A question for a friend..

[TTSD]

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I want your opinion on this you guys. My friend used to have a history of unexplained and rather severe headaches and other conditions that continually left her incapacitated and feeble. The doctors all thought it was probably just extreme stress and among us, we all thought she was just sexually frustrated (and so did a few docs.. but they were our friends too).

Anyways, her MCAT score of course was pretty low and a big chunk of her transcript has a lot of W's, F's and D's. Yet she still really wants to go to medical school.

I mean, I already told her to try to weave it as best as she can into her personal statement.. but with all those marks on her transcript.. does she even stand a chance?

 

[BushBaby]

She won't know until she tries.

 

[CalBeE]

I'm a realistic person, I think you should try to help her to understand that Med school is not the only option for her...even if she makes it into a school, she'll need to do well and pass the USMLE...with her situation, it's hard to guarantee she'll be fine. It'll be sad if she invest a year or two of time and $$$ in med school and ended up not being able to practice.

 

[smc927]

Does she continue with these health problems? If they are what caused her to struggle and do poorly and they are still not resolved then I can't see how going to med school (assuming somebody would take her) would be anything but a mistake.... at least for now.

 

[skypilot]

If she has turned the corner then there definitely is a chance. But she has to demonstrate that she has by earning excellent grades and retaking the MCAT. Then it will make a great story for her personal statement.

🙂

 

[maygirl]

Hmmm....I kinda agree w/Calbee and smc927. First, I don't know whether weaving it into the personal statement is even a good idea b/c if the headaches and health problems were due to stress, then how does your friend know that they won't pop up again during med school or practicing? As we all know, med school is a lot more stressful than college. The MCAT and GPA are supposed to predict (roughly, of course) whether you can survive med school - if she did consistenly bad at school and had health problems, then I think it's a sign that she should really consider whether she can handle medical school and residency. At the end, there's no harm trying, but I do think she needs to think about other options, particularly those that are not as demanding.

 

[Heal&Teach]

I agree with skypilot. Retaking the MCAT and doing well in future courses will definitely give your friend a shot. Maybe she should consider a post-baccalaureate program. It'll buy her some time in terms of monitoring her condition (I'm guessing the operative words are that she USED to have this condition) and also give her an opportunity to improve her grades. It's an unfortunate situation that your friend is in, and I'll pray that her condition doesn't reappear or worsen so that she is able to live out her dreams.

H&T

 

[TTSD]

Yeah, I've discussed these things with her. I one time encouraged her to take some hard courses (that's interesting of course) when she feels ready. See if she has the motivation and moxy to get through. When I thought I was going to give up on medicine that's what I did, I took some of the biggest grade-eating classes and that's what essentially turned me around.

 

[musiclink213]

if she still gets those headaches, and no one knows what's wrong with her, the med schools might be a bit wary to take someone like that on. how can she guarantee that she won't get a headache while operating on a patient or something? i would first worry about getting rid of the headaches and than apply to med school once she knows what's wrong.

BTW, the sorta same thing happened to me all throughout last yaer. i got these awful headaches, and i went to my FP who said it was stress headaches, later that night, i went to the ER cause i was twitching and it kept me up and i couldn't lie down. they also said stress headache and tol;d me to follow up with a neurologist. i did, and she said it was a swollen nerve in the base of my skull (that's where the headaches were centered). i got injection into the nerve, and they went away. they later came back, and i would get an injection. in june of last year, i got numbness and weakness in my arms and legs and wound up in the ER again. they admitted me and found nothing, and so they decided it had to be then migraines with "unusual symptoms". i'm taking medicaiton for it now, and i haven't had a migraine since, except for when my cousin is in town. 😉

 

[TTSD]

Musiclink.. occipital neuralgia? But yeah, those shots to the back of the head make such interesting and.. PLEASANT noises as they grind through, huh?

 

[musiclink213]

Originally posted by TTSD
Musiclink.. occipital neuralgia? But yeah, those shots to the back of the head make such interesting and.. PLEASANT noises as they grind through, huh?

i can't remember what it's called, but yea, gotta love those shots. i try not to listen to the noise it makes though. i wouldn't even look at that huge ass needle she was going to stick into the back of my head. my mom was in the room, and she almost passed out watching it.

 

[XT777]

I'm not a doctor but i will offer my services in ameliorating the frusteration problems mentioned above...

 

[CalBeE]

Originally posted by musiclink213
BTW, the sorta same thing happened to me all throughout last yaer. i got these awful headaches, and i went to my FP who said it was stress headaches,

I'm just surprised how many primary physicians follow so strictly the principle "Uncommon symptoms for common diseases are more common than common symptoms for uncommon diseases"