Essay Topics (2024 - 2025)
A: Describe how AI could affect the integrity of medical professionals.
B: What can a recovering addict who didn't finish high school teach their physician?
C: Discuss a recent time when you were wrong. What made you change your mind and what did you do about it?
D: Who is your role model, and why?
Essay Topics ('23 – '24)
(600 word limit for each)
1. Explain why integrity is more important than intelligence and perseverance using an example from your life.
2. Explain how your concept of diversity is both the same and different from the mainstream view.
3. Choose one aspect about yourself, not already reflected in your application, that you are most proud of. Explain your choice below.
4. Please describe something you deserved but didn’t get and how you felt about it.
Essay Topics ('22 – '23)
(600 word limit for each)
1. From the following list of human qualities, choose the ONE you think is most important and explain your choice: intelligence, honor, humility, perseverance, optimism.
2. What advice would you give someone your age but from a different culture who is new to our country?
3. What do you think your chances of being accepted into medical school are this year? Please explain your answer.
4. Please describe something you deserved but didn’t get and how you felt about it.
Essay Topics ('21 – '22)
1. Tell us about constructive criticism you have received, or a personal challenge you have experienced, that you found particularly impactful. Please describe how that experience has advanced your development as a future physician thought leader.
2. Explain how interactions with people who are different from you have shaped your world view and relate how you would enrich the VTC community.
3. Describe three aspects of VTCSOM and how those align with your philosophy of medicine.
4. Please describe a research passion: If funding were no object, what scientific study would you design? Please also describe a non-research passion.
Essay Topics (’20 – ’21)
1. Tell us about constructive criticism you have received, or a personal challenge you have experienced, that you found particularly impactful. Please describe how that experience has advanced your development as a future physician thought leader.
2. Explain how interactions with people who are different from you have shaped your world view and relate how you would enrich the VTC community.
3. Describe three aspects of VTCSOM and how those align with your philosophy of medicine.
4. If funding were no object, describe how you would direct medical inquiry.
Essay Topics ('19 – '20)
1. Tell us about constructive criticism you have received, or a personal challenge you have experienced, that you found particularly impactful. Please describe how that experience has advanced your development as a future physician thought leader. (Minimum words: 400)
2. Explain how interactions with people who are different from you have shaped your world view and relate how you would enrich the VTC community. (Minimum words: 400)
3. What, in your opinion, makes the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine different, and why is that important to you? (Minimum words: 400)
Essay Topics ('18 – '19)
1. Tell us about constructive criticism you have received, or a personal challenge you have experienced, that you found particularly impactful. Please describe how that experience has advanced your development as a future physician thought leader. (600 words, 400 word min)
2. Explain how interactions with people who are different from you have shaped your world view and relate how you would enrich the VTC community. (600 words, 400 word min)
3. What, in your opinion, makes the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine different, and why is that important to you? (600 words, 400 word min)
Essay Topics ('17 – '18)
1. VTC's curriculum fosters a culture of compassion through its community service learning initiatives. Through their inter-professional learning group projects (IPL), students demonstrate leadership and innovation while making a positive difference in the community. Describe an event or a time when your personal contribution was instrumental to the success of a team or made a positive impact on someone else's life. (minimum of 400 words)
2. Each member of the VTC community has a unique and enriching life-story. Interactions with heterogeneous populations increase compassion, understanding, and the ability to communicate effectively and respectfully with others. Explain how your life experience has shaped your world view, describe your approach to people who see the world differently, and relate how you would enrich the VTC community. (minimum of 400 words)
3. What, in your opinion, makes VTC different, and why is that important to you? (minimum of 400 words)
Essay Topics ('16 – '17)
1. VTC's curriculum fosters a culture of compassion through its community service learning initiatives. Through their inter-professional learning group projects (IPL), students demonstrate leadership and innovation while making a positive difference in the community. Describe an event or a time when your personal contribution was instrumental to the success of a team or made a positive impact on someone else's life. (500-600 words)
2. VTC is committed to strengthening the diversity of its community. Through interactions with a heterogeneous population, people broaden their knowledge about other cultures and ultimately develop the ability to communicate effectively and respectfully with others. Tell us about how your life experience has broadened your perspective of the world and relate how you would add to the diversity of your class, if admitted to VTC. (500-600 words)
OPTIONAL QUESTION:
1. Upload a 600 word update essay.
Essay Topics ('15 – '16)
Please respond to the following two required essay prompts (A and B) below: Your response for each should be approximately 500-600 words (using 1-inch margins, 12-point font, single-spaced). Leave one blank line between paragraphs.
