I am at an impasse and would like your opinions

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I imagine these issues have been beaten to death, but I'm really at a loss right now.

I have wanted to be a doctor since before I can remember (clichéd, I know).

A mixture of abject poverty, a comically inadequate high school education, and an assortment of made-for-tv “family problems” (as they are often called), made the idea of being a physician more and more unrealistic.

It took me 6 years to complete my BS in biology (I'm just short of 25, if you need to know), and between working odd jobs and regularly driving 3 hours away to care for my father with ESLD, my pre-med coursework was far less than adequate and I graduated last winter with a 2.8 GPA.

Somewhere during the my last year in college I decided that maybe becoming (let alone, being) a physician was too horrifying of an endeavor to even consider, with all of the extra crap I'd have to wade through. So, I toyed the idea of shining up my GPA a bit, sticking with my current job as a clinical research coordinator for awhile and hoping that an NP program might take me in down the line.

I was left chewing on that plan for a good amount of time and was pretty okay with it. Although, the idea of retaking intro chem, after taking two years of chem, to aim for an RN at a community college (to apply to an NP program), was a bit humbling. But, I do kind of like aspects of the nursing model.

Naturally, no offense to RN's, who, in my experience, are generally spectacular and brilliant people...or community colleges, for that matter....

I digress..

I suppose the kicker came two months ago, when my father died of pneumonia secondary to a hepatic hydrothorax, just a week or so short of getting a transplant.

It really put me in the position where I wanted to hurry up with throwing myself into something big and meaningful...It really messed with my comfortable plan and drudged up allot of feelings of restlessness, of wanting to be challenged, of mild-to-moderate masochism, of cocky naïve ideals of serving people....I guess..I don't know...I could aim for an MPH or post-bac program and hope to join the white-coated, unwashed masses of any MD program that would take me.

I work in a hospital, with tons of physicians, but I am too shy/professionally distant to really ask frankly:

• Was it worth it?
• Do you feel like your work is meaningful?
• Do you regret devoting so much time (and by some estimates, your 'best' years) to your career, possibly in lieu of (or delaying) having/maintaining a family or relationships?
• Are there things you wished you did differently?
• Do you feel like you are changing things for the better or fighting the man or saving the world or...whatever...?

I also work with a sizable amount of NP's and PA's.. if they might be lurking around this forum..:

• Do you feel satisfied with the scope of your practice?
• Is it discouraging that there is so much crap (in terms of politics and policy) that you have to deal with being an NP or PA and is it enough to make you second guess this job?
• Do you feel challenged with you career?
• (and likewise..) Do you feel like you are changing things for the better? Was it worth it? Do you feel like your work is meaningful?

If you are willing to answer honestly and candidly, it would be very appreciated. If possible, I would please prefer not to hear 'if you have to ask, you shouldn't bother' or 'do what makes YOU happy'...which is really hard to work with.

I am just really torn of where I should go from here and would really like to hear your opinions.

how many credits do you have. if you are thinking about MD programs, you likely have at least 2 years of GPA repair, probably 3. Why did it take you 6 years. The father stuff or were there other reasons. Credits per semester, etc. Do you have a good couple years with a bad couple years or 6 years of B-? An MPH is a huge waste of time and money when it comes to gpa repair. you need to work on your ugpa. Are you interested in DO programs?

Not trying to be a jerk but if the op took 6 years to get a bs in biology and only then with more C's than A's he should think about looking elsewhere. MD/DO, PA and NP are probably too much. Best to go with MA or RN as a stretch. Not knocking those professions, just being realistic with the OP's capabilities.

Edit. Not sure what gender the op is. Don't wish to offend

Originally Posted by dmf2682

Not trying to be a jerk but if the op took 6 years to get a bs in biology and only then with more C's than A's he should think about looking elsewhere. MD/DO, PA and NP are probably too much. Best to go with MA or RN as a stretch. Not knocking those professions, just being realistic with the OP's capabilities.

Edit. Not sure what gender the op is. Don't wish to offend

I don't think this is a fair statement. The OP had a lot of life issues with having to work and a parent dying in the process. Just staying in school through that is no easy feat. Not to worry OP, it took me 7 years to get my bachelor's with less than stellar numbers, I was married to an abusive husband, and my mom died 3 months before I graduated, and I worked 2 jobs. Life sucks sometimes and you just have to roll with it. When you are mentally ready, go back to do your GPA repair and rock it all to hell. Apply and see what happens because until that application is submitted you will never know.

Originally Posted by cabinbuilder

I don't think this is a fair statement. The OP had a lot of life issues with having to worked an a parent dying in the process. Just staying in school through that is no easy feat.

This. 100% I don't think anyone can make an adequate assessment of the OP's capabilities based on this thread only. If your goal is MD or DO, then do an informal post bacc showing that you can excel in upper level science classes. Your experiences help shape you as a person. Best of luck to you.

