need advice - good academics, spotty employment...

[aza]

So, I'm 29 and done with most of my prereqs (everything except physics. I may also take a couple additional bio courses this year).

On the academic side of things, I'm pretty good - I never finished high school but I finished college when I was 19. I had a 4.0 undergrad (UC Berkeley, math), JD from UC Berkeley (which has a weird grading system that doesn't correspond to a 4.0 scale. We're not allowed to disclose our class ranks except for judicial clerkship applications but mine was very, very good). I took fairly rigorous courses as an undergrad (e.g. math major, 3 years of a 'difficult' language) but the only prereq I did was gen chem (which was >10 years ago). So I've been doing all my prereqs at a CC, but hopefully the rest of my academic record will compensate for that.

I haven't taken the MCAT yet. I'm a good test-taker in general, and I've always done well on standardized tests, but I'm worried about the MCAT b/c 1. it's very different from the tests I've done well on (SAT, GRE, LSAT), and 2. I've never taken a computerized test before and I don't think the format will work to my advantage. I think I'll do OK but not great.

For a whole variety of reasons, my employment record is spotty.
For 3 years between college and law school, I did practically nothing worth mentioning. I was experiencing a severe clinical depression. I'm serious about it being 'severe'. I was hospitalized multiple times and the only reason it ended was because I was given ECT (electroconvulsive therapy, aka 'shock therapy'), which worked like a charm. During this period, I had a couple work-from-home gigs, but none of them are really worth mentioning.

Right after a few months of shock therapy, I took the LSAT and applied to law school. I did so without much thought -- the LSAT was incredibly easy, there were no prereqs, and I thought I could get a full ride (which I did). I never considered whether I liked law or wanted to practice it. I never took the bar exam because I knew by my 2nd year that I didn't want to practice law. Also, there's a semester missing on my Cal transcript (undergrad) that says "medical withdrawal" but does not give the reason.

I worked for a little while after law school (and I still work occasionally on law projects) but I have 2 years since law school that are basically unaccounted for. They were spent basically being a stay-at-home mother, but for children that were not my own (i.e. I met a man whose 6 mo old and 2 year old had been abandoned by their mother and I was the replacement for as long as the relationship lasted).

All of my legal work has related to medical/health issues.

I've had interesting jobs and I've done some fairly unique things, just nothing for very long.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I should deal with this during the application process?
At my age, my employment history should be much better than this. I'm willing to be truthful with the adcoms, but I'm afraid that it will hurt me.

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[murfettie]

bump.
wondering similar things.
less spotty than you though.

 

[Northwesterly]

I wouldn't worry too much about the MCAT--based on my experience (hooray sample size 1!) if you're a good test taker, as long as you prepare (some combination of review books, prereqs, and AAMC practice tests) you should do very well. And with a 4.0 as a math (!) major and an LSAT good enough to get into Boalt you're obviously smart and test well.
The spotty employment history is something adcom members could speak to, but I don't think you have any obligation to mention depression or ECT. A medical withdrawal is medical withdrawal--none of their business whether it's depression, kidney stones, or lupus. Similarly I think that being a stay-at-home parent (or caretaker--I guess you would want to phrase this carefully, not being a legal guardian and all) is a perfectly decent justification for a two year gap.
The real issue (other than completing pre-reqs with close to a 4.0) is reassuring folks that you really want to do medicine, and know what it's about. (And *do* you know you want to do medicine? Not to sound flip about it, but it's can be a tough question for nontrads with deep backgrounds.) That means a year or two of substantive volunteering and shadowing, which you can do along with your classwork. If you can submit an application showing tremendous aptitude, (4.0, good MCAT) along with a steady two year path towards medical school, then I don't think the winding road that took you there will matter so much. But just a good MCAT and good grades without any demonstration of medicine being your primary focus might be trickier.
Good luck.

 

[aza]

Thank you! That is INCREDIBLY reassuring!

Your last point is true and it's problematic for me b/c I'm NOT sure about becoming an MD. I know that I want to work directly with patients (I'm especially interested in working with low-functioning, under-educated, drug-addicted, and 'difficult' patients) in a medical capacity (i.e. not as a case manager or counselor or health aid who mostly does scut work). I'd like something that's intellectually challenging. I'm just uncertain as to whether the MD is the best route to go.

