Engineer looking to get into medicine

[FluxIntegral]

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Hey all,

I graduated with an electrical engineering degree and have been working for about a year now. I am looking to get into a US MD school. I have been strongly interested in medicine for many years, and have a hard time seeing myself do anything else.

My overall GPA was 3.18, with a sGPA of 3.18, with a strong upward trend 3.3>1.7>2.4>2.6>3.0>3.36>3.38>3.69>3.866
I also have around 90 credits from a CC, GPA/sGPA around 3.5
When I first transferred to my university, I was premed and did poorly, D in Ochem, F in Physiology, C in 2nd semester biology, W in Ochem 2 and biochemistry. After that I transferred to electrical engineering, no excuses for poor performance but I was diagnosed with cancer the semester before I transferred to my university from CC.

In terms of prereqs I have completed 1 year of biology with lab, 1 year of gen chem with lab, 1 year of physics with lab, any english/math requirements.

I have around 50 hours of shadowing from shadowing a surgeon for a week, and around 300 hours of hospital volunteering.

Leadership experience:
Officer in engineering organization for ~1 year, student government for 1 year. Leadership role on senior design team that placed 1st place.

I am not really in a position to do a post-bacc or SMP full time.
Would I be able to only take O-Chem as a prereq, or would it be advised to take additional classes such as biochem, physiology, microbiology, and could I take these additional classes online or at a CC?
Would I be able to put a competitive application together with a very strong MCAT score?
What would be a good path forward to achieving an acceptance while still working?

Thanks,

 

[Ultimax]

I think that your GPA is lethal for MD school, and you will need a very high MCAT to balance it out. I still think you need to improve your GPA with upper-division science course for a better chance. Since your have not taken MCAT yet, it is hard to predict, but you should aim for MCAT of 513 or higher with your current GPA. Taking courses at CC is recommended instead of taking online courses, but once again, you should improve your GPA and do really well on the MCAT.
I am non-traditional, and your can see my stats in my signature for your references.

 

[Goro]

My overall GPA was 3.18, with a sGPA of 3.18, with a strong upward trend 3.3>1.7>2.4>2.6>3.0>3.36>3.38>3.69>3.866
I also have around 90 credits from a CC, GPA/sGPA around 3.5

Rising GPA trends are always good


When I first transferred to my university, I was premed and did poorly, D in Ochem, F in Physiology, C in 2nd semester biology, W in Ochem 2 and biochemistry. After that I transferred to electrical engineering, no excuses for poor performance but I was diagnosed with cancer the semester before I transferred to my university from CC.

Very sorry to hear of this. You have a compelling story, and we like come-from-behind stories as well


Would I be able to only take O-Chem as a prereq, or would it be advised to take additional classes such as biochem, physiology, microbiology, and could I take these additional classes online or at a CC?

Don't take online classes. Biochem is needed for MCAT, FYI. The more that you can show that you can handle rigorous science courses, the better.


Would I be able to put a competitive application together with a very strong MCAT score?
Yes

What would be a good path forward to achieving an acceptance while still working?
Engage in service to others less fortunate than yourself.

 

[DocJanItor]

Hey all,

I graduated with an electrical engineering degree and have been working for about a year now. I am looking to get into a US MD school. I have been strongly interested in medicine for many years, and have a hard time seeing myself do anything else.

My overall GPA was 3.18, with a sGPA of 3.18, with a strong upward trend 3.3>1.7>2.4>2.6>3.0>3.36>3.38>3.69>3.866
I also have around 90 credits from a CC, GPA/sGPA around 3.5
When I first transferred to my university, I was premed and did poorly, D in Ochem, F in Physiology, C in 2nd semester biology, W in Ochem 2 and biochemistry. After that I transferred to electrical engineering, no excuses for poor performance but I was diagnosed with cancer the semester before I transferred to my university from CC.

In terms of prereqs I have completed 1 year of biology with lab, 1 year of gen chem with lab, 1 year of physics with lab, any english/math requirements.

I have around 50 hours of shadowing from shadowing a surgeon for a week, and around 300 hours of hospital volunteering.

Leadership experience:
Officer in engineering organization for ~1 year, student government for 1 year. Leadership role on senior design team that placed 1st place.

I am not really in a position to do a post-bacc or SMP full time.
Would I be able to only take O-Chem as a prereq, or would it be advised to take additional classes such as biochem, physiology, microbiology, and could I take these additional classes online or at a CC?
Would I be able to put a competitive application together with a very strong MCAT score?
What would be a good path forward to achieving an acceptance while still working?

Thanks,

What's up, fellow engineer. I, too, have struggled with poor performance and the first 2 years of engineering. The good thing for you is that your GPA is much better than mine was when I started. It's also good that you already have shadowing and volunteering. Keep it up, because you need to make your future app amazing. Your extracurriculars are good as well.

That being said, you're at least 2-3 years away from applying since you need to take classes and the MCAT. I don't know how much your schedule will allow, but the most important factor is keeping your grades up. You need as close to a 4.0 as you can possibly get to show that you can handle the material. Online courses are dicey; some schools don't accept them, some schools look down on them, and sometimes you just don't get all the information that you need. CC is a better option, but 1 class a semester may not be impressive regardless of your GPA. I had several DO schools tell me to take upper level courses at a 4 year university to prove I could handle the rigor.

