Future medical students face a stressful MCAT testing situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MCAT exam administrations at Pearson Testing Centers are not allowed to take place while non-essential business operations are restricted. My exam, which I have studied nearly 400 hours for, is at risk of being canceled a second time. I will not know whether or not it will be canceled until one week before my exam. This stressful situation is being faced by countless medical school applicants.

I stand with future medical students across our country when I say that I am not personally or morally comfortable taking this examination in a testing center during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of how many safety precautions are put into place, taking the MCAT at testing centers is essentially a 6-hour group gathering. 

We know the virus spreads through human breath. To get into medical school during this pandemic, all test-takers must sit in the same room for six hours. Many people will travel outside of their counties to get to their testing center, the exact thing doctors and public health officials urge us not to do.

We want to stay out of public areas to protect our hospitals and communities.

We want to end this pandemic to avoid preventable death.

We are not asking for an exception. Rather, we urge the AAMC, infectious disease experts, and medical education leaders to develop an MCAT testing solution that is responsible, fair, and adherent to the current public health needs of our society during this pandemic. Online proctored exams or waiving MCAT requirements are the only safe options to ensure that the future doctors of our country are helping to stop the spread of COVID-19. 

Our job as future medical students is to keep our society healthy and safe. Please help us to start doing so now.