Medical Should I give up?

[MusicDOc124]

Hi!

I'm currently ending my junior year at a top-notch public university am wondering whether or not I should give up on being pre-med.

The bad stats are: physics 1: C+ (physics 2: A- at a local CC), O Chem 1/2: C+/C, Bio 2: C+

I think this semester I would have gotten another C in biochemistry if it wasn't for COVID letting me cover it up with a P.
The rest of my pre recs are B/B-s with a couple of A's in other science courses for a little boost. Planning to take pchem at my local CC.

So overall, sGPA probably around a 3.0-3.1 if counting research, and cGPA around a 3.5 and I'm taking the MCAT this summer after 4 months of studying.

I was planning on doing a Masters in Physiology or Biomedical Science or something after graduation, but even if I do well, I don't know if it's enough. It's definitely been a rough go because I go to a really competitive undergrad university and kinda went from being a big fish in a small pond to a minnow in the ocean.

I have really good ECs: really stellar leadership, great research with awards, conferences, and publications, TA'd for O Chem lab. I do need a bit more clinical hours, but I figure that's something I could worry about during my second gap year.

So overall, what should I do?? I really do want it, but every couple weeks or so I slip into this funk where I'm like should I just give up at this point?

Thanks in advance, don't be too biting.

Have you taken any steps to identify what was cause you to perform at the level performed in your sciences leading to mostly Bs/Cs with a few As?

Are you URM?

You're not in an impossible position. And it appears you're planning on two gap years from you statement re: clinical hours during your, well.. "second gap year." Are you planning to applying during the 2nd gap year, or after it's complete, thus 3 gap years? In either case, there is plenty of time, and since you're at/above 3.0 you still have a chance.

How many sciences have you taken in total? If you could provide a list of your sciences with grades, that would be helpful.

Since you've taken all of the pre-reqs already, plus additional sciences, you may not necessarily benefit as much from a post-bacc. Especially since it seems you're already considering a masters, you might want to consider an SMP with a linkage. These are difficult, more difficult that your undergrad classes. Thus the risk is higher re: performance. But with that higher risk comes a higher reward in that you're more likely to get a medical school acceptance with successful completion with a linkage than if you were to say do a post-bacc IMO.

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[Mr.Smile12]

It's time for a reset. You say you really want to do medicine, but you also admit you haven't done a lot in a clinical setting. You haven't really talked about it here, and it's also not clear why being a doctor is so important to you as opposed to the hundreds of other health care jobs that you may be better suited for, given your difficulties in prerequisite sciences. It sounds like you want to be a "premed" and not a doctor.

No it's not impossible, but you've got to handle your issues one step at a time, and graduating from college should always supersede getting into medical school. I have a big fear that you may have a science GPA below 3.0 which puts you in some danger at rolling the dice on an SMP. If you fail to get at least 3.8 (given your difficulties now) and a very strong MCAT (taken once), your chances are diminished for the short-term goal for getting into medical school.

So yes, figure out why you are not able to handle the science material. If you are truly motivated, something has to change in the way you study or prioritize your life. You're already planning for extended gap years, so I would recommend just doing what you can now to figure out what makes you so driven to medicine and not other careers.

 

[Goro]

Read my post on reinvention for premeds

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I've done hospital volunteering and work on a clinical trial with patients, but it doesn't seem nearly enough hours to actually "count" I guess. I dropped a lot of ECs to try to focus on classes this year.

It looks like my sGPA right now is at a 3.15, if I count my research credits.

My goal is to ultimately do infectious diseases with a focus on public health. So honestly, I have been weighing whether I want to do a DO/MD or if I should do an MPH/PhD or something instead.

I certainly like the idea of working with patients and various diseases up close, but I also feel like I'm going to want to combine that with something a lot more wide-scale like public policy/government work (NIH, WHO kind of stuff) so I've been dealing with a lot of doubts lately.

I'm not even totally sure what to do as I go forward, because like you said, getting into an SMP might be a big challenge in and of itself. I did talk to UofM's Masters of Physiology program though, and they told me that if I show an upward trend next year (and don't nail anymore C's), that I'd have a pretty good chance of getting into their program. But it's not an SMP which also makes me hesitant.

Thank you a lot for reading and responding. I think taking it one step at a time is what I need to really slow my brain down to at this point.

As a screener, I discount research credits and their impact on GPA. For whatever reason, I have many others who don't agree but they'll nitpick over rigor of courses a lot.

Obviously the pandemic should give you some pause about whether you want to go for MPH and policy over close patient contact when it comes to your role in the public health system. It's not impossible to transition from clinic to policy, but it's also not easy or simple. Ask your network of supporters and see if there are people you can talk to about either option or attempting to do both. I will say that with a GPA nearer to 3.0 than 4.0, convincing any medical school that you can do a dual degree (DO/MPH or MD/MPH) could be challenging.