Admissions III

It seems to me that medical schools are trying to attract two different types of people. We have our standard potential doctors who intend to practice medicine, pediatrics, radiology, neurosurgery. Their premedical education would be best served by the current system: cookie cutter science courses, a bit of clinical experience, a decent MCAT, etc. But UCSF seems to try to recruit a different type of doctor: the academic researcher, community leader, global health specialist, medical educator. Highly academic institutions like Harvard or Johns Hopkins like to create physician leaders, the best in the fields they pursue. These doctors don't do full time clinical practice. I think that recruiting them out of the same pool of applicants as the bread-and-butter doctor and training them in the same way isn't optimal. I would add another year of medical school training to this track of student; UCSF has a Joint Medical Program with Berkeley that grants an MD and masters. I would look for applicants who demonstrate passion, perseverence, creativity, and excellence in any field, and actively recruit them. Instead of looking among people who've been trying to impress medical schools, admissions offices should find those who are amazing at what they do and see whether they could become medical leaders.