Dear Parents of Pre-med students: It's a New Year - here's how to support us!
Hi, my name is Adesua Egbase. I’m a medical student at the University of Alberta, and I’m a daughter of immigrant parents who came to Canada from Nigeria.
Not too long ago, I was a pre-medical student navigating medical school applications, waiting seasons, rejection, uncertainty, and the quiet pressure that comes with wanting something deeply while not knowing how or when it will unfold.
I’m sharing my story with Healthcaring Differently because I know how isolating this journey can feel for both students and parents, especially within immigrant families. Representation matters, and sometimes simply knowing that someone who looks like you or whose child once stood where yours stands now exists, can offer hope.
This piece is written for parents of pre-med students, and for the students themselves, who may be finding the start of a new year heavier than expected.
For many people, the new year feels like a fresh beginning — a reset, a clean slate, a chance to start over. However, for most pre-med students, the new year often brings anxiety and uncertainty rather than clarity.
As a pre-med student, I remember my parents often sitting me down and asking, “What’s your plan?” — out of love and concern. The truth was, I didn’t have one, or rather, my plans were in limbo and largely out of my control.
For myself and many of my pre-med friends, “New Year, New Me” quietly felt more like, as one friend put it, “new year, and another year I’m not in medical school.”
Many students have just submitted applications in the fall and are now waiting to hear back about interview invitations or MCAT results. Some are anxious about graduating in their senior year without knowing what comes next. Others are preparing to write the MCAT in the summer while wondering whether they should already be thinking about backup plans.
For me, this showed up as a constant mental tug-of-war:
“Should I start preparing for interviews? What if I get rejected? Should I wait until I hear back? Or should I start applying for master’s programs or a new job, just in case?”
This waiting period is incredibly uncomfortable. It can feel like standing still while time keeps moving forward, hoping your efforts from the past year will finally turn into something concrete, while also preparing yourself for the possibility that things may not go your way.
Here’s the reality many parents may not realize: January is often a waiting season for pre-med students. It’s a time spent waiting for final grades from the previous semester, MCAT scores, decisions about funding for research projects, and invitations to medical school interviews that were applied for months earlier.
Unlike other programs, medical school applications follow long, opaque timelines, where students often receive little to no communication for weeks or months at a time leaving students with uncertainty. This waiting requires patience, resilience, and emotional strength, as many outcomes remain uncertain and entirely out of a student’s control.
Waiting does not mean your child is unmotivated, unprepared, or lacking direction. It simply means they are navigating uncertainty in a process where many outcomes are beyond their control.
As a parent, one of the most powerful things you can do during this time is to walk alongside your child rather than pushing them to cross bridges before they arrive. Holding their hand through the waiting creates safety and reassurance — instead of demanding answers about interviews, applications, or scores that don’t yet exist.
They are often just as anxious as you are about their future, and may be carrying more than you can see.
Looking back, one thing that would have helped me during this waiting season was having my parents help me stay grounded in other parts of my life. Encouragement to focus on goals outside of medicine — personal growth, hobbies, passions, friendships, self-care, or other milestones I was excited to work toward in the new year — would have made the waiting feel far less consuming.
When medicine becomes the only focus, uncertainty feels heavier. But when parents show interest in who their child is becoming beyond applications and interviews, it helps students feel grounded and supported.
It reminds students that their lives are not on pause — that medicine can remain important without being everything, and that life is still happening even when outcomes are uncertain.
This new year may not bring immediate answers, but it can still be meaningful. Sometimes, the most important role of January is not to rush forward, but to take heart, stay grounded, and trust that the path will unfold in time.
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From a Medical Student Who’s Been There
Adesua Egbase
Storytelling & Content Writer | Healthcaring Differently
