Public health to pre-med: What's next?

[rassykins]

Hi friends (and maybe some foes)! I'm a long-time lurker, ex-premed-to-now-older-premed (and hopefully wiser), looking for some general advice on what are possible next steps/considerations. As with all of these posts, I'll start with a summary of how I circled back to medicine; my stats and story; and some other useful bits.

Demographic stuff: 27, female, first generation, Asian American, NY resident.

Academics

Undergrad

I graduated from a state university with a BA in Public Policy. Like many, I went in as a premed/biology major, partied a bit too hard, B/Cs in all the sciences courses I took (Bio 1, Chem series, Physics 1), and had a full crisis over sGPA. Ultimately, I switched majors to one better attuned to my skill-set, puling my cGPA from sub-2 to 2.96. Upperdiv GPA was 3.53 (redemption?). Studied abroad before my senior year.​

Graduate

Graduated from NYU with my MPH, GPA 3.7 (all As, 4 Bs!). I worked full time, went to school full time, and did research on top. (Applying for my MPH was the first time I asked for advice on SDN!)​

Post-Bacc

Tried a post-bacc at a state university last year and... did not have a good experience. A longer story here, but the university just did not live up to the resources it promised for part-time post-bacc students (e.g. those of us that work 9-5). Took the bio series (got C's, which I can take fault for) before withdrawing.​

​

Experience (the fun stuff, listed)

• Volunteered/worked in hospice for a long time! bereavement, administration, finance, patient liaison, over 1000 hours.
• Study abroad advisor in undergrad, and an ambassador for it to this day.
• Worked as a policy analyst for a government agency, working in energy and environmental health.
• Research assistant for 2 projects in the areas of climate change, bioethics, and health.
• Project manager for a graduate research lab for public health projects involving NGOs and UN agencies.
• Currently: Going into 5 years as a full-time global health researcher/coordinator (I wear all the hats, as needed) focused in west Africa. My work involves health system strengthening, policy implementation, grant/research writing (think NIH/USAID R01s; IRB submissions; publications; conference presentations) and more, all through academic partnerships.

Tid-bits

• PREREQS: As per Goro's reinvention guide, given an upward trend in my academic performance (sans postbacc) probably shouldn't retake my science courses with Bs/Cs. I still need to take ochem and biochem
• MCAT: Haven't taken it yet!
  • Unsure of timing with regards to my prereqs/application year
• LORs: Have a number of amazing physicians (mentors that I work with) that are waiting to write my LORs
• SHADOWING: Shadowed clinicians occasionally (one-offs for surgery, during my field work in Africa, while volunteering at hospices), but not confident its enough
• Personal struggles:
  • I struggled with mental and physical illness immensely as a teenager. It came to a head when I withdrew for a semester in undergrad, had my coming-to-god/whatever moment, and switched majors. Did years of work to get the right diagnoses, and then years more to get treatment+therapy.
  • I got an ADHD diagnosis during grad school (shoutouts to under-diagnosing women) that truly changed my perspective on academia and helped me excel in grad school.
• Extracurriculars:
  • I travel to Africa annually, helping with medical education/training, clinical/public health research, student exchange, global clinical work. A lot of my time is spent at the hospital there, since I work closely with local physicians.
  • I travel a lot in general, but less vacation and more budget/cultural immersion. I have a deep seated craving to learn about ways of life that challenge my own boundaries/way of thinking.
    • Clinical care methods and health issue priorities included, but also adore art, music, and language.
  • On the side, I am a personal statement editor/reviewer. I started with undergrad college applications, but now help with graduate school (masters, MD, DO, and JD included) and residency (lots of EM and IM last year) applications.
• Why would you go back to being pre-med? (The age old question...)
  • Burnout from being behind a computer screen 40 hours a week? Not really how I want to spend my life.
  • Acknowledging that informed global health work (particularly those that recommend improvements to clinical care systems/standards/methods) requires medical knowledge and hands-on clinical experience. I want to tackle that knowledge gap head-on.
  • On one of my early trips to Africa, I got gravely sick and came dangerously close died (low-resource setting, an infectious disease I had no built resistance to, no way of calling home, and hallucinations galore). Had the whole "life flashes before your eyes" situation and began thinking about all my regrets in life. There were quite a few things I was too scared of doing and subsequently failing, that I didn't even bother trying. I promised myself to try if I came out alive, even if I fail... and here I am.

