Biggest obstacle faced on journey to med school

[oCrystal]

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As a non traditional applicant I know I had to overcome a lot of challenges over the last 2 and a half years on my way to eventually being accepted to an MD school I will be attending later this summer. I left a career (Naval Officer), had to juggle kids (3 year old triplets) and a marriage (incredibly supportive wife), and a child with special needs who was frequently hospitalized for surgical procedures while also having a severely compromised immune system. Nevertheless, I knew medicine is where I would end up and despite all of these hardships I persevered.

In any event I began to wonder what is the single most difficult obstacle you had to overcome when pursuing your acceptance to med school? Ultimately, a lack of time was the most difficult obstacle I faced. My wife worked full time so I was the one responsible for taking my children to all of their appts, therapies, etc. Of course things were compounded a bit as I have my BS in Criminal Justice Administration and had not taken any science courses since high school (graduated in '99). A typical week consisted of at least 3 therapy sessions and multiple weekly visits with specialists for my special needs daughter.

I look forward to some really unique and inspiring stories. Good luck to all those still pursuing their dream.


Accepted class of 2016 MD

 

[MedPR]

Congratulations on the acceptance(s)!

Biggest obstacle for me was being disowned and cutoff by my parents for deciding to pursue medicine after I finished undergraduate. I most likely would've been homeless if my girlfriend hadn't allowed me to move in with her, rent free, until i found a job.

Basically the story goes like this. I finished undergrad (in Missouri) in May 2010, moved back home (to Hawaii) and decided I wasn't giving up on MD/DO and my parents kicked me out. I had a 2.65/28MCAT at the time and they felt like I was setting an unrealistic goal. So I moved back to Missouri to move in with my girlfriend (she'll be an MS3 in July) and ended up finding a pretty good job (in terms of how it looks on my application, not how much it pays or how interesting it is) after about 5 months of job hunting. At this point I've been out of undergrad for about 10 months and haven't done anything to help improve my application except getting this clinical lab job. I realized DO grade replacement was my best option since I couldn't afford an official post-bacc program and I certainly couldn't afford a second undergrad, so I started taking classes at my CC. Started last summer and have continued through now taking a total of 30 credits since March 2011. Got my GPA up high enough to have a chance at DO (maybe even MD) and then started thinking about my MCAT (28O at the time). I was fortunate enough to come across SDN which turned me on to the TBR home-study program as well as the SDN online study program (MCAT Q&A). I supplemented TBR and SDN with EK and TPR and ended up getting a 33Q. Some people on SDN believe I have a good shot at DO class of 2017 and I sure hope they are right.

Also note-worthy is the fact that my father sent me a text message a few months ago (Tuesday, December 13 to be exact. It's saved in my phone 😉) saying "MedPR, you will never be a man, much less a doctor." I include "MedPR" because he always called me "son" and never by my first name, but in this text he used my first name which presumably means he doesn't consider me his son anymore. Though it wasn't my first or main motivating factor, it was definitely something that I read from time to time during MCAT prep when I was discouraged and needed a boost.

I know my obstacle(s) pale in comparison to those of you with spouses, children, and all kinds of other tangible things to deal with in addition to studying and improving your application, but I wanted to share in case others are lacking a support system throughout their journey.

 

[oCrystal]

Great story MedPR! I wish you the best of luck. It sounds like you should definitely have a realistically strong shot at DO and possibly MD next year. To an extent I can identify with the unsupportive family. The only immediate family I have (other than spouse/kids) are my mother and step father both of whom thought I was crazy for resigning my commission as a Naval Officer to pursue medicine. I was constantly reminded what a precarious position I had put my family in by walking away from free health care and a decent paying job. I simply used their comments as further motivation. I am truly sorry that your parents are so unsupportive. It may only be a small consolation but at least there are a great number of people who will always support you here on the non trad board.