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- Sep 13, 2016
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*Repost due to confusing title before*
Hey all. I'm a URM reapplicant for medical schools and am looking at both M.D. and D.O. Last year I interviewed with VCOM - VA, but was ultimately waitlisted (applied in December, II in January). They recommended that I retake the MCAT, take additional science classes, and/or shadow with a D.O. I retook the MCAT in June and went down from a 500 to a 497, so I retook it again on September 9th and am waiting for my score. I am also shadowing with a D.O. family physician (hoping to earn about 40 hours of experience).
I guess my concern right now is that, even though I still need to wait on my MCAT score, I'm concerned about my GPA and getting II's from medical programs. Even though I have a wide and unique experience in the healthcare field, I know that adcoms want to make sure their students are able to handle the course load in medical school. I've grown a lot since undergrad, especially over the last year; I was able to perform well in a Masters program and am extremely motivated to grind through rigorous medical school curriculum and become a doctor, but I feel like I might need to take a post-bacc or SMP to prove that I can handle the material and stress. I've done research on the pros and cons of both, but I guess for my particular situation (if I don't get into medical school) I'm not totally sure which would help me out more. Do you think either of these will be necessary? If so, based on my background, which do you think would be more beneficial for me?
For some background on me (if that helps), I attended undergrad at a state school as a Biology major. I didn't perform well academically due to variety of factors, including over-involvement, lack of focus on grades my freshman and sophomore years, and anxiety. I did have an upward trend in my grade performance for my last two years. I also did a combined M.P.H., starting during my senior year of undergrad.
Here's the list of my EC's:
- volunteered over 1,000 hours, starting my freshman year, at a primary care mobile clinic for medically disadvantaged patient populations
- volunteered over 400 hours in our university hospital's pediatric immunocompromised unit
- summer health disparities research group for 4 summers (met for 8 hours/week)
- student ambassador program through my university's admissions office and alumni association for 4 years (gave campus tours, worked events for the university's president, assisted with alumni association events, etc.)
- President for selective freshman leadership development organization, under our university's student government, during my senior year
- Presented poster at mobile health clinic conference on a mental health intervention used at the mobile clinic
- Interprofessional healthcare case competition (CLARION) during my second year in my Masters program
- Currently finishing a study through the mobile clinic I volunteered at evaluating the effectiveness of the mental health intervention I mentioned previously (it served my Masters thesis)
In addition to the research study and shadowing for my gap year, I was employed as a tobacco cessation facilitator and intake specialist, and work 30 hours/week. I decided to choose this instead of PCA/CNA/scribe because (1) wanted to use my Masters degree for something, (2) already had strong shadowing and scribing experience through the mobile clinic, and (3) felt it was a great way for me to more directly interact with patients by changing health behaviors. There are also various aspects of the job that attracted me to it (motivational interviewing, respect and understanding of patient autonomy, etc.).
Sorry for all of the info, but I wanted to give as much as possible in case that might help. I appreciate any input on this. Thanks all.
Hey all. I'm a URM reapplicant for medical schools and am looking at both M.D. and D.O. Last year I interviewed with VCOM - VA, but was ultimately waitlisted (applied in December, II in January). They recommended that I retake the MCAT, take additional science classes, and/or shadow with a D.O. I retook the MCAT in June and went down from a 500 to a 497, so I retook it again on September 9th and am waiting for my score. I am also shadowing with a D.O. family physician (hoping to earn about 40 hours of experience).
I guess my concern right now is that, even though I still need to wait on my MCAT score, I'm concerned about my GPA and getting II's from medical programs. Even though I have a wide and unique experience in the healthcare field, I know that adcoms want to make sure their students are able to handle the course load in medical school. I've grown a lot since undergrad, especially over the last year; I was able to perform well in a Masters program and am extremely motivated to grind through rigorous medical school curriculum and become a doctor, but I feel like I might need to take a post-bacc or SMP to prove that I can handle the material and stress. I've done research on the pros and cons of both, but I guess for my particular situation (if I don't get into medical school) I'm not totally sure which would help me out more. Do you think either of these will be necessary? If so, based on my background, which do you think would be more beneficial for me?
For some background on me (if that helps), I attended undergrad at a state school as a Biology major. I didn't perform well academically due to variety of factors, including over-involvement, lack of focus on grades my freshman and sophomore years, and anxiety. I did have an upward trend in my grade performance for my last two years. I also did a combined M.P.H., starting during my senior year of undergrad.
Here's the list of my EC's:
- volunteered over 1,000 hours, starting my freshman year, at a primary care mobile clinic for medically disadvantaged patient populations
- volunteered over 400 hours in our university hospital's pediatric immunocompromised unit
- summer health disparities research group for 4 summers (met for 8 hours/week)
- student ambassador program through my university's admissions office and alumni association for 4 years (gave campus tours, worked events for the university's president, assisted with alumni association events, etc.)
- President for selective freshman leadership development organization, under our university's student government, during my senior year
- Presented poster at mobile health clinic conference on a mental health intervention used at the mobile clinic
- Interprofessional healthcare case competition (CLARION) during my second year in my Masters program
- Currently finishing a study through the mobile clinic I volunteered at evaluating the effectiveness of the mental health intervention I mentioned previously (it served my Masters thesis)
In addition to the research study and shadowing for my gap year, I was employed as a tobacco cessation facilitator and intake specialist, and work 30 hours/week. I decided to choose this instead of PCA/CNA/scribe because (1) wanted to use my Masters degree for something, (2) already had strong shadowing and scribing experience through the mobile clinic, and (3) felt it was a great way for me to more directly interact with patients by changing health behaviors. There are also various aspects of the job that attracted me to it (motivational interviewing, respect and understanding of patient autonomy, etc.).
Sorry for all of the info, but I wanted to give as much as possible in case that might help. I appreciate any input on this. Thanks all.