The mission of VTCSOM is, in part, to educate physician thought leaders through inquiry, research, and discovery. . . Thought leaders are individuals who are recognized for innovative ideas and who demonstrate leadership in sharing, promoting, and implementing those ideas.
1. VTCs curriculum fosters a culture of compassion through its community service learning initiatives. Through their inter-professional learning group projects (IPL), students demonstrate leadership and innovation while making a positive difference in the community. Describe an event or a time when your personal contribution was instrumental to the success of a team or made a positive impact on someone else's life.
2. VTC is committed to strengthening the diversity of its community. Through interactions with a heterogeneous population, people broaden their knowledge about other cultures and ultimately develop the ability to communicate effectively and respectfully with others. Tell us about how your life experience has broadened your perspective of the world and relate how you would add to the diversity of your class, if admitted to VTC.
OPTIONAL QUESTION:
1. Use this optional essay opportunity to update the information you provided in your AMCAS application on your recent experiences, such as medical volunteering, shadowing, community service, research, leadership, teamwork and/or work. Please do not repeat information already reported in your AMCAS application. For the optional essay, please limit your responses to approximately 600 words (1 page, 1-inch margins, 12-point, single-spaced) and leave one blank line between paragraphs.
Essay Topics ('14 – '15)
1. VTC's curriculum fosters a culture of compassion through its community service learning initiatives. Through their inter-professional learning group projects (IPL), students demonstrate leadership and innovation while making a positive difference in the community. Describe an event or a time when your personal contribution was instrumental to the success of a team or made a positive impact on someone else's life. Limit your response to approximately 600 words (using 1-inch margins, 12-point font, single-spaced) and leave one blank line between paragraphs.
2. VTC is committed to strengthening the diversity of its community. Through interactions with a heterogeneous population, people broaden their knowledge about other cultures and ultimately develop the ability to communicate effectively and respectfully with others. Relate how you would add to the diversity of your class, if admitted to VTC. Tell us about how your life experience has broadened your perspective of the world and how that would lend itself to the overall diversity of the class. Limit your response to approximately 600 words (using 1-inch margins, 12-point font, single-spaced) and leave one blank line between paragraphs.
Essay Topics ('13 – '14)
The mission of VTCSOM is, in part, "to educate physician thought leaders through inquiry, research, and discovery." Thought leaders are individuals who are recognized for innovative ideas and who demonstrate leadership in sharing, promoting, and implementing those ideas.
1. Envision your future as a physician thought leader. In your practice of medicine, how will you demonstrate the two primary traits of a thought leader: innovation and leadership? Describe specific experiences you've had previously that will shape your ability to earn the distinction in the future.
2. VTC's curriculum fosters a culture of compassion through its community service learning initiatives. Through their inter-professional learning group projects (IPL), students demonstrate leadership and innovation while making a positive difference in the community. Describe an event or a time when your personal contribution was instrumental to the success of a team or made a positive impact on someone else's life.
3. VTC is committed to strengthening the diversity of its community. Through interactions with a heterogeneous population, people broaden their knowledge about other cultures and ultimately develop the ability to communicate effectively and respectfully with others. Relate how you would add to the diversity of your class, if admitted to VTC. Tell us about how your life experience has broadened your perspective of the world and how that would lend itself to the overall diversity of the class.
Limit your response for each to approximately 600 words (using 1-inch margins, 12-point font, single-spaced) and leave one blank line between paragraphs.
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