DO Non-trad applying in 2 years...am I doing the right things?

[S-Dawg]

1st time SDN-er... Here we go!

I am an AZ resident, 28yrs old, have a bachelor's degree in music education, taught band in the public schools for 4 years, and will be starting be starting the pre-req science sequence this coming fall at the local community college. I will be spending two years completing those courses, taking the MCAT in two years from now (April 2016), and applying to DO schools (and probably a few MD schools, the two here for sure) in June of 2016. By the time I apply, I'll have around a 3.65 cgpa and 3.85 bcpm.

Clinical Experience:
-I have just under 100 hours volunteering at a local hospital in a role with constant patient contact. Basically, I visit with as many patients as I can to chat with them, make sure they are doing as well as they can be, and get them anything they need (or find their nurse if it is something out of a volunteer's league). I am really enjoying this experience and will continue volunteering there for the next two years until I start medical school, accumulating roughly in excess of 500 hours there.

-I haven't done much shadowing as of yet, but will begin some this summer and continue intermittently until I have at least 100 hours .

-In the fall, I am going to track down a job as an ER scribe and hopefully continue that through the time a start medical school.

Non-Clinical:
-Working as a public school teacher for four years was a great opportunity and provided many lessons regarding working with others, leading others, working as a team, putting others' needs before mine, etc.

-Still doing some band related teaching on the side (both paid and as a volunteer), specific number of hours is and will remain unknown; though will be very high come application time. The volunteer side of it is teaching with a non-profit community group.

-In the fall, I'll begin volunteering at a church that serves a grand meal once a month to the homeless and those in financial hardship.

Other things on my mind...
-I don't have any research experience. Is this something that needs to change in the next two years in order to be taken seriously as an applicant?

-I have an article which was published in a music journal in 2009, and reprinted a few years later. It was basically a "dairy" of my first experiences teaching band and meant to be helpful to other 1st year music teachers. Is this something worth noting on a med school app?

-Pre-reqs taken as a post-bacc student at community college, is this ok? I have asked most of the schools that I'd consider applying to, and they have mostly said yes this is ok, but make sure you get all A's, and your MCAT score will be given more scrutiny.

So.....

Am I on the right track/doing the right things to be a competitive applicant? What other opportunities should I get involved with? Any and all opinions, advice, insight etc. is welcomed and appreciated!!

Thanks everyone!!

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[Ryank327]

I would look at somewhere other than a CC, while some CCs provide great learning environments and allow more face time with professors, they are just not as rigorous. If you are going to stick with a CC make sure you 4.0 everything because there really isnt an excuse not to. Score really well on the MCAT as well because a 4.0 from a CC doesn't hold a ton of weight.

 

[shopsteward]

There can be good financial/family/geographical reasons for choosing community college - sometimes the choice is between doing pre-reqs at community college and not doing them at all, particularly for non-trads. Most admins understand that, and OP has sensibly asked his target schools whether it is OK and got the answer "mostly yes", so he shouldn't be put off by this. Same goes for research: if the opportunities are not there for a non-trad, admins will understand this. After all, most doctors don't do research when in practice.

 

[tarheel1408]

There can be good financial/family/geographical reasons for choosing community college - sometimes the choice is between doing pre-reqs at community college and not doing them at all, particularly for non-trads. Most admins understand that, and OP has sensibly asked his target schools whether it is OK and got the answer "mostly yes", so he shouldn't be put off by this. Same goes for research: if the opportunities are not there for a non-trad, admins will understand this. After all, most doctors don't do research when in practice.

I would disagree about research. Obviously there won't be many research opportunities at a CC, but I would try to find some elsewhere. In today's landscape, research is becoming an increasingly important part of the application, and a lack of it definitely won't look good. It's not as important for DO schools, but I don't think there's any way research could hurt your application (unless you get a destructive letter of recommendation or something).

 

[S-Dawg]

This is an excellent point, thank you! I want to have as strong an application as possible, and you're absolutely right...research would not be a negative.

I'm fairly confident that there are a plethora of research opportunities nearby that I can become a part of, I'll definitely look into it.

I would disagree about research. Obviously there won't be many research opportunities at a CC, but I would try to find some elsewhere. In today's landscape, research is becoming an increasingly important part of the application, and a lack of it definitely won't look good. It's not as important for DO schools, but I don't think there's any way research could hurt your application (unless you get a destructive letter of recommendation or something).