Duke Medical School Secondary Essay Examples

Introduction to Secondary Essays

Before getting into examples, we should establish the formatting requirements for medical school secondary essays. First, secondary essays are typically about 250–500 words. Each prompt will have different word length or character requirements. Historically, Duke doesn’t ask for more than 500 words, and the majority of their prompts have a maximum of 400 words. When you’re writing your secondary essays, you will want to write as close to the maximum word count as possible without exceeding it to keep your writing concise and sufficiently detailed.

Each question might have slightly different formatting requirements. For your answers to longer secondary essays, you can use paragraph breaks to make your sentences flow better and improve readability. For shorter essays, a single paragraph will often suffice. To help you decide what makes more sense, use an outline to plan what you want to say before you start writing, which can also help reduce the frequency of errors.

Duke Medical School Secondary Essay Example for Prompt #1

 “Share with us your story. This is your opportunity to allow us to know how you wish to be addressed, recognized, and treated.” (400 Words)

Please call me Lila (LEE-lah). I use she/her. Those are the two sentences I’ve learned to lead with, first as a kid correcting roll-call, and later as a volunteer health educator, where starting with names and pronouns often decided whether a conversation felt safe.

I grew up toggling between worlds: Spanish at home, English everywhere else. At seven, I translated at the pharmacy for my abuela and realized the hardest part wasn’t vocabulary, it was dignity. A rushed clerk once waved us aside and called her “sweetie.” On the bus home, my abuela squeezed my hand and said, “People listen better when they know how to say your name.” Since then, I’ve practiced asking before assuming, repeating pronunciations until I get them right, and offering the same courtesy in return.

At our free clinic, I began each visit with three questions: “How should I address you?” “What matters most today?” and “How would you like to make decisions, together, or after you think things over?” One evening, Mr. Ortiz (pseudonym) arrived for diabetes counseling. He disliked being called “Hispanic,” preferred “Mexicano,” and bristled at lectures. I switched to a partner tone, used teach-back instead of monologue, and we built a plan around his night-shift schedule: meter checks at 6 a.m., walking laps with his nephew after dinner, and swapping soda for agua fresca he could make with less sugar. At follow-up, his fasting glucose had improved, but what mattered more was his grin when he said, “Thanks for talking with me, not at me.”

How I hope to be known mirrors how I aim to treat others. Address me as Lila; ask if you’re unsure. Recognize me as a bridge-builder who translates not just language but priorities, someone who will slow down for context and speed up for action. Treat me with direct feedback and collaboration; if I miss something, tell me plainly and expect me to adjust. I’ll extend the same respect: clear language, consent before touch, shared decisions, and attention to barriers that make “nonadherence” look like a choice when it’s really logistics.

At Duke, I’ll keep beginning with names, listening for what matters, and co-creating plans that honor identity. That is the story I carry, and the standard I invite you to hold me to.

Word count: 380



Duke Medical School Secondary Essay Example for Prompt #2

“Trust and rapport are essential in your day-to-day interactions with people. How do you cultivate a relationship with a person who may be very different from you?” (400 words)

I volunteered as a workplace language trainer at an immigrant services organization located in my hometown. Most of the lessons I provided were in a remote, online format for the convenience of the participants. Prior to becoming a volunteer for this service, I was required to take literacy and language classes to ensure I met the qualifications to teach. I was also directed by a supervisor who provided training in a cursory diversity and representation class. In this class, I was taught the various forms of bias and discrimination along with cultural relativity and sensitivity topics, such as harassment policies.

There was one time when I was working with a couple who immigrated from France and did not speak English, making it challenging to communicate the terms and concepts I was teaching in class. I knew immediately that if we were going to make progress, I had to be patient and understanding; I decided to employ visual support models that showed what certain words meant, and because I knew a bit of French from high school and a first-year university elective I took in French language studies, I was able to translate and communicate better with them in a more cordial and casual way prior to the lesson, helping them feel more at ease and respected, which is important when learning a new language and integrating into a foreign culture. The value I was espousing through action in this scenario was compassion, which was a necessary precedent for creating a learning environment for two individuals who were new to the country and language.

In my view, inclusivity is a catalyst for creativity and innovation. The voices of different people from different backgrounds create more opportunities for productive discussions, and I think, in the marketplace of ideas, we need to be able to share opinions and understand one another to advance in society. Teaching immigrants at a social services centre showed me that people need to feel like they belong, but they also need to feel like they can contribute in their own way. Connecting with people through our shared, universal values will help create a more secure and meaningful society for everyone.

