Nontraditional with high MCAT but low GPA -- other issues too...

[smwpyle]

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Please allow me to thank you in advance for slogging through what I am about to write and for (hopefully) offering your input. Let's get started....

I am 29 years old, graduated in '97 with a BA in Biology (yes, a BA in Biology) from Cornell. For any number of reasons, I decided not to apply to medical school at the time. Late last year, after six years in software consulting, I finally found myself unable to fall asleep at night -- all I could do was think about going back to medicine. So here I am, applying to medical school. Unfortunately, I have hit a couple of snags that are giving me some heartburn. I am hoping that someone out there can offer some advice on any or all of the following.

Issue #1: My grades do not match my MCAT scores.
I took the MCAT as a junior in '96 and again this past April and scored 35 and 37 respectively. Unfortunately, my GPA is 2.98 or something like that. So what to do? Can anyone out there offer advice on what to do when there is such a large disparity between the two? Should I address this somehow in my personal statement?

Issue #2: I have been out of medicine since early 1998.
As noted before, I have been a software consultant for the last six years. I have been required to travel extensively, usually more than 48 weeks per year. Work really has been my life.... I have a lot of great experience in my field and even though I could draw a lot of parallels between consulting and medicine (problem solving, team management, interpersonal relationships, etc.), it seems to be a stretch to me. Outside of a professional context, my resume is devoid of shadowing, mentoring, and volunteering or any other medically- / scientificially-related activity since graduation. Any thoughts on how I should address the post-secondary experiences section on AMCAS?

Issue #2A: Recommendations! From whom?
I could probably get a good professional recommendation from the CEO of my last company -- the question is, would it do me any good? How about this: the only people that really know how deeply I want to be a doctor are my family members and my college friends (several of whom are already doctors). Would recommendations from my friends carry any weight or would they simply be seen as a peer endorsement?

Issue #3: Issue #2 overly simplifies my story....
Those who are particularly astute will notice that I've been out of school for seven years, but a consultant for six. So what was I doing in that first year out of school? Working in the OR at hospital back home. The situation is a bit complex, but here goes. I got a minimum wage position in the OR (usually reserved for undergrads) primarily doing things like holding retractors. It wasn't glamorous, but it got me real close to the action -- it was AWESOME. I learned so much in such a short time and was sure that I was on my way to medical school. Unfortunately, two things happened:
a) I actually started polling the surgeons and their proteges to ask how they felt about medicine. Things like "Would you still go into medicine?", "Would you choose the same specialty?", etc. I don't know whether it was the hospital, the changing environment, or something in the air, but an overwhelming majority of the MDs that I asked had negative things to say. This was particularly disheartening and disillusioning.
b) There seemed to be some tension b/n the OR nurses and the surgeons. Belonging to neither group, I somehow got caught in the middle. My position rapidly devolved into "Clean up the ORs after the surgeries, and maybe you can hold retractors sometime in the afternoon".
The crummy pay, the disillusionment, the loss of responsibility/experience, and my own immaturity was too much to bear and I just walked out one day never to return....

So clearly I can't get a recommendation from the hospital, but I am hesitant to leave the experience out of my application. The fact of the matter is that it was really good experience, and I have drawn upon the excitement that I felt in the OR as my motivation for applying to med school now.... Any thoughts?

For those of you that have made it this far, I salute your fortitude. Thank you or any input that you may have.

 

[linuxizer]

Issue #1: The usual advice with a 2.98 would be do a post-bac, but the time since your grades combined with their being from Cornell may help you. If you just need to be a doctor and would be content not to attend a med school at the same level of prestige as your ugrad (note I said prestige, not quality--variation in quality among med schools is very low, particularly compared to undergrad), maybe you should give this round a shot.

2a: get the rec from the CEO. Glowing, personal recs never hurt.

3: Put the experience down on your app. They won't call to confirm it, and you need all the clinical experience on your app you can get.

Basically, if you are dead-set on applying this cycle, I'd start shadowing tomorrow. Get some more hospital experience while you do your apps. If you're willing to apply next year, take courses at a local U. in the sciences, to put a few recent A's on your record and to learn something (a few U's offer undergrad anatomy, which might help later as well). If you haven't completed the pre-reqs, you're applying next cycle whether you like it or not, so get cracking on those.

