For current medical students
Get paid $50 to tell applicants what your school is really like.
Tell applicants what your school is really like.
Answer 8–10 questions about your medical school in your own words. It takes 30–45 minutes, and your draft saves as you go. Once we verify your school email and publish your interview, we send you $50.
“Also being in a class of 60 students, the faculty are incredibly invested in your success and often know us by name.”
Read the full interview →How it works
-
Answer 8–10 questions
Pick the questions that fit your year and interests, then write the way you’d talk to a friend with an interview invite. About 30–45 minutes.
-
Verify and approve
Within 7 days, we email your school (.edu) address with your edited interview. Reply to confirm it’s you and approve the edits, and tell us whether you’d like to be paid by PayPal or Venmo.
-
Get published and paid
Get published
Your interview goes live on DocStory, and we send $50 by PayPal or Venmo within 7 days.
Who can contribute
- Current students at a U.S. MD or DO school, first through fourth year, before graduation
- You have an active school email address ending in .edu
- You write about your own experience, with no patient information
Payment
- $50 per interview, paid after it’s verified and published
- Choose PayPal or Venmo when you reply to our verification email
- One paid interview per person
- Paid for any school with fewer than 5 published interviews: right now that’s all of the 40 schools on DocStory, plus any school we don’t cover yet
- Schools with 5 or more interviews are welcome too, unpaid
Questions
Can I stay anonymous?
Yes. You choose how you’re credited: full name, first name only, or anonymous. We still need your name and school email privately to verify you and pay you, but neither is ever published.
Why do you need my .edu email?
It’s how we confirm every interview comes from a real student at that school. Before anything is published, we email that address and ask you to reply. We only email you from a DocStory email address, and we never ask for passwords or bank details.
Will my answers be edited?
Lightly, for formatting, length, and clarity. We don’t change what you meant. You’ll see the edited version in our verification email and nothing goes live until you approve it.
When and how do I get paid?
You choose how you’re paid when you reply to the verification email we send your school (.edu) address: just tell us whether you prefer PayPal or Venmo, and the username or email address to send it to. Payment goes out within 7 days of your interview going live. We never ask for bank details.
My school already has 5 interviews. Can I still contribute?
Yes, and we’d love more perspectives, but we aren’t paying for new interviews from schools with 5 or more published right now. The form tells you as soon as you pick your school.
Do I have to finish in one sitting?
No. Your draft saves automatically in your browser, so you can close the page and pick up where you left off on the same device.
Is there a quality bar?
Yes. Whether an interview is ready to publish is at our discretion, and the bar is roughly the caliber of the typical interview already on DocStory: specific, first-hand answers with real detail. We make every effort to accept and pay for every good-faith submission, so if something falls short we’ll usually ask you to expand a few answers rather than turn it down.
What if my interview isn’t accepted?
We’ll tell you why. Most often it’s an unverifiable email, answers that are too thin, or details that could identify a patient. We’ll usually ask you to revise first; if it still doesn’t meet the bar after that, we may decline it, and declined interviews aren’t paid.
Can I take my interview down later?
Yes. Email us from your school address and we’ll remove it or switch it to anonymous. See the Contributor Terms for details.
Be the interview you wish you’d read.
30–45 minutes · $50 once published · anonymous if you like