Word count: 362

Duke Medical School Secondary Essay Example for Prompt #3

“Describe a situation in which you chose to advocate for someone who was different from you or for a cause or idea that was different from yours. Define your view of advocacy. What risks, if any, might be associated with your choice to be an advocate?” (400 words)

To advocate means to defend the moral rights of a person, entity, thing, or idea. The right to advocacy is as fundamental to the expression and action of justice as any other basic human right. I believe advocacy is achieved by adherence to an underlying ethic of altruism and utilitarianism. To advocate for something is to place the benefit of the subject before another due to a perceived injustice or disadvantage.

During my pre-med studies, I was a member of a student advocacy group for women in STEM. The group’s purpose was to communicate the message that the number of women in STEM majors and careers was disconcertingly low compared to that of men. This incongruency is distressing because a significant portion of this difference is due to explicit discrimination and covert sexism in academia. As I was completing a degree in philosophy, I was exposed to a similar demographic difference. I was skeptical of the purported reason for this incongruency as I was inclined to think people were not limited by factors besides their own free will to make individual choices. I decided to become an advocate because I discovered an online post on a student forum about STEM advocacy. The post discussed a prominent stereotype that women “lack the constitution for STEM careers,” which motivates a lot of discrimination. Based on this discrimination and the testimonials from women who were in STEM majors or careers, I understood that because bias can be difficult to understand and observe if you are not disadvantaged because of it, it is important to illuminate this incongruency to dismantle myths and create a more equitable distribution of men and women based on freely made individual choices.

There are some risks associated with choosing to be an advocate. In most cases, you take the risk of relinquishing the comfort of having firm beliefs and of never returning to a state of moral idleness. You also risk your reputation and previous associations or acquaintances. The payoff of advocating for someone or something is that you actively reduce the amount of injustice by a small percent, and I think pushing the needle in favor of a more just society and system is worth taking all the risks above.

Word count: 372

Duke Medical School Secondary Essay Example for Prompt #4

“Not achieving a goal or one’s desire can sometimes be disheartening. What have you discovered from your setbacks and disappointments and how does this translate to your current way of thinking?” (400 words)

While I was completing my degree in neurobiology, I was an undergraduate teaching assistant for a first-year biology class. I was given this opportunity after asking a few of my previous professors if they had any openings for undergraduate TAs. As I have always been interested in teaching, I was looking forward to the class I was assigned to. I developed a presentation on the structure and function of plant and animal cells, which I was planning to present on the first day. To prepare, I spent the week revising the presentation and reading through some of my old notes from when I took the class. On the first day of class as a TA, I was nervous about speaking in front of a large audience. At the start of the lecture, I put the presentation on the screen for everyone to see; as I turned to the first slide and addressed the audience, the professor tapped me on the shoulder and explained that the class had already covered this topic, and they were now discussing the structure and development of angiosperms.

Because I was familiar with this subject, I was able to use the professor’s prepared slides for this topic to complete the ninety-minute lecture with thorough detail on the topic. From this experience, I learned the importance of communication and organization. When I initially discussed the lectures with the professor, he did not mention that the plant and animal cell section had been omitted because this omission had been indicated in the syllabus. I realized I should have clarified prior to creating my lectures and schedule instead of assuming. I also learned to be more organized and attentive to detail because if I had browsed the online course content uploaded on the student portal, I would have noticed this change. Since then, I have started using a calendar to record all important dates and information. This experience transformed the way I approach important dates in my schedules and plans for presentations, and I always create and rehearse a plan B. For example, if I am preparing for an exam and I do not know if a topic will be covered, I study it anyway so I can adapt to the format and content of the test as needed.

Word count: 380

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Duke Medical School Secondary Essay Example for Prompt #5

“What do you value most as a leader and as a contributor? What attributes do you possess as a leader and as a team member and how do you apply them on a daily basis?” (400 words)

As a leader, I value the ability to establish an ideal outcome of the project or task with the people I am working with. I want to be able to see that my teammates are motivated and invested in the project or task. I believe trust is needed to create the preconditions for a collective idea and commitment to what we want to achieve. Synergistic workflow occurs when everyone accepts and buys into the process, rather than fixating on an individualized process or solution. There is a tendency among large and even small groups to diverge and dissent because certain individuals are using their own approaches, rather than a collective approach, to arrive at a solution. To me, this tendency indicates a fundamental flaw in communication and leadership, which should come from a bond and a sense of trust.

As a contributor, I value transparency and the opportunity to take initiative. I believe clear instructions should be given by a leader or supervisor. There should also be an established time and place to ask questions to clarify inconsistencies and questions that may arise as I complete and learn tasks. I think it is important not to be told how everything works, because it is important to learn by doing. Completing a task and learning from performing it has the most profound influence on someone's ability to make progress.