All of the doctors who know me very well have said the following: 1) you will have no difficulty getting into med school; 2) med school will be a total breeze for you; but 3) almost any residency will kill you and there's a very good chance you won't make it through. That concurs fairly well with my own estimation of my strengths and weaknesses.

I've been looking at PA, NP, veterinary medicine, etc. I've met a ton of nursing students (since the CC where I took some classes has a large nursing program) and I've been profoundly unimpressed (with both the students and the curriculum. Their science courses are really Mickey Mouse compared to the ones that the science majors take). I can't imagine being stuck in a program like that! The problem with PA is the heavy experience requirements (especially when they want paid, full-time work, not part-time volunteer. That's very unfriendly to most non-trads trying to make a total career switch). I LOVE animals but that's what would make it so hard to be a vet -- I cringe and cry every time I bring my cats or dog to the vet b/c they're so terrified and unhappy. It would be very difficult for me to only have patients who 1) don't understand why the heck they're there; and 2) view me as the lady who tortures them for no reason.

So I'm very uncertain as to what to do. Go to med school and plan on entering a 'lifestyle' residency (no interest in derm, pathology, radiology, not much interest in psych)? Get certified as an EMT and try to find a job in the field just to become a PA? Put up with a nursing program (and the nurses in it)?

I don't care all that much about how much money I'll be making. I care A LOT about having a reasonable work schedule. As a personal matter, I don't need the 'prestige' or 'creds' that come with having an MD after my name. BUT, I also really don't want to be treated as a second-class citizen or intellectual inferior in my work environment.

I'm really not confident in my MCAT ability. I do fine on the PAPER practice tests (usually 41-43 range), but I think the computer is going to knock 10 points off. I'm not comfortable with computers in general and it seems like I always manage to download a virus or make 'fatal errors' or screw something up. In 3 years of law school I broke 4 laptops (all but one were cheapies but I still don't know what I did wrong). Also, my whole 'test-taking system' is based on a paper test where you can skim the whole thing quickly, skip questions (to be answered later), etc.

I'm just glad I took the GRE before that one went paperless and 'adaptive' (if there's one mercy, it's that the MCAT isn't adaptive!)

 

[Northwesterly]

Other than the computer phobia, (and I have a hard time believing you could lose ten points--maybe three or four in an extreme scenario, but you'll have ample opportunities to get used to the practice tests) you're basically describing the dilemma I had last year when I started my post-bac classes. Learning is fun, right? And overnight calls with life or death responsibility *do* sound incredibly stressful.

But what it came down to for me was this: I'm pretty confident that I'll enjoy med school (not that it won't be challenging, frustrating, etc.) and after volunteering and shadowing I'm pretty confident I could find a career in medicine engaging and fulfilling. Are there specialties that I don't think I'd like, and hours that sound hard to handle? Yes. But medicine is nothing if not enormously varied. I just have to trust myself to find my way to a job that is personally satisfying. (Of course that might have been what you told yourself when you went to law school--I know that after college I was interested in studying con-law, but couldn't imagine any legal careers besides clerking for an appeals court judge that I'd really enjoy.)

Anyway, I would think that being able to excel in the pre-clinical work (and get good step 1 scores) as well as ignore some of the temptations of high paying specialties would serve you well. You hear from a lot of grumpy doctors on this site, especially ones that complain about money--but most of the doctors I've gotten to know personally are happy with their careers. If you're worried about making it through residency I'd try to find some volunteer opportunities where you get to spend time with residents. An emergency room gig might be a good exposure (I'm pretty sure both Highland in Oakland and SF General have ED volunteer programs) and you'd probably get to hear from both happy and unhappy residents.

There's no way to guarantee this stuff will turn out well: 7-10 years is a long road to plan out all at once. If you head down this path, you're going to have to trust yourself to make the right choices and slog through the difficult stretches. For myself, I guess on some level I'm an optimist. And on another, I'm choosing to stay focused on what's right in front of me, and follow my nose where it leads me. Life is just too damn complicated to try to find a perfect plan. (And medicine is too complicated to put too much faith in any one commenter on SDN.)