Non-trad post-bacc advice needed

[axonaxoff]

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Edited for privacy.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

I think a 1 year timeline sounds way too tight. There’s a lot more to a successful medical school application than just getting the prerequisite classes in order.

What does your overall application look like? On top of high grades/MCAT scores, medical schools want to see a few hundred hours each of clinical experience, community service, and possibly research (which it sounds like you have) and leadership experience. Applicants also need to have 40-80 hours physician shadowing. Can you share where you stand with these elements of your application? If you don’t have all of these ECs, will you realistically be able to get them sorted in a year on top of your studies and MCAT prep?

Now, the Jeff postbac with linkage sounds like it could be a good option for you, but I don’t think it’s wise to put all your eggs in one basket. You should take the time you need to build a strong application for all medical schools, and apply broadly after your postbac and MCAT. Yes, this may take 2 or 3 years, but a failed cycle will put you further behind than that. Switching career paths into medicine is not a quick process.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Thank you Janet - I think this is the realistic advice I needed!

I definitely need more shadowing, because I only have the hours within the psychiatric hospital and methadone clinic; and this was divided among nurses, therapists, and doctors, but I would estimate it at around 50 hours; so this definitely needs to be filled in.

For community service/leadership, I started a martial arts program at an alternative high school for disadvantaged students. I actively taught the program for 3 years, and it is still going on in my absence (lots of obligations this semester, took a break; the school also relocated twice the distance from me). I crowdsourced all the equipment and continually replenish it through donations. I also coached at a martial arts gym for 3 years, and still train; would coaching count as leadership?

For other volunteering, I've created and donated my artwork for LGBTQ and domestic violence auction fundraisers, and worked for fundraisers for substance use clinics, etc; these aren't steady gigs, however. I think I have 5 listed on my CV.

I think pursuing the less expensive 1 year post bacc and using the glide year to shadow, volunteer and work sounds safer, and yet it's difficult to be objective when you are concerned about time!

The only shadowing hours that count for medical school are physician shadowing hours, so make sure you have 40-80 hours with MDs or DOs across a few specialties by the time you apply. Nurse/therapist shadowing will not be considered.

I also suspect that you might need more clinical experience. Medical schools want to see direct patient interaction while patients are undergoing medical treatment. This often looks like hospital/hospice volunteering, CNA/MA work, scribing, etc. I don’t know that studying patients in the context of psychology research will count in this regard (though this activity can certainly be classified under research). Consider starting clinical volunteering or employment in your gap year(s) as well.

Coaching sounds like good leadership experience. The program for disadvantaged students looks like solid nonclinical community service. The fundraising efforts appear to be one-offs or short term endeavors, so while I’m sure they’ll be regarded favorably, it appears they won’t go toward adding lots of community service hours to your total. You’ll want to have 150-200 community service hours at a minimum - maybe you’ve already met this across all your activities so far. It wouldn’t hurt to supplement these hours further before you apply.

Best case scenario, I think you’re looking at 2 years before you’re ready to apply and the time from submitting your application to matriculation can be as long as 15 months. So, you’re looking at starting medical school in the fall of 2023 if everything goes perfectly. You should be aware that applications often get delayed due to factors like MCAT timing, class scheduling, EC opportunity availability, finances, etc. so you need to be comfortable with pushing your year of matriculation out even further if required.

 

[axonaxoff]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, and in such detail. I will weigh all of this heavily moving forward.

 

[DO_or_Die]

I'm a non-trad too, and personally am about saving costs. You can take the same exact prerequisites at your local college for much cheaper than formalized "post-bacc" programs. I believe that schools look at the overall applicant, but MD schools place heavy emphasis on your MCAT score. My GPA was similar to yours, several thousand clinical hours as a nurse, research w/ one publication, checkboxes on all community service/shadowing/volunteer but with a sub 510 MCAT did not receive an interview at any MD school. I got into my state DO school luckily so the cost is minimal, but I wasn't willing to wait another year for MD. I think you should keep your costs as low as possible and maybe open yourself up to the idea of DO, plenty of DO's in psychiatry, also DO schools can be more forgiving towards non traditional students. I think a realistic timeline for you if you have not taken the pre-reqs would be 2-2.5years at the earliest. Just the application process alone of writing a very solid personal statement and numerous school specific essays can take months and that doesn't count on top of months spent studying for the MCAT.