As a leader, I think it is important to identify the strengths, weaknesses, and needs of every person, especially in a team environment. In my most recent paid position as a personal trainer, I worked with small groups of people with varying gym experience and fitness levels. If someone disagreed with the advice I was giving or training I was leading, I would like to discuss that in the appropriate group and one-on-one environments. I believe discussion is the best way to hold people accountable for their goals, which must have positive and negative consequences to be achieved. My strength as a leader is knowing everyone’s limits and potential. If people are receptive and amenable, they can overcome their limitations. As a personal trainer, I observe my clients to know how far I can push them and challenge their conception of what their own limitations are.

Word count: 374

Duke Medical School Secondary Essay Example for Prompt #6

“Critical thinking involves a number of characteristics. Research experience enhances critical analysis skills. Describe any research experience or similar experience in which you utilized critical thinking. How will critical thinking be important in your future career?” (400 words)

Over the summer, I was part of a research program hosted at X University. The program duration was nine weeks. Students were taught pulmonary and critical care medicine with the guidance of a mentor, and at the end of the program, we were to complete a research project. The project topic I was assigned to was asthma epidemiology. My job was to investigate asthma inception in children of vulnerable populations, particularly the roles and nature of genetic determinants of asthma and allergy disease development.

In this project, it was important to engage my critical thinking skills for a few reasons. First, when we were formulating the hypothesis, I had to consider methodology. My supervisor made it clear that we could conduct either a twin study or a genome-wide association study. I also knew that a cohort study was off-limits due to time constraints and a lack of resources.

After choosing to conduct a genome-wide study, we found a large sample size of about 2,000 severe asthmatics. When we were testing the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), I knew that we were going to encounter issues with noisy variants, which would pollute the markers we were attempting to identify. To circumvent this complication, I proposed that we use SNP genotype references from the 1000 Genomes Project. This decision led to an increased statistical significance of our results that found the association of two asthma susceptibility loci.

My goal is to open my own clinical practice for family medicine. The diversity of patients, conditions, comorbidities, and other variables can create confounding information that can make it difficult to conclude and outline an accurate and precise prognosis or treatment plan. Therefore, having the ability to analyze information and engage critical thinking skills to distinguish methods and resources will be critically important to successfully providing good health care and upholding ethical, quality, and care standards. I also believe that having strong critical thinking skills can influence other medical professionals I work with by enhancing my ability to contribute to discussions and deliberation regarding a patient’s results or treatment.

Word count: 343

Duke Medical School Secondary Essay Example for Prompt #7

“Potential sources of health inequities exist. Duke’s Moments to Movement (M2M) is a collective stand to address these issues. Discuss your experience with disparities in health, health care and society.” (400 Words)

On Tuesdays our mobile clinic parks beside the Number 5 bus loop. That’s where I met Ms. Greene (pseudonym), a 58-year-old with stubborn hypertension and a chart full of “no-shows.” When I asked what got in the way, she pulled two crumpled transfer stubs from her purse. She needed to arrange childcare for her grandson, which involved two buses each way, a $6 round trip, and a three-hour window. The nearest pharmacy was four miles past a grocery store she couldn’t afford, so she stretched pills, and salt-heavy canned soups stretched her pressure.

It would have been easy to code “nonadherence.” Instead, we mapped barriers. I enrolled her in our 340B medication program and transferred her prescriptions to a pharmacy with home delivery. We fitted a loaner BP cuff, set text reminders she approved, and coordinated with a food pantry that offered low-sodium options. Our social worker issued bus vouchers for specialty visits. A month later, her readings were down, and so was the story we told ourselves about why.

I’ve seen other seams where health frays. As an ER scribe, I watched a Spanish-speaking patient answer through her bilingual teen until I paged the interpreter and reframed the encounter: we paused, summarized in plain language, and invited questions without the child in the middle. The relief on the mother’s face reminded me that language access is care, not a courtesy.

To push upstream, I led a small QI project at our clinic: we overlaid missed-appointment rates with bus routes and shift schedules from the nearby warehouse. The pattern was stark, gaps clustered where buses ran hourly and where night shifts ended after our doors closed. We presented to leadership and piloted evening hours twice a week; no-show rates fell for those blocks.

