Chancing me for BS/MD programs [MA resident, 3.98 UW, 35 ACT]

parentologist
Sat, 30 Dec 2023 19:57:47 +0000

BTW, the interest in Arabic will look very cool to colleges and med schools, so keep it up; however, the language that will be FAR more useful when dealing with patients is Spanish, and it’s very, very easy to learn Spanish. People who speak Arabic and not English will show up with a family member to translate, but people who speak Spanish only, will very often not bring a translator. Arabic is very difficult, and while standard Arabic is universal across the Arab world, most people speak dialects, some of which are mutually unintelligible. Those who are most likely to not speak English will likely be speaking dialect. Usually, you first learn academic modern standard Arabic, and then a dialect (at which point your MSA will immediately deteriorate into the dialect you’re learning/living, unless you’re doing something to keep it up). Jordanian and Gulf Arabic are fairly close to MSA, Egyptian farther from it, and Moroccan really far from it. All of which makes it more fun!

I would urge you to take Spanish, too, if you can. You can master enough Spanish with two years of college Spanish plus a class in medical Spanish to be able to communicate with Spanish speaking patients in a clinical setting. Add in a month’s volunteering in a medical setting in a Spanish speaking setting in central America, and you’ll be in good shape.