MY STORY - nontrad to graduating med school

[gman33]

Hey All - So I'll be graduating med school in a little over a month.
Just wanted to give a recap of my story.
It might help give some of you encouragement (or disccourage you...)

Until about the age of 30, I pretty much never thought about going to med school.
Without going into too much detail, I just wasn't happy with my previous career.
Took a long time and somehow came to the conclusion that I wanted to be a doc.
On an intellectual level, I knew it would be tough, but never really knew how tough it would actually be going through the experience.

I started my postbacc at a highly respected program and I got my butt handed to me.
I was working full-time and just wasnn't hacking it.
Got a B- in my first 3 classes there. I knew something had to change.
Ended up quitting my job and finishing the prereqs somewhere else.
Not in a formal program. Just taking classes with other UGs.
Did very well the rest of the way.

I knew I wanted to stay local for med school.
Luckliy my home city has 4 MD a 1 DO school. (Philly).

I ended up applying for early decision to 1 school and was accepted.

I hear it sometimes said that the hardest part of med school is getting accepted.
Maybe true from a stats standpoint, but I couldn't disagree more.

Starting med school was rough for me.
I failed the first block. Got something like a 55 on my first exam.
That was after studying what felt like all the time.
Ended up failing the first block by 1 point.
Felt like a total failure.
My sccond block was a struggle, but at least I wasn't failing.
I seriously thought about dropping out then, and several other times.

There was one particular point when I had decided to drop out.
It happened to be a Friday.
If it wasn't, I would have walked into the Dean's office and filled out the papers.

Come Monday, I figured I wasn't getting any money back and I might as well finish out the year. Still thought about a few times during second year.

Third year was challenging, but for the most part I liked being in the hospital.
Some parts sucked, but it was better than years 1-2.

Fourth year was much better. At least most of the rotations were in things I was interested in. The whole match process is stressful, but I got through it.

I ended up matching at a great program in EM.

I guess what I want to get across is that you can get through all this even if you hit bumps along the way. Be flexible, be prepared to ask for help early and often.
You'd be surprised how many people will be willing to help you.

The other point is to make sure you really want this.
There are still times I question it. If I could go back in time to my former self, I'd probably tell him not to bother, even though I like doing what I'm going to be doing.
To some extent it's just a job. If you can be happy doing something that's less stressful, I'd say just do that and enjoy the rest of you life.

I don't check this forum a ton anymore, but I'll try to look out for any responses.

If anyone has any specific questions for me feel free to drop a PM now or in the future.

Good luck to all of you going down a similar path.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[katiemaude]

Thanks for posting your story. I'm also looking at the Philly schools, except for Penn which is out of my league. Yours sound very supportive. Mind sharing the name in a PM and offering any insights about scheduling between classes and study time?

 

[gman33]

Started postbacc at Penn.
Finished up at Temple and did med school at Temple.

As for scheduling postbacc classes, just make sure you have enough time to do well.
This means different things for different people.
If you've been out of school for a while, I'd just start with one class.
You can always ramp up, but if you start out with a D or F, you are really hurting your chances.

 

[jl lin]

gman33,

Thank you so much for posting this. And really, a big congratulations to you! I don't know how much time you will have, but I will definitely be pming you in the near future.

Absolutely the best to you in your residency program.

 

[notbobtrustme]

congrats

 

[sjohnson321]

Congrats! That gives me alot of hope!

 

[drinkmorewine]

MD/DO? Relationships, kids, etc before/during med school? Any advice on these issues?

 

[ljpm8224]

Awesome thread, thanks!

 

[Lots2offer]

Congratulations

Sent from my Vodafone 858 using SDN Mobile

 

[chem44]

Yeah, we're u married? Kids? How din u do it money wise?
I aM 30 now and considering in the next tear or 2 going back
I already have the pre reqs. Just need two study and take Mcats

 

[gman33]

Married, no kids.
Hard for me to advise on issues involving kids.
Probably depends on your spouse, like what they do etc.

For work, I started out my postbacc at night while working.
My job was fairly demanding and so were the classes.
It just wasn't a good match.
I ended up leaving my job and banging out the rest of them over 2 semesters.

To do this, we sold our house and moved into an apartment.
I have a very supportive wife, which is the only way any of this was possible.

MD/DO is a personal choice.
I went MD.

If you don't have the stats from past issues, DO is a good option.
WIth grade replacement you can bring up your GPA in a hurry.
Starting the process with a poor UG gpa can make MD near impossible for some.
At least not without years of extra schooling.

Either route will get you to be a doc which is the goal.
I know tons of DO's and I really don't see any difference.
If you go DO you will have an advantage in the match.
Anyone who tells you otherwise is full of it.
Does this mean you can't match into what you want as a DO?
No. It just means it's harder.

Post away if there are other questions I can try to answer.

 

[moto_za]

Thanks for the great post. How did you go about preparing for the MCAT?

 

[BeachBlondie]

Fantastic story. And, I commend you for the perseverance!

 

[gman33]

Thanks for the great post. How did you go about preparing for the MCAT?

There are a lot of good threads in the MCAT forum.
I used examkrackers. Also listened to audio osmosis.

I think the real key is just doing tons of practice questions and really learning the related topics.

If you need someone to hold your hand, do a formal course.
I don't think they help all that much.

 

[scarshapedstar]

Great story and I love the 'blank verse' writing style.