Path to Medical School

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Suess

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Hello all!

I am looking for some feedback on my plan to get into medical school. All comments welcomed and appreciated.

Background: I graduated May 2017 with two non-science majors, cGPA=3.49. My senior year I realized that I wanted to pursue medicine, but it was too late to take any prereqs. However, I was able to take an EMT course my final semester and have been working as an EMT since February. I am also in a paramedic program that will finish February 2019. I have 60 hours volunteering in the ER and plan to continue volunteering until med school. Roughly 375 hours of volunteering as an EMT. I have 8 hours shadowing an anesthesiologist. There is a noticeable lack of research. I am hoping I can do research during my post-bacc, as I am leaning toward a formal one. Bad idea?

Flexible Timeline:
Now-Feb. '19: Continue working as an EMT while in paramedic school.
Feb. '19-Fall '20: Work as a paramedic and pay down undergraduate debt. Save as much money as possible for post-bacc/living expenses etc.
Fall '20-Spring '21: Full-time post-bacc student. I strongly prefer a program with linkages so I can avoid a gap year. Then again, another year of working/saving money couldn't hurt.
Summer '21: Apply to medical schools!
Fall '21 or Fall '22: Matriculate?

What do you think? I'm sure I left out some important information so feel free to ask questions. Thank you very much for reading and offering your advice!

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Don't forget that you'll need a few months to study for and take the mcat. Possibly longer if you are working and taking classes while preparing for it.
 
Roughly 375 hours of volunteering as an EMT.
The EMT experience will definitively help you.
I have 8 hours shadowing an anesthesiologist.
It wouldn't hurt trying to get more shadowing, including primary care.
There is a noticeable lack of research. I am hoping I can do research during my post-bacc, as I am leaning toward a formal one.
If you can find a research opportunity during your post-bacc, then good. If not, it's not necessarily a bad thing, as research is not as heavily weighted as your stats(GPA, MCAT) and other activities such as clinical experience (in your case, EMT) and volunteering (unless you're applying MD-PhD, in which case research is the most important thing). Some schools really value research, but some others will not necessarily punish you if you don't have any (assuming the rest of your application is good).
Then again, another year of working/saving money couldn't hurt.
Maybe you could use this potential extra year to prepare for the MCAT at the same time you're working and saving money? You would have already completed your post-bacc and would just have to review material for the MCAT (and practice questions/tests, of course) instead of learning it from scratch. Just an idea.
Good luck!
 
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You both raise good points about the MCAT. Thank you. I know it requires a lot of studying and is absolutely vital to your app, but clearly didn't think it significant enough to include in my timeline. I'm not sure what the best strategy would be--to try and study for the MCAT concurrently with classes once I have enough foundation, so the info is super fresh or wait until I'm finished with them all before I attack it. I don't wanna spread myself too thin but I don't wanna waste either.

I'm hoping to get more shadowing through my PCP and an ER doc as well. It seems like ~50 hours is the standard.

As far as research goes, I know it's not crucial, but it can't hurt. I don't plan to apply MD/PHD, and I'm not fixated on going to a top tier school that practically requires it, but I also want to have the most complete app possible and not limit myself.
 
Understand that you cannot matriculate in fall '21 if you just applied that summer. Applying in '21 means the first day of medical school is in the following summer, '22. I didn't realize the cycle was an entire year but that's the reality.

Aside from that, take your time. Aim for all A's, anything less only hurts your app. Don't rush the MCAT. Make a plan, cover all content, ace it on the first try if possible. Keep up volunteering. Find a PCP to shadow for 20+ hours. Look for research opportunities but this is not weighted like your GPA/MCAT.
 
Understand that you cannot matriculate in fall '21 if you just applied that summer. Applying in '21 means the first day of medical school is in the following summer, '22. I didn't realize the cycle was an entire year but that's the reality.

Aside from that, take your time. Aim for all A's, anything less only hurts your app. Don't rush the MCAT. Make a plan, cover all content, ace it on the first try if possible. Keep up volunteering. Find a PCP to shadow for 20+ hours. Look for research opportunities but this is not weighted like your GPA/MCAT.

I included the potential matriculation date of Fall '21 in the event that I am able to use a linkage from my post-bacc. But barring that, yeah, I know it'll take a year. Oh well.

Thanks for the solid advice. I want to try to do everything quickly being a slightly older non-trad already but need to remember that rushing it would only make an acceptance harder to get (read: nonexistent).
 
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