Active duty military DIY postbacc

[souffle2021]

I am a nontraditional student looking for guidance on my DIY postbacc and overall plan.

Background: Graduated from college (I went to an Ivy--not sure if this matters as far as grade inflation or anything) several years ago with a BA in History and a 3.61 cGPA and 3.28 sGPA, currently an active duty Navy officer with a few more years of my service obligation remaining. I am hoping to complete prerequisites while still in the military and apply to HPSP/USUHS near the end of my contract/immediately upon getting out with the goal of becoming a military doctor.

In college I took 2 semesters of organic chem + lab (no gen chem, took AP in HS), 2 semesters of calculus, and 2 semesters of physics + lab. Most of these were in my freshman year and I was definitely too ambitious as far as enrolling in a bunch of challenging courses all at once during my first semesters of college--hence the 3.28 sGPA. I received one B- and the rest of the courses were a mix of B+, A-, Bs--no C's or below, no withdrawals. I also took 2 higher level psychology courses and 2 courses in the history of medicine later on in college.

I am enrolling in a local 4 year university to finish prereqs one or 2 classes at a time over the next few years around work and deployments. I have 2 semesters of bio, 1 semester of biochem, some sort of gen chem/advanced chem (more on this later), and 1 semester of stats left to do at least. I have developed better study habits since my freshman year of college 8 years ago and think that these courses could definitely raise the sGPA. I'm planning on knocking out the intro bio courses first. Also obviously looking into shadowing opportunities, etc.

Here are my questions:
-Should I even consider a DIY postbacc given my currently low sGPA or should I look at doing an SMP/other master's program (either through doing a career intermission program or a break in military service)?
-Should I go back and take gen chem or should I try to enroll in higher-level chem classes like pchem or advanced organic?
-Should I consider taking other science classes (higher level bio courses, A&P??) later on to raise the sGPA?
-Will I need to take an intro psych class or will the upper level classes suffice?

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[GreenDuck12]

-Should I even consider a DIY postbacc given my currently low sGPA or should I look at doing an SMP/other master's program (either through doing a career intermission program or a break in military service)?
Your sGPA is a bit low but hopefully will rise with prereqs. At the moment, I would not pursue an SMP. Get through the prereqs, maybe some additional upper level bio / chem classes to show you can handle a science heavy medical school curriculum.

-Should I go back and take gen chem or should I try to enroll in higher-level chem classes like pchem or advanced organic?
Unless you received a C or below in gen chem, I would not retake it. I would not recommend p chem as it is one of the most challenging undergraduate courses will very little that will lend itself to med school. If you need to fix your GPA, look into genetics, cell bio, molecular bio, etc.

-Should I consider taking other science classes (higher level bio courses, A&P??) later on to raise the sGPA?
See above

-Will I need to take an intro psych class or will the upper level classes suffice?
Not necessary for the MCAT but some medical schools may have a social science requirement. My guess is upper level courses will be more than sufficient but check specific programs to be sure.

 

[souffle2021]

-Should I even consider a DIY postbacc given my currently low sGPA or should I look at doing an SMP/other master's program (either through doing a career intermission program or a break in military service)?
Your sGPA is a bit low but hopefully will rise with prereqs. At the moment, I would not pursue an SMP. Get through the prereqs, maybe some additional upper level bio / chem classes to show you can handle a science heavy medical school curriculum.

-Should I go back and take gen chem or should I try to enroll in higher-level chem classes like pchem or advanced organic?
Unless you received a C or below in gen chem, I would not retake it. I would not recommend p chem as it is one of the most challenging undergraduate courses will very little that will lend itself to med school. If you need to fix your GPA, look into genetics, cell bio, molecular bio, etc.

-Should I consider taking other science classes (higher level bio courses, A&P??) later on to raise the sGPA?
See above

-Will I need to take an intro psych class or will the upper level classes suffice?
Not necessary for the MCAT but some medical schools may have a social science requirement. My guess is upper level courses will be more than sufficient but check specific programs to be sure.

Thanks so much! I have never actually taken gen chem--I received AP Chem credit and went into orgo. Would it be a good idea to take some sort of upper level chem?