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The range of "social skills" among pre-med students is very large. Some are very talkative, active, and extroverted, while others are shy, reserved, and introverted, but in the end, "social skills" aren't just about being outgoing vs. quiet.

Social Skills are one of the AAMC's 15 Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students that medical schools look for when selecting candidates. Let’s talk about what it means, how most pre-meds satisfy it, and how you can make your Social Skills stand out among the pool of applicants.

What Exactly are ‘Social Skills?’

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Social Skills are one of the five interpersonal competencies defined by the AAMC. The AAMC defines Social Skills as “an awareness of others’ needs, goals, feelings, and the ways that social and behavioral cues affect peoples’ interactions and behaviors; adjusts behaviors appropriately in response to these cues; treats others with respect.”

In simple terms, they want to see that the student has a general awareness of others, understands the role that social and behavioral cues play in interactions and behaviors of others, and adjusts accordingly.   

Why Does This Matter to You as a Pre-Med?

Basically, medical schools want people who are easy to work with, good team members, good communicators, pleasant to be around, assertive/proactive yet tactful, and sensitive.

And generally Social Skills are key to opening up a lot of opportunities for you on your path to medical school.

It works out conveniently that these are qualities you should already want to hone and improve as a person, regardless of ambitions in medicine. 

What are Typical Ways That Pre-Meds Demonstrate Their Social Skills?

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It is common for pre-meds to feel mortified by concepts such as public speaking, interviews, networking, confrontation, etc. On the other end, there are some pre-meds who are extremely comfortable with the concepts listed earlier or they are social in their day-to-day life. As said, there is a wide range in how comfortable pre-meds feel socializing. Pre-meds look to demonstrate their social skills by doing some of the following:

• Taking a professional speech class in college or via online: as a college student, all students, at some point, take a class that involves professional speech or writing. This doesn’t quite demonstrate a student’s ability in a real-world context.

• Reading books to children: Although, this is a great way to demonstrate a student’s ability to interact with a younger age range, it doesn’t quite reflect the age range of the total population. It could look great if you want to be a pediatrician.

• Joining clubs that are speech-oriented like Debate Club: Most college students are able to do this through other forms. This may not really help you stand out among the other applicants.

• Writing letters and emails in clinical experiences: Although it is very important and admirable to communicate via technology, face-to-face communication isn’t the same or quite displayed this way.

• Present at conferences for a research project: This demonstrates very little of an applicant’s total capacity. Yes, it is important to be able to hold your nerves when you present to a huge audience, but it doesn’t demonstrate other social skills.

• Working an internship: This may depend on the “uniqueness” of the internship. Typical internships are more like shadowing or include a very minimal amount of work that doesn’t cover the social aspects of business meetings or client interactions of a full-time position.

What are More Unique Ways to Demonstrate Your Social Skills?

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Social Skills can be presented or demonstrated through joining clubs or performing activities. However, medical schools like to confirm their judgements through interviews. That’s why interviews exist. Your social skills can also be judged in a social setting.

• Working a job in the retail or food industry: This is a very atypical experience for most pre-meds. Most pre-meds don't work a "normal" service or retail job.

• Running your own business/community project: This would require a huge time commitment and the ability to work smartly and swiftly with one's peers, competitors, or customers.

• Volunteering for a crisis/suicide hotline: This is a tough job, but it can show your ability to change someone’s life before any injury or sickness occurs.

• Working with dementia patients in hospice care: This requires a lot of patience and true compassion towards others to be able to do this work.

• Working with autistic people or people with disabilities: Not the easiest job out there, but one that is extremely in need. It requires a heart to show care and love despite one’s ability. It requires a unique set of communication skills.

• Learning another language and actively using it with native speakers: Quite the task for anyone in any industry. Being able to learn another language shows great commitment.

• Traveling and/or studying abroad: There is no better way to demonstrate your Social Skills than through your ability to learn and master the social aspects of a different culture than one’s own.

Tips for Practicing and Improving Your Social Skills

This can be a two-step process. Medical schools will judge Social Skills (at least indirectly) by the activities you choose and the roles you fill. Then, they confirm those Social Skills during the interview.

Social Skills are hard to master, and that is why it is important to practice:

• Think before you begin speaking
• Be clear and concise in conversation; forget about using impressive vocabulary
• Look at your body language when you talk and correct it if needed
• Become an excellent active listener
• Be enthusiastic; doing so will create a positive vibe

It is quite important to practice the suggestions above and turn them into daily habits. They take a long time to develop and they require the ability to be self-critical, within reason. It is best to develop the suggestions above into habits with help of family and friends. Ask for them if they see any improvements: if you are closer to achieving a certain suggestion, if you can improve at a certain aspect, or what they suggest will help you.

Bonus Challenge: Want to Improve Your Social Skills? Get Outside Your Comfort Zone!

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There are a ton of social challenges that encourage people to grow - maybe link to some of them like this: https://www.coaching-online.org/comfort-zone-challenges/

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About the Author:

Srinikhil Vemuri is a second-year biomedical engineering student at Texas A&M. Srinikhil is passionate about sports medicine and integrating his education in engineering to further aid in the development of technologies that assist in the recovery of injured players and to detect the chances of injury before they even occur, all while working as a physician. Srinikhil's other interests include watching soccer, reading magazines about cars, and spending time with friends and family.