Non-Traditional Medical School Applicants

[Inveen]

Hello All!

I am new here and I just wanted to find out if there's a forum for non-traditional applicants (and/or medical school students and residents). I would like to read more about how they were able to return to school after a long break. Also to find out how those who have families are able to balance family and medical school Thanks.

Inveen

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[greendot]

Hi Inveen, welcome. On the main SDN page near the bottom, there is a forum for non-traditional applicants.

 

[Inveen]

Thanks for the welcome and info greendot, I'll go and check it out...I'm still trying to find my way around
Have a nice day.

Hi Inveen, welcome. On the main SDN page near the bottom, there is a forum for non-traditional applicants.

 

[Emergency!]

Thanks for the welcome and info greendot, I'll go and check it out...I'm still trying to find my way around
Have a nice day.

Inveen, you might also look at the Old Premed's website Lots of good info in both places.

 

[monmon2009]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum, and would appreciate any advices regarding my chances of getting into research-based med school with my background. Or anything I can prepare to strengthen my case.

I am a research faculty (29 y/o) with Ph.D. in Neuroscience and B.S. in Physical Therapy. I have a pretty strong background in research with plenty of publications and clinical experiences in neurorehab (also had shadowing and volunteer, but was a while ago).

My goal is to pursue for academic medicine doing both patient care and research (plan to shoot for research-based school, such as Hopkins and Stanford). I would have strong letters from the faculty members of my current institutes. Besides MCAT, what other things would be good to add to my application? Someone told me to directly talk to the Admission Dean of the school I want to pursue. What do you guys think?

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Direct contact to the schools in my experience will, at a minimum, help you to learn better how to package your experiences relative to that school's priorities.

Re: Stanford or Hopkins, (rhetorical question) how do your stats measure up to their average stats? Check the MSAR book, available at aamc.org or amazon.com or generally the local library, to see the lower and upper boundaries of these figures; these tend to be the first hurdle to overcome, before your app is really read.

 

[CD4helpCD8]

Direct contact to the schools in my experience will, at a minimum, help you to learn better how to package your experiences relative to that school's priorities.

Re: Stanford or Hopkins, (rhetorical question) how do your stats measure up to their average stats? Check the MSAR book, available at aamc.org or amazon.com or generally the local library, to see the lower and upper boundaries of these figures; these tend to be the first hurdle to overcome, before your app is really read.

Totally agreed. Speaking from my own experience, monmon2009, your PhD and research background can be blessing and curse at the same time. Regardless the rest of your application, your stats (GPA/MCAT) have to be competitive enough for the schools you are applying to in order to get interviews. In addition, your EC (volunteer/clinical exposure) also need to be comparable to those pre-med have these days, then your PhD/research will be a boost to help you stand out. That PhD degree cannot compensate the weakness in the application (e.g. low MCAT or GPA), and research / publications cannot substitute clinical exposure, etc. Also, keep in mind that those research-heavy schools are also (usually) top-tier schools, so naturally they are more competitive. Finally, be aware that you will not be in the same pool of 21 y/o pre-med applicants; instead, you will be competing with the other PhDs (and you will be surprised by just how many PhDs are applying to medical schools these days ). Good luck!

 

[adeline]

Finally, be aware that you will not be in the same pool of 21 y/o pre-med applicants; instead, you will be competing with the other PhDs (and you will be surprised by just how many PhDs are applying to medical schools these days ). Good luck!

uh.... Dude, everyone competes with everyone else.

There's no "well, we need 2 more PhDs, and another black kid. Did we get the Iowa farmboy with a limp who speaks Tagalog yet?"

What are your numbers?

As far as "research" schools, unless you're going for another PhD, you need to think less about ~research~ and more about ~medicine~. Those place are still medical schools, you know.