Trying to build up my medschool resume, opinions wanted

[Calizboosted76]

Ok so I am in my first year of my bachelors degree and I am working on reinvention and bringing my gpa up. So aside from gpa and mcat.
Here is a little bit of background:
White male 22 years old. My interest for medicine peaked when I was 5 years old and I had neuro surgery to correct a Chiari malformation. I am the first in my family to go to college. I have helped my mom raise my younger siblings since I was a child.
I have been working as a veterinary technician for the past year in an animal E.R. I am currently shadowing a P.A. and a pediatric surgeon. I am a chair man for a walk for Chiari and Syringomielia. I also have 5 consecutive years of volunteering for the genesis house (an organization for abused women) probably around 200 hours. My aunt who is a DVM said that for her vet school resume she put that she was a skydiver and that was a talking point. Should I put on my application that I was a tattoo artist? I know my EC are weak and I have a long way to go on my application. I am just looking for some tips and advice for it. All opinions appreciated!

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[Calizboosted76]

Ok so I am in my first year of my bachelors degree and I am working on reinvention and bringing my gpa up. So aside from gpa and mcat.
Here is a little bit of background:
White male 22 years old. My interest for medicine peaked when I was 5 years old and I had neuro surgery to correct a Chiari malformation. I am the first in my family to go to college. I have helped my mom raise my younger siblings since I was a child.
I have been working as a veterinary technician for the past year in an animal E.R. I am currently shadowing a P.A. and a pediatric surgeon. I am a chair man for a walk for Chiari and Syringomielia. I also have 5 consecutive years of volunteering for the genesis house (an organization for abused women) probably around 200 hours. My aunt who is a DVM said that for her vet school resume she put that she was a skydiver and that was a talking point. Should I put on my application that I was a tattoo artist? I know my EC are weak and I have a long way to go on my application. I am just looking for some tips and advice for it. All opinions appreciated!

I also have 3 letters of recommendations so far. One from my chem professor, one from the neuro surgeon who performed my surgery, and one from a PA.

 

[Dr. Scribe]

What exactly do you want our opinions on?

I think you can put tattoo artist down in your work experiences....I wouldn’t try to tie it into your desire to be a doctor though (because I’m not sure how they are really related but if you can do it tactfully then you should go for it)

 

[Dr. Scribe]

I also have 3 letters of recommendations so far. One from my chem professor, one from the neuro surgeon who performed my surgery, and one from a PA.

Why are you shadowing a PA for medical school? That LOR is worthless IMO

 

[Calizboosted76]

What exactly do you want our opinions on?

I think you can put tattoo artist down in your work experiences....I wouldn’t try to tie it into your desire to be a doctor though (because I’m not sure how they are really related but if you can do it tactfully then you should go for it)

The only reason to put it down would be so I could draw attention to my application.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Do not utilize a letter from a PA. PA's are respected providers, but their opinion means little when it comes to med school admissions. In fact, it may hurt you because some may read that as you would prefer to go to PA school.

Ok. What about the shadowing of a PA ? As far as getting me more clinical experience?

 

[Dr. Scribe]

Ok. What about the shadowing of a PA ? As far as getting me more clinical experience?

Why not shadow a doctor instead? Not saying shadowing a PA is inherently worthless, but it is not nearly as valuable as physician shadowing

 

[Dr. Scribe]

The only reason to put it down would be so I could draw attention to my application.

What kind of attention are you trying to draw?

 

[Calizboosted76]

What exactly do you want our opinions on?

I think you can put tattoo artist down in your work experiences....I wouldn’t try to tie it into your desire to be a doctor though (because I’m not sure how they are really related but if you can do it tactfully then you should go for it)

Just needing advice on how to make my medical school app more appealing( obviously a high gpa and mcat score) but EC wise. Should I keep my Vet tech job where I can assist on surgeries or should I try and be a transporter or a scribe?

 

[Dr. Scribe]

Why not shadow a doctor instead? Not saying shadowing a PA is inherently worthless, but it is not nearly as valuable as physician shadowing

For your application I mean

 

[Dr. Scribe]

Just needing advice on how to make my medical school app more appealing( obviously a high gpa and mcat score) but EC wise. Should I keep my Vet tech job where I can assist on surgeries or should I try and be a transporter or a scribe?

Scribe...why would working as a vet tech be good for MEDICAL school (read: humans) lol

Again, scribe! It’s the best pre med job for people who want clinical experience

 

[Calizboosted76]

For your application I mean

The doctors I have contacted won’t allow me to shadow. I am still contacting multiple doctors. Also I am shadowing a pediatric surgeon. But the program I am shadowing the surgeon through only allows 120 hours a year.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Scribe...why would working as a vet tech be good for MEDICAL school (read: humans) lol

Again, scribe! It’s the best pre med job for people who want clinical experience

No i totally agree! I have asked before and was told adcoms look positively at vet techs. I deff want to do scribe work though.

