Medical Help creating school list

[Mr.Smile12]

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Working on creating my school list and finalizing some volunteer activities at the moment. Planning to apply in June

Stats:
CA resident
Washington University in St. Louis (major: biology w/ concentration in genomics and computational biology, minor: computer science)
cGPA: 3.44 (fluctuating upward trend)
sGPA: 3.4
MCAT: 518 (june '18)
1 semester abroad program focusing on basic diagnosis and comparing different healthcare systems across Europe and US

Research:
Research assistant (a private CRO and a private research institution) -- roughly 400 hours each
Researcher at the genetics department of the medical school at WashU (~600 hours) -- published but not first author
Poster at Undergraduate research symposium as part of a class project. paper also published (1st author) on student research website (not peer reviewed)

Paid employment:
Currently working at a veterinary hospital (~850 hours by the time I will leave). Manage medications, do basic procedures like blood draws, can watch surgery, etc. I know it's not people but...

Shadowing:
-- 8 hours pediatric genetics clinic
-- 24 hours emergency department

Clinical volunteering (1,960 h total including anticipated hours):
-- mobile clinic non-profit in rural panama (~1800 hours). Served as pharmacy manager, prepared medications and medical devices for mobile clinics. Working with indigenous/underserved populations in rural Panama. Translated Spanish/English for medical consultations w/ doctors (can I include this as shadowing too?). Worked with other local non-profits (ie Red Cross) to procure supplies.
-- hospice house (~60 hours). Greet families, make them comfortable while grieving. Assist nurses when necessary. Speak with patients when they are alone to provide companionship.
-- Road to Recovery (~20 hours). Drove cancer patients without reliable access to transportation to/from cancer treatments
-- ANTICIPATED: Medcins du Monde (~80 hours): Assist with health education and observe mobile clinics in Mayotte, a French-speaking island off the coast of Madagascar. Working with undocumented immigrants from surrounding islands

Non-clinical volunteering (210 h total):
-- San Diego Food bank (98 hours): prepare food for distribution. Distribute boxes of food to senior citizens, low-income, primarily immigrants. Using Spanish to assist at distribution events close to US/Mexico border
-- WASH project in honduras (120 hours): raise funds to purchase supplies. dug trenches to lay pipes for water distribution networks. taught children about clean water. Participated in community meetings (in Spanish) to evaluate projects

Misc:
-- Eagle Scout (roughly 300 hours for the final project)
-- Advanced open water PADI certified scuba diver since age 10

september 2019-june 2020: Masters in Humanitarian Aid at a school partnered with Red Cross and Medicins du Monde

Goal is to do global medicine (ie MSF type stuff). Which schools would be ideal for that kind of objective?

So far (looking primarily to stay west-coast):

UCSF
UCLA David Geffen
UCSD
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
USC Keck
California University
California Northstate
Loma Linda
University of Washington
University of Colorado
University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
New York Medical College
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Health Sciences
University of Arizona -- Tuscon
University of Arizona -- Pheonix
Loyola Chicago
George Washington
Western Univeristy of Health Sciences (DO)
Touro University (DO) Mare Island (SF)
Vermont
Case western reserve
Albany

You have an interesting set of experiences that you are trying to establish credibility for. I am sure I can think of a couple of other programs, but I think you are around people who can give you a bit more advice on US medical schools that have faculty connections or institutional affiliations with their program. I would definitely cite USUHS because through their connections with the military, they have a lot of experience with international health missions similar to what you are looking for. That said, I would want to think a little differently to see if you might qualify for health service scholarships such as the National Health Service Corps. If you do a bit of homework to see if that scholarship (or similar ones like HPSP) also fits your goals, then you might be able to determine a better fit with programs that support NHSC scholars. Being able to secure some money for medical school before starting is always a good advantage, especially if you're not trying to be a top-flight specialist in an academic medical setting.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Ok great, thank you. I appreciate that information, I'll look into it!

What do you mean by this:

Are there parts of my application that lack credibility? Or that I am attempting to use some of my experiences to establish credibility for the message/theme of my application? Or something else?

You say your goal is to be involved in global medicine, and you have a resume full of activities that suggest a lot of different experiences. What you ultimately have to do is share with us (those who will read your application) what you need to be successful from meaningful experiences and observations in the work that you have done. You also have a lot of experiences that in light of your goal would be just checklist items such as research, vet hospital experience, etc., which could also make your application seem very unfocused or distract from your ultimate stated goal. It's the non-resume stuff that we cannot evaluate: what have you read? what area of the world would you feel you could make an impact if you stayed there for 3 years (you've already done Panama, Honduras, and Mayotte)? What opportunities do you think are available that you want that you cannot get in the United States? What's the most important issue in public health that you observed in your three overseas opportunities, and how were they addressed? You probably have some answers already, but that's not something we can immediately evaluate based on just a resume presentation of your experiences but would be very critical in any subsequent deliberation of your application (in my opinion).

 

[Goro]

Your GPA would preclude the school I have listed above. UCR prefers people from the Inland Empire. I can't recommend CNU
You will need to have more DO schools on the list. Add BCOM, Western-OR, TUNCOM, UIW, and PacNW, KCU, DMU