University of Toledo College of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts

1. The Admissions Committee considers a wide variety of factors in evaluating applicants, including fit between applicants and our program’s mission, goals, and culture. In the essays below, we invite you to share information about yourself with regard to two aspects of our program. We encourage you to provide information and insights that may not be easily gleaned from other aspects of your medical school application. In responding to the essay prompts below, you should interpret the questions to the best of your ability.

One of the AAMC Core Competencies for entering medical students involves cultural competence. The competency involves several distinct domains, including:

a. Demonstrating knowledge of socio-cultural factors that affect interactions and behaviors;
b. Showing an appreciation and respect for multiple dimensions of diversity;
c. Recognizing and acting on the obligation to inform one’s own judgment;
d. Engaging diverse and competing perspectives as a resource for learning, citizenship, and work;
e. Recognizing and appropriately addressing bias in selves and others;
f. Interacting effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.

Discuss a specific experience from your life that you feel demonstrates your level of competence in one of the above domains. (Clearly indicate which of the six domains above that you are responding to.) As part of your discussion, explain how you feel this experience will impact your future contribution to the culture of diversity and inclusion at The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences and later in your career as a physician. (600 words)

2. One of the AAMC Core Competencies for entering medical students involves resilience and adaptability. This competency involves the ability to tolerate stressful or changing environments or situations and adapt effectively to them. Additional characteristics of this competency are persistence and the ability to recover from setbacks.

Discuss a specific experience from your life that you feel demonstrates your level of competence in resilience and adaptability as described above. As part of your discussion, explain how you feel this experience will help you meet new challenges you may face in medical school. (600 words)

3. (Optional) Please use the space below for anything you might wish to discuss related to the corona virus (COVID-19) public health crisis. Possible topics might include, for example: your biggest lessons and insights from the pandemic; creative ways in which you were able to serve your community during the crisis; hardships you may have faced as a result of the virus or quarantine. (You will have an opportunity to specifically discuss impacts to your coursework/grades in a separate item.) (600 words)

4. We invite you to briefly discuss any other connections you may have to The University of Toledo, the UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, the city of Toledo, or the region of Northwest Ohio or to provide additional information about the affiliations you noted above. (300 words)

5. Please briefly describe what activities you are/have been engaged in during the period between undergraduate school and medical school. (300 words, pops up if you answered “yes” to if you had a gap.)

6. If you feel you have any aspects of your record that may potentially negatively influence your application to our medical school, we encourage you to use this space to discuss them in order to provide the admissions committee with further context about your application. (Examples of possible topics include MCAT scores lower than our class average, low grades, withdrawn course, institutional action/student conduct violation.) (500 words)