M1 at Washington University in St. Louis

Elijah Farrales

URM

Low-Income Student

Student Athlete

TL;DR

Low income, first-generation student
Varsity student-athlete in undergrad in track and field
Attended a small liberal arts college without much pre-med guidance
Pursued art in undergrad and engaged in public speaking through my art
Conducted clinical research in exercise science while in undergrad

Update: Jan 2021

Well, I suppose I managed to make it this far into medical school so that’s a win I will certainly take. I can’t say that I really knew what to expect upon starting med school at WashU this fall, there have been highs and lows for sure, but learning how to be a medical student during a pandemic has been the biggest challenge for me thus far. In the parallel universe where 2020 had its act together, I 100% would’ve been a class attender. I avoided online classes when I could in undergrad and still prefer to hand-write my notes: it’s a tad more difficult to do all this when your classroom is next to your bed and you actually can go to class without pants (still risky, you never know when you’ll be sent to breakout rooms). Adapting my learning style was a struggle and, honestly, I’m still working out the kinks. I had to give myself some grace on multiple occasions and not wallow in rough test scores, or the amount of time it took me to take notes on one video lecture. Med school is a step up from what I’ve had to do academically in the past, there’s no getting around it. But, hey, I made it this point so that means I’ve got what it takes to keep going.

Even through all of that, I have had successes too. I have friends that are some of the coolest people to exist. Win. I’ve walked into the hospital wearing my white coat and talked to patients. Win. I’m learning material that I will use to help people in the future. Huge win. A faculty mentor of mine told me to be sure to celebrate the milestones of medical school – let’s be honest, we’re in an ultramarathon then. But it is those milestones that have encouraged me throughout the start of this journey. And not all the milestones are just med school ones: I have expanded my cooking repertoire, started lap swimming on a weekly basis (former doggy-paddle champ here), and found some dope fits at the local thrift stores. My classmates have been alongside me for nearly all those accomplishments too. You’ll be told this a lot, but med school friends really are tight. It’s quite the ride you’re on, so it’s good to have people beside you. Going forward, I’ll keep on collecting milestones, learning from mistakes, cutting myself some slack (shaking a finger at myself when I give too much slack), and ultimately continuing to work to become the better person and physician I am capable of becoming.

Background

Paths to medicine can vary greatly: nearly infinitely, in fact. Half the time, I felt that my own path was more of a winding maze that took me in all directions before I finally saw the finish line…which was actually still far off in the distance. I fully decided on pursuing medicine towards the end of my sophomore year in college, but before that considered careers in physical therapy, occupational therapy, art, coaching/fitness, and engineering. It was the culmination of the aspects that I admired about each of the above fields that finally opened my eyes to a career in medicine. Needless to say, just because you can see your goal in the distance doesn’t mean you immediately know how best to get there. While my family was instrumental in equipping me with the tenacity and drive to chase after my goals, they really didn’t have the know-how or the resources to get me to the point of donning that white coat. But, with the help of friends and mentors I met along the way, some scouring for resources, and a decent dose of hard work, I made it here. And I belong here just the same as my classmates, and so do you. Hopefully, my experiences can enlighten or help you along this journey and one day we can be comrades in arms in fighting for our patients and their futures.

Early Years

My father moved to the mainland, as he calls it, when he was 21. Growing up on the small island of Guam was worlds away from Midwest Missouri, but he wanted to do more than the island offered him. He met my mother, already a single-mother of two, and they formed a family unit of their own. I’m rather appreciative of the Chamorro (Guamanian) culture that I claim, though that appreciation grew most when I was old enough to recognize the unique aspects of my not-so-midwest upbringing. Neither of my parents had a college degree and they both worked a lot to provide for our family. Although finances had a large impact on our lifestyle, I was still able to grow up happy in a supportive family

It would be impossible to be where I am now without the guidance and motivation my family gave me - not to mention super cool siblings to keep me humble!

In terms of my own interests and as a middle child with a fascination for building things, I spent much of my time making random “inventions” or sculptures out of boxes and whatnot. I initially thought I would be an engineer or perhaps I could get paid just to make cool stuff for art’s sake. My parents, however, decided to begin careers in nursing and fitness and so I began to be inundated by all these interesting facts and concepts regarding the human body! Turns out, I think the human body is the coolest mechanism around. And so my interest was piqued about healthcare about the time I started high school. In high school, I competed in track and cross country because my parents had the rule that we had to be involved in some way. Turns out, I kinda liked running so I kept at it throughout the four years of high school. Education was pretty much always emphasized for me because my parents knew that academic success would be key for me in order to afford college. Through a mix of both my own introverted personality and drive instilled by my parents, I found that success in school by focusing mostly on academics. Before I knew it, my senior year had started and people began to ask me what I was doing after high school. I had worked hard in school specifically for this purpose, but what was I going to do exactly?

