2019-2020 Miami (Miller)

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Secondary Prompt:

500 words each​
  1. Briefly describe the one clinical experience you have had that has most significantly influenced your decision to study medicine. Do not replicate your AMCAS personal statement.
  2. Why have you selected the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine for your medical education? Please be as specific as possible.
  3. Please provide a chronological list with dates AND a brief description of your clinical experiences/shadowing.
  4. Please provide a chronological list with dates of your community service/volunteering.
  5. Please discuss a situation where you had to use your leadership skills.
  6. Please briefly discuss your research experience.
  7. Please provide a chronological list with dates of your employment.
  8. [OPTIONAL] Please provide a description of any activities involving the FINE ARTS (dance, drama, music, art, photography, etc.)
  9. [OPTIONAL] Please provide a description of any activities involving SPORTS (organized team sports, recreational activities that you play, watch or follow)
  10. [OPTIONAL] Describe your most meaningful involvement in STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS.
  11. [OPTIONAL] Please provide a description of your most memorable TRAVEL experience.
  12. [OPTIONAL] Please provide a description of your HOBBIES and what you do for fun and relaxation.
Click to expand...

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview Feedback: University of Miami (Miller)
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Hi Class of 2023 - I'm a current M4 in the MD track. Im working on a longer intro to UM which I'll add here soon, but in the mean time everyone should as always post and tag me with any questions. I'm a big fan of UM and love talking about my school.

Disclaimer: I have no ties to admissions, admin, or anyone else of any importance. All info I provide should be taken with a grain of salt and is based on personal experience and not insider knowledge of how UM functions.

~Imported from below~
Why UM:
Miami is an amazing school. UM med is comprised of several institutions that all collaborate to form the medical education system here. UM Hospital and clinics is our private hospital. Its fancy, has all the latest toys, and is on the cutting edge of medical care. The Miami VA serves our veterans and has some of the best patients I’ve ever worked with. It also provides a unique look at what a true single payer healthcare system looks like – a rare thing here in the states. Finally, Jackson Memorial is our big, gritty, exciting county hospital. It serves as a safety net for all of Miami – funded by the city it will provide medical care for anyone who lives here, regardless of ability to pay, immigration status, or anything else.

Jackson is actually the 2nd largest hospital in the US (and number 8 worldwide Top 10 largest hospitals in the world). It provides medical care for the large afro-carribean and latin american immigrant populations here, many of whom have had little to no healthcare for years if not their whole lives. We see diseases that were eradicated decades ago in the rest of the US. Everything from rheumatic heart disease to dengue fever gets treated here.

We also get a remarkable amount of clinical freedom here. During the pre-clinical years the MD curriculum is very flexible, allowing for a ton of shadowing or research if that’s what you’re into. There’s also a ton of free clinics on campus and around Miami where we can work and hone our clinical skills while serving the community. As an M3 you will routinely carry your own patients on the Medicine rotation – writing notes, interpreting labs, presenting, and proposing a plan to the team. During surgery we scrub every case and usually get to close. On trauma the students gown up for every case and get to the heli-pad – even the crazy multi-gunshot polytrauma’s. On anesthesia we do the non-complicated intubations. Every student will do a lumbar puncture while on Neuro. In EM students routinely get rare procedures like crash intubations, central lines, and paracentesis. Oh and while on Pediatric Surgery I got to scrub for bedside open-heart surgery on a 5 day old baby in the NICU.

All in all, going to school in Miami is a remarkable experience. I have jaw-dropping moments every week and can feel like I helped someone in need almost every day.



Why Miami
The city of Miami is amazing. In February of this year, it was a balmy 75 degrees one day. I drove over to key Biscayne to play a game of beach volleyball against the law students. On my way back, I stopped at a dockside fish market and bought a pound of key west shrimp fresh off the boat. I took them back to my building, were we BBQd the shrimp by the pool then all sat on pool floats and spent a couple hours “studying” the week’s lectures. You can’t do that anywhere else.