Good luck,
Ari

P.S. I am far far far from applying, so take my $.02 with a large grain of salt, but I've read these boards enough to guess what the collective advice will be...do a post-bac.

Issue #1: My grades do not match my MCAT scores.
I took the MCAT as a junior in '96 and again this past April and scored 35 and 37 respectively. Unfortunately, my GPA is 2.98 or something like that. So what to do? Can anyone out there offer advice on what to do when there is such a large disparity between the two? Should I address this somehow in my personal statement?

Issue #2: I have been out of medicine since early 1998.
As noted before, I have been a software consultant for the last six years. I have been required to travel extensively, usually more than 48 weeks per year. Work really has been my life.... I have a lot of great experience in my field and even though I could draw a lot of parallels between consulting and medicine (problem solving, team management, interpersonal relationships, etc.), it seems to be a stretch to me. Outside of a professional context, my resume is devoid of shadowing, mentoring, and volunteering or any other medically- / scientificially-related activity since graduation. Any thoughts on how I should address the post-secondary experiences section on AMCAS?

Issue #2A: Recommendations! From whom?
I could probably get a good professional recommendation from the CEO of my last company -- the question is, would it do me any good? How about this: the only people that really know how deeply I want to be a doctor are my family members and my college friends (several of whom are already doctors). Would recommendations from my friends carry any weight or would they simply be seen as a peer endorsement?

Issue #3: Issue #2 overly simplifies my story....
Those who are particularly astute will notice that I've been out of school for seven years, but a consultant for six. So what was I doing in that first year out of school? Working in the OR at hospital back home. The situation is a bit complex, but here goes. I got a minimum wage position in the OR (usually reserved for undergrads) primarily doing things like holding retractors. It wasn't glamorous, but it got me real close to the action -- it was AWESOME. I learned so much in such a short time and was sure that I was on my way to medical school. Unfortunately, two things happened:
a) I actually started polling the surgeons and their proteges to ask how they felt about medicine. Things like "Would you still go into medicine?", "Would you choose the same specialty?", etc. I don't know whether it was the hospital, the changing environment, or something in the air, but an overwhelming majority of the MDs that I asked had negative things to say. This was particularly disheartening and disillusioning.
b) There seemed to be some tension b/n the OR nurses and the surgeons. Belonging to neither group, I somehow got caught in the middle. My position rapidly devolved into "Clean up the ORs after the surgeries, and maybe you can hold retractors sometime in the afternoon".
The crummy pay, the disillusionment, the loss of responsibility/experience, and my own immaturity was too much to bear and I just walked out one day never to return....

So clearly I can't get a recommendation from the hospital, but I am hesitant to leave the experience out of my application. The fact of the matter is that it was really good experience, and I have drawn upon the excitement that I felt in the OR as my motivation for applying to med school now.... Any thoughts?

For those of you that have made it this far, I salute your fortitude. Thank you or any input that you may have.

 

[medworm]

If you just need to be a doctor and would be content not to attend a med school at the same level of prestige as your ugrad (note I said prestige, not quality--variation in quality among med schools is very low, particularly compared to undergrad),

How does one go about assessing the quality of a medical school? Almost everyone else in SDN seem to know exactly what the strengths and weaknesses of every medical school are. (I don't.) Are there websites or other resources that do in-depth reviews or do I really need to go knock on every admissions door? Stats in themselves (like acceptance rates, US New rankings) don't mean much to me.

Just curious. Thanks!

 

[sweatybrain]

I think you have the making of a very strong application. The thing that I think will come up is your motivation to pursue medicine. It is obvious (from what I glean from your post) that you want to be a doctor...but if you haven't done shadowing and/or clinical volunteering, do you know what you are getting yourself into? (My impression of what it's like to be in medicine was very much different than what I have experienced through volunteering.) That said, your life experience may mitigate for the lack of extracurricular activities....and the ad coms do love non traditional applicants.

So my advice is for you to clearly address the Why Medicine question in your personal statement or secondary essays.

Good luck!

 

[jlee9531]

there are many schools that welcome the non traditional student and you should find those and apply to those.

off hand i know that uc davis, and uvm are two schools that are definitely receptive to non traditional students. you have an excellent mcat, and im sure you have some explanation for yourlow gpa.

there are multiple threads on sdn about non traditional students and what others have done in your shoes so you should make use of that.