It was abundantly clear to me that I would have to forge my own path and work diligently if I wanted to go to college or whatever other goals I had in life. My parents were pretty straight up about the two options of me getting a scholarship or having to go into debt to afford a higher education. Thus a career wasn’t the goal, but just getting to a school was the goal. My parents hadn’t ever applied to colleges and weren’t able to help me much but I got some ideas from my school’s college fair and sent out a few applications later into my fall semester as a senior. In hindsight, I could’ve applied sooner and done more searching for the right program, but I hadn’t chosen a clear career goal yet.

Takeaway: My parents stressed the importance of an education because they started their adult lives without one. They entered the medical field as nurses when I was still young and impressionable and thus gave me a glimpse into what medicine was from that perspective. At this point, I hadn’t decided to pursue medicine but knew that healthcare, with its many facets, intrigued me. My undergraduate school choice was based in affordability and finances - not the available programs for study.

Undergrad

Of the places I hurriedly applied to, I had visited exactly none of them but was thrilled to learn that Truman State University, a small public college in northeast Missouri, had kindly chosen me to receive an academic scholarship that could make my higher education dreams a reality. Without much consideration to distance, the town, or what programs they offered, I packed up and was dropped off in Kirksville: population 17,000.

You can grow wherever you’re at! It may not have been a big institution, but my undergrad experience at Truman was a very formative four years.

My transition to college was actually a pretty key part in my development as a person. I was a quiet, introverted nerd that read all the time and stacked cups for fun. However, I had grand plans to become a quiet, introverted nerd that read all the time and stacked cups for fun, but could talk to people! Being involved really helped me get out of my shell.

Competing on the track and field team provided me with an important outlet from classwork and countless fun memories!

Though I wasn’t recruited to run track and field, I walked onto the team and, without much forethought, decided to commit 20+ hours a week to practice and give up my weekends for competitions. I wouldn’t trade those times for anything. At the same time, through my until-then secret hobby of creating massive pieces of cup art, I began to have opportunities to share my thoughts on the importance of creativity and pursuing one’s passions - this was an engaging topic to discuss during interviews! I eagerly sought out

ways to be involved in student groups and also got on board with the admission’s office at Truman to help other high school students have a better idea about the journey to college (since I had flown by the seat of my pants).

My freshmen year, I thought I was going to be a physical therapist. It’s what most of the other people in my exercise science major were going to do, so I figured that’s what I should do...and then the next year it was a personal trainer or instructor. I recognized that I still hadn’t settled on any one thing and so I was constantly looking around for ways to learn about other careers. The Pre-PT club hosted a sports medicine talk with an orthopedic surgeon and that was when I started to consider medicine more seriously during my sophomore year. I lined up shadowing opportunities at a local urgent care and was able to get a greater sense of the job of a physician and found that my values and goals could be fulfilled through a career in medicine. Little did I know how intense the process was for preparing and then applying to medical school!

There essentially was zero structured pre-med advising at my university. I looked at the “pre-med” requirements that my school listed on its website and made sure to include those classes in my degree plan. I was very fortunate I had taken the intro chemistry courses my freshmen year to fill a required degree mode, otherwise, I would’ve been taking more summer classes or finding other ways to finish the pre-reqs without taking extra time to finish my Bachelors. Much of my knowledge of what I needed to do came from online resources and then my pre-med peers that decided sooner than I had to pursue medicine. My early thirst for involvement helped a ton because I was already engaging in volunteering and other activities that allowed for leadership experience and showcased my variety of interests. All in all, my last couple years of college were a scramble of making sure I had done what I could do to prepare for applying. I still found it very important to continue with my passions outside of being a pre-med and they helped keep my sane throughout the process. Studying abroad was one thing I wanted to have the chance to do and I actively chose to take a gap year so that I could study in South Korea for the summer before my senior year.

Takeaways: Even if you’re late to the pre-med train, don’t worry. There’s nothing wrong with taking a gap year and you also want to use your time to do things that you enjoy or want to do. I would suggest getting involved in things early on too; not just for pre-med profile sake (though it helps) but it also makes for a more fulfilling college experience!

Studying abroad in South Korea was one of the most exciting experiences I’ve had. I knew very little of the culture but learned so much through being immersed in it for a summer.

