Texas resident/ER scribe

[Dallas_Athlete11]

Howdy folks; Texas native here

I am applying this cycle for medical school (did not realize that Texas schools open their applications May 1, but I plan to submit the first week of June). Non traditional student; I graduated with my BS in bio/pre med in Dec of 2009. I will apply to all Tx schools, NM, and a few others across the nation.

GPA- suffered a bit in my later years, but I finished with a 3.2
MCAT- 26

Observation- Numerous of hours, that I would need to quantify for the applications, shadowing General sx, Anesthesiolgists, and day sx center setting

EC- 4yrs of football during college and all of the community service involved with the program, e.g. close interaction with youths. Pursued the NFL/CFL upon graduating college for 2 years(played arena football for those yrs). Went into coaching and the fitness industry for a year after my footballl pursuit ended.

Other/Currently- I felt I needed to enhance my application and show my commitment to wanting to become a physician. I am currently lead scribe for a hospital here in the Land of enchantment (NM). I moved here just for this wonderful opportunity to work alongside ER physicians (2 MD's are writing me LOR including the medical director for my hospital). I would recommend a scribe program for anyone who wants to be exposed to how the ER dept flows! (I have hired 5 people who were accepted to Med school for 2014)

Btw, I am an URM (Black male); and I am looking forward to every step of this process! Where do you think I stand, honestly?

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[BrawnsNBrain]

College was a long time ago for you, ~5 years at this point. When I was applying to medical school I was told by several adcom members that I should avoid listing things from high school because it was too far back (4 years) despite how prestigious my experiences, internships etc.. were.

With that being said, I'm curious to know what you've done, aside from Scribe, since ~2010 that's related to medicine. Any clinical/nonclinical volunteering?

I'm not looking down on scribing at all, trust me, but I feel it's becoming incredibly common amongst medical school applicants, almost like volunteering in the hospital. It's relevant and wonderful experience, no doubt about that, but it is, in my opinion, becoming cookie cutter. With your stats of 3.2 GPA and 26MCAT, cookie cutter isn't going to, well, cut it in my opinion. I don't mean to be harsh, I just want to give advice that will make you a competitive applicant

Nevertheless I do think your scribe experience is unique because you are a lead scribe (leadership, time management, etc...)

 

[Dallas_Athlete11]

Completely understandable, and thanks for your input. It is always good to hear from another who has been through this process. But since graduating, I went on a different path; away from medicine completely. Last yr, 2013, is when I decided to place myself back on the med school route. Which is when I met another anesthesiologist who allowed me to shadow the group during many OR cases. So if you isolated the timeline of my last 3yrs, the only association to medicine would be the shadowing and my current scribe position (since August of 2013.)

 

[BrawnsNBrain]

The unfortunate reality of the situation is this is a weak point in your application - your experience. Your scores aren't stellar to get you admittance to any schools in the US, so we have to boost your weaknesses so there's less reasons you won't get into medical school.

My opinion: If you have the capital, apply this year to DO schools and see how it goes (highly recommend if you have the funds to do so). If you only have the funds to afford one round of application cycle (could be up to $2000 with travel) then I recommend, as tough as this is to hear, take a year off. Get some valuable clinical experience to show this wasn't a haphazard decision. You need to show on paper you are passionate about medicine and have explored it thoroughly enough to know what you're getting into.

 

[Dallas_Athlete11]

Thanks for the honesty. Uphill battle for me, I would not have it any other way!

 

[aspirantmed]

I think your co-curricular activities could be considered reasonably strong; there's not many people who are good enough at something to play it at the professional level. That shows dedication, talent, and teamwork. Sell that. Your numbers will hurt, though .. Perhaps consider some coursework to raise your GPA, or retaking the MCAT and getting a score that's in the 30s.

 

[oOKawaiiOo]

I knew a black medical student from a D.O school (cant say) during my student-doctor shadow with a hand surgeon. He told me his stats were 3.0 GPA with a 24 on this MCAT. He said what he thought got him into medical school was his "unique" story. I didnt ask what his unique story was.

Very nice guy. I hope you don't give up on pursing your passion.

 

[MackandBlues]

Are you still considered a resident of Texas? Texas public schools by law take at least 90% instate residents. I would apply to most of the DO schools across the country. and get more experience including regular volunteering.