Still floating around after graduating

[vitallotus]

Hi non-traditional friends,

I am 27 years old and have a 3.23 gpa from uc berkeley where I graduated in fall 2009. I had originally wanted to get into astronomy when I started there, but it wasn't for me and I ended up graduating with a major that I wasn't really that interested in: physics. I have a second major in interdisciplinary studies - which is a combination of classes in psychology, cognitive science, and eastern religion. I have around 150 units from berkeley (a ton). It took me 6.5 years to graduate and there are 3 withdrawals on my transcript. My grades are relatively low until the last two years where I have no withdrawals and a gpa around 3.5-3.6.

Because of my relatively low grades in many of the physics classes in the early years, my science gpa is definitely below a 3.

Due to my large number of units it would be very difficult to raise my cGPA significantly.

I had a job for about a year and a half (making ~40k) for a company that managed data for clinical trials in a cubicle. The job was a total joke. It consisted of monotonous data entry and sitting around twiddling my thumbs trying to find things to do because the work was so simple and easy. I was eventually fired (that was about 8 months ago...)

I'm not interested in computer programming and have little to no programming experience, and am definitey not interested in any more sitting in front of computer jobs.

I want to have a career where I can be autonomous, interact with people daily, draw from a large knowledge base, and most importantly help people and be able to actually see the progression of that help. Biology and chemistry are also fascinating subjects for me.

I'm going to take o-chem, and biology as the pre-reqs, but I doubt this would raise my sGPA up enough to be competitive. So I was considering optometry school until I read some information about how it's becoming very commercial like pharmacy. I was also considering podiatry school (not sure if I am interested in surgery). Am I competitive enough for these types of programs? I was also considering becoming a psychiatrist or general practitioner (but not sure if I am competitive enough to get into med school).

So I am a bum, with barely enough money to pay my rent, no job, no relationship, and zero (local) friends. But I have no debt left to pay off from undergrad.

Thank you for whatever help/direction you can give me.

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[TriagePreMed]

I'm a bit hesitant to help anyone that doesn't love physics and hates chemistry! Just kidding. Kind of.

Okay, being truthful now, things are going to be hard if you have 150 semester units. There's really no way for you to get those GPAs to a standard reasonable for MD granting institutions. These leads you down to 2 paths:

1. First you must hit a 3.0 science GPA to avoid instant cutoffs when you apply to schools. Then, if you score 32+ on the MCAT, you can enroll in what's called a "Special Masters Program," which basically will be considered in lieu of your undergraduate grades. Be warned that a GPA under a 3.5 is almost certainly a kiss of death and it is preferable to have a 3.7+ to be realistically competitive with it. This would likely cost you around 30-60k in tuition + housing.

2. Do a post-baccalaureate (formally or informally, preferably at a 4-year institution) focusing on doing class retakes. When your science GPA hits a 3.2+, you can apply directly to Osteopathic Medical Schools (DO degree). This would not work on MD granting institutions as they do not do grade replacement. My personal feeling is that this is the best route for someone with low economic means. Also, an MCAT of 26+ should be sufficient to gain admissions.

Oh, and by the way, try some shadowing and volunteer work before committing to more schooling.

If you have any more questions, let us know.

 

[vitallotus]

I'm a bit hesitant to help anyone that doesn't love physics and hates chemistry! Just kidding. Kind of.

Okay, being truthful now, things are going to be hard if you have 150 semester units. There's really no way for you to get those GPAs to a standard reasonable for MD granting institutions. These leads you down to 2 paths:

1. First you must hit a 3.0 science GPA to avoid instant cutoffs when you apply to schools. Then, if you score 32+ on the MCAT, you can enroll in what's called a "Special Masters Program," which basically will be considered in lieu of your undergraduate grades. Be warned that a GPA under a 3.5 is almost certainly a kiss of death and it is preferable to have a 3.7+ to be realistically competitive with it. This would likely cost you around 30-60k in tuition + housing.

2. Do a post-baccalaureate (formally or informally, preferably at a 4-year institution) focusing on doing class retakes. When your science GPA hits a 3.2+, you can apply directly to Osteopathic Medical Schools (DO degree). This would not work on MD granting institutions as they do not do grade replacement. My personal feeling is that this is the best route for someone with low economic means. Also, an MCAT of 26+ should be sufficient to gain admissions.

