Seeking advice

[SerotoninStorm]

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Hello, and thanks for taking the time to read my post. I'm a 25-year old who graduated from Univ. of MD College Park in '06 with a dual B.S. in Zoology and Psychology. I was planning to become a behavioral researcher and worked in an animal behavior lab for a year after I graduated college, but I became interested in healthcare after my father died suddenly from a MRSA infection. I switched to working in a clinical NeuroPsychiatry lab at Johns Hopkins SOM and have been here for over a year, recruiting out- and inpatient drug users for brain imaging and EEG studies on neurotoxicity; my main goal besides recruiting them has been to administer psychological and neuropsychological test batteries. I've really enjoyed it and was planning to apply to PhD programs in clinical psychology, but I've started to think that I would be really limiting myself to go into clinical psych instead of medicine. Although I admire the field of clinical psychology, I've seen how often clinical psychologists must defer to physicians in clinical and research situations and how much more flexible and knowledgeable a well-trained physician can be in many of those situations (I am not slamming psychologists at all, these are just my honest observations). I'm very interested in neurology and psychiatry and conducting clinical research in those fields, and it seems that medical training is by far offers the most comprehensive education one could hope to receive in terms of both the basic and clinical science of those fields, and it seems to me from my experiences at Hopkins that physicians without PhDs don't have much difficulty in becoming involved with clinical research at all.

So, now I'm seriously thinking about medical school with the full approval my supervisors (who are fairly well-known Profs of Psychiatry and Neurology at Hopkins). My friend gave me an old Kaplan review book and I started on the O-chem section and I nearly had a panic attack, as I realized how completely little of this material I remember and that I wasn't particularly good at it in the first place. So I guess my question is, before I put myself through the pain of trying to wrestle with the MCAT and the admissions process, do I even have a chance at all? I was a decent student in school and always did well in Biology, but my GenChem I/II grades were B/C and my OchemI/II grades were C/B. I got an A in physics I+II, A in almost all Psych courses, about an even A/B split in Bio. I had to retake basic Algebra twice (early in my college career, before I became a bio major and was really bad at math) but finally got an A in pre-cal and B's in Calc I and Calc II. Overall my GPA was a 3.48 and about a 3.3 in sciences. I took four post-bacc. courses in Psychology since then and got all A's but that's it so far. I've presented one poster at a research symposium here at Hopkins but have no pubs yet (though my supervisors have promised that I will probably be on a few papers by this time next year). I'm volunteering as a nurse's assistant at the Hopkins Hospital but I just started.

So do you knowledgeable sorts you think someone with my kind of weird mix of weaknesses and strengths and experiences would make a good medical student? I really don't want to re-take my basic sciences (although I took several of them over 5 years ago) and I don't know that I'll be able to ace the MCAT regardless of how hard I try. I have come to know a number of physicians and they are all quite supportive, and I admire what they do and think with the training I could be capable of performing quite well as a doctor, but the admissions hump seems completely insurmountable. If you have any insights or constructive criticism to offer, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

 

[Apterous]

I think that your wealth of experiences gives you a great advantage over a lot of other candidates. It sounds like a DO/PhD or MD/PhD is right down your alley. You may have some trouble withy our grades, but I suggest possibly retaking some of those science classes that you received lower grades in. It would not only help you raise your GPA, but it will also be great to have all of that knowledge refreshed for your MCAT.

 

[punkiedad]

Maybe brushing up on your Chem and OChem will help. As far as if you are a good enough student, don't compare yourself to when you took the classes the first time to taking them now. I believe with enough work, anyone can do what they need to do in those classes. The first time you took them, you were not planning on med school, so you did what you thought you needed to do then....but now it is different.

as far as agonizing over whether or not you can do it, I would just ask if you are willing to do whatever you need to do in order to get the grades and MCAT score to get in........you got the great networking and clinical experience, so start with one class and see if you are really up for it.

Don't mean to try and sound prophetic, but if you want it and can visulaize it, you can do it......don't give up.

best of luck in your decision making............