Feedback on my post-bacc journey so far

[rushingtide]

Hi all! I am looking to apply to med school summer 2024 or summer 2025. I would love some feedback on what I should be doing next and what is missing. Here is what I have so far:

Initial Degree
BA: Film & Media Studies, Minor in Literature
cGPA: 2.87 (tanked my last semester with a 1.5 GPA due to mental health issues)

Post-Bacc, Second Degree
BS: Public Health, Minor in Chemistry
cGPA: 3.34 (they took credits from a community college I went to prior to applying for a second bachelors, I had two A’s in Anatomy and Psych, two Bs in Ab Psych and Physiology)
sGPA: 3.90 so far (quarter system, 14 units done so far, I have a lot more to go)

UMR (Latina/Hispanic), bilingual, interested in rural and underserved communities for primary care and psychiatry. Major love for PM&R and emergency medicine.

Shadowing: 120 hours so far
Neonatalogist - 20 hours
Rural primary care doctor - 32 hours
Rural OBGYN doctor — 20 hours

Clinical Experience
PT Aide Outpatient - 1450 hours (1.5 years part time, worked during height of pandemic)
COVID Tester — 200 hours (I think? Was done in height of the pandemic, March until September, 8 hours a week)

Volunteer Experience, Clinical:
NICU Volunteer (commitment of 6 months between 2-4 hours a week, 4 months done so far), ED Volunteer (commitment up to 1 year for 4 hours a week, so far have four months under my belt), Hospice Volunteer (1 year commitment, 4 hours a week, six months so far served)

Volunteer Experience, Non-clinical:
Niche homeless shelter geared towards LGBTQAI+ teenagers interested in science and the arts, 4 hours a week, done this for seven months so far (absolutely love it)

Research Experience:
ED Clinical Research Volunteer work, starts in two weeks, will go for nine months

Extracurricular activities:
Yoga teacher from November 2017 to now, two hours a week
Pilates teacher from January 2018 to now, four hours a week, used to do this full time until I quit working
Personal trainer from Jan 2019 to now, certification lapsed but I’m thinking of getting it back
Part of the neuroscience and Latina association clubs on campus, planning on going for a leadership role in Neuroscience as they do lots of mental health outreach that I’m interested in

Classes I have taken so far: Gen Chem, Gen Bio, Biomedical Ethics, Biostats, Anatomy, Physiology, Molecular Bio, Gen Psych, Ab Psych, Developmental Psych, Pre-Calculus

Classes I plan on taking before applying to med school: O Chem, Gen Physics, Calculus, Immunology, Microbio, Cell Bio, Genetics, Histology, Virology

Thank you in advance for the feedback!

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[Rapsidy]

It looks great and I think you’ll find a lot of schools interested when you apply.

I am wondering about the calculus course though. Most schools don’t require it (but always check each schools page individually!) so it might be one less class you need.

Make sure you dedicate enough time to prepare for the MCAT when you are ready to take it, but your reinvention is looking great!

 

[MusicalMed]

You have some rich experiences. Also, being bilingual is a MASSIVE boon to you in terms of future job opportunities. I would certainly think you have a great shot at many schools, especially with your post-reinvention sGPA. I echo what Rapsidy above - if you knock the MCAT out of the park you will be a particularly strong candidate.

PM&R is a great choice (although I am quite biased, haha). I don't regret it whatsoever and I love what I do - I couldn't imagine doing any other specialty. I also worked in hospice and a skilled nursing facility prior to medical school, which came up a lot in interviews for medical school and even later on for PM&R residency. Working as a PT aide also gives you great ammo for talking about pertinent experiences for physiatry in the future. Interestingly, I also considered emergency medicine when I started med school and then ultimately migrated to PM&R (when I found out what it was) during my first year of med school onward.

All that being said, going into medical school with an open mind is more powerful in order to get the most out of every rotation, but having an idea of what you would like to do can give you some talking points in your interviews.