Oh, and by the way, try some shadowing and volunteer work before committing to more schooling.

If you have any more questions, let us know.

I never said I hated chenistry ( or physics. I do have a degeee in it). Just that physics wasn't right for me as a career. (Getting a phd in it). Thanks for your help.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I never said I hated chenistry ( or physics. I do have a degeee in it). Just that physics wasn't right for me as a career. (Getting a phd in it). Thanks for your help.

I said I like people who hate Chemistry. Nevermind. I was mostly joking. Physics is so awesome. Had I found it earlier in my life, I would have probably majored in it.

 

[vitallotus]

I said I like people who hate Chemistry. Nevermind. I was mostly joking. Physics is so awesome. Had I found it earlier in my life, I would have probably majored in it.

lol

Anyways, I am primarily interested in psychiatry as a specialty, but I am not interested in treating patients (primarily) in the traditional ineffective ways (pharma drugs on top of more pharma drugs). I am primarily interested in using nutrition/diet/vitamins (also known as orthomolecular) and a few other psychological methods. I understand that this isn't widely accepted in psychiatry (I believe because psychiatrists like their big $$$ from pharmaceutical companies and are overly attached to their limited beliefs about what they think works).

I'm not sure if treating people this way is even possible in the U.S. (without losing your license). If this is true, I do not want to become a psychiatrist if forced to prescribe patients only prozac and zyprexa and then shove them out the door/back on the streets. If I have a D.O. and not an M.D. perhaps this would be better because I can use the excuse: I have a D.O. not an M.D.!

 

[vitallotus]

Having worked in mental health and having a psychology degree, I can assure you there are great benefits to medication and that many of the out of control drug pushing comes from PCP giving anti-depressants to anyone that says they feel sad. I think it's possible you may have seen only the bad side of psychiatry.

Okay, thank you for enlightening me on this matter. I will pursue other options.

But also, having taken almost all of the major drugs psychiatrists prescribe over the course of a decade, and having been in and out of more mental hospitals than I'm willing to tell you, having had the experience of hearing voices for three years, daily, I can assure you that vitamins do work for serious cases (better than drugs - which for the most part, do not work very well). Having a psychology degree and even working in mental health is very different than living with these symptoms daily/hourly/minute-by-minute and knowing what works and what doesn't. Having to tinker with vitamins and methods, on my own, without any help or input from a psychiatrist is most definitely less than adequate. My recovery has been from my own efforts, studies, and research. Psychiatrists were only useful for writing prescriptions for the drugs I told them to give me.

The psychiatric system is in need of reform and owes a much better standard of care to its patients. Who better to do this than psychiatrists themselves? Most people have not even heard of a naturopath and would not go to one after their first psychotic break. Patients who go to psychiatrists go because they are the default helpers for people with mental health problems. The problem is that people don't know what they're getting themselves into when they go for that first visit and start taking these very dangerous drugs. Usually a lifetime of unneeded struggle, pain (on a daily basis), and dependency.

I'm not saying I am totally against prescribing psychiatric medication, all I am saying is that there are additional treatment options that should be considered in addition to the standard medications.

But I digress, you're right, this would most definitely be an uphill battle that is not worth it. So I will consider other career options. Thanks.

 

[plauto]

Post bacc is your only hope, along with shadowing, volunteer work, ECs, and the usual...I would be very open minded about treatment options and specialties in general. If people with serious psych issues were given only vitamins, we'd have a lot more issues in our society. I do think there is a role for some of the things you mention (in addition to what we have), but I believe that more studies are needed. Just because you tell us vitamins work means nothing (n=1?!). And unfortunately most of the studies in medicine based on alternative treatments are flawed and lack scientific evidence. I think more people would be receptive with better quality studies. Also, last but not least, I would check into medical licensing rules and history of severe mental illness (you were in and out of mental hospitals?!) There might be some issues there, but I really don't know. Please don't become another psych quack...we got plenty of those doing our patients a huge disservice. Curing schizophrenia with vitamins?! Okkaayy