TechTransplant
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2025
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
Hello everyone, 28M, Asian, Security Engineer here to seek advice/mentorship on the best path forward to becoming a doctor. I apologize for the long post. Feel free to skip the motivation to get to the profile and stats.
Motivation:
My role model in life is my grandpa who was a very selfless doctor that served the underprivileged without taking much for fees (this was not in the US). I've always been a big STEM person since I was young and coming out of high school, I wanted to be a doctor but chose to do a CS degree because it's what I was really good at and seemed like a safe backup in case I didn't want to go to med school. Later in undergrad, I decided I wanted to pursue med school and in my last 3 semesters, I took mostly pre-med courses and finished my pre-med coursework (5-7 years ago). COVID hit, I needed to go back home to take care of my mom and my grandpa passed away. My research opportunity for that summer got cancelled due to COVID and I took a cybersecurity job and did my MS concurrently. I have about 3 years of work experience now and my interest in becoming a doctor definitely still outweighs my interest in tech.
I don't want to sit in front of a computer for 8+ hours a day in a job that I don't find fulfilling even though I am good at it, part of a great team, and it pays well. I like to do help others, never stop learning, do hands-on work, problem-solve, interact with people/lead a team, and really love the subject of medicine (I was never really excited or as curious in my CS courses and barely attended them, never looked into anything tech-related outside of gaming in my free time, etc.). However, I really enjoyed a lot of my pre-med courses, especially molecular genetics and never missed a class. I was amazed at how beautifully the human body was put together and found great satisfaction in starting to break it down to the molecular level and understand how systems worked. Watching a CABG is one of the greatest moments I have ever witnessed in person. I think also a big part of it is that over the last few years, I have gotten a lot more disciplined and after experiencing more of the real world, I think I'm in a better position now to chase my dream of being a doctor for the right reasons (back then, I had thoughts of prestige - wanted to only go to an elite school, and romanticized views from watching media that were on my mind, and always thought that I had a backup in computer science to fall back to). The only other thing that I really enjoy at the same level is teaching and it just doesn't feel as rewarding to do as a full-time job (I would want to teach part-time eventually if I am interested).
I would really appreciate your advice on how I can go from where I am at now to applying and starting my medical school journey in the next year or two (not sure if I should apply this summer or next summer either - not sure if the extra year will make me a much more competitive applicant and hoping to gain some insight regarding that as well). As I research, I'm finding more and more options (research year, post-bacc, etc.) and not really sure what the best path for me would be. I think that I should also find a trusted mentor (any advice on how to find one?) to help me navigate this journey.
Undergrad:
T5 CS/Engineering school
CS + pre-med coursework (5-7 years ago for the pre-med coursework)
3.87 cGPA, 3.99 BCPM (much stronger second half in terms of academic performance)
Summa cum laude/Highest Honors
Leadership role in student org
Grad:
Same school, Master's in CS degree
4.00 GPA
MCAT: Haven't taken it yet, thinking I'll need 5-6 months to study for this. Would appreciate suggestions on timing, etc.
Clinical volunteering: ~150 hrs across two hospitals. ER/OR/NICU/Cardiac ICU/Cardiac Rehab
Shadowing: ~15 hours watching surgeries in the OR and 1-2 hours in the cath lab
Research: ~200 hours in CS research, ~90 hours in medical research. No publications and not expecting any letters from the professors this was under.
Letters: I asked three professors from classes where I was super active asking questions before and after class that I also got an A+ in and the highest grade on the final (maybe some other exams as well). They said they would be happy to write me letters. It's been over 5 years since then so I'm not really sure on what the best approach is for letters. Should I contact my school's advising office and ask them if they can get my in contact with the profs? I think I can also get a letter from my current boss (non-medical) but not sure if that will be useful or not.
Not sure what parts to prioritize other than the MCAT and I'm also not sure if I should leave my job to go work as a medical assistant or scribe or something, or stay in my current role to gather funds while prepping and applying. Living at home so rent is not a problem at the moment.
