Maximize your chances of acceptance to your dream school. Join us and become a student doctor.
You may know the basic steps of the admissions process and some helpful “tips and tricks,” but you still may not get admitted. With Becoming a Student Doctor, you will clarify your professional mission – the “why” behind your decision to apply to a health professional school – and get the support you need as you build an application around that mission. In addition, Becoming a Student Doctor resources help you better handle the challenges you’ll face during the admissions process and throughout your healthcare career.
“For me, it’s strengthened my resolve to be an advocate for primary care.”
Course Participant
Becoming a Student Doctor offered by the Health Professional Student Association, the publishers of the Student Doctor Network.
Learn more about scholarship opportunities.
Course Overview
Our comprehensive nine module curriculum takes you through the essential competencies and mindset shifts needed to succeed as a future healthcare professional. Starting with foundational questions about your calling to healthcare, you’ll explore critical topics that medical schools expect you to understand deeply: from global health challenges and health equity to the collaborative nature of modern medical practice. The course goes beyond traditional test prep by developing the professional competencies, cultural awareness, and systems thinking skills that distinguish successful medical school candidates. You’ll gain the knowledge, perspective, and communication skills that admissions committees are actively seeking in today’s healthcare landscape.
Curriculum Topics
- Warm Up: Why a Health Profession?
- Topic 1 : Global Health Priorities
- Topic 2: Health Disparities
- Topic 3: Interprofessionalism (Moving as a Team)
- Topic 4: Academic Competencies – Science and Abilities
- Topic 5: Professional Competencies – Power (not Soft) Skills
- Topic 6: Connecting Across Differences – Valuing Others’ Life Experiences
- Topic 7: Growing as a Community
- Topic 8: Systems Competencies – Learning as a Student Doctor
- Topic 9: Special “Hot” Topics
- Conclusion
Student Results
Students who have completed Becoming a Student Doctor understand their mission and can articulate it to admissions committees. Here are some selected student results:
Received a full cost-of-attendance scholarship to a premier state medical school
Earned top quartile scores on both Casper and PREview
What’s Included
Workshops for Casper, PREview, and Interview Preparation
Situational Judgment Tests like Casper and PREview are increasingly prevalent in healthcare admissions. You’ll also see ethical and professional judgment scenarios and questions in interviews and as you move into your healthcare career. Becoming a Student Doctor includes workshops to hone your ability to analyze and respond to Casper and PREview scenarios and tough interview questions with confidence.
“Great opportunities to practice having those conversations, especially when it comes to really tricky stuff.”
Course Participant
On-Call Advising with an Admissions Expert
As part of the course, you will be able to schedule one-on-one time with Dr. Emil Chuck, the course instructor and a long-time pre-health advisor. His guidance can help you with preparation for situational judgment tests like Casper and PREview; drafting your personal statement and secondary essays; and getting ready for interviews.
“The (advising) session was really helpful…it has been a great form of assistance.”
Advisee
Self-Paced Flexibility
Some weeks are easier than others. Becoming a Student Doctor is self-paced, meaning that you can work through the content on your schedule. Additionally, the curated materials include extensive reference material, so you can take deep dives into the areas that interest you most.
“I liked the flexibility of being able to choose the topic.”
Course Participant
Up-to-Date
Dynamic forces influence health care – such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Dobbs decision, and extreme weather events due to climate change. Becoming a Student Doctor is updated and curated continuously to address current events and areas of importance and concern.
“There’s a lot that got presented that isn’t content that I thought about prior. Climate change and health care delivery is a great example of this.”
Course Participant
Lifetime Access
Your enrollment in Becoming a Student Doctor provides lifetime access to the content. Need to revisit how to determine if a school’s mission aligns with your own? Have an interview in a week and need to understand the latest Supreme Court decision affecting healthcare? The resources will be in your back pocket, ready for you when you need them.
Scholarship Opportunities & Eligibility
We understand that not all students have the financial resources for this course. That’s why, thanks to the generous support of our donors and sponsors, we offer a scholarship program.
Students may be qualified for free access based on any one of the following criteria:
- Students who have qualified for the Fee Assistance Program (FAP) from the AAMC or other health professional application services (AACOMAS, AADSAS, VMCAS, PharmCAS, OptomCAS, PsyCAS, CSDCAS, PTCAS, etc.)
- Students who graduated from a US high school located in a medically underserved area or health professional shortage area
- Special consideration may be given to those with pipeline program experiences that support and affirm a strong commitment to serving under resourced communities
Qualifying students must submit verification documentation (either a FAP letter or a copy of a high school diploma from a shortage area).
Would your pre-health club or advisor be interested in bringing this course to your peers? Learn more about our institutional licensing options.
Meet Your Instructor – Emil Chuck, PhD
Emil Chuck, Ph.D. (he/him) is the Director of Advising Services for the Health Professional Student Association. He brings over 15 years of experience as a health professions advisor and an admissions professional for medical, dental, and other health professions programs. His goal for Becoming a Student Doctor is to help the next generation of diverse healthcare providers gain confidence in themselves and become successful members of the inter-professional healthcare community.
Frequently Asked Questions
Emil Chuck, PhD, is the creator and primary instructor for Becoming a Student Doctor.
The Becoming a Student Doctor course fee includes lifetime access to the course and materials, including updates, and on-call one-on-one advising with Dr. Chuck.
Yes, scholarship access is available to students who have qualified for the Financial Assistance Program from the AAMC or who graduated from high school in a medically underserved area. Please complete this form to submit your application for scholarship access.
Becoming a Student Doctor covers nine primary topic areas. We estimate that most students will spend approximately two to five hours in each topic area in the course for material review and reflection, for a total of about 20-50 hours.
Your purchase of the course provides lifetime access to the materials, so you are able to complete the course as best fits your schedule. Additionally, you can go back and revisit any areas of interest or dive deeper into the supplemental content.
Your purchase of the course provides lifetime access to the materials, so you can go back and revisit any areas of interest or dive deeper into the supplemental content.
Pre-med and prehealth students often seek quick answers to understand what the “admissions process” is about and how to “crack the code” to gain acceptance. This course will help you with your application, but is focused on helping you discern your role as a community servant leader with a white coat.
In the short term, this course will help you with the admissions process: you will gain more insight to decode secondary essay prompts, prepare for interviews, or understand how a school embodies its stated mission and community responsibilities. Beyond the application process, this course supports you as a future healthcare leader committed to improving your community.
There are no academic prerequisites for this course, but it is recommended for university students with the perspective to engage deeply with the material and associated self-reflection exercises.
The deep self-reflection and engagement with the course materials will directly support your ability to craft a unique personal statement and create thoughtful, cohesive responses to secondary essay prompts.
Dr. Chuck is available to respond to questions via email or through scheduling of one-on-one advising sessions.
Yes, this course can help non-traditional students better articulate what is driving their desire to change careers and how they see themselves working in the healthcare system.