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- Thread starter pauliyah
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Looking at your post history, you started in a lab maybe 4 years ago with the hope of making up for a poor undergrad GPA. Frankly, that may have been a mistake given that research experience and even research productivity can't make up for poor undergrad GPA. Full stop.
The places where research productivity would be most impressive are the top research schools and those schools also expect a very high undergrad gpa. With a poor GPA, after some additional post-bac coursework, your best bet would be the schools that are focused on producing primary care providers for underserved communities. Does that float your boat? If so, you can list your 4 years of employment as a dip of your toes into the world of research, you found it wanting, and proceeded to double down on preparing to apply to medical school, something that had been in the back of your mind for many years. Going the MD or DO route for primary care will mean taking post-bac undergraduate coursework in the natural sciences, going hard on MCAT prep, and getting more clinical experience and community service volunteering. I'd suggest leaving the lab and seeking employment in a clinical setting to make room for all that you'll need to do to be realistic about admission to medical school. It is a major about-face but if you are looking for the opportunity to go to medical school, I'd say that's it. If it is research or bust, I'd suggest going toward a PhD then med school but that seems a very hard and very long road, particularly at this time.
The places where research productivity would be most impressive are the top research schools and those schools also expect a very high undergrad gpa. With a poor GPA, after some additional post-bac coursework, your best bet would be the schools that are focused on producing primary care providers for underserved communities. Does that float your boat? If so, you can list your 4 years of employment as a dip of your toes into the world of research, you found it wanting, and proceeded to double down on preparing to apply to medical school, something that had been in the back of your mind for many years. Going the MD or DO route for primary care will mean taking post-bac undergraduate coursework in the natural sciences, going hard on MCAT prep, and getting more clinical experience and community service volunteering. I'd suggest leaving the lab and seeking employment in a clinical setting to make room for all that you'll need to do to be realistic about admission to medical school. It is a major about-face but if you are looking for the opportunity to go to medical school, I'd say that's it. If it is research or bust, I'd suggest going toward a PhD then med school but that seems a very hard and very long road, particularly at this time.
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What kind of job do you see in your crystal ball in 15 years? Where would you like to be and what would you like to be doing? It may or may not be realistic.
What is a " valuable life experience" that will impress an adcom and help you get admitted to a medical school is going to vary based on the type of school you are targeting for the next phase of your education. That said, given what you can't change, some med schools may be virtually unachievable and it would be more realistic to set your sights toward what is doable. (sort along the lines of a HS senior with a 3.1 gpa and no extracurriculars insisting that they need to be admitted to Princeton and no other school will do.)
You've been spinning your wheels in a bad research environment for 4 years. Have you taken any post-bac classes? MCAT? What are the plans in that regard?
What is a " valuable life experience" that will impress an adcom and help you get admitted to a medical school is going to vary based on the type of school you are targeting for the next phase of your education. That said, given what you can't change, some med schools may be virtually unachievable and it would be more realistic to set your sights toward what is doable. (sort along the lines of a HS senior with a 3.1 gpa and no extracurriculars insisting that they need to be admitted to Princeton and no other school will do.)
You've been spinning your wheels in a bad research environment for 4 years. Have you taken any post-bac classes? MCAT? What are the plans in that regard?
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Let's go back to the original question.
Quick answer: you comply with your NDA. It's just a research experience. Talk about the highlights. Don't get an LOR. Forget about what you have left behind; the research can go on without you.
More interestingly, you are out of the market for a research job. It's probably a good time to implement that plan you have to realize your plans about doing well in a postbac, getting clinical experience, and making a bigger community impact (non-clinical, non-teaching).
Did you read @Goro 's guide to reinvention? The language is highly aspirational and only sounds like "top programs" or bust. If your goal is to become a physician, you must get rid of the elitist mindset. Sure, I admire having high standards, but if you've just been working in a lab for 4 years expecting first-author publications and recognition that hasn't come, you clearly don't execute on your plans well. "My approach" isn't a plan with milestones that demonstrate you are getting closer to the goal. I'm missing this.
By the way, who are your champions? Who is going to give you strong letters of recommendation? Are you paying a consultant to guide you, or are you part of a mentoring organization for aspiring physicians?
Oh, was this lab affiliated with a medical school or an affiliated hospital/research institute?
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There is a big disconnect for me in those three specialties in terms of where one spends one's time (OR, vs outpatient setting vs office or inpatient unit), the length of time (measured in weeks/years) one spends with a given patient and the differences in tools and procedures one uses. I'm not sure what attracts you to such wildly different specialties and I'm not asking you to get into it here but I do think that you need to shadow and work out what is driving you toward medicine and whether what is feasible given your limitations will be satisfying.
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