What I Wish I Knew Before Medical School

Many students feel motivated to get involved with medicine but don't know where to start. Most of the classic opportunities like volunteering or shadowing can often feel superficial and like a box you need to check rather than an exciting opportunity to truly engage with medicine. 

I never really found a way to engage with medicine deeply when I was in your shoes. I remember sitting in clinic during my first week of medical school when my first patient with diabetes arrived. I realized I couldn't have clearly explained what diabetes actually was. I remember thinking, "How did I make it all the way to medical school without learning something this important?"

Despite years of preparing for medical school and developing a robust resume, I knew remarkably little about medicine itself. I had completed the required science courses, volunteered in healthcare settings, even participated in research — but I never had the opportunity to deeply engage with medicine.

Looking back I don't think it was my fault. This disconnect is an unfortunate reality of the pre-med ecosystem as it stands.

Like many students, I spent my time checking the boxes I believed medical school admission committees wanted to see. I participated in research, sure, but my day-to-day work actually involved pipetting liquids and washing laboratory equipment. I accumulated shadowing hours, but I was often preoccupied by where I should stand to not get in the way, trying to seem polite and likeable, and worrying about what questions to ask to seem engaged. I wasn't learning about disease, clinical reasoning, pharmacology, or how physicians think. 

Years later, after serving on a medical school admissions committee myself, I came to appreciate something important: admissions committees can often tell the difference between students who have simply accumulated experiences and students who have genuinely engaged with medicine. Students who have genuinely engaged with medicine tend to speak differently about healthcare. They ask deeper questions, demonstrate greater curiosity, and have a stronger understanding of the field they hope to enter. They don't just have experiences on a resume—they have meaningful insights gained from those experiences.

That realization ultimately led me to create Docera—a physician-led educational organization designed to help students engage more deeply with medicine before medical school. 

For those interested in going the extra mile and learning medicine more deeply, there are several ways to get involved with Docera:

• Medical Intensive ($998) – In just two weeks, students learn 100+ diseases, clinical reasoning, and medical decision-making before developing physician-guided scholarly projects.

• Elevate ($498) – A flexible self-paced option that allows students to learn the same curriculum as the intensive program but via pre-recorded lecture videos. Students can complete up to 3 projects on their own schedule.

• Launch ($298) – Same curriculum as elevate but tailored for beginners. Includes one medical project. 

• Future Physician Society ($28/month) – A low-cost way to continue learning medicine year-round through physician-led lectures, clinical case discussions, and live Q&A sessions. This option does not include project development or the structured curriculum in our launch, elevate, and intensive programs. 

Whether your goal is to explore a future career in medicine, deepen your understanding of healthcare, or gain meaningful experiences before medical school, I hope you'll find opportunities to engage with medicine beyond the traditional pre-med path here at Docera. 

As always, thank you for being part of our community.

Dr. Mallory Kane, MD

Founder, Docera