Advice - Medical School

[nydnarb]

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Hi. (long introduction + story) My name is Brandyn (he/him). I am a Pre-Med student, and here is my story. I recently graduated high school May 2021, but throughout high school I took lots of Dual Enrollment classes, and now I have 69 college credits and my Associate in Arts Degree. My intended major was Computer Science and I have around 20 Computer Science college credits. However, I have switched gears from being a Computer Science major into a biomedical science major. The only important college classes that I have on my belt are: English 1, English 2, Biology 1+lab, Chemistry 1+lab, Pre Calculus + Trigonometry, Humanities. I start college at an in-state four-year public university this August. I plan on graduating with my BS in Biomedical Science in May 2023 (since I have enough credits to do so).

Regarding the MCAT, I have two options. I could either: Option A. Take the MCAT summer of 2022 (I would have taken Biology 1, Biology 2, Biology 3, Chemistry 1, Chemistry 2, O Chem 1, Calc 1 + Calc 2, Physics 1.... I would not have taken O Chem 2, Physics 2, Biochemistry, Psychology, nor Sociology yet. I have heard from nontraditional students that have self-studied Biochemistry, Psychology + Sociology and did decent on the MCAT (510+) If I take the MCAT summer of 2022, It would fit my timeline pretty well and I hope that I could get into medical school and start in Fall 2023 (right after I finish my bachelors). Or I could do Option B, take the MCAT summer of 2023 (right after I finish my Bachelors) I would have all my required classes done and ready, however, that would mean that I would have to take a gap year from May 2023 all the way to fall 2024. (I'd prefer not to take a gap year if possible) Please give me input on that and regarding other things: I need to receive Clinical Experience, Volunteer hours, Shadowing, Research, and Clubs. I am not entirely sure how to do all these things.

During this 2021 summer, I am volunteering at a local hospital doing patient transportation - I plan on doing 200 hours of volunteer work. I have also applied to work for Scribe America and start working as a Scribe to gain Clinical Experience.

I would really appreciate if someone could kindly give me advice on what I should possibly do? (BTW regarding Option A, me not taking a gap year, I was thinking about applying to medical schools right after I receive my MCAT score. I was thinking of taking an April 2022 MCAT and apply to medical school in May 2022 - in hopes of matriculating in fall 2023)

I've heard from a friend of mine, regarding research, it is good to have around 2000 / 4000 hours of clinical research. He said that he worked full-time a lot doing research in a lab. How could I get these research positions? Do I ask my professor? I would have time in my schedule over the summer and winter breaks to work in a lab and do research and etc. I would also need around 100+ hours of Shadowing, a few clubs, and the Clinical Experience job (work as a Scribe)

Also: regarding residencies: I am leaning towards (they are in order): 1. Dermatology, 2. Anesthesia, 3. Plastics, 4. Ophthalmology, 5. Orthopedics, 6. Radiology... Most of my desired residencies are hard to fill if I go into a DO school, therefore I think that I should apply to MD schools in order to get into these residencies that I wish.

 

[JimKimSlim]

Whoa, whoa. Hold your horses. You haven’t even started med school but you’re already looking at residencies??

First of all, why do you want to become a doctor? Going to a med school is a HUGE commitment, and your decision will likely change during your time in college. In fact, when I took organic chemistry, I had about 20 friends who were premeds. That number dropped to 4 by my senior year. You should go to college with an open mind and explore as many career options as possible because believe it or not medicine is not for everyone!

With that being said, I know you’re trying to graduate early, so if you’re curious how your premed journey will look like, just DM me and I can help answer all your questions since I graduated early too.

 

[stinkycheeseperson]

duud ya gotta do more reseeach on ya own.

don't graduate early at this point my man. take psych and soci before the mcat. get a hobby and a girl. or boy or whatever. actually 2 hobbies.

those are too high of research numbers. find something you like to do. be of service and of interest.

i am very sus of your spread and pick of possible resi-don't-cies.

 

[candbgirl]

Slow down! What’s your rush? You have lots of time to get everything done. Thinking you can take the MCAT in 10 months is just crazy. You won’t have all of the prerequisites . Take a step back. Relax. Enjoy your life. Make friends, join clubs, take classes that interest you. Med schools want people that can bring diversity to their classes. They don’t want mini robots who have deadheaded through everything. They also want mature students and you are showing signs of immaturity. And that’s totally reasonable. We were all immature at age 18( and later). It’s through life experiences that we grow and mature. Enjoy college and when you are ready take the MCAT and see where you are. After you adjust to college life start expanding into nonclinical and clinical work/volunteering.check in with the premed office at your school,and see what they say and what resources they have available.
And please don’t worry about residency. There are so many things that impact that area of med Ed that plans made now will be vastly changed by the time you apply to residency in 6-8 years.

 

[cafemocha]

To give my two cents about the MCAT timing if you do continue down a pre-med path is to wait until after you have at least taken Psychology, Sociology, and Biochemistry. These are huge components of the MCAT and, IMO, would be MUCH easier to study with some knowledge from a college course (especially Biochem). Orgo 2 and Physics 2 aren't huge, but Physics 2 topics like lenses and optics can show up pretty heavily.

