@psychbender Can you put your input? I saw you comment once that you were a paramedic.
Who summons me!!?
Wow, it's been a long time since I've been in this subforum.
So, there are a LOT of former paramedics in medicine, especially as 'nontrads' become slightly more common. To respond to the OP's question/situation, that GPA is not a deal-killer, especially if you are able to achieve an above-average score on the MCAT. What may hurt you more, though, is the fact that you initially went through college several years ago. As much as I say that nontrads are slightly more common, there are still plenty of folk who have queer notion that med students should all be of the same 'I always wanted to be a doctor, was premed, did some volunteer work, and went straight from high school to undergrad to med school" mold. The trick is finding a school that looks favorably on life experience. My med school class had an average age at matriculation of 26 or 27, with one NP, one PA, a chiropractor, two PharmDs, a half-dozen RNs, about a dozen Paramedics, and maybe a score of EMTs, with a smattering of IT/business/other former careers to balance out the straight from school with no work experience "normal" crowd.
Once you get in, you'll have both an advantage and disadvantage due to your prior experience. During the preclinical years, you don't know what you don't know, but you'll have a slight idea of physiology and pharmacology, which might give you a dangerous, false sense of superiority, and make you think you don't need to work as hard (you will be dead wrong). If you can get past that, you'll find that your previous experiences provide a clinical framework with which you can view your new knowledge. The information you are learning will not exist in a vacuum, as it will with many of your colleagues, you will have seen what decompensated heart failure, COPD exacerbations, and arrhythmias actually look like, and have an idea of how they are treated. As your knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology grows, the reasons for those treatments will start to make even more sense.
The differences will really start to come out during the early clinical period. You have actually taken a focused history and physical before, done a trauma assessment, managed an airway, read an ECG, and obtained IV access. Your assessments might not have been as thorough as those taught in med school, but you are not afraid of touching a patient, asking them actual questions, and
making a treatment decision. You would be surprised how many 3rd year medical students are uncomfortable around actual patients (especially early on) and try very hard not to actually touch them, then flounder when asked what to do about the problems they've noted. After a few months, most start to get some level of comfort with these tasks, so the gap in clinical skills will narrow, but you can take advantage of the initial difference to make a positive impression on your attendings and residents.
