Life Hit in Pre-Med, Went EMS, Still Want MD/DO

[pthornton1]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post on here so I hope it reaches the right audience.

~General Situation~
Did great first 2.5 years of undergrad (3.9 GPA, sGPA 40.) I bombed a straight year of classes (all F's) after life and COVID hit hard. Came to EMS. Did EMT, AEMT, and am in paramedic school now. I want to go back and retake my sciences/ fix my education record somehow.

~Question:~
1. Recommendations on how to explain this/ how I've learned from it?
2. Would grad school be necessary to prove I have learned from this, or is another 2.5 years of undergrad sufficient?

Background:
I have a family. I'm 27 now and a veteran. I've calculated all financial risk and wife has stable job. I was doing well in undergrad for 2.5yrs (GPA 3.8, sGPA 4.0). Finished all major sciences in that time (through biochem). I used Post 9/11 GI Bill, so school was my primary source of income. Drastic life changing events happened at the same time as COVID and school took an absolute back burner. I stayed in school for the regular income at the advice of a lawyer to fight for primary custody of my son (which I was able to get in mediation). I then started EMT school while worked as a driver-only (on the COVID-19 exception). Then worked as EMT on 911 in major city for nonprofit hospital-based EMS organization while in AEMT school. Now working in same position as an AEMT while in paramedic school. I graduate October '23 from paramedic. Looking for options now for Spring '24 to start school back.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[toli]

Basically two things are going on here:
1. You bombed a year of school. This isn't super uncommon.
You need a situation where grade replacement/retakes are seen favorably, and/or you need to do well for the remainder of the 2.5 years.

I think as long as you keep pulling As for the 2.5 years, you're going to come out with an okay GPA and a compelling story. It would be worth it to look at schools that heavily look at the last two years/upward trend, because you might cater right to them.
Additional academics beyond that might not be necessary - particularly if your medic school appears on your transcripts and you do well in the program.
AMCAS did not count my medic credits, but AACOMAS did - so ymmv.

As for how to explain it -- write out the reasons, and then write out a self-PR version of the reasons that focuses aggressively on the positive. Bullet out things learned. Look at how to build a cohesive narrative that ties themes of lessons learned and who you are as a person to talking about your EMS experience and other EC/life experiences. Figure out who you need to talk to through your school to get good PS revision help. Absolutely get someone who knows what they're doing to help you revise your PS - a second set of eyes can help you shift perspective on your stories very slightly and bring everything that much more into focus.

2. You have some really great ECs, and are going to have a ton of clinical hours through EMS.
This is all great - and when you go through your medic rotations, if you do physician shadowing, keep track of those hours and the physicians. It'd be worth keeping some notes on the other shadowing/clinical time you do - I also shadowed ER medics/RNs/RTs/PAs, and having the vague idea of how many hours I did let me speak with specificity in essays on 'why physician'.

You're not in a bad position, and this is a good time to start planning. I think you're on the right track.

 

[pthornton1]

Basically two things are going on here:
1. You bombed a year of school. This isn't super uncommon.
You need a situation where grade replacement/retakes are seen favorably, and/or you need to do well for the remainder of the 2.5 years.

I think as long as you keep pulling As for the 2.5 years, you're going to come out with an okay GPA and a compelling story. It would be worth it to look at schools that heavily look at the last two years/upward trend, because you might cater right to them.
Additional academics beyond that might not be necessary - particularly if your medic school appears on your transcripts and you do well in the program.
AMCAS did not count my medic credits, but AACOMAS did - so ymmv.

As for how to explain it -- write out the reasons, and then write out a self-PR version of the reasons that focuses aggressively on the positive. Bullet out things learned. Look at how to build a cohesive narrative that ties themes of lessons learned and who you are as a person to talking about your EMS experience and other EC/life experiences. Figure out who you need to talk to through your school to get good PS revision help. Absolutely get someone who knows what they're doing to help you revise your PS - a second set of eyes can help you shift perspective on your stories very slightly and bring everything that much more into focus.

2. You have some really great ECs, and are going to have a ton of clinical hours through EMS.
This is all great - and when you go through your medic rotations, if you do physician shadowing, keep track of those hours and the physicians. It'd be worth keeping some notes on the other shadowing/clinical time you do - I also shadowed ER medics/RNs/RTs/PAs, and having the vague idea of how many hours I did let me speak with specificity in essays on 'why physician'.

You're not in a bad position, and this is a good time to start planning. I think you're on the right track.

Thank you so much for your incredibly thoughtful reply! I did not expect a total stranger to invest so much into this. It's good to hear from others that have also taken a similar path.