These experiences shaped how I understand health inequity: not as isolated choices but as the predictable result of policy, place, and power. Duke’s Moments to Movement (M2M) names that reality and asks for action. If admitted, I’ll bring the same habits, listening before labeling, redesigning workflows around what patients actually face, and measuring whether changes work. I hope to partner with M2M efforts on transportation and language equity, contribute to student-run clinics, and keep asking the question that first changed Ms. Greene’s care: What would make this plan possible in your life?

Word count: 343

Duke Medical School Secondary Essay Example for Prompt #8

“Drawing from your clinical experiences, how have you fostered a connection with people?” (400 Words)

Connection, I’ve learned, happens before the first clinical question. It starts when people feel seen, called by the name they choose, and given enough quiet to tell you what matters.

On the dialysis unit where I volunteer, I met Mr. Whitaker, a retired mechanic with expressive aphasia after a stroke. Conversation was effortful; answers arrived as single words or gestures. Instead of repeating questions louder, I switched tools: a picture board, yes/no cards, and a dry-erase marker for drawing choices. I sat at his eye level and asked, “How would you like me to address you?” He tapped “Ray.” When I noticed a dog keychain clipped to his bag, I drew a stick-figure terrier and asked its name. His face brightened: “Peanut.” We built a routine: weigh-in, vitals, then one Peanut update. The numbers mattered, but the ritual did the work; Ray began initiating our check-ins, and on tough days a single thumbs-up let me know he still felt in control.

As a medical assistant in a family clinic, I met T., a 16-year-old with “chest pain” and a backpack full of late slips. After vitals, I asked the three questions I use with teens: “What name and pronouns do you use?” “Do you want a parent here or a minute alone?” “What’s the hardest part of today?” With her mother’s permission, we spoke privately. The pain, it turned out, arrived third period before oral presentations. We tried a distress thermometer, practiced box breathing once together, and I offered to jot a one-line note for her teacher about brief hallway breaks, not as an excuse, but as a plan. When the NP entered, I summarized in plain language and asked T. to teach back the plan. She corrected my wording—“not panic, just overwhelm,” and smiled. Being precise with her words also represented a connection.

Across settings, my approach is consistent: start with addressing (names, pronouns, preferred language), create safety (ask permission, avoid using children as interpreters, sit rather than hover), and build partnership (co-create next steps and check understanding with teach-back). I try to notice the small anchors: a keychain dog and a crowded backpack that point to the larger story.

I hope to bring these habits to medical school: open with dignity, listen past diagnoses, and translate care into plans that fit real lives. Connection isn’t soft; it’s the scaffolding that makes every clinical decision possible.

Word count: 399

Duke Medical School Secondary Essay Example for Prompt #9

(Optional) “Please let us know any additional information that you would like us to consider while reviewing your application”(400 Words)

You’ll notice one W on my transcript (Organic Chemistry II, junior fall) and a three-month dip in clinical hours. That term, my family had to relocate on short notice when our landlord sold the building. I took on evening shifts to help with expenses and a longer commute from a temporary sublet. I tried to maintain my full course load and clinic volunteering, but by mid-October I was missing problem-set deadlines and arriving to clinic exhausted. I withdrew from Orgo II rather than accept a poor grade I couldn’t fully remediate during the term.

I met with my dean and mapped a stability-first plan: secured short-term campus housing through the student support office, shifted to a predictable campus job (library circulation), and created a weekly time-blocked schedule with fixed study blocks. I joined the department’s peer-led Orgo workshop, used office hours twice weekly, and set up a standing tutoring session. For clinical exposure, I moved my volunteer shift to Saturday mornings, and, to address transportation challenges I’d seen among volunteers, I coordinated a simple rideshare spreadsheet that paired drivers with those on early shifts. I also enrolled in a one-credit course on learning strategies, which helped me build a preview-review routine for dense courses.

The next semester I retook Orgo II and earned an A- while carrying upper-division physiology and statistics (both A/A-). My clinical involvement rebounded: I completed 220+ hours across the following two terms, added 80 hours as an ER scribe over the summer, and maintained consistent weekend service without missed shifts. More importantly, my habits changed: I now front-load hard tasks, confirm expectations early, and escalate concerns before they become problems. The W stands alone; the trajectory since then reflects the systems I built.

This season taught me to respond to stress with structure, transparency, and teamwork, skills I’ll carry into medical school. At Duke, I will check in proactively with advisors and preceptors as I did with my dean and instructors, protect fixed study and rest blocks so I can be fully present during the early clinical year, and contribute operationally by organizing student clinic schedules and resolving small barriers, like transportation or language access, that can derail care. If admitted, I bring clear context for that single W, a verified upward trend, and a record of turning disruption into reliable systems, habits I’m ready to apply to Duke’s rigorous, team-based training.

Word count: 397

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