Need opinions on which options to choose for summer

[Bemeren]

So I have two choices

Choice 1) Do a full-time internship in plant pathology, oncological, or food science research and graduate a semester late.

Choice 2) I can retake two courses that ate me alive last semester and bump my science g.p.a , volunteer ~200 hours in the ER, and gradute on time..

Which would benefit me more? Would med schools really be *that* impressed that I did research in plant pathology or food science? The problem is that I don't know if I can land another undergraduate research position next summer..

If it helps heres some background info - Finishing up sophomore year in Psychology, have about a year of lab experience doing grunt work for Ph.D students (not actually research.. making media, solutions, preparing experiments), 3.5 accumalitve g.p.a and 2.8 science g.p.a.... no volunteer experiece yet.

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[GreenShirt]

One thing I would consider first is the cost of tuition. I took some extra classes at my school for fun and graduated late. Now that I'm paying off my loans, I think that it wasn't the best idea.

As for option 1 vs. 2 here's my opinion. I think option 2 is better if you're going the DO route. Retaking those 2 classes will help boost your science GPA. If you get it to at least a 3.0 you'll be able to apply to more schools (there are a handful that have a cut off of 3.0 science). Clinical experience is extremely important for most DO schools (MD too).

You'll probably be able to get some research experience if you stick it out in the lab where you do grunt work. The important thing is to appear enthusiastic and ask for more responsibility. Talk to your PI and ask if you can take on a small project over the summer while continuing to help with lab chores or make it clear that you want to make room in your Jr or Sr. year schedule so that you can come into lab and help on a project. I work in a lab and I see that its the persistent, competent, and reliable undergrads that usually go on to work on projects. If not look at other labs, you should be able to find one that will allow you to do some science during the year or next summer.

As for option 1, it would look good on your resume (MD schools tend to be more research oriented), but not if it comes at the expense of clinical experience, grade improvement, and money.

Hope this helps.

 

[122206DO]

First, you should really decide which path you want to pursue (DO or MD). I can't comment on the MD path since I never applied to allopath schools. If DO is what you want to do, you should understand that DO schools look for candidates who can be clinicians, not research academics. This is not to say that you can't do research in DO schools; it is just not their focus. They want to produce clinicians, not research scientists. So, since you already have some research exp, and no volunteering exp, why are you trying to gain more research exp? You need to up that science GPA as much as you can because that's what will get you an interview, provided your MCAT is decent. I would stop the research stuff and get some real clinical experience. You wanna be a doctor right? How are you going to answer that question when they ask you in an interview when you do not have experiences in healthcare. Research will not help you one bit in terms of projecting your passion for medicine, science perhaps, but not medicine. Research should be supplemental to your GPA and MCAT, just like LORs and volunteering exps. Extracurricular things cannot replace your academics, and in order to pass that first hurdle, it's ALL ABOUT YOUR ACADEMICS. So amongst all the rambling here, what I'm saying is get straight As on the rest of your classes, get yourself into a DO's office (if you want DO), forget the research stuff (you've got enough), and start talking to admission ppl and ppl who got into the school you want to go so you know what you need to do. Good luck!

 

[DocBR]

I will ask the obvious, yet unasked question:

What are the courses that ate you alive? If they are pre-reqs, recommended, or even peripherally related to medicine, (Biochem, physiology, genetics, etc) then you should definitely retake them - you want to prove to adcoms that you have the goods when it comes to difficult science classes.

If it was something like comparative plant anatomy, then I do not think it really matters all that much unless you received a C- or lower.

One very nice thing about doing research is that you get a great LOR from someone who has real insight into you. Professors, physicians, charge nurses, etc are great but someone who has worked side by side with you for 200+ hours will have a lot of influence in a LOR.

 

[Bemeren]

First off, thank you for taking the time to reply.

I think what 122206DO said really helped. I do have a year of exposure to the lab, and I do really want to be a doctor, not a researcher. I guess I thought it would look really good on a resume. The classes that killed me were second semester general chem and genetics, I recieved a D in both of them. The question isn't whether or not I'm going to retake those courses, because I am, I was just wondering is it worth delaying med school for another year for this research internship opportunity. I'm leaning more towards taking those courses this summer and volunteering right now.

Edit: I'm going for my D.O. btw