black psychiatrist
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- Jul 9, 2023
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Looking for some honestly here. I know my stats are low, but my experience is truly where I shine. I'll do my best to give the full picture.
So here’s my story, kinda long but bear with me I just want to give a full background. I’m a 27 year old black guy (since apparently URM is a strong factor). I grew up in the middle of nowhere in a small desert town, did absolutely horrible in high school and barely graduated in 2014 (a gpa of 1.8).
I went to community college in my city because I didn’t know what else to do, and stumbled across an EMT course pamphlet. Took the class and became an EMT. Worked for 2 years running 911 calls with a paramedic. Honestly this was the experience that changed my life. It made me realize medicine was my passion and gave me a real goal. I buckled down in my study habits and transferred from my CC with a 3.08 gpa due to barely being able to recover from the initial F’s due to not taking college seriously in the beginning.
I transferred into UC Irvine to study psychology (my end goal is to become an addiction psychiatrist). While at UCI I worked in multiple different research labs at the school. A vaccine immunology lab for 2 years (1 year paid and 1 year for class credit), a oncological dermatology lab for a year (paid), a cannabis research lab for 2 years (paid, and received a publication as the 3rd author), and received a summer internship in a opiate addiction lab (also paid). I also was accepted in to a “Neuroscholar” program where we took a special lab course teaching a novel technique for brain clearing. I graduated from the school in 2020 with a 3.106 gpa due to my poor math base (a C and a D in calculus and multiple C’s in gen chem/physics). I always excelled in the lab portion of those classes, but the lecture portion just never hit. I aced literally every single psychology course except for 1, in which I got a B.
Since graduating, I worked full time for 2 years in a residential addiction treatment center exclusively for first responders, running their DETOX house to give back to the community that helped me figure my life out. I then went on to work in a pilot program as a Youth Stabilization Specialist for foster children with extreme behaviors (extreme violence, personality disorders, etc…) and I did that for approximately 7 months because the program failed. A severe lack of leadership and guidance was the obvious culprit of the failure, but a valuable experience nonetheless. I am now employed as a Rehabilitation Therapist in a lock-in facility for Schizo-Typal/Bi-Polar disorders, and this will most likely be where I stay until I finally apply and is an amazing experience. I work on team with a psychiatrist, nurse, and social worker with patients who were deemed unfit to stand trial, trying to get them to eventually be able to re-integrate into society. I love it very much, and it is the first time I am in a position where I actually have some say in treatment planning, stabilizations efforts, etc...
I also finished almost all of the rest of my pre-reqs at random CC’s since graduating and did decent (an A and a B in Ochem, a B in biochem, and an A and a B in the bio labs I needed). I still need one more Biology lab that I will surely ace when I take it.
I took the MCAT last month with high hopes. I studied for a year. But unfortunately some life circumstances created major distractions the morning of my exam (the begininging of the end of my 4.5 year abusive relationship, not an excuse highly but relevant). I got a 497--C/P: 123, CARS: 124, B/B: 124, and P/S: 126. I know I can do better than that score, as I have never scored below a 127 on CARS on any of the practice exams prior and the 126 in P/S was tied for my lowest score on the practice exams. These two areas are great strengths of mine, but require focus. I felt very distracted during the exam and l allowed my personal life to interfere with the exam and will take it again when I have evened out a bit more. I will most likely try again next year after I've re-normalized and have put some significant study time into increasing my problem areas as well.
There is something in me that wants to just apply, but I also feel it may be best to wait and retry the MCAT. I know I can do better if I focus.
Here’s a succinct list of stats: Community College GPA: 3.08, Undergraduate GPA: 3.106, Research Experience: Just over 4 years with one publication, Clinical Experience: 2 years as an EMT, 2 years in addiction treatment, 6 months in therapeutic foster care, and by the time I apply between 1-3 years as a Rehabilitation Therapist. Also going to get some shadowing in with the psychiatrist I work with on my off days.
I also should have some fairly convincing letters of rec: the PI from the lab I was published in loved me and would write an amazing letter, I am steadily building a strong relationship with the psychiatrist on my team at work, the Neuroscholar program I participated in while in undergrad said they would provide a committee letter from the two professors teaching the course (some doubts on this, but I'm fairly sure at least on of them would follow through), and 2 other lab PI's that would write a decent letter but may not be as shining as the first few.
What do y’all think?? Brutally honest please. I know my gpa’s are horrible and my MCAT needs to improve, but I’m hoping my EC’s and experience can carry me through. It's been a very eventful and road to medical school for me that I feel creates a great story for me. I plan on applying very broadly to both MD/DO. California resident but I'll go anywhere.
