Emily Hause, Author at The Med School Pulse

Avoiding MCAT Meltdown

June 14, 2013 By Emily Hause 2 Comments

Hello my studious pre-med readers! Today I want to talk about a topic that gets brought up by at least one student in every class that I teach. It’s a topic that is very sensitive and when left unaddressed can be extremely detrimental to studying for the MCAT- Test Anxiety.

Now, if you have never had anxiety about anything, the concept of test anxiety is very foreign. But if you have had anxiety, you know all too well the tightness in your chest, the cramps in your stomach and the general loss of intelligent, rational thought that accompanies true

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Study Habits Die Hard

June 12, 2013 By Emily Hause 2 Comments

Hello to all my industrious MCAT students! For those of you planning for a summer test date, MCAT studying is in full swing and you’re probably planning on spending a fair amount of your summer holed up in the library working on MCAT content and passages.

Chances are, you have a schedule made and your study methods planned. But, have you ever stopped to question whether your method for studying is actually effective? Most likely you happened upon your method (flashcards, highlighting, re-reading the chapter) while studying for a class and it was effective for learning that material, so you

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Teaching the MCAT for Kaplan

June 5, 2013 By Emily Hause 28 Comments

Hello my dedicated MCAT students! I have been spending the past few weeks working with some of the best MCAT teachers in the country at the Boulder MCAT Summer Intensive Program. As a teacher, this is a unique experience because I get to share and brainstorm strategies and mnemonics in-person with my fellow teachers. Additionally, I get to nerd out like crazy about things like organic functional groups (see last week’s post) the glory of the the inverse relationships that are prevalent on the MCAT and the sheer beauty of a well-crafted passage and its questions.

This quality

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Functional Group Friends!

May 30, 2013 By Emily Hause 0 Comments

Okay, industrious MCAT students, even though Organic Chemistry has been losing some of its prevalence on the MCAT in recent years, it still makes up approximately 25-30% of the Biological Science Section. What does that mean for you as students who hope to achieve that perfect 45? That means you need to make friends with your functional groups.

Now, most of you probably dedicated a portion of your Sophomore or Junior year to rote memorization of the names and properties of various functional groups. However, on the MCAT, mere memorization won’t cut it when you’re looking at an entirely

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Equations and Units and Relationships, oh my!

May 23, 2013 By Emily Hause 3 Comments

For the past few days in the MCAT SIP program, we have been focusing on the first few chapters of the Physics review notes book. We have been tackling topics like Kinematics, Force, Motion, Gravitation, Work and Energy. There is a lot of high yield material in the first few chapters and it can often be extremely overwhelming, especially for students who haven’t taken physics in a few years.

When it comes to the physical sciences, there are three things that can help increase your physics speed and accuracy.

1. Equations- It is absolutely essential to know the

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MCAT’s Summer Intensive Program

May 17, 2013 By Emily Hause 0 Comments

I have embarked on a fun new journey! I’m an instructor at the Boulder MCAT Summer Intensive Program, commonly known as MCAT SIP. I have gotten to spend this week with some of the brightest minds in MCAT brainstorming awesome ways to teach MCAT and I’m super excited to start teaching next week.

If you have been considering an MCAT SIP program, there is still time to sign up for the San Diego SIP which starts June 29th. If you’re planning on taking the MCAT next year, I would strongly suggest thinking about SIP as an efficient, personalized and

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Time for MCAT Bootcamp!

May 7, 2013 By Emily Hause 4 Comments

So, you have been preparing for a late May or early June MCAT by studying hard and taking practice tests. Are you looking for something to give you that extra studying edge? Or perhaps you’re eyeing an MCAT test date later in the summer? Are you looking to get jump-started on material?

Either way, you’re in luck! Kaplan is running an MCAT Boot Camp event on 5/20/13 at 8pm ET!

This intensive MCAT Boot Camp event will feature questions on advanced content to give you an excellent idea of where you need to focus your MCAT studies. It will …

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An Ode to Verbal Reasoning

May 2, 2013 By Emily Hause 1 Comment

When preparing for the MCAT, most people can see the reason for needing to know Biology and General Chemistry because they are considered essential for practicing medicine. A case can also been made for learning Organic Chemistry and Physics since they are the basis for biological molecules and the processes which run the body. Hands down the biggest complaints that I hear are about the Verbal Reasoning section. Everyone wants to know: “How does my Verbal Reasoning score show my ability to be a good physician?” or “How does analyzing a passage about poetry make me a better doctor?”…

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Something Is Better Than Nothing

April 25, 2013 By Emily Hause 2 Comments

It’s one of those days. I am exhausted. My body hurts because I’m so tired. My brain is full. I can’t concentrate and my to-do list is decidedly too long to even contemplate.

With the full schedule of a pre-med student (taking classes, volunteering, studying for the MCAT , working, shadowing and applying to medical school), I have a lot of experience “powering through” and “playing through the pain.” I have made it through the toughness of finals week with mono and the absurdity of finishing a half marathon on a broken foot. But, there are just some days where …

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To Patent or Not to Patent- That is the Question

April 18, 2013 By Emily Hause 0 Comments

The United States Supreme Court is hearing an interesting case this week regarding Myriad Genetics’ right to patent the cancer-causing genes, BRCA 1 and BRCA2. The court’s decision, when made, will have important implications for future physicians and researchers with regards to their ability to do research and work in the ever-evolving field of genetics. Basically, if you’re planning to practice medicine, as most of you reading this blog are, the outcome of this case is very important for your future practice!

The essential question at stake is whether or not you can patent a gene or a particular variant …

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