Mcat/Applying

Due to my summer abroad in South Korea before my senior year, I still had time to take the MCAT before the next application cycle. I wanted to be sure I could take Biochemistry so I didn’t have to teach myself and also took any additional psychology course for the same reason. Funnily enough, my personal statement (PS) was the thing I had the most time spent on going into the spring of my senior year. One of my capstone courses the previous semester had assigned a “personal statement” for our intended profession so I just went with it as a 5,300 character long draft for my applications! One thing I will say is that you should get as many eyes on your PS as you can. If you’re able to have people medical professionals look at it, great, but the random classmate or coworker can also point out the silly mistakes or areas that don’t come off as you intend. And you don’t have to apply everyone’s critiques either; the PS is ultimately a reflection of your reasoning and desires to pursue the path of medicine so make sure it stays true to you.

MCAT prep was a bit more turbulent for me. The track and field competition season is in the spring and so I really was strapped for time between all my activities and extra studying on top of it all. I ended up pushing my test date until the summer so that I could have more dedicated study time. However, the drawback of this was that I would be applying to schools without knowing my MCAT score. While it may have worked out for me, it would probably be the most reasonable to try and have an idea of your score when applying. Again, no worries if that’s not how your dice are cast, but this can affect the schools for which you choose to apply. I mostly studied from the Kaplan MCAT prep book set, but also supplemented with the ExamKrackers books and would watch Khan Academy videos for further explanation/practice. I would describe my timeline as mostly back loaded with two-ish months of easy review and then a month of full-time studying. But hey, if you’ve prepped well and feel good about your test, you’ll never have to deal with the MCAT again! My MCAT score ended up being a 515. Nothing crazy, but I think it at least allowed the door to open and the other parts of my application do the majority of the talking.

I sent my primary application to about 20 schools (15 MD/5 DO). I will note that the DO application is separate from AMCAS so you’ll have to do the whole primary process on the AACOMAS website to apply to osteopathic schools. My choice of applying was mainly based on regionality to the Midwest and then financial aid prospects. I researched the schools that I ended up sending an application to: scoured their websites and online reviews or asked others that had connections to them. Admittedly, I was still on edge at the prospect of not getting even an interview anywhere so I tried to cast a wide net. This entire process can be costly too, so weigh each decision carefully. Due to my family’s circumstances, I was able to qualify for the Fee Assistance Program through AMCAS which significantly lowered the barrier of cost in sending applications.

After all was signed and submitted, I ended up interviewing at 10 schools (5 MD/5 DO) and was offered acceptances at 8 (3 MD/5 DO). Interviewing can be nerve wracking but it can also be pretty fun. It may look different for you all, but you’ll get to ask questions and learn if you have found your fit at a particular school. Remember, if you’re interviewing, the school believes that you can succeed there so don’t doubt that!

My final two schools that I was deciding between were WashU and Vanderbilt. They both have similar curriculums (shorter preclinical time with more freedom in the later half of schooling) and great reputations, but WashU had much stronger financial aid and I ended up moving to St. Louis to start my medical education.

Takeaways: Don’t rush yourself. This is a very time-intensive process. Put your best foot forward and allow the hard work, crazy cool extracurriculars, riveting research, and the other great things about you to shine and not be clouded by a late application date or a rushed MCAT. Do your research. Apply to schools you can see yourself going to and have an interest in. Apply to your dream school, sure, but also do your best to assess yourself and your profile and make an informed decision since fees and time spent can add up. Oh, and make sure you have others edit/critique your personal statement!

Wrap-Up & Med School

Starting medical school during a global pandemic certainly wasn’t what I was expecting, but I still am very excited and humbled to be on the first legs of this journey. WashU is doing largely online classes with a few in-person sessions for information not adequately conveyed virtually. It is difficult in that aspect, but my classmates are very supportive and we have managed to form wonderful friendships even though I really don’t ever see the lower half of their faces. Some aspects of my education will be affected, but we are all working with the admin to still provide a rich educational experience. It is probably a good idea to hear from current students how receptive and open to feedback a school’s administration is before picking a school - I would recommend that.

After a year of working through the application cycle, I finally set foot on the campus of WashU Fall of 2020. I’ve only just begun but have already found a home with the WUSM community

I hope you’re excited and I hope you know that people are rooting for you, whether that’s family, mentors, classmates, coworkers, and even me. Medicine is a difficult but rewarding profession and we have the chance to really improve the lives of others and to put more good in this world. Best of luck!