Late Undergrad Career Change Advice

[flyingbadger]

Hello! I've never posted here before although I've read through a few threads and found some interesting advice in the past. I'm currently a senior Bioengineering undergrad at UCSD who recently decided to go pre-med. To give a little background, I finished my A.S. in Biology at a local CC and will be finishing my B.S. in BioE: Biotechnology in around six months or so. After having a terrible Junior year, I realized that I didn't want to go for a PhD as I had originally intended, but I still want to do something that will allow me to have a positive impact on those around me while utilizing knowledge and skills that I already have. I've gotten mostly A's in my biology/chemistry coursework and thoroughly enjoyed my time in those classes and the opportunity for personal interaction that my pre-medical peers have talked to me about is something that appeals to me. I visited pre-health advisors at my school twice, but I didn't get much out of it. The general consensus I got was that “wanting to change career path at this stage in your education is pretty common, but you have a lot of work to do before you’re a competitive applicant” which is something I am very well aware of.

As of now, both my cGPA and sGPA sit around a 3.4, I haven't yet taken the MCAT, I have no clinical volunteer hours, no shadowing experience, little research experience, and my only EC so far is a one year involvement in Toastmasters that I stopped attending after transferring over 2 years ago. My general plan as of now is to finish undergrad while fitting in a few extra required pre-med courses (BioChem, O-Chem 1st quarter lab, O-Chem 3rd quarter lecture, Physics lab) and then spend 2 - 3 years improving my application before applying. In my first year, I plan on focusing on volunteering, finishing extra course work if needed, doing research and working to pay off some of my loans as well as applying to either a post-bacc or Special Master's Program. My 2nd and 3rd years will be spent completing the post-bacc/SMP and preparing for the MCAT before ultimately applying.

My main questions are:

Where do I look for a shadowing opportunity? UCSD doesn't have one anymore and I don't know any doctors personally. I do plan on joining AMSA at some point before I graduate, so hopefully I can gain some resources there.

Should I go for a post-bacc or SMP? Also, how do I make myself competitive to get in either one?

Where can I look for research after graduation? I'm planning on e-mailing professors around campus as sort of a de facto option, but is there any other option I should consider? Any networking tips?

I'm new to this, so there's probably a lot that I'm missing. Any help/advice is appreciated. Thank you!

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[MDProspect]

The MD route may be a lot harder, but not impossible with your current stats. The DO route, on the other hand, is more realistic and should be more fruitful. Your GPA is not terrible but still can change depending on how you do on the rest of the required courses. First and foremost, do well on the MCAT. If you are set on going to a competitive school, then you will need to do an SMP; however, these programs are not a sure bet and avoid those programs that have built-in MCAT prep as you need to devote all of your time to this exam without the distraction of taking irrelevant classes. I am biased against post-bacc programs as they won't boost your GPA by much after all of your credits are calculated.
As for your extracurriculars, go volunteer at your local hospital. You need those hours and it provides the opportunity to find shadowing. You can contact your PCP and ask if you can shadow them or if they know of any other physicians who are receptive to the idea. Go to your science professor in person to ask about research, preferably those who taught classes in which you got A's. Furthermore, consider volunteering in non-medical settings such as a soup kitchen. Working with the less fortunate is a great learning experience and looks good on your application.

 

[candbgirl]

1. The thing with SMPs is they are high stakes-high rewards. They are also very expensive. If you don’t do exceptionally well (3.8+)your chances for Med school acceptance about vanish. It’s like game over. While I sort of agree with @MDProspect about post baccs and what they won’t do for your GPA they can be valuable. Your GPAs aren’t bad and you are a career changer so a post bacc might be a good idea. After you graduate it will be very hard to move your GPA but if you can string together 3-4 semesters of upper level science courses with 3.7+ you might be able to convince ADCOMS that you are up to the rigors of med school. Of course there are no guarantees but applying to med school is a crap shoot anyway.
2. Your ECs will be important. I assume you have research experience since you were looking at a PhD. So I wouldn’t spend much time worrying about this area. You need about 50 hours of shadowing including a chunk with a primary care doc. You need at least 150 hours of clinical experience with direct patient contact . You also need at least 150 hours of non clinical volunteering. Medicine is a service profession so you have to show your altruism. Service to the unserved or underserved is highly thought of by ADCOMS. Look at homeless shelters, soup kitchens , Habitat for Humanity, camps for sick kids, coaching underprivileged kids in a sport or tutoring etc.. I understand you wanting to try to get your ECs taken care of during year one of your plan but you really need to continue some of them(those you are passionate about) right through the application cycle. If you aren’t accepted when you apply and you reapply you will have to show significant improvement in your application.
3. MCAT self explanatory.
4. Go find @Goro ‘s Guide for students who need reinvention. Do a search of this forum and it will pop up and it’s extremely helpful.
5. Good luck. You seem to have a good plan . Just keep at it and see where you end up.