Secondary Essay Prompts Database

University of New Mexico School of Medicine (Albuquerque, NM)

These are the secondary application essay prompts for University of New Mexico School of Medicine. To put your best foot forward and maximize your chance of an interview invitation, visit our secondary application editing page.

Program Overview

University of New Mexico School of Medicine (Albuquerque, NM)

Secondary Deadline

14 days after secondary application is received

Secondary Fee

$100

FAP Waiver

Yes

Casper Required

No

Screens Applications

Yes

Accepts Application Updates

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Mission

The mission of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine is to advance the health of all New Mexicans by educating and increasing the diversity of health professionals, leaders and scientists; providing outstanding and compassionate medical care; advocating for the health of all New Mexicans and pursuing new knowledge and excellence of practice.

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Vision

The Vision of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine is to be a transformative community where students become leaders in the delivery of excellent and compassionate health care, partners in the crafting of health policy, and champions of public health; where leaders are lifelong learners; where knowledge and discovery encompass the human experience and are applied to healing and promoting the well-being of our state’s people; where scientists, health care providers, and the public collaborate to translate research into real health benefits; where achieving health and health care equality is a common goal; and where diversity is our foremost strength.

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Values

Excellence and Accountability in the conduct of education, research, patient care, and community engagement;
Compassion in patient care and for the lives and conditions of all New Mexico’s people;
Diversity that values the unique characteristics of all people and that is actively sought at all levels within our academic community;
Integrity, Professionalism, and Ethical Behavior that embodies the principles of altruism, beneficence and justice; promotes patient care, learning, research and productivity through relationships based on courtesy, civility and respectful communication; and is worthy of the trust and respect given to us as teachers, scholars and healers;
Social Responsibility demonstrated by discovery and teaching about the social, economic, and cultural contexts of New Mexico peoples health; commitment to health promotion and disease prevention; and by self-evaluation of the access to and quality and distribution of our health care professionals and services; and
Creativity and Innovation that translates biomedical research into individual and community health benefits and medical education into population health literacy, that accelerates health technology diffusion to all corners of the state, and that transforms the science of clinical care into a healing art and the integration of academic and local knowledge into an improved quality of life for all New Mexico people.

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Application Cycles

2026-2027

Application Cycle

All questions have a 250-word limit.

(2000 character limit each)

1. Life Experiences
At the UNM School of Medicine we are committed to building a dynamic, productive and positive learning environment in addition to promoting cross cultural and cross racial understanding among students of diverse talents, experiences, opinions and backgrounds. Describe the effect that your experiences with engaging diversity have had on your own growth and development. Provide an example and describe how it will impact your career in the medical profession.

2. Interest and Suitability for a Career in Medicine
There are multiple paths that lead to medical school and many obstacles along the way. Please describe the unique path that has led you to medicine as well as any obstacles or adversity that you had to overcome in achieving this goal. How will this experience affect your career as a physician?

3. Problem Solving
While providing healthcare as a physician is often a rewarding career, it is also a profession that entails addressing constant challenges. Imagine you are a physician at a local institution and you notice on 18 occasions in the past week, patients were not administered the correct dose of a medication. When looking into it further, you learned that 17/18 cases occurred right after a physician handoff (defined as the process of transferring role and responsibility for providing care from one physician to another). Given this scenario, what are the initial steps you and your institution might take to improve the situation?

4. Public Health
There is a physician shortage in New Mexico. What is your understanding of the contributors to this problem, and what ideas do you have to address it?

5. Self-growth/Teamwork
Teamwork is integral to training and the career of a physician. This kind of work setting entails addressing constant challenges in task execution, communication etc. What is an issue you have encountered working on a team and how did you address and resolve this issue?

6. COVID-19 Impact
Please describe how COVID-19 has affected your preparation for applying to medical school. Describe any academic, personal, financial, or professional barriers/disruptions that COVID-19 may have triggered

2025-2026

Application Cycle

All questions have a 250-word limit.

(2000 character limit each)

1. Life Experiences
At the UNM School of Medicine we are committed to building a dynamic, productive and positive learning environment in addition to promoting cross cultural and cross racial understanding among students of diverse talents, experiences, opinions and backgrounds. Describe the effect that your experiences with engaging diversity have had on your own growth and development. Provide an example and describe how it will impact your career in the medical profession.

2. Interest and Suitability for a Career in Medicine
There are multiple paths that lead to medical school and many obstacles along the way. Please describe the unique path that has led you to medicine as well as any obstacles or adversity that you had to overcome in achieving this goal. How will this experience affect your career as a physician?

