Interview with Ryan Crane, Entering Medical Student [Show Summary]

Ryan Crane already knows he is going to medical school next fall, having been accepted at two schools in October! The medical school application process is long and ardurous, and Ryan knew he had some weaknesses to overcome. Listen to how Ryan overcame those weaknesses with a a detailed plan that he followed methodically and that led him to success early on. Let’s learn how he did it!

An Admitted Medical School Applicant's Story [Show Notes]

Our guest today, Ryan Crane, is happily anticipating the start of medical school. He was accepted to medical school in October. I’m going to let Ryan tell most of his story, but here’s a little background: In 2016 he graduated from Michigan State, where he was a bio major and a member of the Crew Club and rowing team. He has worked as an emergency room nurse aid, research associate, and scribe. That’s pretty bare bones, let’s get into the meat of Ryan’s story of early medical school acceptance.

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Your background and where you grew up? [2:04]

I grew up in Traverse City, Michigan and went to primary school there as well as attended two years at Northwestern Community College before transferring to Michigan State.

How did you decide to pursue a career in medicine? [2:32]

I was always interested in science growing up and was good at it. It was probably during the anatomy class my senior year of high school when we were doing cat dissections that it really clicked. I was naturally good at it and had good instincts. The teacher had me help other students with labeling the anatomical landmarks, so that was the first hint of my interest in medicine.

I also had a traumatic brain injury after riding a bicycle and spent a few weeks in the hospital recovering from that and then several months back and forth talking to specialists. Through that experience I shadowed and interacted with a lot of different physicians, nurses, PAs, etc., which confirmed what I wanted to do. After recovering I started volunteering in the ER at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City to get more exposure, and did so for a year and a half.

You’ve had a lot of different types of clinical exposure. What experience was the most valuable to you in terms of confirming your path? [4:34]

That’s a tough question, since I think each of the experiences has taught me something different about medicine. For example, working as a nurse’s assistant you get one-on-one patient interaction and the opportunity to develop a bedside manner. As a medical scribe you get the flip action of that, working one-on-one with a physician, which taught me to think like a physician and make notes like they would. I am an advocate for multiple types of exposure.

Was your 2018-19 application your first application to medical school or a reapplication? [5:39]

It was my first application that was completed. I began filling them out in the 16-17 cycle but was waiting for an MCAT score to come back, and it wasn’t what I’d hoped for, so I ended up holding off and began working with Alicia Nimonkar at Accepted in anticipation of applying during the 17-18 cycle. Then I decided to wait another year beyond that as we discovered some weaknesses in my application...