Also, like other posters have said, there is no reason to try and rush through everything. Don't get so focused on telling yourself that you have to do X, Y, and Z in one specific order and on one specific timeline that you can't enjoy the time you have right now. Your plans can and will most likely change whether it's because you choose to change them or something doesn't happen the way you thought it would, and that's fine! I had planned my MCAT so that I could apply and start med school right out of undergrad and ended up needing to take a gap year. I'm actually pretty grateful for it because I was mentally exhausted after undergrad. Having a gap year has let me rest, gain more experience, and enjoy more of my life before catapulting myself back into school.

 

[spek]

To give my two cents about the MCAT timing if you do continue down a pre-med path is to wait until after you have at least taken Psychology, Sociology, and Biochemistry. These are huge components of the MCAT and, IMO, would be MUCH easier to study with some knowledge from a college course (especially Biochem). Orgo 2 and Physics 2 aren't huge, but Physics 2 topics like lenses and optics can show up pretty heavily.

Also, like other posters have said, there is no reason to try and rush through everything. Don't get so focused on telling yourself that you have to do X, Y, and Z in one specific order and on one specific timeline that you can't enjoy the time you have right now. Your plans can and will most likely change whether it's because you choose to change them or something doesn't happen the way you thought it would, and that's fine! I had planned my MCAT so that I could apply and start med school right out of undergrad and ended up needing to take a gap year. I'm actually pretty grateful for it because I was mentally exhausted after undergrad. Having a gap year has let me rest, gain more experience, and enjoy more of my life before catapulting myself back into school.

How much biochem for the mcat is necessary? Is biochem 1 enough or would you suggest biochem 2 also just for mcat purposes? I’ve seen you only need the first one but I find that hard to believe.

 

[cafemocha]

How much biochem for the mcat is necessary? Is biochem 1 enough or would you suggest biochem 2 also just for mcat purposes? I’ve seen you only need the first one but I find that hard to believe.

According to the AAMC's website, 25% of the Biochemical and Biological Foundations of Living Systems section on the MCAT is first-semester biochemistry. Second-semester biochemistry is not listed, so Biochem 1 should be all you need. My university had a 2 semester Intro to Biochemistry course pairing that was specific to biochem majors, and a different 1 semester Intro to Biochemistry course for non-biochem majors (which is what I took). It never hurts to cross-check the MCAT section content with the material in your course though if you're not sure!

Edit: Also, the emphasis I put on biochem in my original post was largely due to my personal opinion on the difficulty of biochem compared to other subjects and how I would have felt studying if I had tried to learn all of the metabolic cycles/bioenergetics/etc having never seen them before.

 

[premed1-123]

3 months ago OP wanted to go to dental school based on post history. Thing you should take a breather and really figure out what you want before getting ahead of yourself

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Seeing as how the others have addressed other aspects of what you've said, I'll keep my comments focused on advice for your plans. You seem to be aiming all over the place in terms of what exactly you want to do as a future physician, but you don't currently have nearly as much experience in seeing medicine nor researching in medicine. I don't know your full story, but going from CS to medicine isn't exactly the same (both are science heavy but medicine requires more social nuance). The specialities you've described such as derm, ophtho, ortho, and PS all require major research time and publications, and frankly nowadays even a sizable amount of USMDs need to have transitional years after M4 to get those extra publications just to get interviews to these competitive specialty programs.


You seem driven and efficient, but honestly, the best thing you can do is to figure out why becoming a physician is right for you, and the only way you do that is to immerse yourself in clinical and research settings for longitudinal timespans. Many students in medical school are older not because they flubbed around in undergrad and afterwards, but because they worked in industry, labs, and volunteered to gain experience, and to enjoy themselves before they enter medicine. You've mentioned scribing; former scribes I'm peers with were in that field for over two years and had over 2500 hours. Scribing is something you cannot do for a time and drop, then come back to when you feel like it; it's something you must have a consistent schedule for over the course of a year in many health systems.

I've heard from a friend of mine, regarding research, it is good to have around 2000 / 4000 hours of clinical research. He said that he worked full-time a lot doing research in a lab. How could I get these research positions? Do I ask my professor? I would have time in my schedule over the summer and winter breaks to work in a lab and do research and etc. I would also need around 100+ hours of Shadowing, a few clubs, and the Clinical Experience job (work as a Scribe)

The most research in a summer I got was only about 200 hours over the course of 40 hours a week; I only hit 1000 hours after slightly over a year, and I only got my first abstract after 2500 hours. Mind you, I was researching for nearly three years at that point, but this is dependent on your field, findings, and connections more so than other factors. As far as finding research positions, find out what research is being done by your faculty that REALLY INTERESTS YOU. If you want to get the most out of research, you want to actually be motivated by it, and just because Professor X is someone who is very well regarded in their field, doesn't necessary mean that you will grow to like their research and methods. After finding a match, just talk to said faculty or email them expressing your interest. There's nothing wrong with this, and the worst they can say is either "no", or wait for some time.


The tl;dr of this OP is that it feels like you an ambitious person, but it's coming off that you aren't fully calculating the hours needed to do all of these things and to do them well. Yes, you can go about all of this early on, but at the same time, there are numerous 4.0/518+ ers who apply directly out of undergrad and don't land anywhere simply because they have no sense of perspective on why they are going to medical school, and also lack the experiences to draw upon their desire for the career.