Support for your pre-medical and professional school applications

Our pre-professional school team can help you explore your options and navigate the application process as you prepare for medical school, other professional school opportunities, and combined degree programs.

Our activities and resources help you at every step of the process including considering your options, finalizing a list of programs/schools that interest you, preparing and submitting your applications, and readying yourself for interviews.

We offer workshops to provide insight into each step of the professional school application process. Our current offerings include:

• Choosing and Applying to Medical and other Professional Schools
• MCAT Preparation Parts I-III
• Personal Statements for Professional School
• Tips on Filling Out Your AMCAS Application
• Secondary Applications
• Interviewing for Medical and other Professional Schools
• Reapplying to Medical and other Professional Schools
• MD/PhD and DDS/PhD Application Workshop

Workshops run in the summer and/or during the academic year and occur in-person and online. Visit upcoming OITE events for detailed information and find archived videos on the OITE YouTube channel.

During these virtual Q&A sessions, the pre-medical/pre-professional l team will answer your questions on the application process, standardized tests, standardized application systems, application stress, and navigating responsibilities in your research group while applying. The sessions take place every two weeks; visit OITE events for more  information.

OITE educational advisors can meet with you individually to strategize at every step along the way. Be proactive and make an appointment with an advisor early. Please re-read our information on educational advising appointments in advance of your meeting. We offer in-person and virtual meetings for current NIH postbacs; we also welcome summer interns while they are on-campus.

A self-paced course that provides a structured guide to writing a strong personal statement for professional school. The online course includes direct messages from medical school admission officers and a lot of information on effective and ineffective approaches. Additional advice is available for writing effective MD/PhD and Significant Research Experience essays. OITE educational advisors hold live discussions around critical topics and answer your questions throughout the course.

This course is online, registration opens in February and is announced by email and on our events page.

Group mock interviews are available for postbacs who are applying to medical and professional school in the current cycle.  We practice potential interview questions in a supportive environment with feedback from peers and from an OITE advisor. We also review tips for Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). These sessions virtual and are available from mid-August to October. Mock interview groups are advertised by email and on our events page.

This is an annual event, held each July, in the Natcher Conference Center on the NIH Bethesda campus. There is an in-person event and follow-up virtual events focused on graduate and professional school applications and networking with representatives of programs across the U.S. This event is for NIH summer interns and postbacs from all campuses. The NIH provides transportation and travel awards to support the participation of postbacs on more distant campuses. We also welcome college students and postbacs from outside the NIH.

In 2023 almost 300 programs and schools participated in the Fair; we are happy to provide their contact information here. We know they would be happy to hear from you! Learn more about the Graduate and Professional School Fair.

We appreciate that applying to graduate school can be stressful, even when you are making progress and feel some momentum. These are critical decisions that require you to balance personal, professional, and family needs.

Complete the Becoming a Resilient Scientist series, connect  with peers in our various resilience groups, make an appointment with a well-being advisor, and watch these helpful videos.

• Resilience in the job search
• Career choices, why is this so hard?
• Navigating Career decisions: Will I get stuck?
• The Psychology of Career Decision Making

Reach out out to use with questions at oite@NIH.gov.