Advice please

[old_school]

Hi there, I am a long time reader, 1st time poster. I was hoping if you all could give me a little bit of advice? My dream is to become a medical doctor, and here is my situation:
I am a 37 year old US military veteran who just graduated with a BS Microbiology degree (thank you Uncle Sam!). My GPA wasn't so hot: 2.89. I am a husband and a father of 2 young children. Besides my military service (presently in the US Army Reserve, previously in the US Navy/2 deployments), I served for a year in AmeriCorps and I received an award last year for volunteerism. Science-wise, I've participated in research (I've presented a poster of our research at a national conference, no scientific paper credit yet). Last but not least since I'm posting in the nontraditional forum, I am Latino (I speak fluent Mexican Spanish), low-income, and I have a learning disability (dyslexia). I haven't taken the MCAT yet, and I'm currently in the process of applying for the MCAT time extension.
My question is, what advice could you give me on gaining admission to medical school/becoming a physician? Prep courses? SMP? International? Thank you in advance.

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[GreenDuck12]

This thread seems like a good place to start: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/low-gpa-ok-mcat-post-military.1176703/#post-17272601

 

[old_school]

This thread seems like a good place to start: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/low-gpa-ok-mcat-post-military.1176703/#post-17272601

Thanks GreenDuck12, correct me if I'm mistaken, but it seems like the gist of it is to kick ass on the MCAT. Then, if anything, raise the gpa and/or go SMP. Thoughts?

 

[Moko]

Thanks GreenDuck12, correct me if I'm mistaken, but it seems like the gist of it is to kick ass on the MCAT. Then, if anything, raise the gpa and/or go SMP. Thoughts?

Pretty much as you said: do well on the MCAT, improve your GPA, and then do well in a SMP--all of this is much easier said than done though.

With your GPA, it will likely still take years of repair before you are competitive for admission. If you were receiving mostly B's in your undergrad degree recently, how confident are you that you can start achieving mostly A's from here on out? And are you willing to sacrifice time with your family for the next decade+ in order to pursue this dream? Realistically, you'll be in school until at least your late 40s.

Also, how severe is your dyslexia? The coursework required in medical school and beyond is dense and very extensive... Will you be able to handle the coursework should you be accepted? If not, any efforts getting into a medical school would simply be wasted. JMT and best of luck.

 

[Law2Doc]

Thanks GreenDuck12, correct me if I'm mistaken, but it seems like the gist of it is to kick ass on the MCAT. Then, if anything, raise the gpa and/or go SMP. Thoughts?

I would start with repairing the GPA and hold off on the MCAT at present. The MCAT score is only good for a finite number of years and it may take you a couple to get your GPA over the 3.0 line. A "kick-ass" MCAT does nothing for you without GPA improvement. SDN is misleading with respect to how "all-important" the MCAT scores are in terms of admission. I've known people with crazy high scores who got in no place because of GPA. You need to have both within the right range -- one won't excuse the other.

 

[old_school]

Pretty much as you said: do well on the MCAT, improve your GPA, and then do well in a SMP--all of this is much easier said than done though.

With your GPA, it will likely still take years of repair before you are competitive for admission. If you were receiving mostly B's in your undergrad degree recently, how confident are you that you can start achieving mostly A's from here on out? And are you willing to sacrifice time with your family for the next decade+ in order to pursue this dream? Realistically, you'll be in school until at least your late 40s.

Also, how severe is your dyslexia? The coursework required in medical school and beyond is dense and very extensive... Will you be able to handle the coursework should you be accepted? If not, any efforts getting into a medical school would simply be wasted. JMT and best of luck.

Thanks Moko. To answer you, I'm pretty confident that I'll do well from here on out. I've got a 3.5 gpa in the last 3 semesters. I know it's not amazing, but it's a heckuva lot better than what I had before. Also, I understand the sacrifice (remember I'm military). As for the dyslexia, it's mild. With time extension on exams I seem to do fine. Unfortunately the dyslexia wasn't diagnosed until almost the end of my undergrad, otherwise the damage control might not have been as big of a deal now.