Originally Posted by cabinbuilder

I don't think this is a fair statement. The OP had a lot of life issues with having to work and a parent dying in the process. Just staying in school through that is no easy feat. Not to worry OP, it took me 7 years to get my bachelor's with less than stellar numbers, I was married to an abusive husband, and my mom died 3 months before I graduated, and I worked 2 jobs. Life sucks sometimes and you just have to roll with it. When you are mentally ready, go back to do your GPA repair and rock it all to hell. Apply and see what happens because until that application is submitted you will never know.

Life sucks but the op's performance thus far indicates academic weakness. Just because he has a good excuse for doing poorly does not indicate he can do well. You can't make the call and imply success is inevitable just because it worked out for you.

No one can make the call. It's up to the individual. But past poor performance doesn't necessarily have to mean future failure.

Originally Posted by cabinbuilder

No one can make the call. It's up to the individual. But past poor performance doesn't necessarily have to mean future failure.

Agreed, with the corollary that justified past poor performance doesn't necessarily indicate capability.

Thank you for your encouragement, cabinbuilder.

I understand either option would take a sizeable amount of time, before I even consider applying and I am okay with that and no...I am confident that I can do better than an MA or an RN. Have already done clinical work that surpasses the responsibilities an MA has....thanks for the suggestion?

I was more so hoping for some insights from a MD or NP...perhaps this isn't quite the right subform for me to have posted this...

Also, for pronouns sake, I am female.

Originally Posted by Pseudonymoniker

Thank you for your encouragement, cabinbuilder.

I understand either option would take a sizeable amount of time, before I even consider applying and I am okay with that and no...I am confident that I can do better than an MA or an RN. Have already done clinical work that surpasses the responsibilities an MA has....thanks for the suggestion?

I was more so hoping for some insights from a MD or NP...perhaps this isn't quite the right subform for me to have posted this...

there are plenty of MDs that come into this forum and it is the right spot for it, but many haven't responded because they aren't going to say anything of value that hasn't already been said. And if you are looking for input from an NP, you might want to try allnurses.com as there probably aren't many NPs on these forums.

and you don't need a MD to tell you the obvious. you have a 2.8 gpa with what I can assume is 120 credits. In order to go to an MD school, you need to raise your gpa over 3.0 and do an SMP. To get to a 3.0 you need 25-30 credits at 4.0 (so a year) and then hope for an SMP for another year. If you want to forgo the SMP, you need to get to a 3.5 to have a realistic chance. This would mean that you need 169 more credits at a 4.0 to get there.

I am not arguing that you are incapable of being an MD/DO, but based on your current grades and explanation, I would bet against you. And so would adcoms. So before you get ahead of yourself and try to figure out which program is more fulfilling for your unique talents, you need to take enough credits to prove that you can even get 4.0 semesters.

And being that your degree is in bio, you likely have a bad sgpa as well. You will probably end up retaking some of the classes that you have already taken and DO schools will forget the old grade, causing your GPA to jump up much faster. And 2.8 isn't that horrible for DO repair. Retake one year of C grades and you could jump to a 3.2 or higher. Do great on the mcat you could be applying next year. You have at least 3 years before applying to MD schools and that would still be a huge gamble.

To get back to the OP original question... the journey is personal. So the question is do you like medicine (and all it entails) to put yourself through the grade repair, MCAT, application cycle, interviews, rejections, Medical school, Steps 1 and 2, Match, rejections, Residency. I can't answer that for you.

For me, I had a horrible undergrad exp. took a break, came back in my late twenties and early thirties, retoook classes, volunteered, shadowed, did the SMP at Georgetown, and with three application cycles finally got in. I have been a successful med student (no F's) and now a succesful resident. Has it been worth it? For me, Yes. I was working a corporate job when I decided to make myself competitive to apply. I dreaded going to work for a a measly 9 hour day. I was miserable. Right now I am postcall after a 24+ hour shift and I am content but a little tired.

SInce you have access to Doctors and Nurses, etc. you should ask them and see if you can shadow them. If you are too shy to do this now, you will get eaten alive in this process. Just remember that the worse they can say is no....the best is grab your stuff lets go!

If this is what you want to do, then yes it is doable (not easy but doable)...Good luck!

Just my two cents,
Marcia

Originally Posted by marciah

To get back to the OP original question... the journey is personal. So the question is do you like medicine (and all it entails) to put yourself through the grade repair, MCAT, application cycle, interviews, rejections, Medical school, Steps 1 and 2, Match, rejections, Residency. I can't answer that for you.

For me, I had a horrible undergrad exp. took a break, came back in my late twenties and early thirties, retoook classes, volunteered, shadowed, did the SMP at Georgetown, and with three application cycles finally got in. I have been a successful med student (no F's) and now a succesful resident. Has it been worth it? For me, Yes. I was working a corporate job when I decided to make myself competitive to apply. I dreaded going to work for a a measly 9 hour day. I was miserable. Right now I am postcall after a 24+ hour shift and I am content but a little tired.

SInce you have access to Doctors and Nurses, etc. you should ask them and see if you can shadow them. If you are too shy to do this now, you will get eaten alive in this process. Just remember that the worse they can say is no....the best is grab your stuff lets go!

If this is what you want to do, then yes it is doable (not easy but doable)...Good luck!

Just my two cents,
Marcia

Thank you.