Whole family in medical field - advantage?

[butters149]

Hi,

I have just graduated from UCR with a Business Econ degree with a 3.51 overall gpa and cum laude and dean's honors list status. I recently "met" my family in Houston after 20 years, they are all in the medical field now, ie dentist, optometrist, pediatrist. I am inspired after meeting them and want to attend CSULA to complete my pre-reqs to take the MCAT, would having family members that are in the medical field be an advantage to me?

Thanks

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[docB]

Ordinarily it is in that by hearing about or even living through the process with family members you will have some idea of what to expect. However if you are just meeting your family that kind of knowledge will not have rubbed off on you over time. In terms of having doctors in the family to make phone calls to ad coms and write letters that kind of stuff is less helpful that you'd think and can even be a hinderance (see this thread).

Most importantly you need to make sure you aren't embarking on a career in medicine for the wrong reasons. Being in medicine won't necessarily bring you closer to your family. And being in a career you didin't really feel drawn to on your own may lead to serious unhappiness. Just because your family is in medicine doesn't mean you have to be.

 

[Terpskins99]

I have just graduated from UCR with a Business Econ degree with a 3.51 overall gpa and cum laude and dean's honors list status. I recently "met" my family in Houston after 20 years, they are all in the medical field now, ie dentist, optometrist, pediatrist. I am inspired after meeting them and want to attend CSULA to complete my pre-reqs to take the MCAT, would having family members that are in the medical field be an advantage to me?

You mean "pediatrician"?

Having family members in health care might give you some insight into the field (though if you just "met" them, I don't know how much that would be... call them up).

Anyhow... unless one of your family members already have a relationship with a particular member of the admission's committee, no it won't help you get in.

 

[poiuyt123]

Most of the people in my family are doctors. There aren't really that many benefits besides maybe an easier time looking for shadowing opportunities, knowing how med school and residency really is, and advice pertaining to medicine in general. Just because you become a doctor wont bring you closer to them, it should just depend on how close you are with your family. The only cool part though is that they share interesting stories about patients, the hospital/practice, etc when I meet up with them sometimes. So there aren't really too many extraordinary benefits just because a few of your family members are doctors and you shouldn't become a doctor just because they are. I just want to become a doctor because I was always interested in it general not because everyone else is one. However, they did inspire me a little.

 

[tncekm]

Most of the people in my family are doctors. There aren't really that many benefits besides maybe an easier time looking for shadowing opportunities, knowing how med school and residency really is, and advice pertaining to medicine in general.

Those are HUGE advantages. Coming from a poor blue collar family who placed no value in education, those are all things I had to figure out the long and hard way.

 

[teddybear]

Those are HUGE advantages. Coming from a poor blue collar family who placed no value in education, those are all things I had to figure out the long and hard way.

Same here. Except my dad always pushed me to go to college. But nobody in my family thought it was possible for any of us to be a doctor. Well I take that back one of my aunts and one of my uncles pushed me to be a doctor but that's it.

 

[tncekm]

Same here. Except my dad always pushed me to go to college. But nobody in my family thought it was possible for any of us to be a doctor. Well I take that back one of my aunts and one of my uncles pushed me to be a doctor but that's it.

So, I guess you may share my disdain for the selection process? I.e. they favor kids who (1) had direction from an early age, which is rarely self-inspired, (2*) are aware from an early age that they have to start volunteering, and (3*) can afford to commit insane hours to volunteering and going on medical missions, etc.

* My impression so far has been that EC's are hugely undervalued, by students, in the medical school admissions process. I see people with mediocre numbers getting insane interviews b/c of their incredible EC's, so ADCOM's obviously place a large value on EC's.

Note: I don't want to take anything away from the hard work most people of all socioeconomic background put into the process, its just frustrating to see a self-perpetuating cycle of professionals producing and selecting professionals based off of a socioeconomic advantage. Despite the odds, my numbers are pretty damn good and the only thing holding me back is EC's I usually couldn't afford to be involved with.

 

[Ella Shepherd]

Hi,

I have just graduated from UCR with a Business Econ degree with a 3.51 overall gpa and cum laude and dean's honors list status. I recently "met" my family in Houston after 20 years, they are all in the medical field now, ie dentist, optometrist, pediatrist. I am inspired after meeting them and want to attend CSULA to complete my pre-reqs to take the MCAT, would having family members that are in the medical field be an advantage to me?

Thanks

In some ways it's both an advantage and a disadvantage. It's an advantage because you have quite a good idea about what a job in Medicine entails - both with personal life and with professional life. However, I think it's a disadvantage, particularly with the ad coms, if you can't prove that you're going to Medicine because you really want to, not because you're being forced to by your family. But I don't think that'll be a problem for you as you really want to get into Medicine.

 

[docB]

* My impression so far has been that EC's are hugely undervalued in the medical school admissions process. I see people with mediocre numbers getting insane interviews b/c of their incredible EC's.

Did you mean to say "overvalued" here?

 

[tncekm]

Did you mean to say "overvalued" here?

Oh, yeah...I don't think I communicated my point well.

Students undervalue the importance of EC's in the admissions process. <-- That was the point I was attempting to make. "I" personally feel that ADCOM's overvalue EC's because its not always possible for some people to donate ungodly hours to causes that can't help them float their bills!

 

[QofQuimica]

Oh, yeah...I don't think I communicated my point well.

Students undervalue the importance of EC's in the admissions process. <-- That was the point I was attempting to make. "I" personally feel that ADCOM's overvalue EC's because its not always possible for some people to donate ungodly hours to causes that can't help them float their bills!