 

[Dr. Scribe]

100 hours of shadowing is more than enough.

Work as a scribe with a PCP if you can, that’ll cover your bases for “clinical experience” ....you WILL need to have some sort of clinical volunteering tho, I suggest hospice

 

[Lannister]

Is the neurosurgeon who wrote your LoR the same doctor that you've been shadowing? If not, don't use that letter of rec. Focus on clinical work/volunteering experience.

 

[Calizboosted76]

100 hours of shadowing is more than enough.

Work as a scribe with a PCP if you can, that’ll cover your bases for “clinical experience” ....you WILL need to have some sort of clinical volunteering tho, I suggest hospice

Ok awesome. I have a friend who can get me a scribe job. So I’m going to contact them!

 

[Calizboosted76]

Is the neurosurgeon who wrote your LoR the same doctor that you've been shadowing? If not, don't use that letter of rec. Focus on clinical work/volunteering experience.

No it is not it is a long time friend and the surgeon who performed my surgery when I was 5.

 

[MonkeyArrow]

No it is not it is a long time friend and the surgeon who performed my surgery when I was 5.

That is not an appropriate LOR. At all. Discard immediately.

 

[Lannister]

No it is not it is a long time friend and the surgeon who performed my surgery when I was 5.

Yeah, definitely don't use it then. Med schools don't want LORs from friends. It'll be discounted, and also looks pretty bizarre.
I wouldn't worry about LORs right now though, given that you have at least 2 years or so until you apply.

 

[Calizboosted76]

120 hours is more than enough. You don't need to go overboard on shadowing, but I would try to diversify the hours and shadow in maybe 3-4 different specialities, with one of those being a general speciality like EM, FM, or IM

unfourtanetly the program is designed so you have a sponsor and that is the doctor you must shadow. i wouldn’t be able to switch from one surgeon to another. But i can switch from one hospital to another.

 

[Dr. Scribe]

That is not an appropriate LOR. At all. Discard immediately.

Agreed. Out of the 3 LORs OP has mentioned, only 1 sounds usable to me

 

[Calizboosted76]

Agreed. Out of the 3 LORs OP has mentioned, only 1 sounds usable to me

Ok. I have other professors that will write LOR as well. I also am going to ask the surgeon I’m shadowing to.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Yeah, definitely don't use it then. Med schools don't want LORs from friends. It'll be discounted, and also looks pretty bizarre.
I wouldn't worry about LORs right now though, given that you have at least 2 years or so until you apply.

So at this point in time what should I be worrying about and trying to beef up? Aside from studying for the MCAT.

 

[Lannister]

So at this point in time what should I be worrying about and trying to beef up? Aside from studying for the MCAT.

Also do not study for the MCAT at this point. You'll need no more than six months for that. Focus on your classes, start doing some clinical volunteering, and, if you're interested in top tier medical schools, look into research. Also stop working as a vet tech, as it might call into question your dedication to human medicine.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Also do not study for the MCAT at this point. You'll need no more than six months for that. Focus on your classes, start doing some clinical volunteering, and, if you're interested in top tier medical schools, look into research. Also stop working as a vet tech, as it might call into question your dedication to human medicine.

With my gpa being not the greatest for my AA and me working on reinvention my grades are my main focus. But with that being said I feel top tier schools are out of the question. I will be happy with getting into any medical school.

 

[Dr. Scribe]

With my gpa being not the greatest for my AA and me working on reinvention my grades are my main focus. But with that being said I feel top tier schools are out of the question. I will be happy with getting into any medical school.

What’s your gpa?

 

[Calizboosted76]

Also do not study for the MCAT at this point. You'll need no more than six months for that. Focus on your classes, start doing some clinical volunteering, and, if you're interested in top tier medical schools, look into research. Also stop working as a vet tech, as it might call into question your dedication to human medicine.

Research

What’s your gpa?

like a 2.7 from my AA degree. I am currently working on my bachelors and just completed my first semester. As stated from GORO i have a chance to bring my gpa up and have a shot at medschool still but I have to ace the remaining of my bachelors.

 

[Calizboosted76]

What’s your gpa?

Yes it’s terrible and I had a lot going on(no excuses though) I should have been more mature and found a way but I am 100% completely focused on my grades right now.

 

[Spectar]

50 hours of shadowing is more than enough. You aren't going to want a letter of rec from them anyway you just need to show that you actually know what doctors do.

 

[Calizboosted76]

50 hours of shadowing is more than enough. You aren't going to want a letter of rec from them anyway you just need to show that you actually know what doctors do.

