Essential Soft Skills for Medical School Applicants

 Whether or not you’ve met a medical student, most people understand that the medical school application process can cause a lot of worry. To make matters worse, medical school application tips can often be quite generic, sometimes consisting of things you already knew.

Not much attention is given to the soft skills that aspiring medical students need, and that is unfortunate. The truth is that in every field, students aren’t just one dimensional. Yes, it is important to know that you should apply early and that tutoring is a great service when it comes to prepping for your MCAT, as well as your USMLE Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS further down the road, but there is more to succeeding in the medical field than just organizational and academic prowess.

Personal qualities can also play a huge role in your success. They don’t just influence your ability to make it into medical school, but they also affect how well you navigate your program and the kind of doctor you will become. So, if you have been scouring online sources for medical school application tips or you are seeking advice to ace your USMLE Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS to secure a residency, you might think that’s all there is to know. If that’s the case, you might be surprised by some of these soft but essential qualities.

A Lack of Ego and the Ability to Work with Others

The medical field is full of intelligent people with strong ideas and opinions. Both as a student and a practicing physician, you will come across individuals with their own convictions. You will need to learn, very early on, to collaborate with people who may or may not share the same ideas as you. These people might be classmates, lecturers, professional physicians, providers, or patients.

Although you might already be a born leader, you must also be able to act without ego and with a level of humility. A lack of ego also means recognizing that you will never know enough. Stay open to new ideas and teachings, and never believe that you are above learning.

Efficiency and the Ability to Prioritize

As a student and a qualified doctor, time management and prioritization are key. Managing your time efficiently involves being able to decide what is urgent and what can wait. Whether you are completing assignments, seeing patients, or going through admin, you must be able to juggle multiple projects at once.

Efficiency also involves knowing what you need help with. You may need to recognize the gaps in your practice and hire accordingly. As a student, you may need to make some sacrifices in order to focus on what really matters.

Compassion and Empathy

Compassion shouldn’t be something you develop after you are already a qualified physician. And to many people, it doesn’t come naturally. As a member of the medical field, however, it is an essential skill. You will need to hear and understand the needs of patients, no matter how complex those needs might be. This requires you to see the world through their eyes and respond with an enormous amount of empathy.

Being humble and efficient, while maintaining compassion and empathy are not just important skills to master to become a doctor. They are important skills you can leverage, wherever you land in life.