Sorry for the long post but happy to elaborate on anything if needed.

After tons of reading, SDN's wonderful resources, asking my mentors, and the standard amount of spiraling, I've come to ask this little community about their perspectives, things I should consider, and possible next steps. I will be applying for both MD and DO. I've considered:

1. 2025 Application Cycle: Taking MCAT and applying before finishing the pre-reqs
   1. perhaps being extra selective about which schools are possible
2. 2026 Application cycle: Finish pre-reqs in 2025, take MCAT early 2026, and applying
3. Crying?

I would especially appreciate any advice on things I really need to improve on (i.e. more clinical experience?) and if I have realisitic shot at getting in. Thank you all in advance and best of luck to those of you currently in the cycle!

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[Dral]

I would argue that none of your 'why would you go back to being pre-med' points convince me you really want to be a physician. The first point sounds like you're running to medicine away from something else. Point two could be tackled with an MPH track career to be honest. Point three sounds like you're doing medicine because it's a bucket list thing.

I'm not purposefully being adversarial. I mention those things because you want to have good solid reasons to give to adcoms for why you want to help people in a clinical setting by being a physician.

For instance, with your past/narrative, you might give a reason such as: "I have a passion for public and global health, but some of my experiences while studying and doing work in that realm, have made me realize that I have a real passion to make a difference in an individual's life by improving their health. While I can appreciate that could be a trickle down effect from public health work, I have come to realize that seeing an individual improve in front of me due to something I've done is quite fulfilling."

 

[KaiBuzz]

Honestly, based on your post, you haven’t demonstrated that you’re capable of getting A’s in the science prereqs required to succeed in medical school. You need to seriously focus your attention on that before you take the MCAT.

 

[Dral]

Yes, I agree with above. Your undergrad GPA is what schools mainly care about and yours is barely in striking distance of DO schools. Schools will care about your sGPA as well.

That's great you did well during your MPH, but those are still MPH classes (I can say that because I have an MPH as well), not simultaneous upper level biochem, anatomy, ochem, etc. I'm not saying that MPH level stats and epi are easy courses, but adcoms just don't put as much weight on graduate level work as they do on rigorous upper level undergrad science course work.

A typical successful applicant thrives in upper level undergrad courses and gets As and maybe a B or two. That shows adcoms that someone has a good chance at thriving during a difficult med school curriculum. You haven't shown that during your undergrad. If you had, you'd be good to go in that realm. Since you haven't, you probably need a 'surrogate' to show adcoms a similar thing.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Honestly I would take at least a full year of just doing FT science coursework. You need to show you can walk the wall before anywhere but the lowest tier DO schools would want you. Getting Cs in the first year bio sequence after you graduated with half a bio degree is kind of absurd tbh.

Get serious about studying before you think about applying for med school. I've always been really good at teaching myself and got almost all As in my pre req post bacc and med school has hit like a fist to the throat so far 2 blocks in.

 

[rassykins]

Thanks everyone for the honest advice! I will definitely look into how I can step back from work and focus on FT science coursework.

Getting Cs in the first year bio sequence after you graduated with half a bio degree is kind of absurd tbh.

Fully aware of this. I shouldn't have taken the classes with work (they overlapped in time so had to prioritize what put a roof over my head). Lesson clearly learned.

For instance, with your past/narrative, you might give a reason such as: "I have a passion for public and global health, but some of my experiences while studying and doing work in that realm, have made me realize that I have a real passion to make a difference in an individual's life by improving their health. While I can appreciate that could be a trickle down effect from public health work, I have come to realize that seeing an individual improve in front of me due to something I've done is quite fulfilling."

Definitely agree-- reading back, it doesn't seem like the correct framing for why I want to go into medicine.