Junior Year Adjustments?

[amazonz]

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[deleted577188]

Anyone with a 4 GPA, work experience and current EC's such as yours should not be making a thread asking what to improve on.

Neuroticism at its finest.

 

[Holmwood]

Hey all, this is my first post on sdn and I was wondering about how to best prepare myself for the med school application process in the upcoming years.

Coursework: 4.0 GPA taking 18 credit hours three of four semesters with honors classes in the mix. I've finished all my prereqs but physics. However, my degree does not contain many hard science classes outside of the premed curriculum.

Extracurriculars: University ambassador, (4 semesters); hospital volunteer, (~100 hours at the moment); shadowing (10 hours, yikes!); international affairs program (4 semesters)

Work Experience: Chemistry student assistant, (1 semester); resident advisor, (2 semesters); water quality public health intern (2 summers)

Obviously, all of this is super preliminary, but I just want to get feedback while I can still fix any glaring problems.

My situation is a little unique since I will be taking a hiatus of sorts next year, doing public health research and going to school in Latin America. My main concern is that my classes and extracurriculars have been too focused on pubic health and that this will hurt me in the long run. What would you suggest to focus on changing in the upcoming years to improve my application? I should also add that I am really interested in infectious diseases, which kind of explains my public health background.

Thanks for the help!

There's alot of combined MD/MpH programs out there. There's even standard MD programs with scholarly concentrations geared towards public health.


Don't worry about it. It's a part of who you are and what makes you unique. I'm very interested in the water quality public health intern, especially when we hear things about caffeine in the water turning fish transgender, or bisphenol A in plastic water bottles with the potential for producing depression in animal models.

I think it's important for physicians to think about the patients health in the greater scope, taking into account environmental and cultural factors. You can do a fine job explaining your case with your current extracurriculars I think.

 

[panda16]

Why would a focus on public health weaken your application in any way? That's the flavor of the day for med schools now; adding courses or concentrations in public health is en vogue for a good reason.