I’ve also gotten very skilled at sneaking into opulent south beach resorts and hanging out by their pools. We have fancy night clubs and secret tiki bars. I don’t think I’ve ever had trouble finding something fun to do when friends are in town. We’ve got a great music scene, disappointingly adequate sports, and kick-ass [UM-Med sponsored] tailgates.


P.S. We have a rotation where you can spend a month living in Islamorada in the Florida Keys, where UM will pay to put you up in a fancy beachfront townhouse (complete with kayaks) – free of charge. If that doesn’t sell the school idk what will.
 
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Flintwire said:
Recently graduated, still love Miller, here to rep my alma mater 🙂! @teeayejay and @The Knife & Gun Club you guys are amazing, consistently helping students every year - the hordes of SDN are lucky to have you. Good luck to everyone this cycle!!!
Click to expand...

Thank you! It's so crazy basically being a 4th year when it feels like just yesterday I was scouring the UM thread before I was even accepted.
 
Really interested in ophthalmology (done a ton of research in the field) and ofc Miami has the best program in the country. Is it a good idea to mention this for the Why Miami essay?
 
Ferrous said:
Really interested in ophthalmology (done a ton of research in the field) and ofc Miami has the best program in the country. Is it a good idea to mention this for the Why Miami essay?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't make this the focus but it's more than reasonable to make mention that you're considering ophtho and that Bascom is here.
 
"I was wondering if you could elaborate on any thoughts about your experiences as a medical student there (i.e. research, community service, professors, location, work and study environment, etc.)?! Any advice or perspective is appreciated! Thank you!"

My favorite part of UM is that you can chase your interests in pretty much any field. If you have a strong desire for social justice and policy within medicine there's a space for that. If you're more of the bench research type person, there's a space for that too. And everything else in between. Some opportunities will fall in your lap but others you might need to show some diligence. At any rate, UM is well-funded.

Another plus for me is that it's a very "on the streets" type school. By that I mean, Miami is uniquely positioned in that it has such a diverse group of people both culturally and socioeconomically. It's dead smack in the middle of the city and smack in the middle of one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the city. It's a great place to be trained and there's a major opportunity to learn humility and what it truly means to open yourself up to different walks of life. Also because of it's demographics, there is no shortage of volunteer opprotunities where you can do some great things if you stick with it.

Academically, the large majority of professors/lecturers are great. They work to engage the students and you actually do learn. I can't tell you the amount of times I was pimped on something on the wards and in my mind, I immediately went back to a particular lecture that I had two years prior.

I personally (and truly) don't have anything negative to say about it other than minor program logistics but no program in the nation is without fault.

Miami itself is amazing. Be comfortable with Spanish (don't have to speak it but don't be surprised if you hear it everywhere). I say that because I spoke with an undergrad at UM a couple months ago and she hated it for that reason. I love it. Otherwise, there's always something to do if you want plus the beach is 10 minutes away.
 
EmbryonalCarcinoma said:
What made y'all choose Miami? @teeayejay @The Knife & Gun Club
Click to expand...

Why UM:
Miami is an amazing school. UM med is comprised of several institutions that all collaborate to form the medical education system here. UM Hospital and clinics is our private hospital. Its fancy, has all the latest toys, and is on the cutting edge of medical care. The Miami VA serves our veterans and has some of the best patients I’ve ever worked with. It also provides a unique look at what a true single payer healthcare system looks like – a rare thing here in the states. Finally, Jackson Memorial is our big, gritty, exciting county hospital. It serves as a safety net for all of Miami – funded by the city it will provide medical care for anyone who lives here, regardless of ability to pay, immigration status, or anything else.

