Thoughts?

[dapdrow]

Little about me:
-Graduated awhile ago with a 3.565 GPA with a degree in Medical Lab Sciences
-Did a program like TFA and graduated with a 4.0 GPA (MSEd---two graduate science courses)
-I'd have to recalculate my sGPA but it is at least a 3.3---haven't calculated since retaking Organic I, subsequently taking Organic II and then physics II; non-science is probably more like 3.9something
-Finally finished taking my last pre-req in February; MCAT is the last hill to get over

I pretty much have everything done, except I need some more volunteer hours. A few years ago I had volunteered for probably 20-30 hours in the ER but it wasn't for me. I have years of clinical experience in the lab and working with doctors/nurses but not too much in terms of direct patient stuff. I have started my own thing being a volunteer kidney health educator, which I really love because hey I was a teacher in a past life. ;-) I don't have a lot of shadowing but I do have someone willing to write me a letter.

Here is my real question: I work nights and my body doesn't handle it well and this is really hampering me. (Cannot do anything about it ATM.) I don't have a lot of free time. I want to sign-up for the August 25th MCAT. Scores will not be available until the following month. I do not want to rush and I do not have eight hours a day to dedicate to studying for the MCAT. I have a vacation in there somewhere so I am accounting for that as well to give myself about three months.

Given the information above, will my application be complete early enough? I know they tell everyone to apply as early as possible, especially if their grades aren't strong, but my guess is by the time I get my score back, and let us say that is the only thing my application is waiting on, that I won't be complete until mid-to-late October? Does that sound right? Is it worth it or am I just wasting my time?

I'm getting old, so I feel like this is my last shot, year-wise.

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[0dee]

Mid October isn't late. Schools start interviewing late August/early September. However, you need to make sure that you prepare adequately for the MCAT so you get a score competitive enough to land you II.

 

[DrMikeP]

End of Sept or beginning of Oct is when your MCAT scores will likely come in and that puts you on the trailing edge of on-time submission and if later Oct then you are running on the late side. A 3.3 sgpa is on the avg side for DO, so getting your app in early and broadly is would be helpful.

More concerned over your comment about getting old and not handling working nights well, as such is life in med school.

 

[dapdrow]

End of Sept or beginning of Oct is when your MCAT scores will likely come in and that puts you on the trailing edge of on-time submission and if later Oct then you are running on the late side. A 3.3 sgpa is on the avg side for DO, so getting your app in early and broadly is would be helpful.

More concerned over your comment about getting old and not handling working nights well, as such is life in med school.

I guess I'll have to see what my actual sGPA but my guess is that it isn't too far off from 3.3 even if I included the classes I took since I last calculated it---three As between ten credits of organic chemistry and four credits of physics II. I will be applying broadly, for sure. I know most of this is going to ride on the MCAT but I would rather push the MCAT to a date where I could MAYBE get a decent score rather than rush to take it and do poorly.

You work nights in medical school? Explain.

Working nights is a drain, what can I say, regardless of age. Most people do not handle working nights well---doesn't matter what they say. Trust me, I see my co-workers doze off at night if they stop working for one second and I have been working nights for about four years so it is pretty commonplace. People will come downstairs to pick up stuff from us and if they sit in the chair for more than a minute they start to fall asleep. Do I do an awesome job and am I very good at my job even at the dead of night? Absolutely. As soon as I have a night off does my body try to go back to "normal" schedule? Yes. But getting off of work in the AM, driving an hour and a half with traffic after that and hardly seeing the sun starts to mess with you.

 

[austintr]

I hear you on the nights thing, I have worked 24 hour shifts, 12 hour nights, and currently 8 hour nights. It is a bit exhausting at times, but it is a means to an end if it is allowing you to take classes, study for the MCAT, etc. I imagine @DrMikeP is getting at the fact that days and nights most likely blur together in medical school. There will be late nights studying, early mornings, and everything in between for most people. Even more importantly than that, you will be subjected to long periods with no sleep during clinical years and even more in residency, most likely. You will be expected to function at any time of day and on little to no sleep. That's just the medical learning process. EMT students, paramedic students, nursing students, other allied health students, and medical students all go through it. At least you have experience operating at night, and hopefully this will be beneficial to you come clinical time, rather than burn you out before it. The way I see it is that you will (hopefully) be learning tons and tons of stuff, and for me at least, that keeps me going and I don't get nearly as fatigued (because I get excited about learning clinical medicine and all that jazz).

 

[dapdrow]

I had to laugh because right after I posted my reply, my co-worker was completely slumped over because we had a total of ten minutes of "downtime."

