How do I go about learning a school's mission?

[carson16666]

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I swear every single school's mission is some form of "Educating the next generation of compassionate physicians with excellence in community service, groundbreaking research, and diverse patient care. We are dedicated to equality and learning"

I hear people talk about "mission fit" but like what am I even supposed to gain from these unbelievably generic statements. Are they just useless and I have to look deeper? If so, where?? I understand SOME schools have a specific focus in their statement, but most don't. Is there some secret to this??

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thread 'Mission Fit for your School List Q&A - April 13, 2025 at 9:00 PM Eastern'

Mar 27, 2025

Join SDN and Emil Chuck, PhD as we discuss assessing your mission fit with health professional programs. Learn how to determine which schools have a mission that resonates with your personal values and goals as a future healthcare professional.

Post your questions for this livestream below!

• WildWing
• Replies: 7
• Forum: Expert Advice Live

• 

 

[pedneuro6894]

Look at specific opportunities or programs they offer for medical students, this will tell you a lot about what they value.

To your point: yes, many school's missions are very similar. They all talk about wanting to help underserved individuals, work toward progressing the healthcare field, etc. The way you show your mission fit is this: "I have a passion for X and did experience Y because of said passion. At your school, you have Program Z that aligns similarly with this and I am really excited about the opportunity to continue this passion. Blah Blah Blah." Or "your school's mission talks about helping a specific population. I super duper resonate with this because of my experiences."

I went three whole cycles writing generically about my passions and my experiences, and received one singular II. This year, my 4th cycle, the only major thing I did differently was name-dropping opportunities/programs and referencing bars from their mission statement/values in my secondaries. I received 10 IIs because of it. N = 1, but something tells me it works

 

[surelycalm]

To your point: yes, many school's missions are very similar. They all talk about wanting to help underserved individuals, work toward progressing the healthcare field, etc.

I think there are "hidden" mission fits for various schools. By hidden, I mean you can't just read their mission statement and know what they are really looking for. Unfortunately, the only way to figure this out would be by talking to students and reading up as much as you can about the schools and hope someone hits on the topic. As an example, many schools have a hidden mission to produce doctors for their local county etc. etc. Thus it's not good enough that you are a resident of that state, but you need to explain your connection to their county.

 

[Goro]

I swear every single school's mission is some form of "Educating the next generation of compassionate physicians with excellence in community service, groundbreaking research, and diverse patient care. We are dedicated to equality and learning"

I hear people talk about "mission fit" but like what am I even supposed to gain from these unbelievably generic statements. Are they just useless and I have to look deeper? If so, where?? I understand SOME schools have a specific focus in their statement, but most don't. Is there some secret to this??

For starters, read their website thoroughly.

 

[LizzyM]

What is required (e.g. a thesis might be required at schools that are training the next generation of leaders in academic medicine where research is important)? What is offered in terms of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities? (This can tell you if a school has a group of people committed to LGBTQ health, reproductive justice, etc or if that is not where they put their focus) Where are their required and elective clerkships held (is there a requirement to do a rotation in a rural location, for example, or opportunities for elective rotations abroad).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I think there are "hidden" mission fits for various schools. By hidden, I mean you can't just read their mission statement and know what they are really looking for. Unfortunately, the only way to figure this out would be by talking to students and reading up as much as you can about the schools and hope someone hits on the topic. As an example, many schools have a hidden mission to produce doctors for their local county etc. etc. Thus it's not good enough that you are a resident of that state, but you need to explain your connection to their county.

That's not a secret. Look at the clerkship rotations, especially outside academic hospital settings. That's where their residency directors work.

However, new opportunities are available to students occasionally that won't be advertised on the website until it is more "mature."

 

[polymerization]

Something I haven't seen already mentioned is specifically searching for the school's strategic plan—and some schools will even have archives that will let you download older plans to see how the medical school has evolved (and increasingly, how many of its commitments it has met).

Look, maybe this is just my version of the 'tism, but I can spend hours just reading these—evaluating how the departments work together, what their priorities are, what they have in common, how they differ from other schools' strategic postures. Then I write secondaries that directly link what I have with what they want. If I can do that in a vocal register that is consonant with their more philosophical goals, even better.

Doing that has shown me why the mission/vision statements are so unhelpful. A strategic plan can be upwards of 50 pages long. A mission statement is, by definition, intended to be a sentence. It's a boil-the-ocean problem.

This is all freely available online and is public-facing information, so it should be fair game. I would call it an advanced-level move, though—I think you have to have a lot of comfort writing to be able to come up with something inspired by the document, not ghost-written by it. There's always a chance some faculty at that school wrote that section and recognizes their own words. So... yeah.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Something I haven't seen already mentioned is specifically searching for the school's strategic plan—and some schools will even have archives that will let you download older plans to see how the medical school has evolved (and increasingly, how many of its commitments it has met).

Look, maybe this is just my version of the 'tism, but I can spend hours just reading these—evaluating how the departments work together, what their priorities are, what they have in common, how they differ from other schools' strategic postures. Then I write secondaries that directly link what I have with what they want. If I can do that in a vocal register that is consonant with their more philosophical goals, even better.

Doing that has shown me why the mission/vision statements are so unhelpful. A strategic plan can be upwards of 50 pages long. A mission statement is, by definition, intended to be a sentence. It's a boil-the-ocean problem.

This is all freely available online and is public-facing information, so it should be fair game. I would call it an advanced-level move, though—I think you have to have a lot of comfort writing to be able to come up with something inspired by the document, not ghost-written by it. There's always a chance some faculty at that school wrote that section and recognizes their own words. So... yeah.

This definitely takes effort, and I would do this for final decisions, or maybe secondaries for your top tier. AI might help to summarize, but it can change if there is a change at the top (dean). That's why Alumni and Development updates can help.

 

[carson16666]

Something I haven't seen already mentioned is specifically searching for the school's strategic plan—and some schools will even have archives that will let you download older plans to see how the medical school has evolved (and increasingly, how many of its commitments it has met).

Look, maybe this is just my version of the 'tism, but I can spend hours just reading these—evaluating how the departments work together, what their priorities are, what they have in common, how they differ from other schools' strategic postures. Then I write secondaries that directly link what I have with what they want. If I can do that in a vocal register that is consonant with their more philosophical goals, even better.

Doing that has shown me why the mission/vision statements are so unhelpful. A strategic plan can be upwards of 50 pages long. A mission statement is, by definition, intended to be a sentence. It's a boil-the-ocean problem.

This is all freely available online and is public-facing information, so it should be fair game. I would call it an advanced-level move, though—I think you have to have a lot of comfort writing to be able to come up with something inspired by the document, not ghost-written by it. There's always a chance some faculty at that school wrote that section and recognizes their own words. So... yeah.

ooh that sounds really good, I actually have done this for UTMB and it was pretty fun lol. thanks!

 

[pikachu8923]

I would advise looking for videos where people have direct conversations with the dean of medical schools about what type of student they are looking for. In general, I would definitely also do your best to chat with a few current students, and hear what programs that they are most proud of/what the admin are encouraging them to do.

All schools are looking for compassionate, competent physicians with backgrounds in service, clinical care, and research. Each school just puts a different emphasis on each/and have special programs to help facilitate them.