George Washington University School of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts (2024)

Secondary Deadline: December 15, 2023
Secondary Fee: $140
FAP Waiver: Full Fee Waived
CASPer Required: No
Screens Applications: No
Accepts Application Updates: Yes/Portal

Vision

The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences is dedicated to improving the health of our local, national, and global communities by:

• Educatinga diverse workforce of tomorrow’s leaders in medicine, science, and health sciences.
• Healingthrough innovative and compassionate care.
• Advancingbiomedical, translational, and health services delivery research with an emphasis on multidisciplinary collaboration.
• Promotinga culture of excellence through inclusion, service, and advocacy.

As a globally recognized academic medical center, GW embraces the challenge of eliminating health disparities and transforming health care to enrich and improve the lives of those we serve.5

1. Have you ever registered at an institution under a different name? (Y/N)
If Yes, please enter the name and institution.

2. Select the campus you prefer (main campus preferred, regional medical campus preferred, main campus only, regional medical campus only)

3. If you selected regional medical campus preferred or regional medical campus only, please explain in detail your interest in regional medical campus and how it will be a good fit for your clinical education? (1750 characters)

4. Please provide the Admissions Committee with a brief summary of your activities, academics, employment or other occupations to account for full-time activity (approx. 30-40 hours/week) from the point of application through matriculation in 2024. (750 characters)

5. The MD Program includes substantial content in Clinical Public Health (population health, health systems science, health policy, and community health) to prepare GW graduates for an expanded scope of practice required to be successful 21st century physicians. What are your specific interests and experiences related to that aspect of the MD Program? (350 characters)

6. What makes you a unique individual? What challenges have you faced? What have you learned from your experiences? (750 characters)

7. What is your specific interest in the MD Program at GW? What opportunities would you take advantage of as a student here? Why? (1750 characters)

8. Have you previously interacted directly with the MD Admissions Office through events, tours, fairs, webinars, or interviews? (Y/N)
If Yes, please explain (250 chars)

1. Please provide the Admissions Committee with a brief summary of your activities, academics, employment or other occupations to account for full-time activity (approx. 30-40 hours/week) from the point of application through matriculation in 2023. (750 characters)

2. The MD Program includes substantial content in Clinical Public Health (population health, health systems science, health policy, and community health) to prepare GW graduates for an expanded scope of practice required to be successful 21st century physicians. What are your specific interests and experiences related to that aspect of the MD Program? (350 characters)

3. What is your most meaningful clinical experience to date, involving direct patient contact? (350 characters)

4. Describe how current issues regarding advocacy and social justice have impacted your motivation for medical school? (500 characters)

5. What makes you a unique individual? What challenges have you faced? How will these factors help you contribute to the diversity of the student body at GW? (750 characters)

6. What is your specific interest in the MD Program at GW? What opportunities would you take advantage of as a student here? Why? (1750 characters)

1. Please provide the Admissions Committee with a brief summary of your activities, academics, employment or other occupations to account for full-time activity (approx. 30-40 hours/week) from the point of application through matriculation in 2020. (750 characters, not including spaces)

2. The MD program includes substantial content in Clinical Public Health (population health, health systems science, health policy, and community health) to prepare GW graduates for an expanded scope of practice required to be successful 21st century physicians. What are your specific interests and experiences related to that aspect of the MD program? (350 characters, not including spaces)

3. What is your most meaningful clinical experience to date, involving direct patient contact (350 characters, no including spaces)?

4. What makes you a unique individual? What challenges have you faced? How will these factors help you contribute to the diversity of the student body at GW (1000 characters, not including spaces)?

5. What is your specific interest in the MD Program at GW? What opportunities would you take advantage of as a student here? Why (2000 characters, not including spaces)?

1. Please provide the Admissions Committee with a brief summary of your activities, academics, employment or other occupations to account for full-time activity (approx. 30-40 hours/week) for the 2018-2019 application cycle, or from the point of application through matriculation in 2019. (750 characters)

Describe what you will be doing during the year of application If you will be finishing your fourth year of undergrad, the answer will be relatively straightforward. Perhaps discuss the focus of your classwork and any ongoing clinical or research work you might have. Highlight how you will be bettering yourself as a prospective doctor (gaining some tangible skills).

If you took are taking time off between undergraduate and medical school, describe the experience you will be gaining. For each experience, explain how this will help you grow and become a better medical school candidate, which is the most important goal of the gap year in the admissions committee’s eyes.

Do not repeat what is in your primary application. This is a key to all secondaries. If you use a prior experience from the AMCAS primary (which can be difficult to avoid given the nature of some secondary questions), try to adopt a new angle or describe a different aspect of the experience than has been presented before. Consider using an anecdote to spice up the answer.

2. What is your most meaningful community service experience to date? (350 characters)

This is a difficult question because the key is to answer effectively while not repeating what was stated in the primary app. Choose an experience you feel strongly about and then try to think about how you could explain its importance from a fresh angle. Perhaps there was a deeper or different lesson it taught you than what you previously described. Tie the experience to a tangible skill you gained or lesson you learned which will help you impact the medical profession.

3. What is your most meaningful clinical experience to date, involving direct patient contact? (350 characters)

Again, focus on a fresh angle for this question to avoid repeating the primary application. Consider using an anecdote from a patient encounter which you have not already described. You can use this to engage the reader and illustrate a point about a lesson that encounter taught you.

4. What makes you a unique individual? What challenges have you faced? How will these factors help you contribute to the diversity of the student body at GW? (1000 characters)

Be sure to answer all 3 components of this question, as it can be easy to overlook one and provide an incomplete answer. Brainstorm a characteristic or strength that is particularly unique about you and an experience which exemplifies it.

Next consider a time when you encountered a particular challenge personally of professionally. It may have been a challenge within yourself to achieve higher or push through an obstacle. Perhaps it was a challenge to resolve a dispute with a colleague. Describe how you overcame this challenge, what traits that required and what lessons you learned. Try to bring out the traits they describe in the prompt: self-awareness, resilience, and adaptability.

Finally, discuss how these traits will allow you to contribute to your medical school community. Consider the effect you might have on your peers, professors and patients.

5. What is your specific interest in the MD Program at GW? What opportunities would you take advantage of as a student here? Why? (2000 characters)

The first strategy to answering this question is doing some research on the program website to understand some of its nuances. Is it very strong in a particular field of research, or perhaps in community clinical work for the underserved? If one of these aspects aligns with your strengths or interests, explain how you are a great fit for this reason. Outline how these opportunities will help you grow toward your career goals as you envision them.

1. Have you ever been convicted of, plead guilty, or plead no lo contendere (i.e., no contest, I do not wish to contend) to a criminal offense?

2. Have you ever been arrested for a felony or misdemeanor?(Y/N) If yes, explain (500 char)

3. Did you indicate that you were the recipient of any institutional action on your AMCAS application? (Y/N) If yes, explain (500 char)

4. Please provide the Admissions Committee with a brief summary of your activities, academics, employment or other occupations to account for full-time activity (approx. 30-40 hours/week) for the 2016-2017 application cycle, or from the point of application through matriculation in 2017. (750 characters)

5. What is your most meaningful community service experience to date? (350 characters)

6. What is your most meaningful clinical experience to date, involving direct patient contact? (350 characters)

7. What makes you a unique individual? What challenges have you faced? How will these factors help you contribute to the diversity of the student body at GW? (1000 characters)

8. What is your specific interest in the MD Program at GW? What opportunities would you take advantage of as a student here? Why? (2000 characters)