 

[old_school]

I would start with repairing the GPA and hold off on the MCAT at present. The MCAT score is only good for a finite number of years and it may take you a couple to get your GPA over the 3.0 line. A "kick-ass" MCAT does nothing for you without GPA improvement. SDN is misleading with respect to how "all-important" the MCAT scores are in terms of admission. I've known people with crazy high scores who got in no place because of GPA. You need to have both within the right range -- one won't excuse the other.

Thanks Law2Doc. I'm in a post-bac certificate program now for Medical Laboratory Science, taking about 7 credits/semester. Any thoughts? Also looking at applying to the UQ-Ochsner program (Australia).

 

[GreenDuck12]

I didn't follow the whole thread but the OP seems to be a similar situation. The general advice I give is if one's GPA is below a 3.1 that individual should look into DO schools and their grade replacement policy to bring their GPA up to a competitive range 3.0-3.3. The MCAT is a wicked test and should only be taken when one is best prepared to do well and certainly not before. I would follow Law2Doc's advice above on MCAT/GPA repair. I don't know enough about SMPs to offer advice but I do know they are an option for applicants with low GPAs to show they can handle medical school (for a premium). Personally, I prefer the "many semesters of sustained high academic achievement in science heavy coursework" approach.

Thanks GreenDuck12, correct me if I'm mistaken, but it seems like the gist of it is to kick ass on the MCAT. Then, if anything, raise the gpa and/or go SMP. Thoughts?

 

[old_school]

I didn't follow the whole thread but the OP seems to be a similar situation. The general advice I give is if one's GPA is below a 3.1 that individual should look into DO schools and their grade replacement policy to bring their GPA up to a competitive range 3.0-3.3. The MCAT is a wicked test and should only be taken when one is best prepared to do well and certainly not before. I would follow Law2Doc's advice above on MCAT/GPA repair. I don't know enough about SMPs to offer advice but I do know they are an option for applicants with low GPAs to show they can handle medical school (for a premium). Personally, I prefer the "many semesters of sustained high academic achievement in science heavy coursework" approach.

Thank you, any thoughts on international schools? I'm looking at the UQ-Ochsner program (Australia).

 

[GreenDuck12]

Others can chime in on international schools but in general it is advisable to attend medical school in a country that you would like to practice (i.e. US medical school for US practice, Australian medical school for Australian practice). The reason for this is that if you want to practice medicine in the US you have to attend a US residency program in order to gain a license. In recent years, the number of seats in medical schools has risen as has the number of applicants for US residencies from the Carribean/international medical schools while the number of US residencies has not kept pace. This has led to a number of applicants unable to start a US residency program and end up stuck with a lot of debt and no option to practice (I believe I read somewhere that 500 graduates of US medical schools were unable to match into residencies). US residencies favor graduates of US medical schools but will turn to international applicants for open spaces.

take this with a grain of salt as this is not my area of expertise but a synthesis of what I have read

 

[old_school]

Others can chime in on international schools but in general it is advisable to attend medical school in a country that you would like to practice (i.e. US medical school for US practice, Australian medical school for Australian practice). The reason for this is that if you want to practice medicine in the US you have to attend a US residency program in order to gain a license. In recent years, the number of seats in medical schools has risen as has the number of applicants for US residencies from the Carribean/international medical schools while the number of US residencies has not kept pace. This has led to a number of applicants unable to start a US residency program and end up stuck with a lot of debt and no option to practice (I believe I read somewhere that 500 graduates of US medical schools were unable to match into residencies). US residencies favor graduates of US medical schools but will turn to international applicants for open spaces.

take this with a grain of salt as this is not my area of expertise but a synthesis of what I have read

Thank you. Just curious, what factors affect residency selection for an IMG other than USMLE scores? Let's say in internal medicine or pathology?

 

[esob]

I think the biggest factor affecting residency for IMG is the specialty itself. The more desirable, the less likely to be filled with IMG.