another newbie needs advice

[brooklyn11231]

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I'm new to SDN, and am looking for some advice. I don't really know where to start. I'm currently working at an AIDS nonprofit, and have worked in public health for the last 10 years. I am considering going to medical school -- however I do not intend to be a practicing physician in the traditional sense; I would like to continue working in the field of public health. Many of the positions I'm interested in require an MD, so I am considering going back to school, and wanted some advice on how to start.

Some background:
I graduated from an Ivy League school 10 years ago with a degree in biochemistry. While I thought I was going to be a scientist, it turns out I wasn't very good at it, and my undergrad GPA was only around a 3.3.

I have a master's in public health, and my graduate school GPA was 3.95.

I also have significant experience and commitment to public health. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, and have continued to work in healthcare nonprofits for the past decade.

Because I was a biochem major in college, I have pretty much completed all of the med school prereqs as a part of my major. However, I know I slacked off in college and did not do that well. I was wondering if I should re-take the prereqs, since it has been 10 years, I barely remember anything, and I would need to know that material for the MCAT anyway.

Because of personal circumstances, I can't really take the time off to enroll in a full-time post-bacc program, but was considering taking classes part-time at a local college in NYC.

Should I take all of the pre-reqs over again? If I did take them over again, and did well this time around, do you think that would make up for doing poorly the first time around? Also, I know my high grad-school GPA can't make up for my UG performance, but since I did do well, and have shown long-term dedication to the field of public health, do you think that will help my chances?

Thanks!

 

[DrMattOglesby]

i think because you have ALREADY taken the courses at a 4year, then the fact that you take them at a city college shouldnt be too detrimental.
however, it is true that some colleges dont consider a person if they have taken pre-reqs solely at a City college. But many schools will look past that.
I think you need to retake pre-reqs for the most anyways, just cause i think there are a large handful of schools that have a time frame regarding how recent your undergrad work needs to be.
as far as prepping for the MCAT. I can say from personal experience that my own studying has helped moreso than attending college classes. Simply because that is where i integrated everything ive learned and how to take the test.
BTW i am currently prepping for the MCAT...didnt think i needed to study much last time i took it because i did well in all my pre-reqs! big mistake.

 

[Luxian]

Wow! You are very similar to me. Let me give you the rundown:

mediocre GPA at a top engineering school: (3.1)
good GPA at a school of public health: (3.8)
rocked the MCAT (37)
out of college for 10years and doing public health for 6
didn't want to retake all my pre-reqs.

and just to get to the sweet end, I have been accepted and will be starting med school this July!

Okay, first of all, yes, you can absolutely do this! There are a few things you should know.

1) No, you do not need to retake everything - HOWEVER, you will need at least one prof to write a recommendation. I had one from grad school and two from employers, but that did cut out a few schools that wanted two profs for LORs. It was just a few. Most accepted them.

2) A big downside of my application was not having patient exposure. Sure, I've worked in public health for six years, but I haven't had one on ones with patients. Most schools are adamant that you have done shadowing or volunteering at a hospital so you know what you are getting into. I think I would have had more than my four interviews if I had had some good clinical experience.

3) Do well on the MCAT. Your MPH grades won't count for that much, but a good MCAT score will alleviate a lot of their fears about you being out of school for a while. Pick up an MCAT prep book and try studying on your own. I was surprised how much came back. (I used Examkrackers and thought they were excellent, but there are many out there.)

4) Do NOT believe the "deadlines". Almost every school has rolling admissions which means if you apply by the deadline in November/December, almost all the interview spots have already been given out. I can't stress enough how important it is to apply early (June/July for primary, Aug/Sept for secondary). I applied two years in a row because I made that mistake the first year. Second year, with almost no changes in my application, I got several interviews, two at schools that wouldn't give me the time of day the previous year. Apply broadly and apply early.

I think you're experience will really put you in a good position, but you do have to jump through the hoops first. Do well on your MCAT, get some clinical exposure, and start applying!

P.S. Your Peace Corps stuff may be enough on the volunteering end, depending on what you did while you were there. Just to cover your bases, though, stop by a hospital for a few hours a week. Then you will be a very solid candidate!

 

[brooklyn11231]

Thanks for the advice so far! I worked in a community health clinic in Africa when I was a Peace Corps volunteer, so I do have some 1-1 patient care experience.

However, I did want to continue my career in public health -- do you think medical schools will frown on the fact that I do not intend to become a practicing physician? I.e. I would like to design/work on population based health interventions for infectious diseases but not work with patients on a day to day basis. I thought since I didn't want to treat patients 1-1, volunteering/hospital/etc experience would be less important.

If I wanted to retake some of the pre-med classes, I could take them at as a continuing education/non-degree student Columbia, NYU, or Hunter instead of a local community college -- do you think that would have more weight with admissions than if I pieced together some classes at BMCC (manhattan community college), or somewhere like Pace? I hate to think that the admissions folks are just going to look at the name of the school, but I don't really know how these things work.

 

[Luxian]

I think at some level they have to know you feel comfortable working with patients (I know you do) even if you intend on going into public health. You may want to speak to an actual adcom about this, but I always phrased it as both: using clinical experience to inform my public health involvement. That said, I'm never going to stop working in public health.

Not to toot a particular horn, but you really should look at the curriculum at Case Western. It is certainly the med school most aware of public health (its required in the curriculum and they've produced two heads of CDC and two surgeons general). Of course, you can never rely on one med school -- I applied to more than a dozen -- but definitely keep them on your list if you are interested in continuing in that field.