Medical Non-traditional - How can I enhance transcript/application?

[GoSpursGo]

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Hello dear doctors and readers,

Thank you for providing this platform and taking time to hear my story. I'm a non-traditional applicant and I've made up my mind over these last several months that I want nothing more than to enter the field of medicine. I completed my undergrad with a degree in bioengineering 4 years ago, with an emphasis in bioelectronics. However, due to multiple factors such as poor time-management, lack of focus, and an uncertainty that the courses I was taking were fit for my calling, I did not do well in some courses and I ended up graduating with an underwhelming GPA of 3.01. After graduation, it was difficult for me to find work in the field of my undergrad so I began working as a teacher. Having the opportunity to Interact with students to help them learn, grow, and achieve their goals was rewarding for me and it was then that I knew that I wanted to work more directly with people and on my feet rather than spending the majority of my time sitting in isolation working with only computers. Due to the recent pandemic and subsequent shutdowns, I lost the majority of my hours and realized that I needed to advance my career. I had contemplated graduate and medical school before, and even took the MCAT while working as a teacher, but I was not serious about it at the time because I was only looking at these avenues from only a financially-motivated standpoint. Having an additional 2 years to think and reflect on why I truly wanted to pursue medicine, I realized that there would be nothing more invaluable to me than the going through the challenging journey of attaining the skills and knowledge physicians acquire in order to help people in the community who truly needed it most. So I decided to give it all I have and do all I could do to pursue this path.

I took the MCAT for the second time in September where I received a 516, which was a marked improvement of 505 from my first attempt 2 years ago. I then began shadowing a physician, and I am starting EMT training in January, while also working as a certified personal trainer and teaching MCAT courses in the meantime. I know the biggest hurdles to overcome in my application would be my undergraduate GPA and lack of clinical and research experience. I believe that working as an EMT after I get certified will help me get the clinical experience I need, and that I need to achieve a successful post-bacc record. So the questions I have are:

1) Would it be worth it to wait until the 2022-2023 application cycle once I have already completed my post-bacc (whatever that may be) and worked for over a year instead of several months as an EMT instead of taking my chance in applying this May for the 2021-2022 cycle with no post-bacc and several months of EMT experience? Other than financial reasons, is there a detriment to applying twice?

2) Related to #1: since USMLE Step 1 won't be scored anymore by the time I would be taking it, does the reputation of the medical school you go to matter more substantially now in determining residency placements provided an otherwise identical application? If so, would it be better to wait until I have a stronger application to apply (as stated in #1) to a 'stronger' school?

3) What kind of post-bacc should I do? As a bioengineering undergrad I have already met all my prereqs except potentially organic chemistry II, which I've heard can be substituted with biochem depending on the school? Should I do DIY post-bacc, structured post-bacc, or aim for a master's program? I would prefer to get my masters to be able to have more access to research and opportunity, but would succeeding in a masters program display the same tenacity in coursework that medical schools would be looking for as succeeding in a non-certified post-bacc? Does the undergrad GPA matter more than the graduate GPA, vice-versa, or does the story they tell matter more?

4) How valuable are my work experiences such as teaching both the MCAT and at a high-school and working as a personal trainer? (kind of a silly question) Does working as a personal trainer count towards 'clincal' experience since you are working with clients in similar method of examination, prognosis, and prescription of appropriate treatment (exercise), and follow-ups to monitor improvement?


Thank you again for your time in reading this and answering my questions, it is greatly appreciated!

1) There's not a huge detriment other than the financial one to applying twice, but realistically speaking you have no chance of success in the upcoming cycle without remediating your 3.01 GPA. Wait until 2022 to apply.

2) To a certain extent, med school name has always played some role in the residency application process... nobody knows exactly how much more it may weigh with step 1 going P/F, but it would be a reasonable to expect it will become more important, as will step 2 score. That said, you'll need at least a year to become competitive for ANY school, and I'm not sure that any amount of effort is going to make you competitive for a "name brand" school... so right now I would plan to put in your app in 2022.

3) Not familiar enough to know the pluses/minuses of DIY vs structured post-bacc, but absolutely do NOT do a masters if med school is your goal. There is a (mostly justified) sentiment that grades are inflated in masters programs; undergrad GPA is the only thing that med schools will care about. Frankly, I'm not sure that research is going to help your application greatly--I would focus on your coursework and getting clinical experience as an EMT.

4) Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I respect you asking... but no, being a personal trainer does not count as clinical experience. But having real-world experience is something that many schools will value, and is something that students who go straight from undergrad to med school lack.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

1. I would wait it out. Sure, you can apply but your chances are close to zero with that GPA unfortunately.

2. As of now, a student from a lower-tier medical school can do extremely well on the boards and differentiate themselves and get into competitive residencies. When it goes P/F, that will be taken away and the only way to differentiate will be LOR, research, and Step 2. What do the bigger, better medical schools have that the lower-tiers don't? Better access to bigger names for LOR and better research opportunities. You take Step 2 at a time when you are applying for/doing auditions, trying to finish up research, and getting LOR. It's a high stress and busy time...not the best time to study for a super important board exam. Step 1 was perfect because it was early and gave everyone ample time to study for it. You can see where I stand with my opinion on this matter, haha. Regardless, you won't prepare any different for the cycle. You need to do the best you can leading up to the cycle if you are applying to Harvard or your state school as ALL medical schools are competitive.

3. I would just do a DIY post-bac. At this point, the GPA doesn't really matter anymore. You are taking the 1-2 years of courses to show you are not what you were before and that you can handle the rigorous courses.

4. Personal trainer absolutely doesn't count as clinical experience. It's cool to get some unique experiences though that you can speak about at an interview.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

An engineering GPA is generally lower than a traditional biomedical major GPA which is generally lower than a humanities major GPA. So telling me you have 3.01 doesn't help me. I think you can do well in a postbac but I don't know whether you have taken all your prereqs; what I do know (because of my own engineering background) is that chances are your physics courses were "tougher" than premed physics (because of the calculus content) so knowledgeable programs will know this and take this into account; those who are numbers-only won't know this.

I always circle back to the importance of networking, especially if you are thinking about applying. You have to know how your prior bachelor's degree will be viewed (are they engineering-friendly or not in their assessment of your GPA) and whether you need more biomedical science classes than you probably have on your transcript to date. I would have started shadowing and getting clinical exposure BEFORE taking the MCAT because now you have a clock before some committee will consider that score too old (2-4 years from now), and there are many schools that frown upon taking the MCAT more than 3 times. You are probably in a very strong position to ask about SMP's now so network to find out programs that best suit your expectations for advising/mentoring and clinical experience.