KTown Triangle

The Road to Medical School: Insights from Those Who’ve Been There

Many students dream of becoming doctors and work hard toward that goal. However, preparing for medical school involves much more than earning good grades. Students must navigate GPA and MCAT preparation, volunteering, shadowing, research, extracurricular activities, and many other experiences that require initiative and careful planning. It can be difficult to know when to start, what to prioritize, and which experiences will truly make a difference. At the 2026 NC Pre-Med Forum, current medical students, residents, and practicing physicians will share their personal experiences and the paths they took to medicine. This year’s panel also includes individuals with unique backgrounds and nontraditional journeys to becoming physicians. Among them are a physician who completed the U.S. Army’s Interservice Physician Assistant Program (IPAP) before becoming a doctor, as well as a physician who served for eight years as a U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman before attending medical school and completing residency. Through these firsthand stories, students will learn that there is no single path to becoming a physician—and that their individual experiences and backgrounds can become strengths along the way. Panelists will also discuss what they did during high school and college, what mattered most during the medical school admissions process, and what medical school and residency are really like. Our goal is to help students gain a clearer sense of direction as they plan their next steps, while giving parents a better understanding of how they can support their children on the journey to medicine. This is an opportunity to hear real experiences and ask questions directly—insights that can be difficult to find through internet searches alone.