What is National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP)

The medical school application process is lengthy and competitive and requires careful planning for students to present a strong application. The application comprises many components, including an opportunity to describe the extracurricular activities that have prepared the student for a medical education. Some applicants are challenged to effectively articulate the skills and competencies they acquired in these extracurriculars, while concurrently defining the activities' relationship to their medical ambitions. This chapter introduces self-authorship theory as an approach advisors can use to help students develop a strong personal narrative. Through this lens, the author offers strategies to coach students through the process of “storytelling” to demystify the application process, help them ascribe meaning to their experiences, and equip them with new techniques to write about their experiences and prepare a competitive application.