Just started on the pre-med road... Do I have a good start?

[MoMoPo]

Okay, first off, I am glad to finally be on sdn. I've read these forums for many years.

I have always wanted to be a physician but put those dreams on the back burner for awhile, mostly due to the fact that I liked chasing girls and getting the full college "experience." ANYWAYS, I'm back on track but with some left over damage to my GPA... here are my stats.

Age 24M
GPA overall - 3.
GPA Science- 3.5
MCAT - Will take early next year - wanting a 30+

I have all but Org 1 & 2 to take this summer and I will be done with premed prereqs. I also have a slew of higher level Bio classes like pathophysiology and Pharmacology (to name a few). All are A's except general bio 1 which was a B.

I am also a Registered Nurse with 1 year Cardiac Stepdown experience, before that I was a Nursing Assistant and Cardiac Telemetry Tech for 3 years. So 4+ years exp in the medical field with direct patient contact with MD/DO interaction. It will probably be 5-6 year exp by the time I actually apply. I also am a volunteer Fire Fighter with an EMT license.

I'm just wondering where I stand now, I still have another year of classes that I want to take to finish out my Bachelors in nursing and my bachelors in public health. As it stands now I have drastically improved my grades over the past few years and look forward to my upcoming Organic classes. I also might retake a few classes in order to boost up my gpa.

Any advice would be great.

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[Catalystik]

Okay, first off, I am glad to finally be on sdn. I've read these forums for many years.

I have always wanted to be a physician but put those dreams on the back burner for awhile, mostly due to the fact that I liked chasing girls and getting the full college "experience." ANYWAYS, I'm back on track but with some left over damage to my GPA... here are my stats.

Age 24M
GPA overall - 3.
GPA Science- 3.5
MCAT - Will take early next year - wanting a 30+

I have all but Org 1 & 2 to take this summer and I will be done with premed prereqs. I also have a slew of higher level Bio classes like pathophysiology and Pharmacology (to name a few). All are A's except general bio 1 which was a B.

I am also a Registered Nurse with 1 year Cardiac Stepdown experience, before that I was a Nursing Assistant and Cardiac Telemetry Tech for 3 years. So 4+ years exp in the medical field with direct patient contact with MD/DO interaction. It will probably be 5-6 year exp by the time I actually apply. I also am a volunteer Fire Fighter with an EMT license.

I'm just wondering where I stand now, I still have another year of classes that I want to take to finish out my Bachelors in nursing and my bachelors in public health. As it stands now I have drastically improved my grades over the past few years and look forward to my upcoming Organic classes. I also might retake a few classes in order to boost up my gpa.

Any advice would be great.

Retaking particularly low grades is a good idea, especially considering the grade replacement policy of AACOMAS, which will result in more rapid GPA repair. Just be sure each retake has the same credit hours or better to qualify.

Alternatively, with 3-4 semesters of recent high grades and a strong MCAT score, a lenient MD school might consider you. SMP is another route to be aware of and consider if expense is not a huge issue.

 

[MoMoPo]

I think the only chance I have when it comes to MD schools is Brody SOM at Eastern Carolina University. But I really like some of the DO schools I've looked at and it doesn't really matter to me what letters are behind my name.

I would love to go to MSUCOM or PCOM and I think I can pull those off as long as a repair my GPA a little and get a good score on the MCAT

Thanks for your reply Catalystik.

 

[Catalystik]

You are lucky to be in-state for Brody. Be sure your ECs are in accord with their mission. For example: your formal physician shadowing should heavily favor office-based primary care docs. A tie to eastern NC wouldn't hurt either.