 

[elephino]

Hey smwpyle,
I am in a similar situation as you, so I thought I'd post because sometimes it just helps to know you're not the only one out there.
My GPA is terrible (so bad I don't even calculate it anymore, but it's around a 2.9 like yours.) I was a Psych major in college (~4-8 yrs ago) and basically screwed off, I took post bacc and did really well on my MCAT too this April, but my GPA is still in the toilet.(from undergrad) My take on the situation was, who cares? I'm totally going to apply anyway because I know I HAVE to be a doctor and my experience and maturity can far outweigh some stupid undergrad grades from what seems to be eons ago. I also know many doctors and they roll their eyes when I bring up my poor GPA, saying, "you'll get in". (Plus your GPA is close to a 3.0 and from Cornell-that outweighs my crappy state school)
And as far as your job goes, don't stretch to find a comparison between it and medicine. We all know that the jobs are very different. But do focus on your leadership qualities, teamwork skills, growth within the company, advanced training, anything that shows your dedication to your work. People become doctors after they have been just about anything, you don't have to show that you can do doctor stuff, none of us really can (besides the RNs that apply), just show them you are an outstanding individual that will bring a lot to their program.
I would definitely include the OR experience and be candid about why you quit. I, too, have heard all the time "I would not go into medicine if I were you", so I know exactly what you mean.
I would try to contact some of your old professors from Cornell. Believe me, I know you think they have totally forgot you and will not help, but I tried a couple and did end up getting a letter, plus one from your Employer would be great.
The only other thing I would do is get some volunteer experience where you will work directly with docs. Then get a letter from one of them. Friends and family are out for letters though.
And to agree with other poster-you may have to de satisfied with a lower than IVY league school, not that your not a fine applicant, but simply the numbers game is prominent in selection. I have applied to all three tiers, knowing I could do well at any school, but resigning to the fact that they might not see beyond that icky GPA.
Good Luck! YOU CAN DO IT!

 

[oldtimer]

It's scary how similar your background is to mine. Nearly the same IT consulting experience, same MCAT score, probably same healthcare experience, but I had a higher gpa. PM me if you want to discuss how I managed to get in.

 

[susannaQ]

For #3, I don't know what others will say to this, but if you just literally "walked out" on the job on bad terms, then maybe you shouldn't put this down on your application because I'm thinking it might look bad (what do other people think).

Otherwise, you come from an ivy league school so don't even worry about your GPA. Your mcats are good and that shows a lot. I think you can get into a very good medical school.

 

[smwpyle]

befreedman -- it IS nice to know that there is someone else like me out there. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I am, like you, hellbent on applying this year.

One question for you all -- how did you get these shadowing gigs?

 

[adamj61]

Definetly put the experience in the OR on your app. I am a strong believer that grades and MCAT show the same thing...and that if you have one, and the rest of your app is good, you will get in. Not to stray, but in the UW process, equal weight is given to grades and mcat...and where you went to school and your major goes into a formula.

As far as the last six years, if you have recently started to volunteer or pick up interest, I think that will be enough with your old experiences. I think they will see you are now mature, and you have already gone through that wall that almost everyone in medicine seems to hit.

 

[LP1CW]

You're not ready to apply this year. You did well on the MCAT. However, that's just one day, one exam. You need to show consistency. You need to show that you want this. Cornell is a great school. I'm a Harvard grad. Most of my friends are grads of great schools too. That's not enough. There are tons of great schools out there from Ivy, private colleges, to top small liberal art schools, tech schools, some good state, etc.

Get involved, volunteer, show service to a community, take a full load of courses at a state school and get A's. And then next year or the year after that, apply.

Good luck and I wish you the best of luck. See this as a process. If you want this you'll get this. But the name Cornell and a strong MCAT will not take you far enough. You have to remedy some of your weaknesses. Competition is tough.

 

[speakmemory]

Otherwise, you come from an ivy league school so don't even worry about your GPA. Your mcats are good and that shows a lot. I think you can get into a very good medical school.

i go to an ivy and i dont think that they just "overlook" your gpa. or do they???

 

[ChantillyLace]

I don't see this as being a problem at all. You obviously have life experience which will set you apart from other candidates.

 

[Fermata]

That combination of GPA and MCAT looks awful suspicious.

However, good luck to you.

