Alumni Spotlight

Dru Martinez is a 2018 alum who was involved in numerous activities while at UP - including his roles with the cadaver dissection class, Biology Club, and work as both a TA for O-chem and as an Orientation Assistant. After graduating, Dru didn’t go straight into medical school as he believed “he was not ready for several reasons. It’s a time-consuming, effortful application process to add to a college workload. I didn’t have shadowing or clinical experience, nor much volunteering, and importantly, I had a dream of working as a first responder at some point in my life.” This led him home after college, where he studied for the MCAT for about a month and a half, took the test and then started EMT training a few days later. While training he starting to volunteer at a hospital and shadowing a doctor, finished training, applyed for EMT jobs, and then eventually working on the ambulances for 5 months before starting medical school at THE Ohio St. We wish him all the best!

1. Give a short description of your application process/tips for upcoming applicants:

When it comes to medical school, it’s pretty cut and dry what they want from their applicants. It is, however, extremely NOT cut and dry who gets the seats. Nonetheless, I think you can break down the key components into 6 primary categories: they want clinical experience; they want volunteering hours; they want solid numbers (GPA and MCAT); they want leadership; they want research; they want passion. Some of this you show on paper. Some of it you show in an interview. With that said, I really do think that checking boxes is important. However, do not be too discouraged if a box (or boxes) are left unchecked. Looking around at the people here with me, we come from so many different backgrounds of experience. Some people have a lot of experience in this realm, or that one. Some have very little. Above all, I think you must want this profession and lifestyle. 

I had competitive grades and several leadership experiences at UP, but I knew I needed to pad my volunteering and clinical experiences in my gap-year. Working as an EMT, I gained clinical skills. Volunteering at the University of Utah hospital in the geriatrics department I gained volunteering hours, but also many valuable life experiences and clinical experiences caring for patients. I used these on my application.

I spent a lot of time figuring out where to apply. I used the AAMC’s MSAR catalog of medical colleges and went through about every school in the nation looking at many different factors. I kept track of the schools in tables in Excel and came up with a grading scale, and after narrowing it down to something like 48 schools, I narrowed it down further and further until I decided to apply to 15 schools (a fairly normal amount from those I’ve talked to).

I drafted and revised a personal statement for a long time with the help of multiple professors at UP. I finally sent my initial applications out to schools in September. (I was well behind the power curve and recommend applying as early as possible). I worked on secondary applications as they came in and finished with those in October or November probably. I started receiving rejections. I received one interview at the Ohio State University. I received more rejections until only OHSU remained. I received an interview invitation from them and that was my list. I interviewed at Ohio not thinking this was the place I wanted to go. I interviewed at OHSU really hoping for an acceptance. I was accepted to Ohio State and turned down from OHSU. I was 2 for 15 with interviews and 1 for 15 with acceptances. Who accepted me and who didn’t, confused me, but I think that’s normal. And from the day of the interview at Ohio State I had a strange feeling I would end up here, and since, I have been nothing but pleasantly surprised. I so happy to be at this school and I am loving medical school. 

In the end, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Medical school has been more than I could have hoped for. I’m thoroughly enjoying it!

2. How did your time at UP help you with your career choice, application, etc?

I’ve touched on this a little bit already in regard to involvement, not so much on the other areas. I’ll approach this question a little less directly:

I think I was well prepared academically for medical school, first off. As a small school with small class sizes and the opportunity to establish relationships or mentorships with your professors, I feel like UP is very fertile academic soil. In larger school settings, with auditoriums of students and hierarchies of TAs before the professor, you can still be very well educated because you have the resources, but you miss out on aspects like class discussions, individual attention, and accountability. Additionally, UP’s culture, fueled in part by the city of Portland is one of positivity, sustainability, inclusion, and justice, which was invaluable in my growth as a person and future physician. Together the academic environment and progressive culture contributed towards my core values and aspirations I carry with me on my medical career path. 

3. What are your favorite memories of UP?

I haven’t mentioned research so far here, but some of my fondest memories from UP actually come from my summer research with Dr. Dizney and my fellow researchers with whom I became close friends. We had a lot of crisp early mornings, we spent a lot of time wandering through trees and brush together, we caught wild mice, we counted thousands of white blood cells under the microscope, and we shared countless smiles and laughs. You know, medical school is really what told me I needed to do research and if not for that, I likely would not have bothered. Likewise, but sadly, I assume if not for health profession school requirements, not as many people would be volunteering in hospitals and other places. In that way, medical school (other paths too) actually shapes your life quite a bit before you even get there, and one of the biggest ways it does is by making you do things you wouldn’t otherwise do. There are several takeaways here, but the one I’ll emphasize is to appreciate the “boxes” you’re checking off on your way, they might just be some of your favorite times and memories.

4. What general advice would you give aspiring pre-health types?

This one is specifically for people looking at medical school: I think a lot of students out there are nervous about the rigor of medical school, so I want to address that. Don’t be. Yes, there is an unprecedented amount of material to learn, but it’s a different lifestyle, you still have free time, it’s doable, and it’s enjoyable.

I want to add one more critical piece of advice and that is to stay confident and be prepared for your confidence to waiver. This seems to be the nature of today’s competitive workforce in general and especially the case in healthcare professions: you can be an excellent applicant, but it’s an odds game, too, and you’re likely to receive more no’s than yeses. It is important to remember this is not necessarily a reflection of a lack of qualification, more a reflection of the quantity of qualified applicants and the small number of openings. Keep believing in yourself. When rejections bring you down, remind yourself who you are and what you can do.