Computer Science(low GPA) to medical school?

[Jeff41CS]

Hello,
I was a Bio major as a freshman, and I took the the standard Bio/Chem/Physics courses with lab. However, my sophomore year, I switched to CS because I was foolish and felt inclined more toward CS. However, CS fked up my GPA and it is 3.2 currently. I am going to retake a math course(Graph Theory, in which I got a D; so my GPA should hopefully increase. If I can get my GPA to around 3.4 and score decently on the MCAT, do I have good chances of getting accepted even though I have no research or clinical experience. However, I find CS is a much more challenging major than Biology, and I have taken advanced math courses such as the three courses in Calculus series, Discrete math, Graph Theory, and 300-level Statistics course. Along with the math courses, I will also graduate with a CS degree after an extra year of school. Should I take Orgo and Psych/Sociology and take the MCAT? I feel as if CS has improved my problem-solving ability drastically; so MCAT shouldn't be a problem as I'm a more mature test taker/planner now. There is a lot of potential in bridging the gap between software and medicine, and I am in the ideal position to achieve that. What do you guys think? Thanks.

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[Jeff41CS]

Bump. Could someone please share insight? Are my chances at least decent for DO school? Thank you.

Also, I am 20 year old and a junior.

 

[gjitec]

Mcat is reading comprehension heavy. At least the old one was.

 

[dechristine]

If you have no clinical experience, you'll have a hard time trying to convince anyone that you're really interested in medicine vs. you couldn't hack it in Comp Sci. Why do you need to go to medical school to "bridge the gap" between medicine and CS? There are several jobs in Big Data that are currently doing a similar thing and do not require an MD.

 

[gjitec]

If you have no clinical experience, you'll have a hard time trying to convince anyone that you're really interested in medicine vs. you couldn't hack it in Comp Sci. Why do you need to go to medical school to "bridge the gap" between medicine and CS? There are several jobs in Big Data that are currently doing a similar thing and do not require an MD.

Biomedical informatics

 

[dechristine]

Biomedical informatics

My mom is actually in bioinformatics (working on genetics) — she has a Ph.D. in molecular biology and a Master's in Computer Science. While she works with many doctors, she does not see patients and does not have much clinical interaction. If you're interested in doing database work and coding, I would suggest you go this route instead of going to medical school. Do you want to interact with patients or do research?

 

[Jeff41CS]

Thank you for your replies. My mom is actually a physician, and she was telling me how she wishes medical software was more doctor friendly and there are many features that physicians wish medical software had. I want to become a doctor to fill this need of making medical software easier to use and expand its capabilities, for example, my mom was telling me she wishes there was an app with common English to Spanish medical terms, etc. I am sure with my background in software, I can discover and capitalize on opportunities in medicine in regards to medical software. To be honest, I like both coding and helping people who are in pain. But this is discussion is irrelevant to my op. Feedback on my chances to medical school would be greatly appreciated. THanks.

 

[AspiringERMD]

Thank you for your replies. My mom is actually a physician, and she was telling me how she wishes medical software was more doctor friendly and there are many features that physicians wish medical software had. I want to become a doctor to fill this need of making medical software easier to use and expand its capabilities, for example, my mom was telling me she wishes there was an app with common English to Spanish medical terms, etc. I am sure with my background in software, I can discover and capitalize on opportunities in medicine in regards to medical software. To be honest, I like both coding and helping people who are in pain. But this is discussion is irrelevant to my op. Feedback on my chances to medical school would be greatly appreciated. THanks.

Ex-software development consultant here. Absolutely do not go to medical school if you're doing it because you want to design software. That's 100% unnecessary. If you want to see patients and can't see yourself doing anything else, be a doctor. If you want to work with medical software, stick with development work. Software developers help people in perfectly legitimate, real ways. They're just very different ways.

 

[genobyte]

If you're doing it for the right reasons, I don't see a problem. Most schools I interviewed with seemed to enjoy my reasoning on going from CS undergrad -> med school, but if it's not for the right reasons then you're not going to get very far in the applications. It also helped that I love computer science so talking about it was very comfortable and I felt like I was being myself and relaxing.

now that that's out of the way -- yes, you will still have to study for the MCAT, maybe even a bit more than your bio counterparts (I know I did). And even if you feel like you have a low GPA due to your major (I get it, depending on the school it can be one of the toughest programs to complete) don't blame your GPA on that.

That being said, my GPA was not much better (~3.5) and I had no research. I did have quite a bit of clinical experience, and I would reccomend getting at least some of that before you commit the time/money to applying--medicine can be a rough field and if you don't really want it you will burn out fast.

 

[DepressedEngineer]

Ask a biology major to find a job after college......

 

[technician]

Ask a biology major to find a job after college......

OK, " @DepressedEngineer "

 

[Lil Mick]

Send me a PM. I felt pulled in a similar way during my MD/PhD program. Don't torture yourself with the memorization and rotations and exams every two weeks if your heart is in computer science. There are many opportunities in the field, even without an advanced degree (and you've got it made if you get an MS in software/CS/ML). Just having a few bio classes as a CS major will open doors to do the work you want to do

 

[sazerac]

Only become a doctor if you want to see patients. The software industry moves so fast you will miss an opportunity if you screw around in medical training for 4-7 years.

I was a CS major and worked in the software industry for 10 years before eventually switching to medicine because I wanted to treat sick people. There is a LOT of room for improvement in medical information management, projects large (EMR) and small (phone apps). Please, write us some better software.

 

[Goro]

3.4 is at the low end of acceptability for MD schools. Do you live in a lucky state like FL or LA? Your GPA is fine for DO schools.


If I can get my GPA to around 3.4 and score decently on the MCAT, do I have good chances of getting accepted even though I have no research or clinical experience. However, I find CS is a much more challenging major than Biology, and I have taken advanced math courses such as the three courses in Calculus series, Discrete math, Graph Theory, and 300-level Statistics course. Along with the math courses, I will also graduate with a CS degree after an extra year of school.

These disciplines are well represented on MCAT. Why would you NOT take them? Do not approach a career-deciding, high-stakes exam lightly. Med schools look for people who make good choices.

Should I take Orgo and Psych/Sociology and take the MCAT? I feel as if CS has improved my problem-solving ability drastically; so MCAT shouldn't be a problem as I'm a more mature test taker/planner now.