Ok. Awesome. Now is that 50 hours of shadowing just one doctor or 50 hours altogether in multiple fields?

 

[de Ribas]

Ok. Awesome. Now is that 50 hours of shadowing just one doctor or 50 hours altogether in multiple fields?

altogether


I would not shadow the same physician for more than 30 hours. It gets boring and redundant after that.

Shadow PCP and some other docs.

 

[Calizboosted76]

altogether

Thank you for your input! It is greatly appreciated!

 

[de Ribas]

Ok so I am in my first year of my bachelors degree and I am working on reinvention and bringing my gpa up. So aside from gpa and mcat.
Here is a little bit of background:
White male 22 years old. My interest for medicine peaked when I was 5 years old and I had neuro surgery to correct a Chiari malformation. I am the first in my family to go to college. I have helped my mom raise my younger siblings since I was a child.
I have been working as a veterinary technician for the past year in an animal E.R. I am currently shadowing a P.A. and a pediatric surgeon. I am a chair man for a walk for Chiari and Syringomielia. I also have 5 consecutive years of volunteering for the genesis house (an organization for abused women) probably around 200 hours. My aunt who is a DVM said that for her vet school resume she put that she was a skydiver and that was a talking point. Should I put on my application that I was a tattoo artist? I know my EC are weak and I have a long way to go on my application. I am just looking for some tips and advice for it. All opinions appreciated!

You still have time. I would suggest reading a lot of other stories and other threads here in SDN so you can have an idea what is an optimum medical school app.

My interest for medicine peaked when I was 5 years old

I would not use this in your PS. If it peaked at 5, when did your interest in medicine start? at 1?

You have a lot of good advice here already. Do not use vet tech, PA and surgery LORs. Start bringing fresh relationships. Shadow, volunteer, gain human clinical experience. Tattoo experience is nothing more than a work experience.

 

[de Ribas]

So at this point in time what should I be worrying about and trying to beef up? Aside from studying for the MCAT.

The biggest thing to worry about is your GPA. If you got 2.7 at CC, getting 3.7 at University will not be easier. Set realistic goals. Set MCAT aside for now until later.

Start some ECs. Start with minimum and see how you can handle your school. School is top priority for you now. If you don't raise it up, nobody will care about what else you have done.

So, work on GPA.

 

[de Ribas]

The only reason to put it down would be so I could draw attention to my application.

drawn attention can be both negative and positive, or neutral.

In this case, I can only see neutral or negative.

 

[Spectar]

altogether


I would not shadow the same physician for more than 30 hours. It gets boring and redundant after that.

Shadow PCP and some other docs.

+1. At the minimum you should shadow 1 PCP. And don't worry about getting a letter from them, shadowing letters are pretty useless and don't mean much to adcoms.

 

[Calizboosted76]

The biggest thing to worry about is your GPA. If you got 2.7 at CC, getting 3.7 at University will not be easier. Set realistic goals. Set MCAT aside for now until later.

Start some ECs. Start with minimum and see how you can handle your school. School is top priority for you now. If you don't raise it up, nobody will care about what else you have done.

So, work on GPA.

Yea I totally agree. My AA gpa being low was due to a combination of things including immaturity, health problems, and family issues. All which have resolved since then! But I definitely agree that my gpa is my priority at the moment. Which will be increased.

 

[Calizboosted76]

You still have time. I would suggest reading a lot of other stories and other threads here in SDN so you can have an idea what is an optimum medical school app.


I would not use this in your PS. If it peaked at 5, when did your interest in medicine start? at 1?

You have a lot of good advice here already. Do not use vet tech, PA and surgery LORs. Start bringing fresh relationships. Shadow, volunteer, gain human clinical experience. Tattoo experience is nothing more than a work experience.

Poor choice of words when I said it peaked. I meant it as it peaked my interest. Not my interest peaked haha

 

[seren1051]

Take it with a grain of salt, but try not to use that 5yr-old experience to answer why medicine questions (ie. PS). Base it off a more recent one. Probably OK to talk about it briefly, but don't go too deep into it. Heck, I can't remember anything prior to like 8..

 

[Calizboosted76]

Take it with a grain of salt, but try not to use that 5yr-old experience to answer why medicine questions (ie. PS). Base it off a more recent one. Probably OK to talk about it briefly, but don't go too deep into it. Heck, I can't remember anything prior to like 8..

