My Chances (BM, Hopkins, Goucher, Temple)

[JuliusTheDog]

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Hi Everyone,

I graduated in 2009 and majored in nothing related to science or medicine. I'm part of a program called Philadelphia Teaching Fellows (kind of like teach for america) and I teach math at an inner city Philly high school. I'm looking to do a career change and possibly start a post-bac in Fall 2011.

I had a 3.75 GPA at a top 10 university and graduated with honors in my major. I'm also most of the way through a masters in education from a local university where I have a 4.0 (it's part of the teaching fellows program). SATs were a 1480 (770 Math 710 Verbal). Solid extra-curriculars, captain of the club soccer team and president of my fraternity.

However, my medical experience is pretty limited. My dad's a cardiologist and I've shadowed him in the past. Also, this summer I started volunteering and shadowing in the ER at a local hospital.

What are my chances of getting into a good post-bac program? I'm looking at Hopkins, BM, Goucher, and Temple.

Thanks

 

[boggvir]

You have a good chance especially if you beef up your medical experience. If you can, do something like 10 hours/week for the next few months. If you can do that for four months, that's 160 hours and you'll be fine.

 

[JuliusTheDog]

Thanks for the info. I won't be able to work that many hours once school starts because I'm still teaching full time and taking graduate classes. I should be able to get around 50 hours by the time I apply and maybe 75 total by interviews (assuming I get some). I realize this is the weakest part of my application, but is this number still too low?

 

[darkjedi]

pretty good, just get your experience up before applications start and if you want, wait a few months gaining more experience before turning in your application. As long as you don't wait until the last second to apply like I did, you'll probably have a great shot.

 

[EJS1979]

I agree with the previous posts, but I just wanted to add that, as I've said in other threads, there is no minimum number of medical hours to be considered a strong candidate. I had only worked a couple of months as an ER volunteer (4 hrs/wk, inconsistently because of teaching and coaching) and had absolutely no shadowing experience, but that little experience that I did have had given me a clear understanding as to why I wanted to be a doctor and make that switch. So feel free to wait a month or so before applying if you want a little more time in the ER, but if you feel like you have your reasons straight and your "why medicine? why now?" story down, there's little reason why you shouldn't have a shot even if you apply in September.

Good luck!!

 

[JuliusTheDog]

Thanks for the input everyone, I appreciate the help. I think I'm going to apply on the early side. Even though more clinical experience would be ideal, I just don't think I'll have the time for it once school starts. I figure it's not worth waiting 2 months to only get another 20 hours or so.

 

[deleted248403]

I think you are fine to apply now. 20hrs isnt going to make or break you

 

[ygree001]

You are a competitive applicant.

 

[JuliusTheDog]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've decided I'm going to apply the the 4 programs early on in the cycle (September/October). Is anyone else applying this year?