Admissions Straight Talk

I was recently contacted about a fascinating new program at Harvard Medical School called HMX Fundamentals. I wanted to learn more, and I’m delighted to have AST listeners learn more along with me since I’m talking today to Dr. Michael Parker, Harvard Medical School’s Associate Dean for Online Learning and Faculty Director of HMX.

Dr. Parker earned his Bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT. He then worked in the software industry and studied exercise physiology at the University of Colorado. He went to medical school at the University of Colorado and did his residency in internal medicine in Boston. Today, when he’s not combining his technology and medical backgrounds to create innovative, ground-breaking educational programs, he is a practicing physician in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at HMS. Welcome!

Can you give us an overview of HMX? [1:45]

HMX refers to foundational online courses covering medical topics for people potentially interested in careers in healthcare, or individuals who simply want to know about these topics in greater depth.

It might be useful to have some background on why Harvard and why now. About two years ago, we were going through a curriculum reform, thinking about how to get students into clinics earlier. This involved the compression of the preclinical years from two years to 14 months – the material has to go somewhere. How do we prepare students for this rapid start? We also recognize that we get students from a broad range of backgrounds – how do we level the playing field?

We were thinking about what students struggle with, and what areas are vital for the future of medical practice – such as genetics and immunology. We came up with starting with four foundational courses: Genetics, Immunology, Physiology, and Biochemistry.

We thought of a fresh approach that would be beneficial for our own students and helpful for students outside.

For the last two years, the entering class at Harvard Med has been given access to these classes.

Was there always a vision to offer this curriculum more widely? [6:05]

Yes, there was always a vision to offer it more widely – that was part of the initial brainstorming process. If we were putting in this amount of effort and care, it made sense to offer it up more widely.

What makes HMX special as an online learning experience? [7:10]

People have a concept of what online learning is – watching lecture videos, etc. There are three major differences in what we’re creating:

1. The degree of clinical applications: we go into the hospitals and film with doctors and patients in authentic settings. Student see how doctors interact with patients and use the foundational knowledge students are learning.

2. High degree of active learning. Students have to engage with the material. For example, there are over 300 assessment questions in the Immunology course – this takes advantage of learning science.

3. Rich biomedical visualizations – including graphics and animations. We want to help students understand the mechanisms.

Do these elements take the place of labs? [10:50]

There’s still a need for labs, certainly for the experiential aspect.

Today’s guest is Patrick Curtis, CEO & Co-founder of Wall Street Oasis. Patrick graduated from Williams College in 2002 and worked as an Investment Banking Analyst for Rothschild & Co for two years. He then joined Tailwind Capital as a Private Equity Associate in 2005 around the same time that he founded Wall Street Oasis, which he has led as CEO ever since. He also earned his MBA with a concentration in entrepreneurial management from Wharton in 2010. Welcome, Patrick!

What is Wall Street Oasis? [1:20]

It’s an online community for finance professionals and students trying to break into finance careers – investment banking, private equity, etc. We have 500K registered members and 1.5 million visits per month.

The community is similar to any forum-based site. And we offer paid services in addition: interview courses, resume review, etc.

What’s the backstory? [2:55]

I landed on my feet at Tailwind after being fired from my first PE job. I was talking to a friend who had technical skills, and we were thinking about starting a site. There was no good place online for people trying to break in, or for bankers to commiserate about their long hours. We tried to make the tone fun – the theme of the site was monkeys (it still is).

It grew steadily – it took on a life of its own. I didn’t work on it full time until after my MBA.

How did you choose the name and the monkey theme? [4:50]

Have you heard of the book Monkey Business? It resonated with me at the time.

How did you handle the layoff? [6:00]

I was pretty devastated. I realized the transition from IB to PE was more difficult than I’d anticipated. I had all the technical skills, but the project management skills didn’t translate right away. In the end, I think it was more an issue of culture and fit – but it was a hit to my confidence and I had to work hard to get my next job. It can be tough to keep a long-term perspective.

