University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts

The 2025-2026 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

   List all courses you are taking or planning to take within the current academic year (e.g. Fall 2025 and/or Spring 2026). List course(s), title, and credit hours.

   No stated limitOptional
2. 02

   Any additional information not previously provided in the personal comments of your AMCAS primary application.

   500 charactersOptional
3. 03

   Imagine you are a medical student in a clinic and encounter a patient whose cultural background and beliefs differ significantly from your own. The patient is hesitant about a treatment plan that is standard practice but conflicts with their personal beliefs. How would you approach this situation to ensure the patient feels heard and respected while also providing the best possible care.

   3000 characters

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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