The most significant issue is if you'll try to apply to MD schools. Given that you have somewhere around 200+ credits of courses (if I'm understanding you correctly), your GPA will be practically immovable. Stats for being accepted to an MD school with that cGPA are fairly low even with an impressive MCAT. Given that the current matriculant MCAT average is around 511, I don't think anything less than 515 would be enough to get you considered. DO schools will be much more lenient, but their standards are slowly increasing as well.

 

[ucsdfootball]

Hello fellow engineer. Agreed with all the advice above. One other bit of advice I would offer is to give engineering a chance. It sounds like you're young and still just getting started in your career. And like you mentioned, you're not in a position right now to pursue a postbacc or formal classes anyway (which you most certainly will have to do to replace the poor grades and also to demonstrate competency with higher life sciences).

Engineering is rewarding in its own ways and you worked hard to get where you are now, so you owe it to yourself to see if this is for you. Especially because it can be a lucrative career. Especially because you can still help people and do incredible things. And especially because you're looking at years before even applying + the usual 4 years med school + years of residency and fellowships etc. Medicine is a long road that'll mean giving up over $500K in income beyond the years of your life to change careers. As DrMidLife (dunno if she still posts around here) once told me, "if you'd be happy doing anything other than medicine, then for the love of all that's holy, do the other thing." I also advise that.

Best wishes to you on this long but equally rewarding journey.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

Engineers are great at thinking on their feet and coming up with solutions..Engineering unfortunately is a GPA killer... Most people who go into medicine should not go into engineering.. but anyways, your GPA will keep you from putting a competetive application..

 

[ucsdfootball]

Engineering unfortunately is a GPA killer

I feel personally attacked lol

 

[Ultimax]

Also, Texas A&M recently started EnMed, and I find the program very interesting. I am sure that it is something that you should look into further.

 

[Cornfed101]

You have a long road. You definitely need to retake OChem, but otherwise upper level coursework would be helpful. I second what everyone else said before.

Also, definitely look into Carle Illinois. I just went to their showcase a few days ago and it is totally designed for people like us (engineers). I am also a low GPA engineer that killed the MCAT and I have had 6 II so far. There is hope!

 

[suddy0613]

You have a long road. You definitely need to retake OChem, but otherwise upper level coursework would be helpful. I second what everyone else said before.

Also, definitely look into Carle Illinois. I just went to their showcase a few days ago and it is totally designed for people like us (engineers). I am also a low GPA engineer that killed the MCAT and I have had 6 II so far. There is hope!

This may be a dumb question and unrelated to the original post, but what does II mean?

 

[Cornfed101]

This may be a dumb question and unrelated to the original post, but what does II mean?

Interview invite

 

[Jungkookie]

Hey all,

I graduated with an electrical engineering degree and have been working for about a year now. I am looking to get into a US MD school. I have been strongly interested in medicine for many years, and have a hard time seeing myself do anything else.

My overall GPA was 3.18, with a sGPA of 3.18, with a strong upward trend 3.3>1.7>2.4>2.6>3.0>3.36>3.38>3.69>3.866
I also have around 90 credits from a CC, GPA/sGPA around 3.5
When I first transferred to my university, I was premed and did poorly, D in Ochem, F in Physiology, C in 2nd semester biology, W in Ochem 2 and biochemistry. After that I transferred to electrical engineering, no excuses for poor performance but I was diagnosed with cancer the semester before I transferred to my university from CC.

In terms of prereqs I have completed 1 year of biology with lab, 1 year of gen chem with lab, 1 year of physics with lab, any english/math requirements.

I have around 50 hours of shadowing from shadowing a surgeon for a week, and around 300 hours of hospital volunteering.

Leadership experience:
Officer in engineering organization for ~1 year, student government for 1 year. Leadership role on senior design team that placed 1st place.

I am not really in a position to do a post-bacc or SMP full time.
Would I be able to only take O-Chem as a prereq, or would it be advised to take additional classes such as biochem, physiology, microbiology, and could I take these additional classes online or at a CC?
Would I be able to put a competitive application together with a very strong MCAT score?
What would be a good path forward to achieving an acceptance while still working?

Thanks,

hey I did some searching and this blog post might help you a lot, how to get into med school as a non trad/mature applicant. it's definitely doable with the right application and a lot of effort!

 

[winterwarlock88]

I was in your shoes 10 years ago. I started my journey taking night classes at the local university and volunteering weekends in the ED while working full time as an engineer. It was a slow process taking 2 pre-req classes per semester. Slowly repairing my GPA, I proved to adcoms that I could handle the workload. However, it gave me >4 years of work experience. Interviewers to this day still ask me about my former life as an engineer.
The path to becoming a doctor is tough, but if you have the drive then it is doable. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and find a mentor. I ended up getting into med school on my second try.
I start fellowship in July. Here’s to another 3 years!