What’s your favorite resource on Wall Street Oasis? [10:10]

It’s really the community itself. I still read a lot of the threads and participate. It’s really the lifeblood of the business. We have interview courses, resume review, etc. But the forums and the community itself is really great.

You recently started a podcast! Can you tell us about that? [11:15]

I partnered with Alex Grodnik, a UCLA MBA. The goal is to bring to life interesting stories. We’re featuring AMAs, people’s stories. We have three episodes so far, and we’re planning to do one a week. It’s called the Wall Street Oasis Podcast.

What are the skills and qualities that investment banks look for? [12:40]

There’s often a misperception that technical acumen is the most important thing. Banks tend to look for polished communication skills, especially for client-facing roles.

Their ideal is someone who can work well with teams, has great communication skills, and also has great financial modeling skills.

Finding and retaining those candidates is challenging for banks – they’re trying to improve work-life balance. But it’s still one of the most attractive careers for undergrads right out of college, because you learn so many transferable skills.

Wall St. is famous for insane hours and the banks have seemed to be trying to change that. Do you think the banks’ attempts at encouraging a little more work/life balance are real, or are some of the “limits” banks have put in p...

I would like to share with you the email that made me believe that today’s guest, Dr. Amy Faith Ho, a third year ER resident, will be simply outstanding:

I love the mission of your site, and the Match was something that endlessly agonized me (see my article in Forbes). It is a great passion of mine to mentor junior residents, med students and premeds and I've also done a TEDx Talk on the topic for college students, but would love to talk about how I came into medicine (and how for me, scores weren't the end-all-be-all).

I was a policy hack who wanted to save the world and went to med school as a reconnaissance mission to understand healthcare as an industry better. I surprisingly ended up falling in love with the clinical practice of emergency medicine, so I did residency, but stayed highly involved in healthcare policy. I've now worked on US Congress as a healthcare fellow, been a leader in multiple national organizations and been a nationally featured writer and speaker (see examples at amyfaithho.com).

I wish someone when I was in college would've told me that 0.1 point difference on your GPA wasn't the end of the world (because at the time, it sure felt like it)! Would really love to share the message with your readers.

Welcome, Amy!

Can you tell us your backstory – how did you decide to go to into medicine? [2:14]

I’m from suburban Texas – I was a high school debater and loved everything about policy. I got interested in health policy and the healthcare industry – I thought the whole system was insanity, and I wanted to fix it. I looked at law, policy, public administration – and I concluded that if you want to change health policy, you need to understand health care, so I went to medical school. And then I fell in love with clinical medicine and realized I can’t imagine not incorporating patient care into my career.

Was there a specific moment when you realized you wanted to be a doctor? [5:15]

It’s hard to have that moment until you actually work with patients during the clinical years of med school. The patients I remember are all ones that had non-medical things that connected me – I remember a patient who kept asking to speak to her son, and I looked him up to let him know his mother was in the hospital. I don’t remember a more grateful patient.

Were you still planning the policy route? [8:08]

Yes, until very late in med school.

I decided on emergency med after shadowing in the ER late in med school and doing that rotation in fourth year – then I declared for emergency.

I like the diagnostic challenge: making big decisions with little information in a small amount of time.

For me as a health policy wonk, it’s also great and interesting to see care at this level: we see everyone.

Looking back, what was the most challenging part of the med school application process for you? [11:02]

The personal statement, no doubt!

Most of the other parts of the application process are more objective: you have a sense of what scores you need, etc.

Today’s guest, Mary-Patton Davis, earned her BA in Government and French from Georgetown in 2010. She worked in marketing in the U.S. and in Rwanda, started a yoga business in Rwanda among other things, and earned her MBA from Wharton in 2016. While there she co-founded and led LeadUp, a mindful leadership program emphasizing health and wellness for ambitious young business leaders Since August she has worked in San Francisco for NerdWallet, a personal finance start-up. Welcome, Mary-Patton!

