Students Benefit From Free Resources That Guide Them on Their Path to Lucrative Medical Careers

In a Nutshell: People with medical degrees can secure fulfilling jobs that also offer above-average salaries. But the road to becoming a doctor is long and taxing. The Student Doctor Network helps students prepare for a career in medicine by offering expert guidance and free tools that can ease the burden of applying to medical school.

Thinking back to my time in grade school, I remember a teacher telling us about the different professions in the world. At the time, some of us didn’t understand we wouldn’t be kids forever let alone have to have jobs one day. After the teacher informed us we could pursue whatever career we wanted, she went around the room and asked each student what field they thought they’d like to work in when they reached adulthood.

I don’t remember everyone’s answer that day, but I do recall many classmates saying they wanted to be either an astronaut or a doctor. One kid even said he wanted to be a combination of the two, presumably so he could tend to sick aliens.

That classroom of students didn’t all grow up to be doctors (or astronauts). Though many people aspire to practice medicine, it requires many years of schooling. And all that education means that prospective doctors have to fill out a lot of applications and go through many steps on their way to earning a medical degree.

Students facing uncertainties in the journey to become medical doctors can benefit from having an ally in their corner. The Student Doctor Network offers prospective doctors an extensive range of resources to help them navigate the process of becoming a doctor. We caught up with Laura Turner, Executive Director of Health Professional Student Association, which publishes the Student Doctor Network, to learn more about the organization and how students can leverage its programs.

Turner told us that the Student Doctor Network was founded in 1999. The internet existed in the 1990s, but it didn’t offer nearly the amount of information it does today

“There wasn’t much out there to help with the process of applying to medical school because the internet was really still the Wild West 25 years ago,” Turner told us. “If you weren’t already a student at a university who had access to advising services then you wouldn’t have had a way to understand what the whole process really involved. People had created different websites offering tips for applications, and we started to link them together to build a network.”

As we age, we find we’re not quite as quick as we were in our younger days. That’s one reason people consider professional athletes in their 30s to be old. 

But the internet hasn’t gotten slower as it’s aged. In fact, it’s now many times faster than it was at the beginning of the century. The internet’s slower speeds during its early years meant online information was often shared through text rather than videos, which couldn’t load as quickly as they can today.

Online forums that allowed people from around the globe to communicate with each other in a group chat attracted users to the internet in its early days. The Student Doctor Network’s forums were popular in the site’s early days and have expanded in the years since. Turner told us the forums provide a place where people can share ideas about school applications and their experiences as medical students.

The Student Doctor Network offers separate forums to students pursuing different fields of study, including audiology, podiatry, and psychology. 

Becoming a doctor can be easier for students who are well connected within the medical arena and have financial support to cover the costs of attending medical school. The Student Doctor Network can help those who don’t have a significant support network of their own.

“If you’re from a rural area or an urban area that is underserved medically, and you’re able to get into medical school, then you’re much more likely to go back to an area similar to where you started,” Turner told us. “That’s one of the reasons why we help these students. We know that if we can help students from underserved regions get through this process, then we’ll be supporting the expansion of healthcare into underserved areas.” 

Turner told us that students from underserved regions can struggle to achieve the test scores and grade point averages that many medical programs require of students. But SDN offers resources that can help students prepare for entrance exams and interviews.

Many medical schools charge students fees for applying. Turner told us students also pay to travel to different schools for interviews.

“We’ve done some research and found that the average medical student spends around $4,000 when they’re applying to schools,” Turner told us. “That’s a pretty high cost to incur, especially when you know you only have about a 40% chance of being accepted. Schools also expect you to do volunteer work, which can be challenging if you have a lower income and need to work.”

The application process isn’t cheap, but it’s the price tag for tuition at a medical school that can make accepted students think twice about enrolling. Turner told us some schools charge students close to $100,000 per year for tuition. 

With medical school lasting multiple years, you can see how students can wind up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt within a relatively short time. And students who aren’t able to pay off their debts quickly can face mounting interest fees that compound the problem.

Cash-strapped medical students will be pleased to learn that the Student Doctor Network offers its resources for free. The organization is a nonprofit group that receives funding from various sources, including donors, grants, and the advertising revenue the site generates.

Students can submit questions about medical school and the application process to SDN’s panel of experts. The site also offers advising services so students can schedule one-on-one consultations that allow for more in-depth discussions.

The site’s Activity Finder helps applicants find work experience, volunteer programs, and opportunities to shadow medical professionals.

“That tool is really useful because students need to understand what it’s like to be a healthcare provider and work with patients, which is a really key skill,” Turner told us. “You don’t want to spend all this time and effort going through school just to enter a profession that you find you don’t care for. We also help students find research opportunities, which can be helpful during the application phase.”

SDN’s guides can help students choose a post-baccalaureate program. Turner told us students who didn’t get everything they needed from their undergraduate education or are considering a career change can benefit from post-baccalaureate programs.

The study of medicine evolves as technology advances and scientists and doctors make breakthroughs that aid the treatment of patients. Application strategies for students pursuing medical degrees can change over time as well. The Student Doctor Network publishes articles each week to help students learn the latest trends that can aid their applications.

“Some of our articles are written by students who have gone through the process and have suggestions for applicants,” Turner told us. “We also have articles where we interview admission officers from different schools to get a sense of what they’re looking for in candidates and the different aspects of admissions. One of our more popular articles looks at what happens behind the scenes on the admissions side while they’re reviewing your documents.”

Attending medical school isn’t something to take lightly — it requires a big investment of time and, in most cases, finances. Turner told us students should make sure they understand the pressures doctors can face and the challenges of keeping track of new laws related to healthcare.

Students who wait until the end of college to decide they want to attend medical school may find themselves behind the proverbial eight ball. Turner said students interested in studying to become doctors need to have a long-term plan that identifies all the requirements they’ll need to know about.

“We offer a lot of good resources that can help you, but you should also look at things like the website for The Association of American Medical Colleges to get a sense of what medical schools are looking for in applicants,” Turner told us. “If you’re at an undergraduate institution and you have access to an advisor, make use of them and have them help you make your plan.”

For-profit businesses assess their performance through revenue growth and customer acquisition figures. But nonprofits often have different goals. Turner told us the Student Doctor Network measures its success through student feedback and tracking whether applicants are accepted into medical schools.

As the organization prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Turner told us students who want to become doctors should persevere.

“Being a healthcare professional is an incredibly rewarding career,” Turner told us. “If it’s something that you think you want to do, there are resources out there to help you get there.”