Fine Tuning the Path!

[CosmicNoire]

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Greetings to all!

I hope everyone's holiday is going well. I've been reading these forums for months now and gleaning all kinds of fantastic information among various opinions, for which I'm incredibly grateful. I thought it was about time I ask for of those valuable opinions, ideas, critiques, ect. I'll try to keep it brief, give some background and narrow it down to some questions, but forgive me if I drone on, life is complicated 😀

I'm a psychology major, biochemistry minor in my junior year. I'm not particularly interested in psychiatry, but love the biological aspect. I've done a lot of reading about both Allopathic and Osteopathic and think that I'd have a better shot at the Osteopathic route, which doesn't bother me as I'd consider either to be a great opportunity to learn and serve.

Current cGPA is at a 3.67, sGPA 3.56, neither of which I predict trending downward, I'll be done with pre-recs this year. I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but plan on taking it sometime in the late summer/early fall of next year, my senior year. I will hopefully be applying soon afterwards (opinions on that?)

For ECs I don't have a lot to show, which is one major reason I'm asking for some advice, but I'll go on. I've almost always worked as a server at a restaurant (man do you learn a lot about people, patience, and teamwork in the service industry), and am currently a yoga instructor (I hope this shows my passion for health and people.) I've been volunteering as a patient visitor at a hospital and will have about 100 volunteer hours by the time I apply.

Now I was thinking of adding either a research position at my University (I've had some offers from professors, teaching yoga is great for connections ) or applying for a hospital scribe position, which a friend of mine does and loves. I'd prefer to do only one of those as I'll be studying for the MCAT during this spring semester and the summer, and teaching and working tends to take a bit of energy as well.

So major questions:

1. Would I be considered a competitive candidate for DO? I am doubting my ability to be competitive for MD.
2. Which would be a better use of my time? Research position, hospital scribe, or something else?
3. I've considered taking a gap year after senior year so that I can apply early, would this be a better course than applying next fall right after taking the MCAT ?
4. Considering purely my stats, is there a school you would personally recommend? My current list of broad application includes: AZCOM, ATSU, NYIT, RVUCOM, Touro-New York, Touro-California, and Western U/COMP.
5. Any other lovely advice?

Sorry for the lengthy post! You have my gratitude. I'm very excited to hear it all.

K

 

[Elevencents]

On my phone so this will be condensed.

Your competitiveness is impossible to determine without an MCAT score. Score a 30+ and you are competitive for MD. Score a 26+ and you are competitive for DO.

Both positions are good. Pursue whichever you think you'd enjoy more.

I had success in the DO cycle with taking my MCAT late June. I started studying for it around march and think if I waited any longer I would have burned out. Making sure I was verified prior to receiving my MCAT score allowed me the opportunity to pre-write secondaries and I was inevitably in the second batch of interview invites for most schools.

School list looks fine as is. I'd suggest doing some more reading and apply to a few more that appeal to you. Safeties are always nice to send primaries too in case your MCAT doesn't turn out as planned.

Best of luck.

 

[HopefulReapp]

Rather than a scribe position, I would look into a PCA position. I was in your shoes and thought that scribing would be much more "useful" for learning some medications and essentially shadowing a physician, but there is literally nothing that can replace the experience you will get as a PCA. I see medicine in a completely different view after working on a very busy floor and having so much patient interaction.

 

[CosmicNoire]

Hm, interesting. Thank you for the replies so far!

 

[LScribe]

Why not do both? You could volunteer in a research lab and work as a scribe at the same time. That way you get volunteer hours, research AND clinical experience. DO schools definitely weigh in your extracurriculars more. Getting a patient care job is harder than you would think especially if you have no experience or certifications (EMT, CNA). Also, working as a scribe you get to work with different doctors and learn about medical decision making, plus you can potentially get good letters of recomendation!

 

[CosmicNoire]

I would like to avoid doing both, if I could. Just because I'll still be taking the typical full course load, teaching yoga, volunteering and having a dedicated time schedule for the MCAT as well. I just think that doing both would be overwhelming considering my current transportation and available time. I don't want to overdo it.

 

[wjs010]

If you want a great job with no required license, go with inpatient PT aid. Direct patient contact that looks great on the app. I did it as a volunteer but you can do it paid too

 

[CosmicNoire]

If you want a great job with no required license, go with inpatient PT aid. Direct patient contact that looks great on the app. I did it as a volunteer but you can do it paid too

Looking into this it seems like they do not require experience, but all of the open PT aid jobs do require a certification, one that I would not have the time or money for, but thank you for your suggestion.

 

[wjs010]

Looking into this it seems like they do not require experience, but all of the open PT aid jobs do require a certification, one that I would not have the time or money for, but thank you for your suggestion.

You could do it as a volunteer. I promise I didn't need a cert. just do a few hours here and there .