Secondary Essay Prompts Database

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (Madison, WI)

These are the secondary application essay prompts for University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health. To put your best foot forward and maximize your chance of an interview invitation, visit our secondary application editing page.
Program Overview

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (Madison, WI)

Secondary Deadline
November 1, 2026
Secondary Fee
$75
FAP Waiver
Yes
Casper Required
No
Screens Applications
Yes
Accepts Application Updates
Yes
Mission

Advancing health without compromise through:

  • Service: Providing the best possible patient care experience and outcomes for all those who need our services and providing programs that support the health and wellness of individuals and populations.
  • Scholarship: Delivering contemporary education for current and future generations of health professionals.
  • Science: Conducting a broad range of research to discover the most promising ways to promote health and to prevent, detect and treat illness in people and populations.
  • Social responsibility: Doing what is best for the communities we serve through environmental sustainability, policy advocacy, health care delivery and public health.

Vision
Working together, UW Health will be a national leader in health care, advancing the well-being of the people of Wisconsin and beyond.

Values
  • Integrity: Doing the right things at the right time and place. Focus on the best interests of patients. Be honest with patients, learners and each other.
  • Innovation: Finding new and better ways to enhance quality of care and all aspects of our work.
  • Compassion: Treat patients, families, learners and each other with kindness and empathy. Connect with patients and families individually and personally and engage them as partners in their care decisions.
  • Accountability: Be individually and collectively responsible for the work we do and for the outcomes and experience of every patient, every learner, every day.
  • Respect: Honor patients’ right to privacy and confidentiality. Value differences among individuals and groups. Actively listen, encourage feedback and choose the best way to deliver timely and meaningful information.
  • Excellence: Strive to be the best and work continuously to improve performance and exceed expectations.
  • Diversity: Foster a culture of inclusion and respect among our patients, employees, learners, and the communities we serve. Through teaching, discovery and advocacy, promote equity in access to quality health care.

Application Cycles
2026-2027
Application Cycle
All questions have a 250-word limit.

1. The Admissions Committee is committed to holistic, mission-aligned evaluation of all applicants. Review our institution’s mission. Using specific examples, discuss how and why you believe you are a good fit for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. (500 words max.)

2. UW SMPH uses the AAMC’s Premed Competencies for Entering Medical Students as an applicant evaluation framework. Choose one of the professional competencies from the drop-down list where you have experienced growth. Using specific examples, describe your development in this competency. (250 words max.)

3. Reflect on a time when a failure, or an apparent failure, set you up for later success. Do you have a favorite failure that you now see as a pivotal moment in your personal or professional growth? (250 words max.)

4. Many inequities exist at the intersection between health outcomes and historical, societal, economic, or other systemic factors. Choose a broader issue or policy that impacts health outcomes where you believe change is needed to advance health equity. Discuss the role you hope to play as a physician in addressing this issue. (250 words max.)

2025-2026
Application Cycle
All questions have a 250-word limit.

1. The Admissions Committee is committed to holistic, mission-aligned evaluation of all applicants. Review our institution’s mission. Using specific examples, discuss how and why you believe you are a good fit for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. (500 words max.)

2. UW SMPH uses the AAMC’s Premed Competencies for Entering Medical Students as an applicant evaluation framework. Choose one of the professional competencies from the drop-down list where you have experienced growth. Using specific examples, describe your development in this competency. (250 words max.)

3. Reflect on a time when a failure, or an apparent failure, set you up for later success. Do you have a favorite failure that you now see as a pivotal moment in your personal or professional growth? (250 words max.)

4. Many inequities exist at the intersection between health outcomes and historical, societal, economic, or other systemic factors. Choose a broader issue or policy that impacts health outcomes where you believe change is needed to advance health equity. Discuss the role you hope to play as a physician in addressing this issue. (250 words max.)

2024-2025
Application Cycle
All questions have a 250-word limit.

(4 required, 1 optional)

1. The Admissions Committee is committed to holistic, mission-aligned evaluation of all applicants. Review our institution’s mission. Using specific examples, discuss how and why you believe you are a good fit for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. (500 words max)

2. UW SMPH uses the AAMC’s Premed Competencies for Entering Medical Students as an applicant evaluation framework. Choose one of the professional competencies from the drop-down list that has been a point of pride or emphasis on your path to medical school. Using specific examples, describe how you have demonstrated it in your experiences to date. (250 words max)

3. Choose a different professional competency that has been another point of pride or emphasis. Using specific examples, describe how you have demonstrated this one in your experiences to date. (250 words max)

4. Many inequities exist at the intersection between health outcomes and historical, societal, economic, or other systemic factors. Choose a broader issue or policy that impacts health outcomes where you believe change is needed to advance health equity. Discuss the role you hope to play as a physician in addressing this issue. (250 words max)

Optional Essay​

In a paragraph (200-300 words), please share how COVID-19 impacted your application in the following domains:

Academic

Volunteer

Research

Work

Personal Life

Topics to address might include the public health lessons and health care insights learned from the pandemic, creative ways in which you were able to serve your community during the crisis, or any hardships (economic, health, or other) you faced due to the virus or its mitigation efforts (e.g. social distancing, quarantine).

2023-2024
Application Cycle
All questions have a 250-word limit.

1.The Admissions Committee takes many factors into consideration when reviewing your application. A successful applicant is frequently one who communicates what makes them exceptional and why they will become an outstanding physician. You are invited but not required to provide additional information in this essay. Some applicants tell us about hardships and challenges that they have faced in their lives and how these experiences have helped them become caring and compassionate individuals. Other applicants use this space to emphasize a particular passion they have related to their future career in medicine. If you are not a resident of Wisconsin, you may want to tell us why you are interested in the University of Wisconsin or about a special connection that you may have to our state or people who live here. Our goal is to gain insight into you as a unique applicant. You may include anything in this essay that you feel is relevant. (Limit response to 500 words.)

2.Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values of UWSMPH. Explain how a learning environment that embodies these values is crucial to the education of tomorrow’s physicians. Reflect on how you might contribute to this mission. (250 words)

3.Many inequities exist at the intersection between health outcomes and historical, societal, economic, or other systemic factors. Choose a broader issue or policy that impacts health outcomes where you believe change is needed to advance health equity. Discuss the role you hope to play as a physician in addressing this issue. (250 words)

4.In a paragraph (200-300 words), please share how COVID-19 impacted your application in the following domains:

Academic

Volunteer

Research

Work

Personal Life Topics to address might include the public health lessons and health care insights learned from the pandemic, creative ways in which you were able to serve your community during the crisis, or any hardships (economic, health, or other) you faced due to the virus or its mitigation efforts (e.g. social distancing, quarantine).

Required Essay for Re-applicants to UW-Madison: Individuals who are reapplying are required to submit a statement indicating what has changed since the previous application to the UW School of Medicine and Public Health MD or MD/PhD program (e.g., additional academic work, new letters of recommendation, work and volunteer experience, life changes, etc.) (500 words)

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