Long time since I graduated Undergrad and potential Military Medical Discharge need help how to plan application

[Mybosswontapproveofthis]

Long story short, I graduated in 13, took my mcat 2014 (applied to med school, half way through the cycle I was worried about if this was the right choice/direction), joined the military as enlisted then went and became a pilot. Im currently all sorts of broken due to a work related accident and most likely going to be medically discharged before my contract ends, I am currently planning on apply MD. How much work do I need to do to make myself competitive since I'll be in my mid30s soon. I had a 3.475 in undergrad, 3.65 science gpa (I have 3 withdrawls from my undergrad had family issues one semester and withdrew most of my classes one semester), I got like 80% on the mcat cant remember and know its expired. I have since gotten a Master of Finance GPA was a 3.95 not sure if that helps. Haven't done any shadowing, volunteering or clinical experience since 2014/15 and lets be honest I cant remember my total hours.

Most of my pre-reqs hit 10+ years this fall, what can I do to help my MD chances? I had a Zoom call over a year ago with the dean of admission from VCOM and he basically told me that because I have 3 W's I wouldnt be considered a solid candidate without taking a "full time Postbacc/SMP" to show my commitment. He didnt seem to care that I was a pilot, and that I had a masters just kept harping on the whole need to take a whole year of similar course load, and he didnt seem to care/understand that I couldnt do that at the time because Im still active duty.

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[LizzyM]

Your coursework was ages ago and your sGPA was barely adequate. Masters degree doesn't count for much, particularly if in a non-related field. Given the GPA and the years since those grades were earned, it might be a good idea to take some coursework related to medicine to show that you have "the right stuff".

Your MCAT has surely expired. Are you prepared to retake? That is going to require some content review, perhaps considerable content review given how long it has been since you took the pre-reqs. Most successful applicants spend several hundred hours in MCAT prep and that is while still in school or shortly after graduation. You may need considerably more time to make adequate prep for that exam (Not sure if you took the old exam (total score was low two digits) or the new one (total score in the mid-3 digits). Anyway, it has been a long time and you are going to need to prep well to overcome the stigma associated with your undergrad record.

Being active duty military (or veteran) does come with some brownie points but you will need some recent clinical exposure (volunteer or paid) and some shadowing (about 50 hours). Don't even think of applying unless you have these items on the application and that the experiences are recent (in your specific case, within the past 2 years).

So, you have three things on the to do list to make this happen:
some upper level coursework in biological sciences
MCAT prep and re-take
fresh clinical experience and shadowing

Good luck!