Can you tell us more about your background and your path to Wharton? [1:40]

It’s a non-traditional background. I majored in international relations and French at Georgetown – at the time, I was very interested in political communications. I stayed in DC right after graduation for about a year and a half. Then my sister was launching a women’s college in east Africa, and she asked me to help with communications, so I moved to Rwanda and worked with the Akila Institute. I loved living in the country and the work I was doing. Through that experience, I met leaders of family conglomerates, including one who asked me to create a digital marketing department in his advertising firm.

Why did you decide to pursue an MBA? [5:20]

As you can imagine, I never really had an MBA in my sights. After working in the nonprofit realm with my sister, I was working in the advertising agency and realized I really liked it. It drew on different skillsets. But I also realized I needed more training. The head of the family conglomerate I worked for had his MBA, and he was a big mentor for me – he really coached me and helped me identify the MBA as the next step.

Why did you choose Wharton? [7:18]

I targeted quantitative, finance-oriented schools because I knew I needed to build those skills.

It was definitely a steep learning curve my first year! But it was the right choice.

What do you miss from Wharton? [9:45]

There’s a lot of nostalgia for business school when I get together with my classmates in San Francisco.

I really miss the crazy international trips and the social life! From a more academic perspective, I miss the organized opportunities for intellectual stimulation – talks, clubs, etc.

What could be improved at Wharton? [12:45]

One thing that’s a function of the wealth of opportunities is FOMO – fear of missing out. You feel pressure to do everything. You have to remember to dole out your time according to what’s most important to you and spend your time appropriately.

Did you find the MBA valuable? Is it valuable in the tech world? [14:50]

For me, it was absolutely the right decision – I was transitioning from a non-traditional background and from working abroad.

But the MBA isn’t for everyone. If you just feel like you’re stagnating or don’t know what you want to do next, it may not be the best option. It’s a big investment and a big decision – don’t decide to do it by default.

What is LeadUp and how did you found it? [18:10]

It was a fun project I started with a friend at Wharton. The idea was to provide immersive experiences for young leaders to help them develop their skills and reflect. It was for grad students across Penn – not just MBA students.

We came to this after realizing how intense the MBA experience is – we started from wanting to create ...

Many of you are planning ahead for your first application this summer and fall. Others are concerned that you may need to reapply because the news you’ve received so far isn’t what you wanted. In either case, if your grades are a concern, this podcast is for you. This week, join us for a rebroadcast of one of our most popular shows - our discussion of how to address a low GPA.

Click here for the complete show notes.

Download the 5 A’s for a Low GPA Cheat Sheet:

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Related Shows:

• Different Dimensions of Diversity

• Focus on Fit

• Linda Abraham’s Admissions Assortment

Related Resources:

• Get Accepted to B-School with Low Stats, live webinar

• Get Accepted to Medical School with Low Stats, on demand webinar

• The A-Z of Applying to Postbac Programs, a free guide

• 3 Steps for Applying to Business School with a Low Undergraduate GPA

• Boost Your GPA for Medical School Acceptance

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Today’s episode is an extra special show. This is AST’s 200th episode! It’s fitting that we welcome back Elissa Sangster, who was the very first guest on AST almost five years ago. Today she is the first guest to come back for a third time.

This show should be valuable to you because of Elissa’s critical role as head of the Forté Foundation in increasing women’s representation in business school and business, and because of her profound insider’s knowledge of the business school and professional worlds.

Elissa earned her MBA at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School in 1994 and immediately became the Assistant Director of its MBA program. She moved on to UT Austin in 1997 where she served in different roles including the Assistant Dean and Director of McCombs’ MBA program. In 2004, she became the first director of Forté Foundation, a consortium of business schools and companies working to increase the number of women in business leadership positions. Welcome back, Elissa!

Can you review Forté’s backstory for us? [3:00]

The origins go back to 2000-1, due to a Catalyst research study on women in MBA programs, called “The Gateway to Opportunity.” That research was looking at why there weren’t more women enrolled in b-schools, and that was the motivation for creating Forté.

