Need Some Direction

[jtg5420]

Hey Everyone!

So first off, this is my first post so nice to meet you all, I'm new! I've read a few posts on the forum and they've definitely helped out but I was wondering if I could get a little personal advice on my current situation. Here's my background:

I graduated from RIT with a B.S. in biomedical science this past spring (May 2014) with a cumulative GPA of 3.31 by AMCAS calculations and an BCMP GPA of 3.24. I had a rough time in my undergrad struggling with a lot of issues like depression which made my GPA go on a lovely rollercoaster. I haven't taken the MCAT yet as I was going to apply to get in fall 2015, but I wasn't confident in my candidacy this past spring and with the new MCAT on the rise I decided to hold off on the whole thing.

Reasons why I wasn't confident in my candidacy was because first of all my numbers were low, but also my extracurricular's and LOR type stuff just wasn't feeling stong enough. I didn't really feel like I wanted to go into the clinical side of the healthcare field until my sophmore year of school. Before that I was thinking about research, but after learning more about what the life is like (though I admit I didn't shadow) I was disinclined to keep going with that path. As far as EC type stuff, I was a part of two different LGBT groups which I served on the eboard of. One was from March 2011-November 2011. The other was from May 2012-February 2013. I was also an RA from August 2011-March 2012. I TA'ed for two A&P classes my junior year. I haven't had any clinical experience until recently, and I haven't had any charitable work. I haven't had any real shadowing experience yet.

As far as work is concerned my parents never let me have a job in high school so my first work experience came in college. I worked for the campus post office from June 2012-November 2013. I worked at American Eagle from August 2013-May 2014. After I graduated and up to the present I go a job at CVS Pharmacy as a pharmacy technician in August and I have a second job working for the University of Rochester Medical Center as a psychiatic technician, working with confused and elderly patients with dementia.

I had a very little bit of research experience, doing rudimentary data work for a professor in my senior year of school. He had a project that dealt with helping the parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. He helped them with emotional self-regulation and parenting techniques that catered to the behavioural symptoms of ASD. My job was working with the numbers from daily behavioural inventory submissions of the children to see how effective the program was. Unforutnately I was on the project during one of my bad periods and dropped the ball a lot on the project and I don't feel very confident on LOR from the professor I was working under.

As far as my plan to help my cadidacy I definitely feel it would be best to do some sort of degree program before attempting to apply. My original thought has been to get a MPH because I want to work on policy making and administration or even epidemiology work. Other thoughts I've had were to do an advanced BSN program and work in nursing for a while. To help with my lack of experiences I have the technician job at the hospital now, but thats all I have worked out so far. I am trying to network a bit in the hospital to get some shadowing experience but I've been slow at getting the ball rolling for that.

I'm wondering what everyone's suggestions would be for my case. What sort of experiences I should chase after, what sort of strategies should I employ to work on my numbers. I really appreciate everyone's input, I've been working on this all by myself for a long time.

Thank You,
jtg5420

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[Doug Underhill]

1) Don't put your real name on SDN.

2) We'd need a MCAT score to chance you at MD or DO, but a 3.3 is still in the running for DO, and you could even do MD with a stellar score. For DO, aim for a 28, which is 64th percentile on the new MCAT. A 90+th percentile score would make MD feasible.

3) Med school has a way of aggravating issues such as depression. Are you sure you can handle it?

 

[jtg5420]

Oops I thought I eliminated my name but I fixed it, thanks for the heads up.

Besides doing really well on the MCAT, which I certainly aim to do, what are some suggestions as far as increasing my competancy to adcoms. I have been under the impression that even with a good MCAT score, if I can even pull off a 90th percentile, that I would most likely need an inbetween schooling step to get where I want to go. I am unsure what the best decision would be to get the most benefit out of it.

MPH would work well with an MD and get me closer to career goals but a BSN would be good to have if medical school just doesn't work out for me as I could go down the NP route.

As far as the depression, you know I'm not really sure. But I don't want to let it get in the way of what I want to do in life. It gets better every day I work on it.

 

[gyngyn]

If either of the people in your avatar is you, a change is recommended to preserve your anonymity.
Master's degree grades will not remediate your undergrad performance for MD programs.

 

[jtg5420]

Thanks for the tip gyngyn! And I am aware that that grad programs do not impact the GPA that will be put on my AMCAS but my thinking was that I could demonstrate my ability to work at a higher level of academia by doing well in a graduate program.

I know that the suggested route is generally a post-bac program, but I am nervous about doing that because if it does not help like I need it to, then I really only still have a bachelor's degree to fall back on. And a lot of my general sciences I did fairly well in during undergrad. My BCMP GPA went down a lot after the more advanced electives.

 

[gyngyn]

I know that the suggested route is generally a post-bac program, but I am nervous about doing that because if it does not help like I need it to, then I really only still have a bachelor's degree to fall back on. And a lot of my general sciences I did fairly well in during undergrad. My BCMP GPA went down a lot after the more advanced electives.

A career in public health is a laudatory path, just not as a stepping stone for an MD. Master's degree's are not viewed as "higher", just more specialized and actually less indicative of medical school performance. A downward trend in the sciences will stand out like a sore thumb and no number of A's in a Master's program will calm a nervous screener.
As mentioned by @Doug Underhill, you are a good candidate for a DO school with a strong MCAT, even without a Master's.

