Hey all,
Long time lurker. Sorry for a lengthy first post. I am looking for some general feedback/suggestions on my progress towards medical school, as well as some feedback on a few specific questions. Specific questions are numbered and in red.
Major:
Health Science Pre-PT
I was very interested in physical therapy until the end of my junior year, but decided medicine was for me.
MCAT
Scheduled this April. Projecting 505-510
GPA
sGPA: 3.65.
GPA: 3.82.
Total # crs = 145.
*I have B’s in Physics I & II, Gen chem II, stats, Eng II and Communication. All other courses = A’s.
1) I did NOT take a full year of Ochem. I took survey of Ochem and elementary Biochem (A's). My advisers AND chem teachers pointed me towards this route. I realize there are a few select schools that I cannot apply to (those requiring one year ochem). Do you see any other drawbacks to this, or am I being overly self-conscious?
2) I took two intro Bio courses (A’s in both); one at Oakland, the other at UWMC. The one at UWMC was Zoology w/lab. The one at OU was without. Should I count both towards my science GPA?
3) I took a 3cr course titled Bio 104 Human Biology. The course was taught by the Bio department and satisfied the universities general education requirement for natural science. The class was an overview of A&P, genetics, etc, for non-science majors. Fantastic class. Again, should this count towards my science GPA?
Research:
The only research I’ve done was part of my health science research and design course.
In this class, we had to make our own descriptive study (survey design), write a formal literature review, and receive a certificate of participation in the CITI Biomedical Basic course. I was lead researcher in my group of five, and a whiz with SPSS by course completion.
4) Does any of the above qualify for research on my application? I would enjoy hearing some feedback on this.
EC’s
1) Emergency Room Tech @ Level I trauma center: 450hrs Paid clinic.
2) First responder EMT-B: 500hrs Paid/volunteer 150+ calls. 5) We are considered volunteer EMT’s, but are paid $3/hr, $10 per call. I am guessing this should be considered paid clinic?
3) Camp counselor/instructor at a Bible summer camp: non-paid, non-clinic volunteer 1500hrs. I volunteered mainly as a dorm leader, and dorm leader instructor. Started doing this after my first year of college.
4) Hospital Spiritual Services: Clinical Volunteer 50hr .
5) Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ) club President: Leadership. One year. 30-40 group members.
6) Personally started a community outreach event: Community Service. 100hrs, 10-30 participants
7) Athletics: Lifelong, state champ, National and Olympic trial qualifier, D1 scholarship athlete
8) Swim and weight Coach: Teaching- 1yr paid.
9) Lifeguard during semester: Job - 2yrs paid.
10) Medical Mission Trip to Ukraine. Clinical. 10 days. Patient care as EMT-B, physician shadowing.
11) World Religions trip: Cultural Awareness. One week trip to Chicago. We spent 1-2 day’s with various cultural groups. 6) This was a very enlightening and personally enriching trip. Is it worth including?
12) Research class experience mentioned above.
13) Senior Project and poster: Did a research paper and poster on the Hx and philosophical differences between MD's and DO's.
14) Awards: Received a certificate for being the top student in my Hebrew language class. Highest GPA on my swim team. Also have highest honors, honors, and etc per semester and magna cum laude for graduation.
15) Physician shadowing: 30hrs (12hr Fam med, 6hr Internal med, 10hr Psych, and 4hr Rad). For some, 30hr may be low. However, I get the gist. If you include my EDT job and medical missions, I have plenty of XP observing ER, Ortho, Gen Surg, ENT, and Hospitalist Docs.
Summation:
With an optimistic MCAT score in May, I plan to apply this upcoming cycle in June. 7) How are things looking? Any area worth addressing? Or, at this point, just focus on my MCAT and personal statement?