 

[WatchingWaiting]

Whoever is letting you apply to med school has done you a bit of a disservice. Unless you are a URM, you have a near-zero chance of acceptance to any US allopathic med school with a sub-3.0. If you are okay with a Carribean or osteopathic school, you might have some luck based on your stellar MCAT. Cornell is nice, but around half the student body at most med schools came from top-25 undergrad schools and managed a 3.5-4.0. Assuming you are looking to get into a US MD school, you need to boost your gpa to the 3.4 neighborhood to be considered. This will likely mean quitting your job for a year, taking a post-bacc program during that year and getting a 3.5+ gpa and doing more clinical stuff and perhaps some research at a university or volunteering or some combination at the same time.

You will also have to spin your ER experience to provide some explanation of why you didn't actually apply to med school, and why, now, you know that you must be a physician.

I suppose if you've been working for six years, you have money to burn on a failed application cycle, but, frankly, you will have a lot more luck just scuttling your application this round, focussing on getting your credentials up during the next year, and then applying in 2005-2006. Given your MCAT, you should have no problems applying in a year or two when you have atoned for your undergraduate sins, but, now, your prospects are not very rosy.

 

[susannaQ]

i go to an ivy and i dont think that they just "overlook" your gpa. or do they???

Oh, I have no idea how they judge things. But, in my opinion, any ivy league school is a whole lot better and is proabbly seen as a whole lot harder than my dinky little state school. I dont think a 2.9 would be overlookked but i definately dont think its something he should sweat. But I admite that i have no experience with admissions so maybe he should be a little worried about taking extra classes to bring that gpa up.

 

[efex101]

Adcoms will more than likey (but there are always exceptions) want to see *recent* coursework under your belt. Although your MCAT is stellar that again is one day...and medical schools is not one day obviously sooooo get some classes so you can prove that you do have what it takes...

 

[pikachu]

Whoever is letting you apply to med school has done you a bit of a disservice. Unless you are a URM, you have a near-zero chance of acceptance to any US allopathic med school with a sub-3.0. If you are okay with a Carribean or osteopathic school, you might have some luck based on your stellar MCAT. Cornell is nice, but around half the student body at most med schools came from top-25 undergrad schools and managed a 3.5-4.0. Assuming you are looking to get into a US MD school, you need to boost your gpa to the 3.4 neighborhood to be considered. This will likely mean quitting your job for a year, taking a post-bacc program during that year and getting a 3.5+ gpa and doing more clinical stuff and perhaps some research at a university or volunteering or some combination at the same time.

You will also have to spin your ER experience to provide some explanation of why you didn't actually apply to med school, and why, now, you know that you must be a physician.

I suppose if you've been working for six years, you have money to burn on a failed application cycle, but, frankly, you will have a lot more luck just scuttling your application this round, focussing on getting your credentials up during the next year, and then applying in 2005-2006. Given your MCAT, you should have no problems applying in a year or two when you have atoned for your undergraduate sins, but, now, your prospects are not very rosy.

 

[HollyJ]

I'm a nontrad who applied last year, so I know how anxious you are to get the show on the road. I would really, really recommend that you hold off on applying until next year. Here's why:

1) If you can possibly nudge your GPA over a 3.0, your chances will exponentially improve. Because of your MCAT score and the time since you were in undergrad, you probably don't need a fabulous GPA, but a sub-3.0, regardless of where it's from, is going to be a huge black mark against you. A couple of recent As would go a very long way to help you out.

2) You probably need more clinical experience. The experience that you had was a while ago. I think that you can (and should) list it, but I think that you need little more recent stuff. Also, you can pretty easily get a rec from someone that way.

3) If you're not pretty far along in the application process already, you're going to be sort of late in the cycle. Not irretrievably late or anything, but it's just one more disadvantage that your giving yourself.

As far as the recs go, I think your former CEO is a good choice. A doctor-friend rec could be useful, but only with a couple of conditions. First, I think that you really can only use one of these. More than one would look a little too much like buddy recs, IMO. Second, and more importantly, the friend would need to be in a position to say something substantial about your abilities and your desire to become a doctor. "I think my friend would be a good doctor" is probably not going to cut it. Third, your friend probably needs to be out of residency.

Good luck!