Jackson is actually the 2nd largest hospital in the US (and number 8 worldwide Top 10 largest hospitals in the world). It provides medical care for the large afro-carribean and latin american immigrant populations here, many of whom have had little to no healthcare for years if not their whole lives. We see diseases that were eradicated decades ago in the rest of the US. Everything from rheumatic heart disease to dengue fever gets treated here.

We also get a remarkable amount of clinical freedom here. During the pre-clinical years the MD curriculum is very flexible, allowing for a ton of shadowing or research if that’s what you’re into. There’s also a ton of free clinics on campus and around Miami where we can work and hone our clinical skills while serving the community. As an M3 you will routinely carry your own patients on the Medicine rotation – writing notes, interpreting labs, presenting, and proposing a plan to the team. During surgery we scrub every case and usually get to close. On trauma the students gown up for every case and get to the heli-pad – even the crazy multi-gunshot polytrauma’s. On anesthesia we do the non-complicated intubations. Every student will do a lumbar puncture while on Neuro. In EM students routinely get rare procedures like crash intubations, central lines, and paracentesis. Oh and while on Pediatric Surgery I got to scrub for bedside open-heart surgery on a 5 day old baby in the NICU.

All in all, going to school in Miami is a remarkable experience. I have jaw-dropping moments every week and can feel like I helped someone in need almost every day.



Why Miami
The city of Miami is amazing. In February of this year, it was a balmy 75 degrees one day. I drove over to key Biscayne to play a game of beach volleyball against the law students. On my way back, I stopped at a dockside fish market and bought a pound of key west shrimp fresh off the boat. I took them back to my building, were we BBQd the shrimp by the pool then all sat on pool floats and spent a couple hours “studying” the week’s lectures. You can’t do that anywhere else.

I’ve also gotten very skilled at sneaking into opulent south beach resorts and hanging out by their pools. We have fancy night clubs and secret tiki bars. I don’t think I’ve ever had trouble finding something fun to do when friends are in town. We’ve got a great music scene, disappointingly adequate sports, and kick-ass [UM-Med sponsored] tailgates.


P.S. We have an M3 rotation where you can spend a month living in Islamorada in the Florida Keys, where UM will pay to put you up in a fancy beachfront townhouse (complete with kayaks) – free of charge. If that doesn’t sell the school idk what will.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
The Knife & Gun Club said:
Why UM:
Miami is an amazing school. UM med is comprised of several institutions that all collaborate to form the medical education system here. UM Hospital and clinics is our private hospital. Its fancy, has all the latest toys, and is on the cutting edge of medical care. The Miami VA serves our veterans and has some of the best patients I’ve ever worked with. It also provides a unique look at what a true single payer healthcare system looks like – a rare thing here in the states. Finally, Jackson Memorial is our big, gritty, exciting county hospital. It serves as a safety net for all of Miami – funded by the city it will provide medical care for anyone who lives here, regardless of ability to pay, immigration status, or anything else.

Jackson is actually the 2nd largest hospital in the US (and number 8 worldwide Top 10 largest hospitals in the world). It provides medical care for the large afro-carribean and latin american immigrant populations here, many of whom have had little to no healthcare for years if not their whole lives. We see diseases that were eradicated decades ago in the rest of the US. Everything from rheumatic heart disease to dengue fever gets treated here.

We also get a remarkable amount of clinical freedom here. During the pre-clinical years the MD curriculum is very flexible, allowing for a ton of shadowing or research if that’s what you’re into. There’s also a ton of free clinics on campus and around Miami where we can work and hone our clinical skills while serving the community. As an M3 you will routinely carry your own patients on the Medicine rotation – writing notes, interpreting labs, presenting, and proposing a plan to the team. During surgery we scrub every case and usually get to close. On trauma the students gown up for every case and get to the heli-pad – even the crazy multi-gunshot polytrauma’s. On anesthesia we do the non-complicated intubations. Every student will do a lumbar puncture while on Neuro. In EM students routinely get rare procedures like crash intubations, central lines, and paracentesis. Oh and while on Pediatric Surgery I got to scrub for bedside open-heart surgery on a 5 day old baby in the NICU.