Think I have a chance this next cycle?
So here’s my story, kinda long but bear with me I just want to give a full background. I’m a 27 year old black guy (since apparently URM is a strong factor). I grew up in the middle of nowhere in a small desert town, did absolutely horrible in high school and barely graduated in 2014 (a gpa of 1.8).
I went to community college in my city because I didn’t know what else to do, and stumbled across an EMT course pamphlet. Took the class and became an EMT. Worked for 2 years running 911 calls with a paramedic. Honestly this was the experience that changed my life. It made me realize medicine was my passion and gave me a real goal. I buckled down in my study habits and transferred from my CC with a 3.08 gpa due to barely being able to recover from the initial F’s due to not taking college seriously in the beginning.
I transferred into UC Irvine to study psychology (my end goal is to become an addiction psychiatrist). While at UCI I worked in multiple different research labs at the school. A vaccine immunology lab for 2 years (1 year paid and 1 year for class credit), a oncological dermatology lab for a year (paid), a cannabis research lab for 2 years (paid, and received a publication as the 3rd author), and received a summer internship in a opiate addiction lab (also paid). I also was accepted in to a “Neuroscholar” program where we took a special lab course teaching a novel technique for brain clearing. I graduated from the school in 2020 with a 3.106 gpa due to my poor math base (a C and a D in calculus and multiple C’s in gen chem/physics). I always excelled in the lab portion of those classes, but the lecture portion just never hit. I aced literally every single psychology course except for 1, in which I got a B.
Since graduating, I worked full time for 2 years in a residential addiction treatment center exclusively for first responders, running their DETOX house to give back to the community that helped me figure my life out. I then went on to work in a pilot program as a Youth Stabilization Specialist for foster children with extreme behaviors (extreme violence, personality disorders, etc…) and I did that for approximately 7 months because the program failed. A severe lack of leadership and guidance was the obvious culprit of the failure, but a valuable experience nonetheless. I am now employed as a Rehabilitation Therapist in a lock-in facility for Schizo-Typal/Bi-Polar disorders, and this will most likely be where I stay until I finally apply and is an amazing experience. I work on team with a psychiatrist, nurse, and social worker with patients who were deemed unfit to stand trial, trying to get them to eventually be able to re-integrate into society. I love it very much, and it is the first time I am in a position where I actually have some say in treatment planning, stabilizations efforts, etc...
I also finished almost all of the rest of my pre-reqs at random CC’s since graduating and did decent (an A and a B in Ochem, a B in biochem, and an A and a B in the bio labs I needed). I still need one more Biology lab that I will surely ace when I take it.
I took the MCAT last month with high hopes. I studied for a year. But unfortunately some life circumstances created major distractions the morning of my exam (the begininging of the end of my 4.5 year abusive relationship, not an excuse highly but relevant). I got a 497--C/P: 123, CARS: 124, B/B: 124, and P/S: 126. I know I can do better than that score, as I have never scored below a 127 on CARS on any of the practice exams prior and the 126 in P/S was tied for my lowest score on the practice exams. These two areas are great strengths of mine, but require focus. I felt very distracted during the exam and l allowed my personal life to interfere with the exam and will take it again when I have evened out a bit more. I will most likely try again next year after I've re-normalized and have put some significant study time into increasing my problem areas as well.
There is something in me that wants to just apply, but I also feel it may be best to wait and retry the MCAT. I know I can do better if I focus.
Here’s a succinct list of stats: Community College GPA: 3.08, Undergraduate GPA: 3.106, Research Experience: Just over 4 years with one publication, Clinical Experience: 2 years as an EMT, 2 years in addiction treatment, 6 months in therapeutic foster care, and by the time I apply between 1-3 years as a Rehabilitation Therapist. Also going to get some shadowing in with the psychiatrist I work with on my off days.
I also should have some fairly convincing letters of rec: the PI from the lab I was published in loved me and would write an amazing letter, I am steadily building a strong relationship with the psychiatrist on my team at work, the Neuroscholar program I participated in while in undergrad said they would provide a committee letter from the two professors teaching the course (some doubts on this, but I'm fairly sure at least on of them would follow through), and 2 other lab PI's that would write a decent letter but may not be as shining as the first few.
What do y’all think?? Brutally honest please. I know my gpa’s are horrible and my MCAT needs to improve, but I’m hoping my EC’s and experience can carry me through. It's been a very eventful and road to medical school for me that I feel creates a great story for me. I plan on applying very broadly to both MD/DO. California resident but I'll go anywhere.
Think I have a chance this next cycle?
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