It’s that time of year when US medical schools send out spring offers, and YouTube has been buzzing with music videos from top medical programs.
Everyone’s proving one thing: the hardest-working med students make the wildest videos.
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The Toughest Med Students, the Craziest Music Videos
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School’s annual music video is basically a debut stage — everyone can sing and dance.
Whether you want cheerleaders, boy bands, rap, or ballet, they’ve got you covered.
Energetic cheerleading 👇
Ballet on the rooftop 👇
Rap crew 👇
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Gym hunks and hotties 👇
Dental sisters 👇
Netizens reacted:
“I don’t get it — how do they maintain a 4.0 GPA while happily singing and dancing like they’re ready to debut?”
“Maybe that’s just the species difference between geniuses and ordinary people.”
“Honestly, I’m not surprised — after all, they’re at Harvard 😅”
Stanford School of Medicine
Stanford truly is the big spender — the med school music video "Stanford Med, Baby" has all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood (just kidding)... more like a talent show.
Girl group dance 👇
Musical theater 👇
Rapper and his homies busting out an impromptu breakdance 👇
Ballerinas casually doing the splits wherever they are 👇
Even random passersby can play the cello 👇
They even say: "We’re on the West Coast, always having fun — everything else takes a back seat, Stanford is Number One."
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And casually throws shade at Harvard 😂
Duke University School of Medicine
The Duke med school music video "It’s Brutal, Baby" is a pure rant.
"Desperate med students — classes by day, night shifts by night"
"Always stuck in the library, finishing up at 1:30 AM"
"Sometimes I want to go and have fun, but then I see my GPA and rush right back to the lab"
"Welcome to Hell Mode"
Bonus: “Don’t worry about collapsing — you can just go to the ER right here” 😅
Netizens commented:
“If Duke’s basketball team worked as hard as their med students, they’d have made the Final Four ages ago 😂”
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Penn Med’s music video "Rumor Has It" | "YMCA" | "We Are Young" is more of a rant-buster.
Sure, they too worry about med school life — pulling all-nighters, losing hair, ending up at the bottom of the class 👇
But after all, they’re still young with plenty of time to make mistakes and learn — nothing is impossible, just go for it.
So full of positive energy — the comment section is basically one big praise chorus 👇
Yale School of Medicine
Compared to the other schools, Yale’s music video is a bit rougher — more of a goofy parody style 👇
Netizens said:
“I really wanted to go to Yale, but after watching this MV I think I’ll pass 😅”
Yale ended up with zero effective views and some reverse publicity. But you can’t entirely blame the school — the competition is just too fierce, raising everyone’s standards.
US Medical School Music Videos: Finding Joy Amid Hardship + Recruitment Tool
Actually, US medical schools making music videos has been a long-standing tradition, and top institutions secretly or openly compete, launching a “battle for students.”
The comments section under each video is like a fan-club war, full of side-by-side comparisons. For example, someone commented under Yale’s video that Harvard is forever GOAT 👇
So the question is: why do US medical schools make music videos? Aren’t they supposed to be the notorious burnout majors that require superhuman endurance?
Originally, med students made these videos mainly as a way to vent and find some joy — pure self-entertainment, with inside jokes only they understand, resonating mostly within the med student community.
At first, quality was all over the place — after all, they’re not professionals, so poor pixelation, rough editing, and cheesy scripts were common. But top med schools are full of hidden talents — many students have backgrounds in film, theater, or performing arts, and they can really deliver.
Some deep-pocketed schools are willing to shell out money to hire professional creative teams to shoot their videos, like Stanford 👇
But many more videos are entirely student-produced and acted, like this one from UPenn 👇
Wildly imaginative storylines, professional choreography and scoring, sharp filming and editing, confident singing and dancing, and swagger-filled walk — they could debut on the spot.
Maybe the videos were so good they went viral and simply turned into school recruitment tools.
In recent years, med school music videos have evolved from self-entertainment into a key recruitment method for many schools.
US med school music videos usually go live in spring — right when schools send out offers and wait for students to decide, a critical time for the “battle for students.”
The US medical school circle is actually very small; each school only has about 100 students per class, and top med schools are essentially competing for the same tiny pool of talent. Although med school is notoriously hard to get into, it’s the students who do the choosing when they hold multiple offers.
Having enough offers to play poker is standard for top applicants.
Beyond rankings, academic resources, and financial aid, campus culture is often a deciding factor for these top-tier students — and these videos are a prime way for schools to showcase that culture.
To attract these star candidates, schools have been pouring in effort and quietly competing through their videos, raising the bar for med school music video production year after year.
Many netizens said: After watching this, I want (even more) to go to med school! Or maybe not.
Studying Medicine in the US: Debut at Thirty
As we all know, studying medicine is tough, and it’s even tougher in the US.
Unlike medical education in China, US medical schools don’t offer undergraduate programs; students come from varied backgrounds. Those with undergrad degrees in biology or chemistry tend to have an edge.
US undergrads often pursue a Pre-med track, which includes prerequisite courses like biology, chemistry, physics, calculus, etc.
Additionally, applicants must pass the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) to apply to medical school.
Is the MCAT really that hard? Yes, the kind that makes you question your existence.
In fact, studying medicine is where the existential crisis begins.
Admission to top US medical schools for an MD (Doctor of Medicine) is like one in a hundred. The program takes four years, after which you earn a doctoral degree. After 1-3 years of residency, you still have to pass the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) to finally become a practicing clinician.
If you want to become a physician-scientist, you have to add a PhD on top of the MD — that’s another 3-5 years on top.
All told, it’s at least 10 years of grinding and around $100,000 a year in tuition — only to finally start practicing medicine in middle age 😅
Not only is admission fiercely selective and the financial burden heavy, the study itself is brutal. Medicine is one of the few majors that can rival architecture in terms of all-nighters spent in the library.
Rumor has it, med students have exams 300 out of 365 days a year.
There was a TikTok-famous med student who went viral for being too miserable.
His daily life: Mom, I want to drop out 👇
Failed an exam, crying in the shower at 4 AM 👇
After crying, just go back to studying 👇
Although med school graduates can earn an average of $200k per year, it’s not something just anyone can endure. So schools really should put in the effort to sell themselves.
US College Admissions Get Competitive
Nowadays US colleges are pulling out all the stops for recruitment. From 360° immersive virtual campus tours:
to student ambassadors on social media:
to wildly creative school/department promo videos:
Compared to boring email blasts, music videos are the pinnacle of promotion.
And schools are getting more and more competitive — after sending out offers, they even mail a big welcome package 👇
After all, universities in the UK, US, Canada, and beyond are competing globally for students — and international students, especially those from China, are valuable fee-paying students, so they must be courted properly.
Remember at the start of the pandemic when Queen’s University Belfast organized charter flights to bring Chinese students to the UK? Both generous and thoughtful.
I’m sure many of you have already received offers. While you enjoy the joy of acceptance, take a look at how schools are still trying to outdo each other, and think it over before deciding where to go~
Finally, best wishes to all incoming students — may you achieve great success in your studies!