3. Problem Solving
While providing healthcare as a physician is often a rewarding career, it is also a profession that entails addressing constant challenges. Imagine you are a physician at a local institution and you notice on 18 occasions in the past week, patients were not administered the correct dose of a medication. When looking into it further, you learned that 17/18 cases occurred right after a physician handoff (defined as the process of transferring role and responsibility for providing care from one physician to another). Given this scenario, what are the initial steps you and your institution might take to improve the situation?

4. Public Health
There is a physician shortage in New Mexico. What is your understanding of the contributors to this problem, and what ideas do you have to address it?

5. Self-growth/Teamwork
Teamwork is integral to training and the career of a physician. This kind of work setting entails addressing constant challenges in task execution, communication etc. What is an issue you have encountered working on a team and how did you address and resolve this issue?

6. COVID-19 Impact
Please describe how COVID-19 has affected your preparation for applying to medical school. Describe any academic, personal, financial, or professional barriers/disruptions that COVID-19 may have triggered

2024-2025

Application Cycle

All questions have a 250-word limit.

1. At the UNM School of Medicine we are committed to building a dynamic, productive and positive learning environment in addition to promoting cross cultural and cross racial understanding among students of diverse talents, experiences, opinions and backgrounds. Share any unique or challenging factors in your background, such as the quality of your early educational environment, socioeconomic status, culture, and life and work experiences. How will your background or experiences contribute to the diversity of a medical school class? (2000 characters)

2. Mentorship and clinical experience are integral to developing and understanding of the challenges and rewards of being a physician? Thinking back to your own road to applying to medical school, what is a patient experience or mentorship moment that was most formative to your progression so far? Please share this experience and explain how it fits into your motivation for pursuing a career as a physician. (2000 characters)

3. While providing healthcare as a physician is often a rewarding career, it is also a profession that entails addressing constant challenges. What do you see as the most significant issues the medical profession will face in the next 20 years, and what are some potential solutions for these problems? (2000 characters)

4. Part of the goal of the UNM School of Medicine is to address the healthcare inequities that face New Mexico. Public health and medicine are inextricably connected to health outcomes. What is a non-clinical public health intervention that would impact health inequities in NM populations? (2000 characters)

5. Please describe a personal or professional challenge or conflict that you have experienced. How did you resolve it? What skills, resources and/or strategies did you employ? DO NOT write about the MCAT, a course, or an academic issue. (2000 characters)

6. Please describe how COVID-19 has affected your preparation for applying to medical school. Describe any academic, personal, financial, or professional barriers/disruptions that COVID-19 may have triggered. (2000 characters)

2023-2024

Application Cycle

All questions have a 250-word limit.

1. At the UNM School of Medicine we are committed to building a dynamic, productive and positive learning environment in addition to promoting cross cultural and cross racial understanding among students of diverse talents, experiences, opinions and backgrounds. Describe the effect that your experiences with engaging diversity have had on your own growth and development. Provide an example and describe how it will impact your career in the medical profession. (2000 characters)

2. There are multiple paths that lead to medical school and many obstacles along the way. Please describe the unique path that has led you to medicine as well as any obstacles or adversity that you had to overcome in achieving this goal. How will this experience affect your career as a physician? (2000 characters)

3. While providing healthcare as a physician is often a rewarding career, it is also a profession that entails addressing constant challenges. Imagine you are a physician at a local institution and you notice on 18 occasions in the past week, patients were not administered the correct dose of a medication. When looking into it further, you learned that 17/18 cases occurred right after a physician handoff (defined as the process of transferring role and responsibility for providing care from one physician to another). Given this scenario, what are the initial steps you and your institution might take to improve the situation? (2000 characters)

4. While providing healthcare as a physician is often a rewarding career, it is also a profession that entails addressing constant challenges. What do you see as the most significant issues the medical profession will face in the next 20 years, and what are some potential solutions for these problems? (2000 characters)

5. Teamwork is integral to training and the career of a physician. This kind of work setting entails addressing constant challenges in task execution, communication etc. What is an issue you have encountered working on a team and how did you address and resolve this issue? (2000 characters)

6. Please describe how COVID-19 has affected your preparation for applying to medical school. Describe any academic, personal, financial, or professional barriers/disruptions that COVID-19 may have triggered. (2000 characters)

7. Have you previously submitted an AMCAS application to the University of New Mexico School of Medicine? (Y/N) Please share some of the ways you have improved your application since you last applied. For example, improved MCAT Score, took additional upper level biology courses, increased clinical or volunteer experiences, etc. (200 word limit)

University of New Mexico School of Medicine (Albuquerque, NM)

University of New Mexico School of Medicine (Albuquerque, NM)

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