 

[pikachu]

I agree with the above two posters. Do yourself a favor and get some real clinical experience BEFORE applying (even before starting a post-bac). Volunteer at a university hospital (if you didn't like the OR, try the emergency room or the nursery). In fact, I would recommend that you volunteer in a setting where the patients are awake and talking, as opposed to the OR (where they're shaved, bathed, and knocked unconscious). This will help you get letters of recommendation (clinical faculty members will help your application much more than your former CEO) and maybe a chance to get involved in a research project (another huge boost to your application). This experience might even make you realize that you really don't want to go into medicine after all. Med school is not something where you wake up in the morning and think, "Gee, I'd really like to be a doctor today." It's a long, difficult and often sad trip. Things don't get any easier once you hit residency either.

Please think closely and seriously about whether or not you want to give up your forseeable future life to the hours (long), the needlesticks (not infrequent), the pager (torment) and the academic demands (incredibly rigorous). Did I mention the hours? If you really like taking care of patients and can stand the aggravation, then by all means medicine is the greatest profession ever. However, you've presumably changed in the 6 years since you last did anything remotely health-care-related, and I really think you should go back and see how it suits you. Realize that as a med student there will be days when you don't know if/when you will eat, sleep, or even pee. I guess this sounds glamourous and self-sacrificing to all the premeds out there, but trust me, it sucks. You should know going in that it sucks. The only thing that makes up for it is really, really liking medicine. You are not going to figure out whether or not it's going to be worth it to you by lying awake at night thinking how wonderful it is to be A Healer (whatever that means).

I don't want to discourage you and I wish you the best of luck but this is not a profession that you can pursue with any ambiguity in your heart. This does not go for you only, but for anyone else reading this. Go and get your hands dirty, then see what you think. This will make you a more credible applicant but more importantly it should help you figure out if you really want to make the substantial sacrifices entailed in becoming a doctor.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

For #3, I don't know what others will say to this, but if you just literally "walked out" on the job on bad terms, then maybe you shouldn't put this down on your application because I'm thinking it might look bad (what do other people think).

Otherwise, you come from an ivy league school so don't even worry about your GPA. Your mcats are good and that shows a lot. I think you can get into a very good medical school.

This has to be some of the worst advice I've ever witnessed anyone give to another person on these boards. His <3.0 gpa will is not something that he doesn't "even worry about"...and I don't think admissions officers will say, "Hmm...a 2.9 GPA...eh, oh well...he's from Cornell...who cares about the 2.9!" Many Ivy League students apply to med schools across the nation every single application cycle and unfortunately...a huge chunk of premed Ivy grads get the same rejection letters that everyone from **insert no-name state school here** get every year.

Being from a top 20 undergrad will not excuse a 2.9 GPA...not when there are plenty of other Ivy league students (that will be applying to the same schools he'll apply to) with 3.5+ GPAs and 30+ MCATs. I know that GPA is not the only criteria that admissions officers use in gauging students and I think his post-graduation work experience will definitley work in his favor (especially the LOR from the CEO)...but a 2.9 will raise eyebrows from admissions committees at Drexel med school as well as the admissions officers from Harvard med school.

Honestly, I think the main thing he has going for him now is the high MCAT and I really think he'd improve his chances with an excellent post-bacc performance (a 3.8+ in post-bacc). The post-bacc will allow him to show that he can definitely handle the college level science courses and it'll allow him to push his GPA over the 3.0 mark. To echo the advice of the folks above...do a post-bacc and get some volunteer experience in while you still can. Best of luck to you in the applications cycle.

 

[tugbug]

My 2 cents...

My sit. is similar. I'm 31, 1995 BS in Biol, accepted this year. I have similar MCAT score as yours with an ugrad GPA that was a little higher... but nothing to brag about and from a small state school.

Anyway, I've got to agree with the posters telling you to wait. When I decided to apply, I met with Admissions Deans from 2 schools. Both said that my ugrad course work still covered my prereqs... But, they both said that with no class work more recent than 6 years, and with mediocre grades, I would have to prove I could handle the class load. I really got the impression that another thing they wanted proof of with my class work is a clear commitment/proof of determination. I got the impression that they were at least cautious when evaluating the determination of someone willing to toss a 6 year career... they didnt want me to do it again once I got into med school.

Also, I think the clinical experience is a must for all of us non-trads. I felt like in each interview that it was a must to PROVE that I knew what I was getting into and that I wasnt just disillusioned with the business world. All of this is a LOT easier to prove if you can show extended exposure to the gritty side of medicine and to heavy hours of recent classwork.

