Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Secondary Essay Prompts

These are the secondary application essay prompts for Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine (OHSU). To put your best foot forward and maximize your chance of an interview invitation, visit our secondary application editing page.

about Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine

Secondary Deadline: Unknown
Secondary Fee: $100
FAP Waiver: Full Fee Waived
CASPer Required: Yes
Screens Applications: No
Accepts Application Updates: Yes

Mission

It is the mission of the School of Medicine to enhance human health through programs of excellence in education, research, health care and public service to the larger community including underserved populations. In achieving these goals, the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Medicine seeks to establish an educational environment that challenges its students to strive for academic excellence and fosters the development of compassion, humanism, professionalism, and cultural competence in the care of patients from their first days in the classroom to their final rotation in the hospitals and clinics. A fundamental priority throughout OHSU is to enable each student to fulfill his or her potential as a human being and as a health care professional while effectively meeting the health-related needs of the multiple communities he or she will serve.

2023-2024

1. What experience have you had that has given you insight into the patients you hope to eventually serve? (1550 characters)

2. Tell us about a time you went into a situation completely unprepared. (1550 characters)

3. Discuss a time in your life that demonstrated your resilience and ability to overcome adversity. (1550 characters)

4. In 1990, Salovey and Mayer defined emotional intelligence (EI) as “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions”. The components of EI include self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Briefly describe one example of a time you harnessed your EI to resolve a difficult situation, AND one example of a time your failure to use your EI compounded a difficult situation. What did you learn about yourself in each of these situations? (1550 characters)

5. Give an example of personal feedback in the last few years that was difficult to receive. How did you respond? (1550 characters)

6. Please discuss the roles Dignity, Respect and Deference play in how medical teams optimize patient care. (changed from last year) (1550 characters)

Optional:
7. Are there any additional ties to the state of Oregon you wish to share? If yes, use the space below. If no, leave blank. Please note that this does not factor toward your consideration as an Oregon resident or Oregon Heritage.(1550 characters)

8. We know that many of our applicants in the OHSU UME Program may have familial relationships with individuals who are OHSU faculty, residents, staff, or current students who serve as evaluators in our admissions process. We have added this question in hopes to prevent perceived or actual conflicts of interest that can occur when an applicant has a family member (or someone with a similar close personal relationship) they may encounter through the admissions process. If you have any such connections, please list those individuals’ names and departments below. If no, leave blank. (2050 characters)

Supplemental Information section with additional prompts:

9. Based on your own experiences or the experiences of family and friends, do you believe that the area in which you grew up was adequately served by the available health care professionals? Were there enough physicians, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and other health care service providers and how did that affect your experience and relationship with health care? Please explain. (4000 characters)

10. [“While you were growing up, did you experience any of the following types of adversity?” with options to select the severity of the following adversities: economic, educational, ethnic/cultural, family] Please describe the nature of the adversity and how social, economic, academic, or other circumstances affected you and your opportunities. (4000 characters)

11. We acknowledge that our application is not fully comprehensive. If there is anything additional you would like to let us know about you, please briefly state it here. (550 characters)

2022-2023

Regular MD: (all are 1550 characters except for #4 is 2050)

Question 1 – What experience have you had that has given you insight into the patients you hope to eventually serve?

Question 2 – Tell us about a time you went into a situation completely unprepared.

Question 3 – Discuss a time in your life that demonstrated your resilience.

Question 4 – In 1990, Salovey and Mayer defined emotional intelligence (EI) as “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions”. The components of EI include self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Briefly describe one example of a time you harnessed your EI to resolve a difficult situation, AND one example of a time your failure to use your EI compounded a difficult situation. What did you learn about yourself in each of these situations?

Question 5 – Give an example of personal feedback in the last few years that was difficult to receive. How did you respond?

Question 6 – Please discuss how your personal experience demonstrates the ability to overcome adversity and contributes to diversity in the provision of healthcare. Please include any insight into the diversity that you would bring to OHSU School of Medicine and the profession of medicine in the context of OHSU’s definition of diversity: Diversity at OHSU requires creating and sustaining a community of inclusion. We honor, respect, embrace and value the unique contributions and perspectives of all employees, patients, students, volunteers and our local and global communities. Diversity may include age, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. We respect diversity of thought, ideas and more. Diversity maximizes our true potential for creativity, innovation, quality patient care, educational excellence and outstanding service.

Question 7 – Are there any additional ties to the state of Oregon you wish to share? If so, use the space below. Please note that this does not factor toward your consideration as an Oregon resident or Oregon Heritage.

Question 8 – We know that many of our applicants in the OHSU UME Program may have familial relationships with individuals who are OHSU faculty, residents, staff, or current students who serve as evaluators in our admissions process. We have added this question in hopes to prevent perceived or actual conflicts of interest that can occur when an applicant has a family member (or someone with a similar close personal relationship) they may encounter through the admissions process. If you have any such connections, please list those individuals’ names and departments below.

Other: Using the fields below, please provide a brief chronological account of your major activities and employment, including volunteer and summer activities, for the five years immediately preceding your proposed entry to medical school. This should include present and projected activities to the point of matriculation to medical school. Please do not include activities that ended prior to or during high school. Note: You are limited to 20 entries in this section.

Adversity “Checklist” with optional elaboration

Specific to MD-MPH applicants: MPH (4000 characters):

The School of Medicine requires a statement of purpose for admission to the MD-MPH Combined Degree Program. The MD-MPH Combined Degree program offers two MPH concentrations, 1) Epidemiology and 2) Health Management and Policy.

1) Why you are applying for the combined MD-MPH Degree Program at OHSU?

2) Your interest in EITHER the Epidemiology or the Health Management and Policy concentration; and,

3) How you plan to use your training in medicine and public health training in your career.

Please submit your statement using the text area provided below. This cannot exceed the 4000 character limit. No particular formatting or spacing is required.