Essay Topics (2024 - 2025)

1. What motivates you to pursue and complete your medical education at the SFESOM mission-driven, medical doctor program? (300 Words)​

2. Healthcare Needs Essay: Describe how access to healthcare has impacted you, your community, and/or communities you have served? What might be some viable solutions? (300 Words)​

3. Please share more about your experience in the pathway program(s) and how these experience(s) have helped you prepare for medical school (300 words)

Please note that AFTER YOU SUMBIT YOUR SECONDARY, no further updates are accepted to your application.

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Essay Topics ('23 – '24)

1. Tell us why you are interested in pursuing a career in medicine at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. How does our program align with your personal and professional goals? What can you contribute to our exceptional learning experience? (300 words)

2. Describe how health disparities have impacted you, your community, and/or the communities you have served? What lessons have you learned and how do you plan to use this knowledge to address health equity as a medical student at our program and as a future physician? (300 words)

3. (for reapplicants) "Upon reflection and self-assessment, please share with us your areas of demonstrated growth since your previous application. Please highlight examples of your continued commitment to medicine." (300 words)

More essays will appear if applying to RUUTE or population health tracks.

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Essay Topics ('22 – '23)

1. In 2019 the UUSOM began a strategic transformation process to emphasize community, relationships, and professionalism in the learning culture. How does our program align with your career goals? How will you contribute to this learning culture? (150 words)

2. The School of Medicine aims to create a culture of inclusion and anti-racism in health education and healthcare delivery. How have you promoted or advocated for health equity in your experiences? How do you envision contributing to the UUSOM and the communities we serve? (150 words)

3. Reflecting on the past few years of the pandemic, what has the impact of COVID-19 been on you and/or your community? What lessons have you learned about yourself? (150 words)

Optional essays if applying for RUUTE scholar program:

1. According to your experiences, what does rural and underserved mean to you? (500 words)

2. How would participation in RUUTE help you fulfill your career aspirations? (150 words)3. Why do you believe this program will be a good fit for you? (150 words)

Optional essays if applying for population health program:

1. Please share your interest in the Population Health Program (no word count given)

2. What are your career interests and future professional goals? (no word count given)

3. Please describe how you have demonstrated commitment to Population Health concepts during your academic and professional experiences: (no word count given)

4. What does Population Health mean to you and how do you plan on implementing it into your future education and professional career? (no word count given)

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Essay Topics ('21 – '22)

1. Explain why you are choosing to apply to the University of Utah School of Medicine. (200 words)

2. Please use the space below for anything you wish to discuss related to the COVID-19 public health crisis (200 words). Possible topics might include: Share any disruptions in your academic, volunteer, work, and/or personal life related to COVID-19 that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. What was one of your biggest lessons learned about yourself and how this lesson affected your outlook on the role of medicine? Share creative ways in which you were able to serve your community during the crisis. What hardships have you faced as a result of the global pandemic?

3. What does health equity mean to you? Please comment on your personal commitment and attributes towards your definition of health equity and how it will impact the future of medicine. (200 words)

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Essay Topics (’20 – ’21)

1. Input all your community service, leadership, research, physician shadowing, and patient exposure experiences in the following format:

a. Service Activity

b. Description (300 characters)

c. Starting/ending Year

d. Hours

OPTIONAL QUESTION:

1. This optional essay allows you the opportunity to explain how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted you. You may use this space to reflect upon your experiences during this time period. (1500 characters)

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Essay Topics ('19 – '20)

1. Input all your community service, leadership, research, physician shadowing, and patient exposure experiences in the following format:

a. Service Activity

b. Description (300 characters)

c. Starting/ending Year

d. Hours

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Essay Topics ('18 – '19)

There were no essay prompts in the secondary application for the 2018-2019

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Essay Topics ('17 – '18)

1. Input all your community service, leadership, research, physician shadowing, and patient exposure experiences in the following format:

a. Service Activity

b. Description (300 characters)

c. Starting/ending Year

d. Hours

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Essay Topics ('16 – '17)

1. How would you navigate uncertainty from the perspectives of either a patient, a physician, or medicine?" (2650 characters)

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Essay Topics ('15 – '16)

1. The essay question is an opportunity for you to present yourself and your motivations for pursuing a career in medicine to the Admissions Committee. Please describe the concept of professionalism. (2000 Char)

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Essay Topics ('14 – '15)

1. Tell us about a difficult or challenging situation that you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills that you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice.

2. At the University of Utah School of Medicine, we are committed to building a superb educational community with students of diverse talents, experiences, and opinions. What would you as an individual bring to our medical school community?

Character allowance will be 3990 total for two questions.

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Essay Topics ('13 – '14)

1. What do you want the Admissions Committee to know about you that is not addressed elsewhere in your application? Secondly, what can being a physician offer that other professions do not? (3990 characters total)

2. If you do not intend to enroll in any courses, explain the learning pursuits in which you will be involved in the space below. (2000 characters)