I found that shadowing experiences were hard to find. I got a job as an ER tech and got all the "exposure" I could ask for... and more 😉

Best of Luck. You'll get in with no problem (IMO) with a year of straight A's.

 

[M.D. 2000]

I usuallly don't respond to post on this site. One responder said " if you are a URM you may have a chance" . Lets be realistic, the average overall GPA of Black Americans accepted to US Allopathic medical schools in 2003 was nearly a 3.4 ( 3.38 to be exact and a 3.24 science (check AAMC site for details). So no, having a GPA below 3.0 and being an URM really woudln't help you much.


Have a great day

 

[lyragrl]

I am a non-trad with a long career in finance who applied and got in this cycle. FWIW, here's my thoughts on your issues.

Issue #1: My grades do not match my MCAT scores.
I took the MCAT as a junior in '96 and again this past April and scored 35 and 37 respectively. Unfortunately, my GPA is 2.98 or something like that. So what to do? Can anyone out there offer advice on what to do when there is such a large disparity between the two? Should I address this somehow in my personal statement?

I agree with most of the other posters on this. A 2.98 is really a problem. I think you need to improve you GPA, at least a little.

Issue #2: I have been out of medicine since early 1998.
As noted before, I have been a software consultant for the last six years. I have been required to travel extensively, usually more than 48 weeks per year. Work really has been my life.... I have a lot of great experience in my field and even though I could draw a lot of parallels between consulting and medicine (problem solving, team management, interpersonal relationships, etc.), it seems to be a stretch to me. Outside of a professional context, my resume is devoid of shadowing, mentoring, and volunteering or any other medically- / scientificially-related activity since graduation. Any thoughts on how I should address the post-secondary experiences section on AMCAS?

I'm going to be a heretic on this. I don't think it's that big of deal that you don't have tons of shadowing or volunteer experience. When I was interviewed, we talked extensively about my financial career, what I had done, and how I learned from it. I also talked in my PS about how I would take my work experiences with me into medicine. Could you always do a little more shadowing or volunteer experience? Sure. But don't dismiss your work experience by any stretch of the imagination. It may help you more than you think.

Issue #2A: Recommendations! From whom?
I could probably get a good professional recommendation from the CEO of my last company -- the question is, would it do me any good? How about this: the only people that really know how deeply I want to be a doctor are my family members and my college friends (several of whom are already doctors). Would recommendations from my friends carry any weight or would they simply be seen as a peer endorsement?

CEO rec: Good. You should have at least one work recommendation.
Family and friend recs: Useless. Most schools specifically say they won't read these.
Plus, you MUST have two science professor recommendations at most schools. Some schools also insist that your college advisor write you a rec. (If your advisor is now retired or deceased they will probably make an exception to that rule). But you're going to need some academic recommendations. TAs don't count.

Issue #3: Issue #2 overly simplifies my story....
Those who are particularly astute will notice that I've been out of school for seven years, but a consultant for six. So what was I doing in that first year out of school? Working in the OR at hospital back home. The situation is a bit complex, but here goes. I got a minimum wage position in the OR (usually reserved for undergrads) primarily doing things like holding retractors. It wasn't glamorous, but it got me real close to the action -- it was AWESOME. I learned so much in such a short time and was sure that I was on my way to medical school. Unfortunately, two things happened:
a) I actually started polling the surgeons and their proteges to ask how they felt about medicine. Things like "Would you still go into medicine?", "Would you choose the same specialty?", etc. I don't know whether it was the hospital, the changing environment, or something in the air, but an overwhelming majority of the MDs that I asked had negative things to say. This was particularly disheartening and disillusioning.
b) There seemed to be some tension b/n the OR nurses and the surgeons. Belonging to neither group, I somehow got caught in the middle. My position rapidly devolved into "Clean up the ORs after the surgeries, and maybe you can hold retractors sometime in the afternoon".
The crummy pay, the disillusionment, the loss of responsibility/experience, and my own immaturity was too much to bear and I just walked out one day never to return....

I don't think this is that big of a deal, in all honesty. So you had a bad job in a medical setting. Everyone has a job they hate from time to time. As long as you worked there longer than six weeks, it's worth putting down on your application. If you don't want to, you probably don't need to waste precious space in your PS talking about it (unless it really did shape your decisions for the next 6 years, in which case you should.) You might be asked about it in your interviews, but I doubt you'll be hassled about it.

Good luck.