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PITT

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Pittsburgh, PA

Historical and predicted secondary essay prompts. Use these to understand how schools have framed their questions over time.

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9 prompts in the archive

Optional Essay: If you wish, use this space to tell the UPSOM Admissions Committee anything else about yourself.

250 words or less.Optional2024-2025, 2025-2026School Staple

Tell us about a challenging problem you faced and how you resolved it. (Limit your response to 250 words or less.)

250 words or less2021-2022, 2022-2023Historical

UPSOM is committed to building a diverse and talented community that will train physicians in delivering culturally competent, person-centered care, and promoting a supportive, collaborative learning environment. To achieve this, we want our fellow students to recognize health disparities and advocate for health equity. We are interested in combating all forms of systemic barriers, and would like to hear your thoughts on opposing specifically: systemic racism, anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, and misogyny. How will you contribute? (Limit your response to 250 words or less.)

250 words or less2021-2022Historical

Please write about anything else you would like to add to your application, or anything you would like to emphasize to the Admissions Committee. (Limit your response to 250 words or less.)

250 words or less.2021-2022, 2022-2023Historical

At UPSOM, diversity and inclusion are measures of distinction, integral to achieving institutional excellence, and essential to the development of future physicians who become leaders in medicine. Describe how you have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion in the past, and how you hope to grow that commitment in medical school.

250 words or less.2022-2023, 2023-2024Historical

Tell the Admissions Committee why you are applying to Pitt Med and why you think this school would be a good fit for you?

250 words or less.2023-2024Historical

The Three Rivers Curriculum features collaborative team based learning. Therefore, we value your perspective and experience working within teams. Describe a time you worked with others in a collaborative process, challenges encountered and how you overcame these challenges. Discuss any personal growth achieved through the experience.

250 words or less.2024-2025, 2025-2026School Staple

Describe a difficult situation you faced, how you responded to this situation and how this helped shape the person you've become.

250 words or less.2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025, 2025-2026School Staple

Respect for others of different backgrounds is integral to the successful practice of medicine, as is an understanding of social determinants of health. Describe a situation you observed between a patient and the health care system that illustrates the impact of social determinants of health on delivery of care. Describe what you learned from this situation.

250 words or less.2024-2025, 2025-2026School Staple