PsychicPsych
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Hello, non-trad applicant here. I'm a third time applicant who applied to DO(3+ more potentially), MD (30) and MD/PhD (9) schools this cycle. I originally wanted to do MD/PhD, but I got sick of how competitive admission process was so I only applied to top schools for MD/PhD. The reasoning being that I am not going to put additional 3-4 years in education for something less financially viable unless the MD/PhD I get into gives me an overwhelming advantage over whatever MD school I get into. This may sound a bit arrogant, but I decided to do a blind coin toss with my life and decided that I would be happy to abandon research for the entirety of my career for an MD or DO program if I could get out of my current situation. At this point, I have a very complex relationship with research, where doing full-time research has been one of the happiest moments of my life and it still brings me great joy, but it's the very thing that got me into this miserable situation in the first place. For MD schools, there are few top programs and are mostly low to mid tier medical schools (which I will very much happy to matriculate into).
As for my background, I'm somewhat non-trad in that I became premed at the last year of my undergraduate. I did 3 year undergrad and 1 year masters, both in biology at T-20 university. My gpa for each are 3.45 for undergrad and 3.98 for master's. My MCAT is 516. I'm CA resident, ORM, came from immigrant low SES background.
For research, I have 1 first-author primary research in psychiatry and 1 first-author review paper in psychiatry. Both of these are preclinical work and they were submitted at nature portfolio journals (IF 7.5 & 9.1), I also have 2 third-author preclinical primary research paper at IF 4.5 and 9.0 journals. I also have a first-author clinical research paper coming up in IF 2 journal that integrates two important aspect of my clinical experience (EMS + Psychiatry). This work may be used to support an upcoming practice statement by one of the national physician organization.
My clinical experience comprise of 400 hour autism therapy, 400 hours inpatient psychiatry, 400 hours IFT EMT, 300 hours ER volunteer, and I have just started a paid IFT/911 EMT position that accrued 100 hours so far.
For community service, I did 300 hours doing health education on mental health at homeless shelter, 400 hour and counting mentoring troubled adolescent boys at middle and high school + juvenile halls on mental health and life. I will also start a volunteer EMT in a mobile clinic providing treatment for unhoused populations.
Unfortunately, years of disappointment and disenfranchisement has made me into a bitter and pessimistic person. I recognize this in me, and I am actively fighting against this part of myself because this is not a type of person I want to become. At the same time, I'm considering alternative pathways like lawyer, MBA, nursing, PA, and etc. Please let me know how I might do this cycle.
As for my background, I'm somewhat non-trad in that I became premed at the last year of my undergraduate. I did 3 year undergrad and 1 year masters, both in biology at T-20 university. My gpa for each are 3.45 for undergrad and 3.98 for master's. My MCAT is 516. I'm CA resident, ORM, came from immigrant low SES background.
For research, I have 1 first-author primary research in psychiatry and 1 first-author review paper in psychiatry. Both of these are preclinical work and they were submitted at nature portfolio journals (IF 7.5 & 9.1), I also have 2 third-author preclinical primary research paper at IF 4.5 and 9.0 journals. I also have a first-author clinical research paper coming up in IF 2 journal that integrates two important aspect of my clinical experience (EMS + Psychiatry). This work may be used to support an upcoming practice statement by one of the national physician organization.
My clinical experience comprise of 400 hour autism therapy, 400 hours inpatient psychiatry, 400 hours IFT EMT, 300 hours ER volunteer, and I have just started a paid IFT/911 EMT position that accrued 100 hours so far.
For community service, I did 300 hours doing health education on mental health at homeless shelter, 400 hour and counting mentoring troubled adolescent boys at middle and high school + juvenile halls on mental health and life. I will also start a volunteer EMT in a mobile clinic providing treatment for unhoused populations.
Unfortunately, years of disappointment and disenfranchisement has made me into a bitter and pessimistic person. I recognize this in me, and I am actively fighting against this part of myself because this is not a type of person I want to become. At the same time, I'm considering alternative pathways like lawyer, MBA, nursing, PA, and etc. Please let me know how I might do this cycle.
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