 

[jtg5420]

@gyngyn , if a MPH wouldn't be all that beneficial (even if more towards my career goals), what would you suggest as a way to calm those nervous screeners. Would the accelerated BSN program be something to look at? The thought of the jump from nursing to medicine makes me nervous, but I've heard of it being done. The upsides being that it is undergraduate work and thus may help with my GPA problem (correct me if I'm wrong here). Also if medical school doesn't work out, I would at least have a decent career to fall back on which is the reason for my hesitation in applying to a post bacc program. It also opens up the path for NP, which isn't exactly what I was going for, but if its the only way I can become a provider then so be it.

 

[alpinism]

Post baccalaureate or SMP programs are the best way to make up for low undergrad GPAs.

You need to decide if you want to be a nurse or physician first and foremost as they are completely different career paths. Taking undergrad nursing courses won't make up for a low GPA in premedical courses. You need to prove that you can handle upper division hard science courses.

If you just want to take care of patients, another option would be to go to PA school.

 

[jtg5420]

@alpinism I do know they are pretty different, and would choose physician over the rest time and time again because I want to be able to coordinate treatments educate patients on their care. I want to be able to be involved in healthcare research and policy making when possible.

However, worst case scenario if the only way I could become a patient provider is through an avenue other than med school, I'd probably go the nursing route as NP seems more stable state to state as the regulations concerning their scope of practice is concerned. They seem more independant than PAs even if the PAs are taught in the traditional medical model.

 

[chemguy79]

@alpinism I do know they are pretty different, and would choose physician over the rest time and time again because I want to be able to coordinate treatments educate patients on their care. I want to be able to be involved in healthcare research and policy making when possible.

However, worst case scenario if the only way I could become a patient provider is through an avenue other than med school, I'd probably go the nursing route as NP seems more stable state to state as the regulations concerning their scope of practice is concerned. They seem more independant than PAs even if the PAs are taught in the traditional medical model.

OP, I think that you're missing the point.

Your posts clearly come across as a student who merely wants to be in the medical field versus becoming a physician. IMO, your indecisiveness and subsequent your course planning will make an medical school AdCom question whether you actually want to be a physician which would be a terrible mistake if medicine is your true area of interest. While you can change fields, i.e. nursing to medicine, if you truly want to be a doctor, then pursue that path.

Frankly, I think that you should decide whether you actually want to become a physician and then plan your coursework accordingly. Trying to straddle both sides of the fence (NP vs. MD) would likely make an admissions committee wonder if you have any idea what you actually want to do with your career and they would be less apt to give you a spot in their prestigious program.

 

[jtg5420]

@chemguy79 Thank you for your insight, I definitely understand what you're saying. I guess my big issue is a lack of confidence. I'm not confident enough in my application for medical school and even though thats what I want, I'm very focused on going down a path that offers a "safety net" of sorts if medical school adcoms just won't take me in.

Many people tell me I just won't make it because my grades aren't good enough despite my many personal qualities that I believe would make me a very good physician. Its made me very discouraged and I've felt a need to have backup plan. Already in enough debt, I hope to find the path that would get me the most bang for my buck; something that offers a good backup career if medical school doesn't work out but more importantly, something that helps adcoms look past my shoddy undergraduate experience. That is the decision I'm struggling with most.

 

[chemguy79]

@jtg5420, I think that you have a relatively solid chance at DO programs. If I was in your shoes, I would focus on retaking all C/D/F BCPM coursework (if possible) and focus on earning a MCAT score in the mid to high 20s. (There are quite a few C's on your transcript in Biology courses which would be easy to remedy with retakes.) Of course, this implies that you are interested in becoming a physician. At this point, I wouldn't think about MD programs, I think that your transcript could lend itself well to applying to DO programs.

As the wise @Goro states on the board, get some confidence! I understand that confidence and motivational issues arise, but given the previous research experience that you detailed above, if a medical career is what you actually want ... Manage your depression, don't half-ass any future research opportunities, and make a consistent effort towards acquiring clinical, charitable, and research experiences. IMO, I think that you could have a shot at DO programs based on your statistics, it's time to focus your energy on preparing for MCAT and solidifying your ECs before the upcoming DO application cycle. If you aren't interested in doing that, I would pursue alternate opportunities and forget about medicine.

 

[gyngyn]

@gyngyn , if a MPH wouldn't be all that beneficial (even if more towards my career goals), what would you suggest as a way to calm those nervous screeners. Would the accelerated BSN program be something to look at? The thought of the jump from nursing to medicine makes me nervous, but I've heard of it being done. The upsides being that it is undergraduate work and thus may help with my GPA problem (correct me if I'm wrong here). Also if medical school doesn't work out, I would at least have a decent career to fall back on which is the reason for my hesitation in applying to a post bacc program. It also opens up the path for NP, which isn't exactly what I was going for, but if its the only way I can become a provider then so be it.

A year (or equivalent) of A's in the sciences and a strong MCAT will do more for your MD application than anything else. Since you are already a good candidate for most DO schools, that can be your back up plan.