Jack Yang, Current MD Candidate
BU Major & Graduation Date:
Biology – May 2020
Current School & Class Year:
University of Virginia School of Medicine – Class of 2025
Preferred Pronouns:
He/Him/His
Hometown:
Lexington, Massachusetts
What school are you attending and what you are studying? Why did you choose to apply to this school? What do you think makes your school unique?
I’m currently attending the University of Virginia School of Medicine! Some of the reasons that I picked UVA was due to the closeness of my brother (who’s in DC), as well as the great research and clinical reputation. However, I think what really made UVA stand out to me were the small things I learned during the interview process. When I was applying, I found out that all of our exams are take-home exams, with the opportunity to take them any time from Friday – Sunday. It’s such a relief to not have to wake up at 8 AM to take an exam, and to be able to take it later if I feel unprepared. Add in the first-year summer research program, the 1.5 year pre-clinical phase, as well as the overall relaxed feeling among my classmates, and it was a no-brainer!
Is there a specialization and/or specific population you are interested in? Why? How did you get into it and/or learn more about it?
Currently no specialty that I’m narrowed down on. As of now, I’m interested in Anesthesiology, Radiology, and Heme/Oncology. For Anesthesiology, I love the pharmacology and the pathophysiology – it’s wonderful to administer a drug and see the effects right away. For Radiology, I love the ability to help dozens of patients a day, as well as the wide variety of cases they see each day. For Heme/Onc, I love the ability to help patients through their most trying times.
What are one or two of your favorite experiences/activities and why?
My favorite experience in undergrad was being a Student to Student (S2S) tutor in BI101. As an S2S tutor, I had the wonderful opportunity to not only lecture, but to also teach one on one in office hours. I think that teaching is something that is so important for medicine, and I would encourage everyone to try it at least once! There’s something magical about being able to help someone learn a difficult concept, and to transfer knowledge from person to person.
Did you take a gap year?
I took a gap year between May 2020 to May 2021. During this time, I applied to medical school, did research with Dr. Wendy Qiu’s lab at Boston Medical Center, and was a Boston Partners in Education tutor.
What was your favorite BU course and why?
I think my favorite course at BU was CH204: Organic Chemistry 2 (I know haha, it’s not very common). For me, I really loved the aspect of pattern recognition associated with the course. I loved being able to see a chemical reaction and use instinct to guess what reactant would be required, or which product would be created. It was a hard course, but it felt very, very rewarding and I think it reflects a lot of the pattern recognition I’ve needed in medical school.
Have you always known you wanted to be a doctor? What/who has been your biggest inspiration?
For me, I knew I wanted to be a doctor when I first entered Massachusetts General Hospital in high school. There was something magical about all the nurses, residents, and physicians walking around in the lobby. That feeling of being a part of something greater than yourself, of being able to help change the world. I think that aspect of medicine still hasn’t lost its wonder for me and it makes me excited every time I go on the wards.
What resources at BU did you find most helpful or want to spotlight that others might not know about?
Some of the resources that I would like to highlight are the upperclassmen and office hours. It was so, so helpful to talk to the upperclassmen when I was going through undergrad, as they would tell me which classes were harder, which ones were better organized, which professors were better etc. I think that you can always start by asking some of the upperclassmen questions about their experiences, and it never hurts to get more perspective on the challenges you might face.
I would also recommend office hours, as I think they’re a great opportunity to have one on one time with the professors. It’s a great opportunity to figure out what they want you to learn, and how they think through the problems. In addition, it helps for recommendation letters. I always made it a point to try to make it to some of the office hours in the difficult premed courses (BI107/108, CH101/102, CH203/204, PY105/PY106, BI373).
What are your hobbies/What do you like to do for fun outside of the classroom?
I love going on walks and weightlifting! I recently got into weightlifting in June of last year and have found it so cathartic during medical school. I think there’s something that’s amazingly satisfying about seeing the amount you can lift. I recently competed in the UVASOM weightlifting competition and managed to win the Men’s Weighted Division (97×135 squats in 5 minutes – 13095 pounds!)
Are there any tips/advice you would like to share with current pre-health students?
For freshmen – hang in there, it’s so tough in the first year to get used to not only managing classes and social stress, but to also figure out how to study. I found that Freshman year was my least favorite year, and college got so much better once I found my closest friends.
For Sophomores – you’ve most likely gone through the hardest course (CH101) – keep on pushing. I would recommend starting to think about your application and how you want to approach it (ex. I loved teaching, so I made that a big portion of my application in sophomore year).
For Juniors – soon the stress will go from focusing on GPA to focusing on the application cycle – I would recommend looking over what you need to apply and thinking about letters of recommendation. Also, I cannot stress this enough, but the MCAT IS FOREVER. It’s best to take it only once, when you are the most ready. Do not rush the MCAT due to timelines, they only see the final score, not the amount of time it took!
For Seniors/those applying – make sure to watch out for the small traps in the application cycle (applying late, transcript delays (up to 2–3-week delay), application processing (up to 1-2 months delay), Letter of Recommendation delays etc). Make sure to be very aware of the timeline, so you can put your best foot forward, as the number of possible interviews decreases as the cycle progresses. Other than that, hang in there! The cycle has some of my lowest life points, but also some of my highest. Enjoy the free time and try to stay healthy!