To SMP or not SMP, that is the question.

[BMO90]

Hey guys, so I've had quite the different journey. I graduated from college back in 2014 with a cumulative GPA of 3.27 (3.30 with grade replacement). Science GPA of 3.24 and 3.27 with grade replacement. I've had 6 withdrawals and 4 medical withdrawals from courses in college. One month of shadowing an anesthesiologist, one year of Organic Chem research, and one year of volunteering at a hospital. I originally wanted to apply to some MD+DO schools after graduating, but my wife showed me pharmacy was a good career path and I should take a look.

So I shadowed some pharmacists at local hospitals and they seemed to have a cool job so I applied to a pharmacy school and got in. Flash forward 2 years, pharmacy is not what I thought it would be and it turns out pharmacy is not the career for me. I still have a passion with medicine in that I want to do more with medicine then simply be responsible for drug interactions and adverse events. My pharmacy GPA after a year is 2.56.

There is also a good reason, why I had so many withdrawals in college and low GPAs in college and pharmacy school. It turns out a lot of the problems I had in college and pharmacy school was that I had undiagnosed ADD, and it explained a lot of the reasons I dealt with anxiety and depression throughout college. Now that I am being treated for ADD, most of the depression and anxiety has gone away, and I now feel I can perform at my best potential.

Right now what would be the best course of option in terms of getting into medical school. Allopathic or Osteopathic? I am taking the MCAT in May and am aiming for the best possible score I can get. Would going to an SMP help my chances of getting into a medical school in the US?

Thanks and Best Appreciated

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[GrapesofRath]

Hey guys, so I've had quite the different journey. I graduated from college back in 2014 with a cumulative GPA of 3.27 (3.30 with grade replacement). Science GPA of 3.24 and 3.27 with grade replacement. I've had 6 withdrawals and 4 medical withdrawals from courses in college. One month of shadowing an anesthesiologist, one year of Organic Chem research, and one year of volunteering at a hospital. I originally wanted to apply to some MD+DO schools after graduating, but my wife showed me pharmacy was a good career path and I should take a look.

So I shadowed some pharmacists at local hospitals and they seemed to have a cool job so I applied to a pharmacy school and got in. Flash forward 2 years, pharmacy is not what I thought it would be and it turns out pharmacy is not the career for me. I still have a passion with medicine in that I want to do more with medicine then simply be responsible for drug interactions and adverse events. My pharmacy GPA after a year is 2.56.

There is also a good reason, why I had so many withdrawals in college and low GPAs in college and pharmacy school. It turns out a lot of the problems I had in college and pharmacy school was that I had undiagnosed ADD, and it explained a lot of the reasons I dealt with anxiety and depression throughout college. Now that I am being treated for ADD, most of the depression and anxiety has gone away, and I now feel I can perform at my best potential.

Right now what would be the best course of option in terms of getting into medical school. Allopathic or Osteopathic? I am taking the MCAT in May and am aiming for the best possible score I can get. Would going to an SMP help my chances of getting into a medical school in the US?

Thanks and Best Appreciated

You have several factors that can make you a greater risk candidate for any medical school.
a) Low GPA
b) Extermely low Pharamcy GPA.
c) Jumping and changing careers in what some might perceive to be a haphazard manner and show a lack of commitment.
d) A string of previous Withdrawals that occured repeatedly and in multiple semesters.
e) Previous issues with depression and other mental health complications(med schools wont know about this if you dont tell them but depression and mental health issues occur at far greater rates on average in medical school and are one of the leading causes for burnout and dropping out of the field). It's something you STRONGLY have to consider and be honest with yourself you have completely overcome before deciding if medicine is a smart decision for you.
f) ADD: Again not something youll disclose on your application and there are certainly successful physicians with ADD. But the majority of people with ADD arent capable of pursuing something like medicine and even for those who do, ADD is something they have to work to overcome and is an obstacle.

My best advice from here on out would be to seriously consider finishing pharmacy school and getting the PharmD. You have a fair amount of work ahead of you before you become even a competitive DO candidate on paper, and this isnt even considering the red flags Im talking about that dont have to do with your GPA. At the very least you need a real backup plan in the event that medicine doesnt work out for you or you realize medicine isnt what you want. A PharmD would be exactly this. The options you would have for a backup without a PharmD arent nearly as readily apparent, likely to not lead to nearly as high a long term salary and consistent career amongst other things. Furthermore this will give you two more years to really think things through before deciding if medicine is right for you. Itll give you two more years to see if your past issues with depression and anxiety reoccur. It will give you two more years to further learn coping strategies and ways to deal with ADD(something you will have to overcome pretty thoroughly for a field in medicine). Itll give you two more years to further explore pharmacy and give it a second chance(3rd and 4th year are far different experiences in Pharm school than 1st and 2nd). And itll give you time to start exploring the field of medicine and seeing if it is something that is truly right for you. Once you finish pharmacy school, youll be armed with a valuable degree that even despite this current job market is very likely to lead you to a consistent six figure(or close to it) career.

Once you have this solid backup, then you can start looking into taking some more undergrad classes and doing grade replacement and considering the MCAT and DO schools. But as much as anything else you need a gap in time between the W's and the 2.56 you have accumulated and an extended time of productivity both academically and mentally amongst other things before you become a viable medical school candidate. That is alot to ask for. I just have a hard time recommending in your situation dropping out of pharmacy school when you are 2 years away from getting a valuable professional degree that can lead to stable income over your entire life, particularly when the alternate route to dropping out is to do something as risky as going all in for getting into medical school with a very real chance it wont work out(the vast majority of premeds and teh majority of those who make it past the pre-med stage and to applying to med school never actually matriculate into medical school).

 

[Goro]

An SMP is vital to demonstrate that you can handle medical school, which, so far, haven't done.

For MD schools, ace the SMP, and ace MCAT (and no, 30 isn't good enough for MD schools; you'll need a 513+; a 30 will be fine for DO schools.)

Your bailing on Pharmacy is a red flag, and so you'll need to show a lot of dedication that you won't bail on med school either.

 

[BMO90]

Thank you guys, so I have two questions:
1-if i were to enter an SMP next fall, would doing well there and aiming for a 513+ on the MCAT be sufficient in getting interviews for MD/DO schools?
2-if finishing the last three years of pharmacy strong and by that I mean 3.3 gpa or above (cumulative). And getting a 513+ on MCAT. Would that be more competitive for applying to medical school? This I also know is the safer route...

Granted this is a lot of what if's but I believe I can do it.