Hey Guys, Need advice!

[sweetart115]

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I am currently in the middle of a decision. I am deciding if I should go to take a Masters in Nursing or a Masters in Occupational Therapy then take my Pre-Med Post-Bacc then go to MedSchool or to go straight to a Post-Bacc Pre-Med then MedSchool.

My end goal is to eventually become a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician.

Right now my stats are:
2.95 GPA
Bachelor's of Science in Education with Major in Special Education

(My aunt who is an ER doc told me her being a nurse before she became a doc really helped her. That's why I'm thinking of that. Another option is the OT which will give me an opportunity to work with children with special needs. I was thinking of doing the Masters to get my grades up since my GPA isn't very impressive.)

I need help! What are your opinions?

Thank you! 🙂

 

[Pons Asinorum]

If you want to be an MD, you need to do a postbac focused on getting great grades (a masters program will not help your GPA issue in any way) and getting a medical program acceptance. You need to drop the nursing and OT, unless you really want to be a nurse or an OT. Neither of those things is going to help you 1) get an acceptance to an MD/DO program, or 2) be a better doctor. Not in and of themselves, at least. There's a reason being an RN or OT isn't a prereq or recommendation for medical school.

I am currently in the middle of a decision. I am deciding if I should go to take a Masters in Nursing or a Masters in Occupational Therapy then take my Pre-Med Post-Bacc then go to MedSchool or to go straight to a Post-Bacc Pre-Med then MedSchool.

My end goal is to eventually become a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician.

Right now my stats are:
2.95 GPA
Bachelor's of Science in Education with Major in Special Education

(My aunt who is an ER doc told me her being a nurse before she became a doc really helped her. That's why I'm thinking of that. Another option is the OT which will give me an opportunity to work with children with special needs. I was thinking of doing the Masters to get my grades up since my GPA isn't very impressive.)

I need help! What are your opinions?

Thank you! 🙂

 

[Quik]

In agreement with Pons, the only thing that will boost your GPA is additional undergrad study. If you're calculating your 2.95 in the way AMCAS calculates GPA's, you'll need roughly 45-50 units (depending on exactly how many you have currently) to boost your GPA up into the bottom quartile of lower tier Med-schools. This will entail the full pre-req curriculum, plus some of the 'recommended' but not required courses. Additionally, you'll need to flesh out the rest of your application with clinical experience and volunteering, and research if you're able.

I'd say forget about the nursing or OT Master's as well, unless that's really what you want to do, but then why would you be planning on Med School?

 

[hopefuldoc97239]

Even if being a nurse helps you later as a physician, it REALLY doesn't sound worth it to get a masters in nursing prior to medical school. Unless I'm greatly mistaken, you'll have to do a bachelor's in nursing first and become a registered nurse.

This is all just going to add up to an extraordinary amount of time committed to a career that you ultimately don't plan to follow.

I don't know anything about what about a "Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician" does. Is it anything like a child/adolescent psychiatrist? You might want to consider other career options (I mean as ultimate goals, not intermediates) such as counseling psychology, psychiatry nurse practitioner programs, etc.

The reason I bring this up is because you have a long uphill battle ahead of you raising your GPA. Based on your major I'd guess you haven't taken much chemistry or physics, and since these are the classes that usually bring people DOWN (not up) I'm just trying to be realistic that you might not be able to raise your GPA too much. I'm not trying to freak you out, I just want you to know what you're up against!