MCAT Relevance, Explained

Medical schools aren’t looking for walking encyclopedias. They’re looking for doctors. And they’re using the MCAT to see whether you’ve got what it takes to work in medicine. Show that you’ll be a great doctor by remembering why they use the exam in the first place, keeping an eye on the big picture, and using this as an opportunity to show that you’ll become the best possible medical professional.

Showcasing Your Potential as a Doctor

You can prove your grasp of science with your GPA. Use the MCAT to show off your soft skills and your ability to be a real doctor, the skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and dealing with time constraints.

Key Skills Tested in the MCAT and Their Medical Relevance

The skills tested on the MCAT are strikingly similar to the skills used in medical school and in medical practice.

Critical Thinking

You’ll need to use critical thinking skills during the MCAT, particularly in the critical reading section. Reading through the dense MCAT passages, full of confusing information, false leads, and red herrings, will use the same skills you’ll need when talking to patients about their complicated symptoms and confusing histories.

You’ll need to use critical thinking constantly as a doctor too, to read between the lines when talking to patients, to determine underlying causes of symptoms, etc.

Problem-Solving

You’ll need to use problem-solving skills constantly when approaching problems in any section of the MCAT. You’ll need these same skills in your medical practice, as you think through differential diagnoses, and as you reason through multiple possible courses of treatment.

Elimination

The MCAT is multiple-choice, and all the choices will be diabolically difficult to sort through. You’ll need to use elimination to help you come to the correct answer. You’ll have to use that same elimination strategy when thinking through possible diagnoses for patients. The possibilities in the real world are just as diabolically difficult.

Time Constraints

The MCAT asks you to work under tight time constraints. You’ll need to work just as calmly as a doctor, as, particularly ER doctors and surgeons, have to make quick decisions that affect patient lives.

Passages

The MCAT CARS section (the Critical Reading and Analysis section) will ask you to read new information and apply it on the fly, just as you’ll need to keep abreast of new developments in medicine and use that information with patients immediately.

As you study and prepare, remember why the MCAT is a great predictor of future doctors. Understand why it’s relevant.

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