I hear you on the nights thing, I have worked 24 hour shifts, 12 hour nights, and currently 8 hour nights. It is a bit exhausting at times, but it is a means to an end if it is allowing you to take classes, study for the MCAT, etc. I imagine @DrMikeP is getting at the fact that days and nights most likely blur together in medical school. There will be late nights studying, early mornings, and everything in between for most people. Even more importantly than that, you will be subjected to long periods with no sleep during clinical years and even more in residency, most likely. You will be expected to function at any time of day and on little to no sleep. That's just the medical learning process. EMT students, paramedic students, nursing students, other allied health students, and medical students all go through it. At least you have experience operating at night, and hopefully this will be beneficial to you come clinical time, rather than burn you out before it. The way I see it is that you will (hopefully) be learning tons and tons of stuff, and for me at least, that keeps me going and I don't get nearly as fatigued (because I get excited about learning clinical medicine and all that jazz).

Yeah, no I totally get that. I've been working nights for awhile, taking classes here or there, etc. But I think there is a difference between focusing on one thing vs. running around to a million different things at all times of the day. I am used to functioning at night---all I am saying is that it is definitely not optimal for me. And I doubt most people functional at their best night after night.

Anyway, I actually played around with what I think are most of my grades and my sGPA (with Organic I replacement) my sGPA might actually be closer to 3.5. My uGPA is higher than 3.565 --- that's just what I had graduated with at my institution.

 

[DrMikeP]

I had to laugh because right after I posted my reply, my co-worker was completely slumped over because we had a total of ten minutes of "downtime."



Yeah, no I totally get that. I've been working nights for awhile, taking classes here or there, etc. But I think there is a difference between focusing on one thing vs. running around to a million different things at all times of the day. I am used to functioning at night---all I am saying is that it is definitely not optimal for me. And I doubt most people functional at their best night after night.

Anyway, I actually played around with what I think are most of my grades and my sGPA (with Organic I replacement) my sGPA might actually be closer to 3.5. My uGPA is higher than 3.565 --- that's just what I had graduated with at my institution.

Great for the GPA. Makes you very DO competitive.

I actually love nights, they are easier than in the day often in the hospital. Some would disagree, but to me less people around making mundane busy work = easier. More peaceful also except for the really sick pts who often are just scared or the sundowners. If only the newbie nurses could learn to not call every 15min about Ms Jones crying. Even the ER is better imo because you have less people in because of sniffles/pcp visits, which have gotten worse. If only the 3-5am drunks would sleep at the bar.

The challenge is working with a dying pt and 50 family 12AM until 3AM then the flakka pt eating feces at 4AM who spits it on you and rounds right at 8AM. So lots of night work, unless you do something like derm.

There are no days or nights in med school, just hours between exams. That is what makes it both awesome and a nightmare all at the same time. I've done shift factory work making toilet paper, so yes shift work sucks but in medicine you'll find its constant tiredness and going when exhausted 24/7. It's not like undergrad where you just go to class and cram before exam.

Always good for a nontrad to know what they are getting into.

Best of luck



Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[dapdrow]

Great for the GPA. Makes you very DO competitive.

I actually love nights, they are easier than in the day often in the hospital. Some would disagree, but to me less people around making mundane busy work = easier. More peaceful also except for the really sick pts who often are just scared or the sundowners. If only the newbie nurses could learn to not call every 15min about Ms Jones crying. Even the ER is better imo because you have less people in because of sniffles/pcp visits, which have gotten worse. If only the 3-5am drunks would sleep at the bar.

The challenge is working with a dying pt and 50 family 12AM until 3AM then the flakka pt eating feces at 4AM who spits it on you and rounds right at 8AM. So lots of night work, unless you do something like derm.

There are no days or nights in med school, just hours between exams. That is what makes it both awesome and a nightmare all at the same time. I've done shift factory work making toilet paper, so yes shift work sucks but in medicine you'll find its constant tiredness and going when exhausted 24/7. It's not like undergrad where you just go to class and cram before exam.

Always good for a nontrad to know what they are getting into.

Best of luck



Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Thanks DrMikeP. I'm glad I actually toyed around with the sGPA---honestly, I hadn't looked at it since I started taking classes again and usually it takes a lot of work to get it to move when you have a million credits. Haha. I actually LIKE working nights (quieter/no management, for us) but my body doesn't like it as much. One of our ER DO guys told one of my co-workers he did nights long enough and he is done! I haven't even seen him cover a night shift since then...

In my department, I think evening shift has it the worst, at least where I am. That's when all the bleeders with antibodies seem to roll in and they all come together. We must get a lot of sniffles though because evening/night shift seem to be the only ones running rapid influenza. Ah well.