It started with five events back in 2002. I came on board in 2004, and we’ve continued creating programs aimed at preparing women early in the process.

We’ve understood that we need to reach out earlier in the decision-making process, too, so we’ve created programs at the college/university level that help women see what careers in business can look like.

And we do professional development programs.

There’s a lot of lack of awareness, lack of role models – a lot of young women have no one in their influence set telling them that b-school would be a great fit. So we’re taking that role.

What is the Forté Fellows program? [6:40]

It started in 2005. We asked our partner schools to give significant scholarships (averaging half of tuition) to two students each year. In 2005, we had about 35 students. For 2018, 1100 students received fellowships. There are now about 5000 alums. It’s a great group.

The benefits are beyond financial – it’s about being part of a broader community. The fellows are involved in programming on their campus, programming for undergrads, etc. It’s a community we know we can depend on.

How do you become a Forté Fellow? [9:48]

Each school makes their own selection. We’ve given them general guidelines.

We start communicating and bring them into the Forté community as soon as they receive the award.

Another significant Forté program is MBALaunch (and Virtual Launch). Can you tell us about that? [10:35]

MBALaunch creates a very active community – they tend to bond and are very supportive and engaged.

It’s a ten-month program that starts with a live kickoff event (with sessions on different topics). Then they’re grouped, and they spend the next ten months working with their peers and a coach preparing for the MBA application. They address all parts of the application (essays, interviews).

There are 570 participants this year. We want them to be competitive.

We want them to apply to schools they might not have thought about if they did the process in isola...

I recently saw an article about a highly innovative approach to medical education launching with this year’s entering class at the University of Connecticut called M Delta. When I reached out to UConn the head of the curriculum reform asked me for a call and provided more information about the new curriculum. It was just fascinating. Fortunately, she and her colleagues agreed to join me for this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, and you can judge for yourself.

Today’s guests are: Dr. Suzanne Rose, UConn’s Sr. Associate Dean for Education and Professor of Medicine; Dr. Christine Thatcher Associate Dean for Medical Education and Assessment; and Dr. Thomas Regan, Asst Dean of Admissions and Student Affairs. Welcome!

Dr. Rose, can you provide an overview of the three phases of M Delta? [1:45]

M Delta is making a difference in education, learning, and teaching across the curriculum. It’s an innovative curriculum reform effort that started about four years ago – really thinking about cutting edge education for the doctors of the future.

Our curriculum reform effort has been implemented in August with the class of 2020.

Stage I is 18 months long – a time of study when the class is together. Students co-learn with dental students. We’ve eliminated lectures in favor of active learning modalities. Stage II will begin in March of the second year – a 12-week introduction to clinical medicine, flexible time for electives, board study, and rotations. We’re also coupling some of our rotations so we can have longitudinal didactics where our rotations can work together and students can think together across disciplines. Stage II goes through June of the third year.

Stage III includes some required advanced clinical rotations, but students will also be involved in the scholarly process – working on a project, or a community initiative (such as public health and education).

All our students will be receiving a public health certificate, so they’ll be immersed in public health across the curriculum.

Can you dive into Stage I? [4:40]

Stage I is the Exploration stage. The centerpiece is a team-based curriculum. It’s patient centered and case based.

At the beginning of each unit, students take both individual and team readiness assessments. That’s followed by an application exercise.

The PBL (problem-based learning) curriculum spans 50 units – 50 cases, in ten week blocks.

There are other courses, too: integrated human anatomy (with virtual anatomy lab, including radiology); Intro to Doctoring; CLIC – students spend half a day in a physician’s office, generally a primary care provider; Medical Home – another innovative course, where students and teams go to an affiliated hospital to learn about the clinical environment; and the VITALS course (Vertically Integrated Teams Aligned in Learning and Scholarship), where they learn about population health, biostatistics, etc. The VITALS course is in teams across the med school continuum and with our interprofessional partners (such as dental), and it’s a flexible curriculum, covering emerging topics and trends while exploring public health objectives.