You should consider applying as disadvantaged on AMCAS if your family's finances were a significant barrier for you to attend college. Many physicians (including physicians on adcoms!) feel that medical schools have a social responsibility to help applicants who have overcome significant adversity, so successful disadvantaged students will get special consideration. Adcoms understand that these applicants may not have as many ECs compared to applicants of higher SES backgrounds due to the need to work.

 

[tncekm]

You should consider applying as disadvantaged on AMCAS if your family's finances were a significant barrier for you to attend college. Many physicians (including physicians on adcoms!) feel that medical schools have a social responsibility to help applicants who have overcome significant adversity, so successful disadvantaged students will get special consideration. Adcoms understand that these applicants may not have as many ECs compared to applicants of higher SES backgrounds due to the need to work.

Yeah, but its much harder to actually consider ones self "disadvantaged" than it sounds. I mean despite the fact that I know now that I actually had it pretty strange/rough, my life seemed relatively normal to me when I grew up. And I know tons of people who had/have really horrible lives and experiences... much worse than mine. I mean, I've seen my dad so whacked out on meth that he's been chasing non-existent people off of my roof during the middle of the night in the rain (he fell off, ) and my parent's were more normal than many of my friends'... if they had parents. Many of my t-shirts during middle/high school came from a trash bin outside of a screen-printing business (they'd have like 5 different logo's on them, haha), and despite that the people in my neighborhood thought we were well off because they were so poor. It's that "significant" adversity thing that gets me. I mean, how do I define significant? Who am I comparing myself with? Poor, normal, rich, etc... its all a matter of perspective and it complicates the decision for me.

I struggled with it for a while, and even wrote out the AMCAS disadvantaged status essay. But, in the end I just couldn't bring myself to apply disadvantaged. I hit on my life in my PS and some of my essays hoping that it'd make a difference, but I really don't think it does honestly. I know my numbers, PS and LOR's are good, so my app failing to move has got to be the result of my EC's, which are very much substandard compared to what I see here, and involve mostly recently volunteer work (maybe 100-150hrs between a hospital and community service since Feb/March of this year) with 35 or so shadowing hours (stretching back almost 2 yrs).

Meh, w/e. Despite being jaded by the process I'm not planning on being held back more than a year, MAX. My numbers are decent and as of this summer I'm in good financial standing so I will be able to volunteer my arse off over after Nov/Dec.

 

[QofQuimica]

Yeah, but its much harder to actually consider ones self "disadvantaged" than it sounds. I mean despite the fact that I know now that I actually had it pretty strange/rough, my life seemed relatively normal to me when I grew up. And I know tons of people who had/have really horrible lives and experiences... much worse than mine. I mean, I've seen my dad so whacked out on meth that he's been chasing non-existent people off of my roof during the middle of the night in the rain (he fell off, ) and my parent's were more normal than many of my friends'... if they had parents. Many of my t-shirts during middle/high school came from a trash bin outside of a screen-printing business (they'd have like 5 different logo's on them, haha), and despite that the people in my neighborhood thought we were well off because they were so poor. It's that "significant" adversity thing that gets me. I mean, how do I define significant? Who am I comparing myself with? Poor, normal, rich, etc... its all a matter of perspective and it complicates the decision for me.

I struggled with it for a while, and even wrote out the AMCAS disadvantaged status essay. But, in the end I just couldn't bring myself to apply disadvantaged. I hit on my life in my PS and some of my essays hoping that it'd make a difference, but I really don't think it does honestly. I know my numbers, PS and LOR's are good, so my app failing to move has got to be the result of my EC's, which are very much substandard compared to what I see here, and involve mostly recently volunteer work (maybe 100-150hrs between a hospital and community service since Feb/March of this year) with 35 or so shadowing hours (stretching back almost 2 yrs).

Meh, w/e. Despite being jaded by the process I'm not planning on being held back more than a year, MAX. My numbers are decent and as of this summer I'm in good financial standing so I will be able to volunteer my arse off over after Nov/Dec.

For disadvantaged status purposes, you're comparing yourself with the middle-class and upper-middle-class applicants you were comparing yourself to a few posts ago. They are your competition now and your future peers in medicine, right? Of course, you are free to consider yourself however you wish. But from what you're saying, it sounds like you would probably be considered as disadvantaged by an adcom. Most of our applicants have not had to wear t-shirts out of screen-printing dumpsters because they couldn't afford to buy clothes! Other things to mention would be if you are the first person to go to college in your family, if you had to work in HS or college to support your family, if one of your parents was seriously ill and couldn't work (maybe your dad was?), and if your family income fell below the poverty line (or wasn't much above it). As you yourself said above, the majority of premeds do not have problems like these!

 

[tncekm]

For disadvantaged status purposes, you're comparing yourself with the middle-class and upper-middle-class applicants you were comparing yourself to a few posts ago. They are your competition now and your future peers in medicine, right?

Definitely, but the AMCAS application makes it seem like you've got to be coming from a house where everyone over the age of 6 in a family of 10 people is working manual labor and never had a spare second to relax and have fun. I didn't work in high school, I was taking care of my little brothers (making food, keeping things in order, walking them home from school, etc) since I was 11 or so and that was more important to my mom than bringing home $100/wk.

Other things to mention would be if you are the first person to go to college in your family, if you had to work in HS or college to support your family, if one of your parents was seriously ill and couldn't work (maybe your dad was?), and if your family income fell below the poverty line (or wasn't much above it). As you yourself said above, the majority of premeds do not have problems like these!

I definitely mentioned the fact that nobody in my family is/was educated, but I didn't explicitly discuss our financial or living situation.

Meh, not that it matters right now... I'm sure I'll get in somewhere, anyway, eventually

Thanks for your interest though. I appreciate being able to rant a bit.