All in all, going to school in Miami is a remarkable experience. I have jaw-dropping moments every week and can feel like I helped someone in need almost every day.



Why Miami
The city of Miami is amazing. In February of this year, it was a balmy 75 degrees one day. I drove over to key Biscayne to play a game of beach volleyball against the law students. On my way back, I stopped at a dockside fish market and bought a pound of key west shrimp fresh off the boat. I took them back to my building, were we BBQd the shrimp by the pool then all sat on pool floats and spent a couple hours “studying” the week’s lectures. You can’t do that anywhere else.

I’ve also gotten very skilled at sneaking into opulent south beach resorts and hanging out by their pools. We have fancy night clubs and secret tiki bars. I don’t think I’ve ever had trouble finding something fun to do when friends are in town. We’ve got a great music scene, disappointingly adequate sports, and kick-ass [UM-Med sponsored] tailgates.


P.S. We have an M3 rotation where you can spend a month living in Islamorada in the Florida Keys, where UM will pay to put you up in a fancy beachfront townhouse (complete with kayaks) – free of charge. If that doesn’t sell the school idk what will.
Click to expand...
This right here. As a FL resident wanting to go OOS for med school, Miller was the only state school, I was willing to stay in Florida for. Went to UM undergrad and it was the best four years of my life so far. Good luck to everyone applying here this cycle.
 
@teeayejay @The Knife & Gun Club Thanks for all of the wonderful insight you provided. I wanted to ask about how much of a concern hurricanes are in the UM area? Is this something you factored into your decision when applying?
 
sundayko said:
@teeayejay @The Knife & Gun Club Thanks for all of the wonderful insight you provided. I wanted to ask about how much of a concern hurricanes are in the UM area? Is this something you factored into your decision when applying?
Click to expand...

I actually hadn't made that a consideration at all when choosing. We had one each my first two years but nothing happened last year. I wouldn't hold too much weight to it but that's a personal choice because anything can happen.
 
sundayko said:
@teeayejay @The Knife & Gun Club Thanks for all of the wonderful insight you provided. I wanted to ask about how much of a concern hurricanes are in the UM area? Is this something you factored into your decision when applying?
Click to expand...

So for me as a Florida native I was kind of bummed when I moved away for college and we didn’t get hurricanes anymore. The reality is they are not as scary as people make them out to be - usually just knock out power and bring down some trees - no worse than a bad snow storm.

But if I’m being serious I’d be less concerned about hurricanes in Miami than I would about hurricanes in any of the other southern/gulf coast cities. Reality is Miami is built for hurricanes. We know we’re gonna get hit, so the buildings here are concrete block (not wood) and all the buildings in brickell have hurricane glass.
 
@The Knife & Gun Club Hi! I couldn't find much information about how Miami-Miller students handle the step exams. For example, how did your studying go for Step 1? Does the school factor study time into the curriculum or did you feel that you had to squeeze studying in?
 
I would love to hear from any current students what they like from Miami’s curriculum itself? How classes are taught/what’s taught when and how that benefits them, etc. thank you!
 
bestestmench said:
I would love to hear from any current students what they like from Miami’s curriculum itself? How classes are taught/what’s taught when and how that benefits them, etc. thank you!
Click to expand...
Pretty sure curriculum will be changing for the 2024 class.

Admissions

Official website for the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
admissions.med.miami.edu admissions.med.miami.edu
 
Does anyone know the MCAT 10%/25% scores including for the Biology subsection? How many students aged 30+ approx are accepted per cycle? My MSAR just expired and this was the last school I still had to research :bucktooth:.

