Hofstra Personal Statement

The 4+4 program at Hofstra caught my interest after I researched its medical school, the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Northwell comprises some of the most renowned hospitals in the New York area, from the Long Island Jewish Medical Center to Lenox Hill Hospital. Aside from being partnered with such a prestigious institution, the Zucker School of Medicine’s progressive, “case based” curriculum is what intrigued me the most. Few medical schools offer to train its students for the 21st century, and this hands on approach seems like the best method to expose students from our generation to the ever changing field of healthcare. From working in groups to solve weekly cases to using real world patient cases to explain concepts, I feel as if the Zucker School of Medicine offers an optimal experience for its students to succeed in their fields.

The fact that this program is a BA-BS/MD as opposed to a BS/MD caught my interest. As a prospective premedical student, I have aspirations to become a physician, but I do not want to be limited in my undergraduate studies to a curriculum that is solely grounded in a premedical path. Whereas in other schools I would worry about falling out of the premedical track if I took a non STEM major, the flexibility offered by Hofstra’s 4+4 program allows me to fulfill a major in not only biology, but to focus on other topics that I have growing passions in, such as social science. Programs offered by Hofstra such as American Studies become feasible options for me whilst maintaining the more relaxed premed standards of the 4+4 program (as opposed to the standards set by a traditional route to medical