Dr. Thatcher, can you talk about assessment? [11:10]

In each ten-week block, students will take an IRAT (individual readiness assessment test) and TRAT (team readiness assessment test). Then each ten week block is followed by a two week intersession that starts with an integrated assessment – like a final exam for the ten week module.

We are now getting calls from applicants who plan to plan to apply in the summer, fall, and winter to matriculate in 2018. A few have all their ducks lined up – test score in place, school visits planned, a GPA they’re proud of, and maybe they’re just rounding out their profile to put icing on the application cake. Others wish they had the test score they wanted. And still others are studying for, or more likely, planning to start test prep to take their particular exam for the first time. Those applicants – the ones still dealing with aptitude exams – are probably the majority of applicants preparing to apply in the upcoming application cycle.

Because so many people are thinking about test prep, I’ve invited Bhavin Parikh, CEO & Co-Founder of Magoosh back to Admissions Straight Talk. His company is an innovative leader in the online test prep industry. Magoosh is, according to its website, “an affordable online test prep company the offers study programs and apps for the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, SAT, ACT, TOEFL AND Praxis.” Bhavin attended Duke University where he earned a joint BS/BA in Economics and Computer Science. He then worked for Deloitte Consulting for 5 years and attended UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business where he earned his MBA and co-founded Magoosh with three others. Welcome, Bhavin!

What does Magoosh provide? [2:10]

We help students prepare for standardized tests. The broader mission of the company is helping people overcome barriers at various points in their careers – standardized tests are one of those barriers as people enter college or grad school.

We offer a web-based product – people can sign up for a free trial. Our courses include short video lessons explaining concepts, and then people can do practice questions. We also provide a service where people can reach out with questions.

Is it a monthly subscription? Or a fee for a set period of time? [3:18]

It’s a set fee, generally for six or 12 months. Most of the products are $100 or $150.

Is Magoosh intended to be a standalone course, or a supplement to other study methods (such as classes or tutoring)? [4:05]

When we started seven to eight years ago, it was meant more as a supplement. Now it’s effectively standalone. But given our price-point, many people do use it as a supplement to a class.

What is distinctive about Magoosh? [5:18]

We have in-house content experts who’ve been tutoring this material for years, and we update our content based on data from our users. Since our content creation is in-house, we can see where students are getting stuck and where we can improve.

So you’re looking at data as well as qualitative feedback? [6:40]

Yes. We collect both qualitative and quantitative information. For example, we collect a “like” rate on each video, so we know how students are responding. But we also track requests for help – if we get a lot of requests for help on the same video, we know we need to update something or add an explanation.

Are you using AI or adaptive learning? [8:45]

We’re using some adaptive learning technology. Since the early days of Magoosh, we’ve used an adaptive algorithm that contributes to our product and makes sure students are provided questions at the right level for them to learn what they need to. The GMAT is adaptive itself, and that was part of our impetus early on.

We focus on content first, then technology,

The MBA application process is multi-faceted and there are a lot of things you can do NOW that will improve your chances of acceptance when you actually apply. I shared those steps, which I’ve seen work over the last 20 years, at our recent webinar 7 Steps to MBA Acceptance in 2018. Click here to view the recording!

One of the more interesting trends that has emerged in graduate management education in the last ten years is increasing choice and an ever-growing array of specialized masters to complement flagship full-time MBA programs along with different methods of teaching. A leader in this trend is IE, a business school located in Madrid, but with a global and entrepreneurial outlook.

Today’s guest is Jean Marie Winikates, Director of IE’s North American office. She earned her MBA from IE in 2003 and has been working for IE and growing its North American presence since her graduation. IE offers over 30 masters programs in business, allowing students to choose between general management programs like its full-time MBA or highly specialized programs like its Masters in Business Analytics and Big Data, or its Masters in Market Research and Consumer Behavior. We’ll learn more directly from our Jean Marie. Welcome!

