How Top Pre-Meds Demonstrate AAMC Competencies

Medical school admissions are more competitive than ever, with fewer than 200 students enrolled each year at many institutions despite thousands of applications. To choose the most promising future doctors, admissions committees use the AAMC Core Competencies as a guidepost.

If you're planning to apply to medical school, understanding these 15 Core Competencies is essential. They represent what it truly takes to succeed as a physician—far beyond your GPA and MCAT score.

At Go Elective, we help aspiring doctors gain real-world, international clinical experience in Kenya and Tanzania—experiences that can directly showcase these core competencies. Let’s walk through each one and explore how to demonstrate them through your experiences.

What Are the AAMC Core Competencies?

The AAMC groups the 15 competencies into four categories:

Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Thinking and Reasoning
Science

Interpersonal Competencies

These describe how you work with and relate to others.

Service Orientation

Doctors are called to serve. This competency is about recognizing the needs of others and acting to alleviate suffering. Volunteer work is one way to demonstrate this—especially when it’s long-term and impactful.

How to show it: Share how you've gone beyond the minimum, such as leading a healthcare education initiative or participating in community health outreach through an international internship.

Social Skills

You’ll be working closely with patients, physicians, and nurses. Strong social skills mean showing emotional intelligence, respect, and adaptability in diverse settings.

Stand out tip: Reflect on experiences where you worked well under pressure or resolved conflict within a team.

Cultural Competence

This refers to your ability to interact effectively with people from different cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs.

Demonstrate it by: Participating in cross-cultural healthcare programs, such as Go Elective’s internships, which place you in multicultural environments where you’ll learn firsthand how social and cultural dynamics affect patient care.

Teamwork

Medicine is not a solo pursuit. Physicians rely on interdisciplinary teams to deliver quality care.

How to highlight it: Discuss your collaborative role in research, group projects, or team-based healthcare internships—especially where you played a leadership or coordination role.

Oral Communication

Doctors must explain diagnoses and treatment plans clearly while listening attentively to patients.

Top example: Describe moments where you explained a complex idea to someone from a different background—or where your communication helped defuse a tense situation.

Intrapersonal Competencies

These reflect your character, self-awareness, and work ethic.

Ethical Responsibility to Self and Others

Integrity, honesty, and responsibility define this core value. Physicians must make ethical decisions daily—sometimes in high-stakes scenarios.

Best way to show this: Share how you upheld ethical principles under pressure or advocated for integrity in a difficult group situation.

Reliability and Dependability

Physicians must be counted on. Medical schools want students who honor deadlines, follow through, and take accountability.

Demonstrate this through: Letters of recommendation, consistent volunteering, or clinical experiences like Go Elective’s placements that required long hours and strong commitment.

Resilience and Adaptability

Healthcare is fast-paced and emotionally intense. Admissions committees want to know: how do you respond when things don’t go as planned?

Example: Discuss a challenge during a healthcare shadowing experience—especially abroad—and how you adapted and grew from it.

Capacity for Improvement

Physicians never stop learning. The ability to reflect, grow, and improve from feedback is critical.

What to include: Share how you responded to constructive criticism, improved a research method, or overcame early academic setbacks.

Thinking and Reasoning Competencies

These focus on your intellectual abilities and analytical thinking.

Critical Thinking

You must be able to analyze problems and evaluate potential solutions logically.

Best example: Describe when you solved a complex clinical or research problem—or changed your approach after assessing risks and benefits.

Quantitative Reasoning

This competency centers on applying math and data to solve real-world problems.

Stand out by: Highlighting how you used statistics in research, calculated medication dosages during clinical internships, or interpreted public health data in a global context.

Scientific Inquiry

Doctors must understand how scientific knowledge is generated and validated.

Demonstrate it with: Research experience, capstone projects, or participation in studies during pre-med internships abroad.

Written Communication

Whether it's a patient chart or a published study, doctors need strong writing skills.

How to highlight it: Reference published work, essays from your coursework, or your ability to clearly document patient observations during shadowing.

Science Competencies

The final section of the AAMC Core Competencies evaluates your scientific foundation.

Living Systems

This includes understanding biological systems at both molecular and organ levels.

Example: Describe biology-focused research or internships where you shadowed physicians in surgery or internal medicine.

Human Behavior

Understanding human behavior is crucial for treating patients and developing public health interventions.

Demonstrate this by: Taking psychology or sociology courses, volunteering in mental health settings, or engaging with patients during global health internships.

Bringing It All Together with Go Elective

Knowing the AAMC Core Competencies is one thing. Demonstrating them through your personal story is what gets you accepted.

Go Elective helps you do just that.

Through our immersive pre-med and medical internships in Kenya and Tanzania, students:

Gain real-world clinical experience in underserved hospitals
Learn cultural competence by living and working alongside local communities
Build teamwork, resilience, and adaptability through hands-on patient care
Receive mentorship and guidance for personal statements and medical school interviews

Each placement is carefully structured to align with the AAMC Core Competencies—giving you the edge you need.

Explore our programs at goelective.com/healthcare or apply now.

Final Thoughts: Your Next Steps

The strongest medical school applications combine academic excellence with demonstrated character and professional potential. The AAMC Core Competencies are the framework to showcase your readiness.

If you want help building your experiences, we are here to help you. Apply here.

We wish you all the best as you work toward your medical school goals!