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Hello! This is Grace Global Research Consulting GIRE!
There are many cases where students develop their expertise abroad after attending a medical school in Korea, but I think there are also many students who broaden their perspective and consider attending a professional school at a medical school in the United States.
To be admitted to a U.S. medical school, you need excellent undergraduate grades and MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) scores. In addition, the student's 'research experience' is the most important requirement.
Today, I’m going to talk about why research experience (R&E research) is necessary to prepare for the U.S. medical school entrance exam!
[1. Why do universities exist?]
What is a university for? Usually, we think of college as just a place for ‘learning’. However, a university is not an institution that transmits knowledge, but a space that ultimately ‘produces’ knowledge.
Many universities in the United States have their research institutes and encourage students to 'produce' knowledge starting from undergraduate school.
To this end, we consider the undergraduate curriculum not simply a knowledge transfer process, but also a 'training' process for final knowledge production.
In Korea, KAIST is the place that best embodies this role of a university! 
Therefore, American universities do not want students with a lot of knowledge. What American universities want most is people who have ‘their academic interest’ and can ‘conduct research and produce results’ using expert knowledge in the field.
First, you must understand the purpose of these American universities, so that you can know what kind of applicants American medical schools want to select.
[2. How will you prove your research abilities?]
So, how should high school students who dream of entering American universities prove that they have the research skills required by universities?
What is needed here is ‘R&E (Research and Education)’ experience. If 'self-directed learning', which Korean education emphasizes, means studying the contents of the curriculum on one's own, then R&E means 'studying in-depth content beyond the curriculum on one's own.'
In other words, students must be able to conduct their research and reach conclusions based on knowledge beyond school classes.
Therefore, private and public high schools in the United States have high school research programs so that students can conduct high-quality R&E.
[3. Medical school and research experience]
Here are the 2023 U.S. News rankings of the best medical schools in the United States: 1) Harvard University 2) New York University 3 (joint) Columbia University 3 (joint) Johns Hopkins University 3 (Joint) University of California-San Francisco What do these universities have in common? It has a research-oriented academic system.
Dr. Jacobs, a former senior vice president and dean of the medical school at St. George's University, says admissions experts say a student's research experience is essential to getting into a top medical school.
Premed Research that Impresses Medical Schools - U.S.News [LINK]
A U.S. News reporter speaks strongly about this, saying, “Reputable research-based medical schools and top-tier medical schools will not forgive applicants for not having research experience on their resumes.” 
If so, I think you now understand why research is important. Research is important not to prove that you know yourself, but rather to prove that you are a person with the ability to create knowledge and a person who will become a “physician and scientist at the same time” through research experience.
This is because the best medical schools want to produce not just career doctors, but scientists who are at the forefront of the biomedical field! 
[4. What R&E experience is required for admission?]
So what makes good research? Excellent research is not research that appears to be aimed at increasing competitiveness in entrance exams, but ‘sincere research.’ One way to increase the authenticity of your research is to demonstrate that the research is likely to continue beyond admission. Another way is to show that the research topic is not separate from the applicant's characteristics, but is related to the applicant's cultural background and the characteristics or experiences of the applicant's community.
Gulma, director of admissions at the University of California—San Diego School of Medicine said,
“[Important things are] how the research experience fits into the rest of the context of the applicant's application, and how the applicant stands within that context."
He added, “Rather than being the fifth author of a prestigious research journal, a student who conceived, designed, and implemented his or her entire research, even if it was only a small presentation, may receive a better evaluation.”
Premed Research that Impresses Medical Schools - U.S.News [LINK]
Today, in addition to high test scores, we talked about R&E experience, which is essential for admission to American medical schools or top universities. GIRE has a systematic curriculum and professional consultants to secure R&E experience for Korean high school students.
If you dream of entering a top university abroad, please leave an inquiry to GIRE using the contact information below! |
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