What do all IE programs have in common? [2:50]

Core to all our programs – whether specialized masters or MBA – is a strong business foundation. No matter what your area of expertise, you need a strong business foundation.

Before we dive into a sampling of the programs at IE, what is driving the creation of this menu of options? What’s the back story? [4:00]

The school was founded by an entrepreneur, aiming to train the next generation of entrepreneurs.

The expanded programs reflect the changing marketplace and the need for employment and the global workforce. We’re looking at the future – where people will be employed and the skills they need.

How do you address concerns that Madrid is not a global business center? [5:30]

A lot of people are interested in studying in Western Europe. Spain is one of the largest countries in Europe, and Madrid is the largest city in Spain. A lot of people are attracted to Spain because of the history and language – Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

Can you give an overview of IE’s one-year International MBA? [7:03]

There are two intakes, in spring and fall (there’s no difference in the structure or the program). It’s a one year accelerated program – students are in class Monday through Friday, nine to three, like a full time job.

The program includes a six-month module of core skills, and an entrepreneurship/intrepreneurship lab period, then an elective module. Because a lot of people come to IE for entrepreneurship, they’re particularly interested in the lab period.

Who is it for? [9:37]

The average age is about 29, with about five years of work experience. Ninety percent of the class is international, with over 70 nationalities represented in each intake.

What does the program do for the students’ careers? Does it prepare people for career change? What type of careers do people go into upon graduation? [10:54]

I want to invite any listeners planning to apply to medical school this summer to check out our med webinar, The 5 Part Framework for a Successful Medical School Application. In the webinar I break down the complex med school application process into 5 essential goals that you must achieve if you are to be successful and start medical school in 2018. 

Our guest today can provide her own advice based her experience applying to and getting into medical school. She graduated from Arizona State in 2011. Later, she completed postbac studies at both Salt Lake Community College and UW in Seattle. Today Natalie Wall, of the Natalie Shoots People blog, is an M1 at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Welcome, Natalie!

Can you tell us about yourself? [1:55]

I grew up in Arizona, where I was really into dancing. Like you said, I went to ASU for college. I originally planned to go to law school, but I decided I didn’t want to sit behind a desk, so I changed plans. I moved to Utah, and here I am!

Why Utah? [2:20]

I had a thing with snowboarding… I decided I’d try to pursue that and maybe make a career of it, but a few hospital bills later, I realized it wasn’t for me.

How did you get from snowboarding to medicine? [2:45]

I come from a family of physicians, so medicine was something I was always exposed to from a young age. Partly because I’d pursued dance so seriously growing up, I wasn’t ready for the time commitment of medicine until I’d had a few more years to mature.

What else did you do during the time between college and med school? How long was that gap? [3:55]

I took two and a half years off from school. I did snowboarding (including time being injured), and also spent time coaching dance and gymnastics. And I ultimately went back to school.

Did you do a formal postbac program? Or more informal? [4:33]

It was pretty informal. I was a psych major in college, which I loved, but I hadn’t taken many hard sciences.

So I did all my core sciences in about two and a half years, going straight through the summer.

What was the hardest part of the application process for you? [5:30]

It’s pretty obvious I was a non-traditional applicant, so I think the struggle for me was trying to figure out my worth in this process that involved so many people who’d been working toward medical school since they graduated high school, and their entire resume was tailored to science and medicine.

How did you meet that challenge? [6:21]

I definitely had science experience, and exposure to hospitals, etc. I also tried to incorporate my life experiences. Those experiences have given me the confidence to interact with patients on a personal level.

What was the most memorable question you were asked at a medical school interview? [7:20]

One asked me what book I was reading. I happened to be reading a really awesome book, but I think if I hadn’t been reading a book at the moment it would have been harder.

Another that struck me as memorable, but not positive: the interviewer said,