University of Alabama School of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts

The 2026-2027 prompts

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Collected from public applicant reports. Prompts occasionally change mid cycle, so confirm against your own secondary portal before you submit.

1. 01

   Are you applying to the Primary Care Track? If yes, describe what experiences have led you to apply to the Primary Care Track.

   1500 charactersOptional
2. 02

   If you are not a resident of Alabama, please describe any ties or meaningful experiences you have had related to the state of Alabama or UAB Medical Center.

   1500 charactersOptional
3. 03

   If the area you spent most of your life before college differs from where you currently consider your permanent address, please explain.

   1500 charactersOptional
4. 04

   Where do you see yourself in your medical career fifteen to twenty years from now?

   750 characters
5. 05

   Describe a patient interaction with the healthcare system. This could be a direct patient observation (in person or virtual) during a shadowing/clinical experience or a personal experience within the healthcare system. What did you learn from this experience?

   750 characters
6. 06

   Describe a fulfilling or challenging community service experience and how you grew personally from the experience. Examples of community service include, but are not limited to, face-to-face activities volunteering in a healthcare setting, nursing home, school, crisis center, food bank, or shelter.

   750 characters
7. 07

   Describe a situation where you had to adjust your behavior or response based on new information or changing conditions.

   750 characters
8. 08

   Please share any information you want us to know about you that is not included in your AMCAS application or in this secondary application (e.g., provide an explanation of any gaps in education or work or poor academic performance, a meaningful leadership or community service experience tied to healthcare).

   750 charactersOptional

MD/PhD applicants

MD/PhD (MSTP) prompts

Separate dual-degree prompts for this school. Answer these in addition to the MD secondary set when you apply MD/PhD.

1. 01

   List 3-5 key phrases that best describe your science/research interests:

   No stated limit
2. 02

   Please list any regional or national conferences you will be attending during this academic year. If you will be presenting your work, please list the title and authors of your presentation/poster (ABRCMS, ATS, EB, SFN, SACNAS, Biomed Eng Society, etc.).

   750 charactersOptional
3. 03

   If you have already graduated from college (or will graduate), please give a brief description of your activities following graduation.

   1500 charactersOptional
4. 04

   What factors prompted you to apply to UAB for MD/PhD training?

   1500 characters
5. 05

   List 3 unique qualities that will contribute to you becoming a successful physician scientist.

   No stated limit

How to write these well

• Turn secondaries around within 7 to 14 days of receiving them. Schools read speed as interest, and slow essays land in a bigger pile.
• Pre-write the universal question types (diversity, challenge, why us) once, then adapt per school. Adapting is rewriting the school specific half, not swapping the name.
• Name real programs. A why us answer that cites a specific clinic, track, or community partnership reads ten times stronger than praise for reputation or location.
• Stay under the limit without padding to reach it. Readers are working through thousands of these; a tight answer is a kindness they remember.

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