Admissions Difficulty

[NontraditionalEcon]

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I woke up a month ago and had this crazy idea that I wanted to be a doctor even though I've never even considered it before. I dismissed it since it seemed like such a crazy idea, but I'm still thinking about it so I'm trying to get as much information as possible to make an informed decision. Id need to do a postbac premed program as I've never taken many science courses. I'm trying to figure out if 1) I have a shot at any decent postbac programs and 2) if so which tier of programs I should be targeting. Most of the programs don't give detailed information on there incoming classes. I feel like I have a decent shot at a good program, but for all I know I could be in fantasy land and have no chance outside a local community college. Here's some background on me:

Undergrad economics/business major
3.6 gpa
750/570 Math/Reading SAT
Significant leadership ECs in student government, Greek life, and Econ program.
Currently work in a good financial markets analyst role that I can loosely tie to medicine.
Also thinking about volunteering at a local hospital just to see what it's like.

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.

 

[deleted480308]

before you spend that money, go volunteer in the hospitall for a semester

 

[NontraditionalEcon]

before you spend that money, go volunteer in the hospitall for a semester

That's the plan, just trying to figure out my competitiveness before doing that.

 

[deleted480308]

grades are fine and you don't need to do a formal program, you can just take the prereqs

 

[BostonB]

I was in the same position as you a few years ago, and the formal post-bacs all told me "go get some medical experience, then try again." I didn't get into any of them, and for good reason. You need to prove to yourself and adcoms that medicine is the field for you. It's an expensive and time-consuming mistake to make if it isn't. In addition, you won't be a very strong candidate for med school if you go straight to a post-bac then apply; med schools expect you to have some kind of experience in the medical field, as well as volunteer work, physician shadowing, and research. It will take some time to acquire all that, so you do have to be committed.

Your GPA is totally fine, so you shouldn't have trouble getting into a program when you're ready. (I don't really remember what constitutes a good SAT score, unfortunately, it's been a decade since I've taken one, so I can't comment on that). Also, don't discount the non-formal or semi-formal routes - doing classes at an extension school is a perfectly legit way of getting your pre-reqs in.

 

[NontraditionalEcon]

I was in the same position as you a few years ago, and the formal post-bacs all told me "go get some medical experience, then try again." I didn't get into any of them, and for good reason. You need to prove to yourself and adcoms that medicine is the field for you. It's an expensive and time-consuming mistake to make if it isn't. In addition, you won't be a very strong candidate for med school if you go straight to a post-bac then apply; med schools expect you to have some kind of experience in the medical field, as well as volunteer work, physician shadowing, and research. It will take some time to acquire all that, so you do have to be committed.

Your GPA is totally fine, so you shouldn't have trouble getting into a program when you're ready. (I don't really remember what constitutes a good SAT score, unfortunately, it's been a decade since I've taken one, so I can't comment on that). Also, don't discount the non-formal or semi-formal routes - doing classes at an extension school is a perfectly legit way of getting your pre-reqs in.

This is really good information, thanks!

One question for both of you. What kind of volunteering should I be doing at a hospital? From looking on there websites most of it just looks like bs stuff that I feel like wouldn't matter for med school and wouldn't let me see if it's something I really want to do. I've heard the term clinical volunteering - is this something you just do on the volunteer site or do you have to know someone?

 

[Akech]

Clinical volunteering is something that gets you in contact with a patient, as opposed to doing clerical work like filing papers or making copies. The criteria that's tossed around the most here on SDN is "If you're close enough to smell patients".

Most jobs volunteering at hospitals won't expose you to patients too easily, but there are a lot of things you can do that count as clinical experience, it doesn't have to be just volunteering. Working as a scribe or EMT are both great ways to get clinical experience while getting paid. Otherwise, you'll really have to sniff out the departments in your nearby hospital that include duties that would get you close to patients. It's not just the ones you'd expect, though; working in the ER at my hospital doesn't allow you to come in contact with patients, while I chose to volunteer at the pathology lab and I've actually gotten to go along and help around procedures. It'll be easier to figure out once you start volunteering, and you'll probably be able to move to different departments if the one you're working at doesn't fit the bill.

 

[BostonB]

In addition, your volunteer work doesn't necessarily have to be medical, as long as you're getting that exposure some other way (like Akech said, you can work as an EMT or a scribe). Volunteer for a cause you really care about, not just for the sake of volunteering.

 

[DrMidlife]

it just looks like bs stuff that I feel like wouldn't matter for med school and wouldn't let me see if it's something I really want to do.

Pushing stretchers and escorting old ladies and carrying things and saying yes to everything you're asked to do is the price of admission to a clinical environment where you might get to eventually hold a leg or hang a bag of saline. As a pre-premed you have no value in a clinical environment because you have no training and no responsibility. Be grateful if you're allowed to even be there. You start getting to do a little bit more in the 3rd year of med school. Train to be an EMT or CNA if you want to do actual work as a premed.

Whether you think volunteering is BS or whether you think it wouldn't matter for med school makes no difference at all because what you think doesn't matter for another 6 years or so. The point of clinical volunteering is to take advantage of the tiny limited role you're allowed to play to get a feel for the atmosphere and its complexity and its key players. It takes little imagination to use a peripheral experience to see what you need to see in a clinical environment. You should be willing to change your mind about a medical career from what you see and whether you can stand it or not.

Best of luck to you.