Med school acceptance chance? Psych B.A. (from liberal arts univ) - desire to be a Psychiatrist

[purplemose10]

Might anyone have advice for my situation:

No doctors in my family and no one I know in medical school, and my univ is not well versed in putting students on the path I want.

I am in my junior year. Attending a liberal arts college, studying Psychology (B.A.) with a genuine desire to become a Psychiatrist. I have not completed the pre med classes, but am currently maintaining a competitive GPA in the sciences; in addition, I have gotten experience in behavioral health.

- 3.8 GPA for my three years in university
- roughly 150 hours volunteering in a Behavioral Health Unit
- around 30 hours of shadowing a Psychiatrist
- currently on a Psychology research team as a second in command leader on the specific team.
- a year of volunteering/mentoring elementary school kids

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I could do to improve my chances of being accepted to a medical college?

I have seen a little portion of the realities of psychiatry in large metropolitan hospitals and I want to be in that field more than anything. Pharmacology, neuroscience, the complexities of abnormal behavior, and differentiating between psych and biological symptoms caught my attention like nothing else while shadowing and volunteering in behavioral health units.

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[ampaphb]

You will certainly stand out as an interesting choice. Have you taken the prerequisite Science courses for med school (Chem, Orgo, Physics, Bio)? What were ur grades in those courses?

Med school admissions committees don't want you to fail. Obviously, the majority of your classes are going to be science. If they don't have a large track record, they can't predict how well you're going to do, and if you can survive to work.

On the other hand, they do like to diversify their class, so students can learn from one another. You will certainly be able to provide an interesting perspective to a bunch of science nerds (like me)

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[shopsteward]

You have found the right place to get advice. Others will no doubt have other views, but some of your priorities at the moment could be -

1. Maintaining that excellent GPA while completing science pre-reqs. If you need to take extra time, either a fifth year or a DIY post-bac, to get the sciences done while maintaining the GPA, then that is the way to go. Med school admission is not a sprint.

2. Not taking the MCAT until you have got all your pre-reqs in. The MCAT is pretty much a one-shot thing so you need to line it up properly and get your basic knowledge sorted first. Because you are still doing pre-reqs, it seems likely that your earliest time for an application will be June 2018 for matriculation in 2019. Draw up a possible timetable for yourself now to see what works for you.

3. Getting some physician shadowing in to make sure before you start down this path that becoming a doctor is what you want. Include primary care shadowing and make sure you include the more "medical" side of the profession, as even if it doesn't interest you now it may do so in the future and in any case you need to know you will be able to get through the practical parts of med school.

4. Med school is expensive and your chances for earning while studying extremely limited, so the more you have your finances in order before starting med school the better your chances of finishing it in reasonable financial order. The lower the burden of your existing student loans when going in to med school the better. Gap year earnings could help you on this.

Good luck.

 

[Goro]

Quite doable for you.

Service to others less fortunate than yourself (and outside of the mentally ill) will be good.

Might anyone have advice for my situation:

No doctors in my family and no one I know in medical school, and my univ is not well versed in putting students on the path I want.

I am in my junior year. Attending a liberal arts college, studying Psychology (B.A.) with a genuine desire to become a Psychiatrist. I have not completed the pre med classes, but am currently maintaining a competitive GPA in the sciences; in addition, I have gotten experience in behavioral health.

- 3.8 GPA for my three years in university
- roughly 150 hours volunteering in a Behavioral Health Unit
- around 30 hours of shadowing a Psychiatrist
- currently on a Psychology research team as a second in command leader on the specific team.
- a year of volunteering/mentoring elementary school kids

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I could do to improve my chances of being accepted to a medical college?

I have seen a little portion of the realities of psychiatry in large metropolitan hospitals and I want to be in that field more than anything. Pharmacology, neuroscience, the complexities of abnormal behavior, and differentiating between psych and biological symptoms caught my attention like nothing else while shadowing and volunteering in behavioral health units.

 

[purplemose10]

You will certainly stand out as an interesting choice. Have you taken the prerequisite Science courses for med school (Chem, Orgo, Physics, Bio)? What were ur grades in those courses?

Med school admissions committees don't want you to fail. Obviously, the majority of your classes are going to be science. If they don't have a large track record, they can't predict how well you're going to do, and if you can survive to work.

On the other hand, they do like to diversify their class, so students can learn from one another. You will certainly be able to provide an interesting perspective to a bunch of science nerds (like me)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N930A using SDN mobile

Thanks for your feedback, Ampaphb!

Grades come out like next week: I just finished my first half of general bio (with a B+ or A-) and general chemistry (with a A- or A) - both classes w/a lab. I'm going to take Orgo, Physics, micro, and I have to spill into a 5th year (due to my credits) so I will probably take other specialized science classes then (e.g., biochemistry, cell biology, etc).

I was told that I should take up a minor in Chemistry to present that I can preform in the sciences despite having a B.A. from a liberal-arts school. I know there is a shortage of Psychiatrists, do you think that showing that I know what Psychiatry really looks like and that I really want to do it would give me a leg up simply because some folks don't know what they want, or they just want to be "surgeons" or "internists"?

*also, I worked on an ambulance in Israel for like 2 months in 2014 - do you think that would have any impact on making myself stand out more?

 

[purplemose10]

Quite doable for you.

Service to others less fortunate than yourself (and outside of the mentally ill) will be good.

Thanks for your feedback, Goro!

You think that only having volunteering experience with those with mental illness would be harmful to my application? (clearly it's best to have both, but just for the sake of the subject).

 

[Goro]

It will be fine as is