Also, what is the deal with Spanish there. I thought you used to have to take a spanish course , but now it seems that's no longer a requirement? I speak a few words here and there but I've forgotten most of what I learned in HS. I've seen some comments about how it's not required but that you may be at a disadvantage as english is not the first language for many profs/staff and patients (LORs, favoritism etc). Thanks!
 
tinyhandsbob said:
Does anyone know the MCAT 10%/25% scores including for the Biology subsection? How many students aged 30+ approx are accepted per cycle? My MSAR just expired and this was the last school I still had to research :bucktooth:.

Also, what is the deal with Spanish there. I thought you used to have to take a spanish course , but now it seems that's no longer a requirement? I speak a few words here and there but I've forgotten most of what I learned in HS. I've seen some comments about how it's not required but that you may be at a disadvantage as english is not the first language for many profs/staff and patients (LORs, favoritism etc). Thanks!
Click to expand...

For matriculants, they are 507 and 510. For B/B they are 126 and 127. From 2016-2018 there have been 8, 4, and 3 people that are 30+ years old. Not sure about the Spanish requirements. Yeah, it's definitely a plus to know Spanish in Miami.
 
Spanish is not necessary at all. The medical center there is the 2nd busiest hospital in the country, treating an incredibly varied international population that speaks all different languages. People travel the world to get to Miami health care. Everyone uses Google translate....Spanish is just one dialect of hundreds. My sister speaks not one word of Spanish and it has not been an issue even once.
 
pre-med12345 said:
Hii! Advice needed!!
My primary was verified the day after it opened for submission (5/31) so I expect to receive secondaries fairly early on. I am looking for some advice because I know submitting as early as possible helps your chances, but unfortunately I have a pretty low MCAT (503) and am not retaking it until July 19. I am scoring 515+ on my practice tests, but I don't want to submit my secondary and have UM reject me because of my 503 before they see my new MCAT score. Do you think they will hold off reviewing my application until after my MCAT (Since i've designated on my application that I am taking it July 20) or should I wait to submit my secondary until after I receive my MCAT score (which wont be until Aug 20 which seems late in the application game)? Any advice helps!!
Click to expand...
No school is obligated to hold off on any app if it is deemed "complete". I think its best you hold off on sending to UM until your new score comes in so they get a full picture of your application without making assumptions on an old score.
 
sundayko said:
@The Knife & Gun Club Hi! I couldn't find much information about how Miami-Miller students handle the step exams. For example, how did your studying go for Step 1? Does the school factor study time into the curriculum or did you feel that you had to squeeze studying in?
Click to expand...

As of now we get 6 weeks off to study for step 1, which I felt was way more than adequate. Our pre-clinical curriculum is on the longer side (a full 2 years), but I never felt pressed for board study time. Because we don’t have many mandatory lectures and our exams are fairly tame, people going for the super high scores just spend 2nd semester of 2nd year studying for step while also scraping by in class.

Our students do well on step, but not astronomical. The average is usually 230-235 (national average my year was 229).

All that said, the curriculum is being revamped a bit this year, so the exact number of months of pre-clinical vs clinical may change. I’m pretty confident they’ll either leave the number of weeks of dedicated study time at 6, or maybe increase it to 8.
 
hello all! Wow, I can't believe the next class is already applying! I'm an incoming MD/PhD student at Miller this year and can NOT wait to get started. They already have a ton of exciting activities planned for orientation week and the semester. If anyone is applying MD/PhD or even MD feel free to PM me! This school has everything.

OH P.S. The incoming class has planned a major (off the books) yacht party for the entire class. It's becoming an orientation week tradition and apparently gets pretty lit. Not saying to choose a school because of the parties but I think the initiative to organize such events goes to show how outgoing students are that Miller recruits while also being academic allstars! (biased of course 😉)
 
For listing the courses, if I have a repeated course in one of the requirements, should I list both attempts? Or just the second time since that would actually meet the requirement?
 
For the ones that ask for dates, do you need to exact dates or can you write something like "Summer 2018"? I don't remember the exact dates I shadowed people or volunteered...
 
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