Non-traditional applicants are those who are not directly applying to medical school from a 4 year undergraduate university. Many of these applicants have been working for more than a couple years before applying to medical school. Not everyone is ready to or willing to enter into medical school after 4 or 5 years completing their undergraduate degree. You can take advantage of your experiences after undergraduate to create a good personal statement, since most applicants are applying directly after undergraduate and so their experiences maybe more limited that a non-traditional applicant.

Use your experiences away from school to your advantage when applying for medical school.</strong> For most undergrads, research, clinical, or community work has not taken up 100% of your time since you are also taking classes. However, after graduation, you are often times involved in a full time activity (i.e. your job). Since it is a large part of "you" when you are applying to medical school you'll need to at least mention it in your personal statement. Address the following questions...

1. Why did you decide to pursue that job, etc after graduation?

2. What did that experiences did that job teach you?

3. Did it have an influence on your decision to pursue medicine?  If so, how did it have an influence?

There is a section on your primary application that will allow you to describe what you did during your time off from undergraduate. However, if your work has played a role in initiating or strengthening your desire to pursue medicine, then you need to write in your personal statement how this job/experience has strengthened your desire to pursue a career in medicine or medical research. Emphasize how your work experience has strengthened your desire to pursue medicine.

Oftentimes, personal statements from non-traditional applicants will discuss how the experience has strengthened their desire that medicine is a career for them since their current careers as an electrical engineer or financial analyst didn't give them job satisfaction.  They wanted a more meaningful career in which they helped improved someone's health. Don't be negative in your personal statement and complete bash your work experience as saying it was "boring." Just mention that it did it not give you the job satisfaction you had anticipated. But that will trigger a question in the reviewer's head as to how YOU know that medicine will give you job satisfaction? Can you handle the 60+ hour work weeks? Then you need to counteract this question by immediately transition into your your community and clinical experiences that you have received up to know and convince the reviewer that medicine is something that you are passionate about. The rest of your medical school application will also have to support your passion for medicine written in your personal statement.

You will need to have letters of recommendations vouch for your true determination to become a physician. In addition, your application will have to document your clinical, research, community service, and other activities which show that your pursuit to medicine didn't happen a month before applying to medical school.  On the flipside, a non-traditional applicant can say that their two years working as Peace Corp strengthened their desire to become a physician to help communities with access to healthcare.

Whatever you do, spin your experiences toward the positive which is you have strengthened your desire to pursue medicine.