Hope you have a great day and I really appreciate the help navigating through this journey! Please feel free to ask if I missed anything.
Motivation:
My role model in life is my grandpa who was a very selfless doctor that served the underprivileged without taking much for fees (this was not in the US). I've always been a big STEM person since I was young and coming out of high school, I wanted to be a doctor but chose to do a CS degree because it's what I was really good at and seemed like a safe backup in case I didn't want to go to med school. Later in undergrad, I decided I wanted to pursue med school and in my last 3 semesters, I took mostly pre-med courses and finished my pre-med coursework (5-7 years ago). COVID hit, I needed to go back home to take care of my mom and my grandpa passed away. My research opportunity for that summer got cancelled due to COVID and I took a cybersecurity job and did my MS concurrently. I have about 3 years of work experience now and my interest in becoming a doctor definitely still outweighs my interest in tech.
I don't want to sit in front of a computer for 8+ hours a day in a job that I don't find fulfilling even though I am good at it, part of a great team, and it pays well. I like to do help others, never stop learning, do hands-on work, problem-solve, interact with people/lead a team, and really love the subject of medicine (I was never really excited or as curious in my CS courses and barely attended them, never looked into anything tech-related outside of gaming in my free time, etc.). However, I really enjoyed a lot of my pre-med courses, especially molecular genetics and never missed a class. I was amazed at how beautifully the human body was put together and found great satisfaction in starting to break it down to the molecular level and understand how systems worked. Watching a CABG is one of the greatest moments I have ever witnessed in person. I think also a big part of it is that over the last few years, I have gotten a lot more disciplined and after experiencing more of the real world, I think I'm in a better position now to chase my dream of being a doctor for the right reasons (back then, I had thoughts of prestige - wanted to only go to an elite school, and romanticized views from watching media that were on my mind, and always thought that I had a backup in computer science to fall back to). The only other thing that I really enjoy at the same level is teaching and it just doesn't feel as rewarding to do as a full-time job (I would want to teach part-time eventually if I am interested).
I would really appreciate your advice on how I can go from where I am at now to applying and starting my medical school journey in the next year or two (not sure if I should apply this summer or next summer either - not sure if the extra year will make me a much more competitive applicant and hoping to gain some insight regarding that as well). As I research, I'm finding more and more options (research year, post-bacc, etc.) and not really sure what the best path for me would be. I think that I should also find a trusted mentor (any advice on how to find one?) to help me navigate this journey.
Undergrad:
T5 CS/Engineering school
CS + pre-med coursework (5-7 years ago for the pre-med coursework)
3.87 cGPA, 3.99 BCPM (much stronger second half in terms of academic performance)
Summa cum laude/Highest Honors
Leadership role in student org
Grad:
Same school, Master's in CS degree
4.00 GPA
MCAT: Haven't taken it yet, thinking I'll need 5-6 months to study for this. Would appreciate suggestions on timing, etc.
Clinical volunteering: ~150 hrs across two hospitals. ER/OR/NICU/Cardiac ICU/Cardiac Rehab
Shadowing: ~15 hours watching surgeries in the OR and 1-2 hours in the cath lab
Research: ~200 hours in CS research, ~90 hours in medical research. No publications and not expecting any letters from the professors this was under.
Letters: I asked three professors from classes where I was super active asking questions before and after class that I also got an A+ in and the highest grade on the final (maybe some other exams as well). They said they would be happy to write me letters. It's been over 5 years since then so I'm not really sure on what the best approach is for letters. Should I contact my school's advising office and ask them if they can get my in contact with the profs? I think I can also get a letter from my current boss (non-medical) but not sure if that will be useful or not.
Not sure what parts to prioritize other than the MCAT and I'm also not sure if I should leave my job to go work as a medical assistant or scribe or something, or stay in my current role to gather funds while prepping and applying. Living at home so rent is not a problem at the moment.
Hope you have a great day and I really appreciate the help navigating through this journey! Please feel free to ask if I missed anything.
