How did you respond to the "how did COVID pandemic impact you" prompt on the AACOMAS application?

[Blue Lion]

Please describe how COVID-19 has impacted your pathway to medical school. Items to consider incorporating into your response may include but are not limited to (2,500 characters)

Having trouble figuring out what to write for this. Had classes go online (post-baccalaureate), was hard to study at home and away from professor, came through with As, pretty much it.

Also been spending a lot of time taking care of my grandma so she doesn't have to go outside and risk getting sick. Did a decent amount of shadowing too so that I could get to hear the stories of those affected by COVID.

Had a nice clinical research position I was about to be in, but the project was halted because of the pandemic, and haven't really been able to find clinical employment since due to being immunocompromised.

Do you guys think it would be worth talking about the grandma, shadowing, and immunocompromised parts?

And what did you all wrote about it in your essays?

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[medapp110]

In my opinion those are all great things to mention.

 

[On The Move]

I agree, talk about all of that. I wrote about similar things: losing my job, losing some shadowing and other activities, classes going online etc.

 

[Blue Lion]

I agree, talk about all of that. I wrote about similar things: losing my job, losing some shadowing and other activities, classes going online etc.

Oh, so you talked about limited access to opportunities? I was told my some counseling pages that these adcoms know that everyone's opportunities have been limited, so to not talk about that, but am still on the face. Would love to hear why you decided to write down these things.

In my opinion those are all great things to mention.

You think even the shadowing? Because while I got to hear a lot about COVID from patients, I still don't know if adcoms would think it's weird I shadowed during this time. TBH, was the one who told me to come in, so I at least have them as contact info to support me.

 

[On The Move]

Ya I just stated the facts about what happened. It was a simple little paragraph; didn't try to paint it as a 'woe is me' kind of thing. My though process is that adcoms are giving you an opportunity to tell them a little more about yourself, so I did. My advice is don't let this essay stress you out too much.

 

[Wolf20]

I agree, talk about all of that. I wrote about similar things: losing my job, losing some shadowing and other activities, classes going online etc.

Same here. Talked about how my internship and the classes I was taking moved to an online format. Also talked about how COVID-19 impacted my home life when one of my family members contracted the disease. I also explained how I took extra precautions at my house to not contract the disease since I worked in a nursing home as a CNA.

 

[rzees]

I moved closer to home to help my grandparents, so I wrote about that. Picked up groceries and medications for them. Delivered face masks from my grandmother to clinics that needed them. I wasn’t allowed to volunteer or shadow because I was from a hard hit area, so that’s the best I could do.

 

[srbm1786]

I talked about how my classes were moved online and my kids were home from school/daycare, so studying was more difficult, but I managed to pull off good grades. I also talked about changes at work, how a surgical trial that I was about to start as lead coordinator got pushed back, which was disappointing. I kept it pretty short and factual - just the basic facts of how COVID affected me and my family.