Premeds: How To Get Doctors to Actually Respond To You

A step-by-step guide for high achieving premed students who want their time to actually count.

Last email, I told you that the single most important factor in an accelerated premed application is physician mentorship — a real relationship with someone who knows your name, has seen you in a clinical environment, and can speak to how you engage with medicine.

I encouraged you to interact directly with your future self. Someone who has walked the path before you.

I also promised to tell you how to actually build that. So here we go!

What students always tell me: doctors are busy. They don't have time for me. They "never" respond and I don't want to bother them.

I hear this constantly, and I understand why students feel that way.

But I want to give you the view from the other side.

I am a head and neck surgeon and a mom. I balance patient care, a full surgical schedule, this newsletter, my children, and everything else that comes with being a person. When an email from a premed student lands in my inbox, even though I genuinely want to respond, more often than I would like to admit, I don't end up replying, even though I am passionate about mentorship and student education. In fact, I often compose a full response in my head — a thorough and thoughtful one — and then the next case starts, or a patient needs me, or my baby cries, and the email never gets sent.

Understanding this reality teaches you how you should approach the whole problem.

So let me tell you how to make it easier for you to connect with us "busy doctors."

Read what the doctors read.

If you want to speak to a physician as something closer to a peer, you have to know what they are thinking about. Pick up the journals in the specialty you care about most. Read the clinical news. Follow the debates. You do not need to understand everything, but you need enough exposure to ask a real question and demonstrate interest.

When a student tells me they read about a specific technique, a new trial, or an ongoing debate in my field, the conversation changes. They move from being someone I am doing a favor for, to someone I am actually talking to. It's more fun to talk about a shared topic!

Cold emailing still works. But you have to make it easy to reply.

Here is the mistake most students make. They send a long email explaining how passionate they are about medicine, asking if the physician has any role for them or any advice to share. That email requires work to answer. We have to think about what we have available, craft a response, figure out logistics. Most of the time, it does not get done.

Flip the ask. Come in with specific, low-friction options already on the table.

Something like: "I am available Monday afternoons and could shadow you for a few hours if that works with your schedule." Or "I am happy to help with administrative tasks once a week," or "I would like to contribute to a research project remotely starting with a literature review and I am looking for a physician mentor."

Now all I have to do is say yes to one of three things you have already solved for me. That is a very different email to receive.

Keep it short. One short paragraph about who you are and why you are reaching out. One paragraph with your specific ask. A clear, direct sign-off. That is it.

And if we respond — reply immediately. Even if you are in the middle of finals. Even if you cannot commit to anything for two weeks. Send a one-sentence reply telling us what's on your plate and that you will reach back out soon. Nothing ends a budding mentorship faster than a student who goes quiet after we finally made the effort to write back.

Leverage your network.

Before you send a single cold email, audit your existing network. Parents, family friends, your own physician, your dentist, a neighbor who works in healthcare. People who already know you and trust you are exponentially more likely to open a door than someone who has never heard your name. Ask them directly. Tell them what you are trying to build and what you are looking for.

Most students are more connected than they realize, and many people want to help when asked clearly.

Go where the doctors are.

Put yourself in environments where physicians already are. Yes, hospital volunteering, clinical shadowing, summer internships all can help, but those barriers can be too high.

Look for Grand Rounds where students are welcome, medical conferences open to high schoolers, research seminars, live virtual zooms with interactive components, even community health events. Many hospitals post these events publicly.

The barrier to entry to these environments can be lower than rearranging your entire schedule for a whole summer internship.

Physicians notice students who show up repeatedly. Presence builds familiarity before you ever have to introduce yourself formally. The cold email becomes a warm one when you can write "I recently attended your Grand Rounds discussion on pediatric thyroid surgery and I wanted to reach out."

Start local. Not Harvard affiliated, not the most prestigious system in your state. The physician in your own town, the doctor your family sees, the surgeon who operates at your regional hospital. The one who can be accessible to you, even virtually.

These are your highest-probability first contacts. Availability matters more than prestige at this stage.

The part most students skip: keeping the relationship alive.

Getting a physician to respond once is the beginning, not the goal. The goal is a relationship that compounds over time. Building a relationship with someone who thinks of you when an interesting case comes through, who introduces you to colleagues, who eventually writes you a letter saying what no one else could say to an admissions committee who wants to read a glowing recommendation.

Keep physicians in the loop even when you do not hear back. Update them on your journey. Tell them when something they said made a difference. Ask for their opinion on your path — not because you necessarily need it, but because it actively involves them in your story.

If your mentor likes to teach, lean into that. Ask questions often. Follow up when you don't hear back. Let them feel like they are guiding you, because then they will want to keep doing it.

We do not want a gift. We do not need a formal thank you. We want to feel like we made a difference. Tell us. Show us. Keep the loop closed.

If a mentor emails you, respond. Always. Do not leave a message from someone investing in your future sitting unanswered. That is the fastest way to end a relationship that took months to build. The last email should always be sent by you, the student. Even if it is a simple "thank you for your time."

This is relationship management. Treat it like the strategic asset it is.