and 1 from a supervisor or an nonscience professor”.
9. How do I approach someone to get a letter of recommendation?
   • “Start going to the professor you want a letter from office hour. Just talk to them and get to know them. Be a regular at their office hours and show interest in the subject and their research if they are conducting research. Ask for a letter 3-4 weeks, however because professors are busy always give them a date  that is earlier than the date you actually need the letter by.”

Over the past two semesters, I have spent more than 20 hours in dedication to volunteering. I spent most of these hours at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. At the medical center, I have worked in two different positions.

The fall semester position was located at the Harding Psychiatric Hospital. Harding Hospital has many different levels of psychiatric care. I was in the group therapy unit where teens and adults would come to group therapy in order to cope with the negative aspects of their life. I usually made copies of handouts that individuals would receive at their therapy session. Some of these handouts were quite inspirational and even helped me when I was feeling upset about a certain part of my life. Additionally, the patients at Harding Hospital allowed me to see how lucky I am for the life that I have been given. Many people have much worse problems than me, which helped me to be more grateful for my life.

For my spring semester, I was a student ambassador at the University Hospital. In this position, I am able to show people around the hospital and help them locate their loved one or appointment room. Although this may seem boring, I enjoy meeting all these new people. I like to talk to them about their lives and my life. Furthermore, it allows me to take a break from the stress of school and just enjoy time socializing. My two volunteer experiences do not feel like work. I enjoy helping others and this is another sign of why I want my future career to be rooted in helping others.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]