Medical students give pre-med applicants a ‘Boost’ with virtual mentorship

Natasha Kahn MD’28 looks back at her early days of applying to medical school as a time of uncertainty and intimidation. As the first in her blue-collar family to go to college, there was a barrage of information, jargon, and the prospect of spending thousands of dollars on what could be a financial risk.

“Even just navigating the college application process was new for me,” she says. “With medical school, there were these different processes and inside information that just isn’t apparent to people who haven’t been through it and don’t have someone to ask.”

That changed when she discovered Giving A Boost, a non-profit organization launched in 2019 at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine that provides virtual mentorship to pre-med applicants. Volunteers offered application consultation, mock interviews, personal statement proofreading, and more. Kahn found her experience so rewarding that she ended up starting a chapter at Brown last year, with about 15 mentors who have assisted nearly 50 undergraduates.

, I felt it was incredibly helpful to be paired with a mentor  who was in medical school and just went through this same process a few years ago. And the best part was that these services were free of charge, making this more equitable unlike many expensive tutoring services that provide similar mentorship” Kahn says.

While initially the group’s goal was to help students primarily from Rhode Island, the Brown chapter casts a wider net for mentees. Kahn says they have taken on pre-med students as far away as California, and they’re hoping to keep up the momentum, especially when it comes to helping those from underrepresented backgrounds.

She says both mentors and pre-meds complete applications, which allow them to establish commonalities in terms of meaningful experiences, backgrounds, and goals.

“For example, if the pre-med student is a non-traditional student, served in the military, had to take care of a sick family member, or faced another challenging experience, we try to pair them with a med student with similar backgrounds,” Kahn says.

Luckson Omoaregba, MS, director of Pathway Programs at The Warren Alpert Medical School, says Brown’s Giving a Boost chapter reflects students' desires to help others on a personal level. Initiatives like On the Horizon: Applying to Medical School, which is also student-led by members of the Student National Medical Association chapter at Brown, and Rhode to Medicine all help expand the pipeline of students into medical school, but independent volunteer efforts like Giving a Boost are an important part of peer mentorship.

“This is key to the success of students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds—particularly those who don’t come from ‘doctor dynasties,’ where families have generations of medical professionals to offer guidance. Underrepresented students often have limited or no access to such resources,” he says.

This helps explain the historical barriers to entry into medical schools, he says.

“If students do have access to information, it might be in a limited form at colleges and universities with advisers who help with different situations that might not be as targeted or intentional enough for medical school.”

Information like the importance of clinical shadowing, research opportunities, how to interact with doctors, and other insights can be invaluable, Omoaregba says. He points to a “hidden curriculum,” focused on everything from how precisely to answer questions about lived experiences during interviews, to the nuances of responding to emails throughout the process. Understanding the Medical College Admission Test is certainly important, he says, but so is understanding personal intricacies with the application process.

“When you’re in these spaces, you also have to ask: if I’m a person of color, how do I deal with things like microaggressions during interviews? How might my experiences with patients be different? Providing a nuanced perspective can be part of the make-or-break process behind it,” he says.

Kahn says mentor applications are generally open all year, and they can meet the individual needs of volunteers. For instance, if a mentor prefers to specialize in one aspect of the application process, such as editing personal statements  instead of interview preparation, they’re still welcome to join.

“They can get involved as little or as much as they want,” she says.

The Brown chapter is eagerly working to recruit new mentors, as we have a large number of interested pre-med students. She also hopes to continue outreach with local colleges across Rhode Island and Massachusetts to increase more local mentorship.

“It’s something that I find so meaningful,” Kahn says. “I’m glad we’ve started it at Brown and I would love to see its longevity throughout the years.”

Medical students interested in becoming a mentor can sign up by completing a form here. Pre-med students can sign up using this form.