Oh no, not at all! That’s not what I planned to use. That is just what started my interest in medicine! Haha

 

[Verity]

Poor choice of words when I said it peaked. I meant it as it peaked my interest. Not my interest peaked haha

Piqued

Many of your questions suggest to me that you have chosen to not take the time to develop a baseline knowledge of what is required or appropriate for medical school admissions. You say you have been interested in medicine since you were 5. Becoming a physician requires 4 years of schooling and ~2-10+ years of residency/fellowship. It requires qualities including initiative, resourcefulness, problem solving, and common sense. This thread does not make any sense to me. How could you not be consulting the wealth of information already available?! There are YouTube channels, reddit pages, this site, numerous blogs, AAMC resources, university guidance websites, etc. While there's some not so good advice out there, the difference between good advice and bad should soon become apparent. For instance, browsing the "What are my chances thread" is a very quick way to show you the broad EC categories and stats that people apply with, in addition to feedback that others have on their application (i.e. yeah that's great research, not enough clinical). There are official resources that act as a window into what admissions committees expect to see (e.g. Undergraduate Timeline for PreMed Students and https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf). Also, RE: letters of recommendation, your recommender should be able to speak to the qualities outlined here: https://www.aamc.org/download/349990/data/lettersguidelinesbrochure.pdf -- these desired qualities will also help you weigh how your current activities demonstrate your suitability for medicine. Haven't shown one of the qualities? Think about how you might be able to.

It is, however, great to ask for advice that was not answered after consulting a reasonable amount of resources. You don't have to scour the corners of the net to find an answer, but almost everything that you have asked has an easily locatable answer, or could be addressed with common sense.

Your immediate plan should be to address your GPA and gain clinical experience to determine if you want to be a physician. As it stands, your GPA will bar you from admittance to any medical (DO/MD) school. Repair this while gaining clinical experience. If you can manage working part-time, consider scribing. If you cannot manage coursework and working part-time, that's perfectly okay, and instead consider coursework and clinical volunteering. Remember: your GPA is your gatekeeper right now. Do not sacrifice it. Start slow, and add on clinical experience and volunteering as you can manage.

 

[de Ribas]

Piqued

Many of your questions suggest to me that you have chosen to not take the time to develop a baseline knowledge of what is required or appropriate for medical school admissions. You say you have been interested in medicine since you were 5. Becoming a physician requires 4 years of schooling and ~2-10+ years of residency/fellowship. It requires qualities including initiative, resourcefulness, problem solving, and common sense. This thread does not make any sense to me. How could you not be consulting the wealth of information already available?! There are YouTube channels, reddit pages, this site, numerous blogs, AAMC resources, university guidance websites, etc. While there's some not so good advice out there, the difference between good advice and bad should soon become apparent. For instance, browsing the "What are my chances thread" is a very quick way to show you the broad EC categories and stats that people apply with, in addition to feedback that others have on their application (i.e. yeah that's great research, not enough clinical). There are official resources that act as a window into what admissions committees expect to see (e.g. Undergraduate Timeline for PreMed Students and https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf). Also, RE: letters of recommendation, your recommender should be able to speak to the qualities outlined here: https://www.aamc.org/download/349990/data/lettersguidelinesbrochure.pdf -- these desired qualities will also help you weigh how your current activities demonstrate your suitability for medicine. Haven't shown one of the qualities? Think about how you might be able to.

It is, however, great to ask for advice that was not answered after consulting a reasonable amount of resources. You don't have to scour the corners of the net to find an answer, but almost everything that you have asked has an easily locatable answer, or could be addressed with common sense.

Your immediate plan should be to address your GPA and gain clinical experience to determine if you want to be a physician. As it stands, your GPA will bar you from admittance to any medical (DO/MD) school. Repair this while gaining clinical experience. If you can manage working part-time, consider scribing. If you cannot manage coursework and working part-time, that's perfectly okay, and instead consider coursework and clinical volunteering. Remember: your GPA is your gatekeeper right now. Do not sacrifice it. Start slow, and add on clinical experience and volunteering as you can manage.

Great post.

Many of your questions suggest to me that you have chosen to not take the time to develop a baseline knowledge of what is required or appropriate for medical school admissions. You say you have been interested in medicine since you were 5.

I wanted to say the same thing.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Piqued

Many of your questions suggest to me that you have chosen to not take the time to develop a baseline knowledge of what is required or appropriate for medical school admissions. You say you have been interested in medicine since you were 5. Becoming a physician requires 4 years of schooling and ~2-10+ years of residency/fellowship. It requires qualities including initiative, resourcefulness, problem solving, and common sense. This thread does not make any sense to me. How could you not be consulting the wealth of information already available?! There are YouTube channels, reddit pages, this site, numerous blogs, AAMC resources, university guidance websites, etc. While there's some not so good advice out there, the difference between good advice and bad should soon become apparent. For instance, browsing the "What are my chances thread" is a very quick way to show you the broad EC categories and stats that people apply with, in addition to feedback that others have on their application (i.e. yeah that's great research, not enough clinical). There are official resources that act as a window into what admissions committees expect to see (e.g. Undergraduate Timeline for PreMed Students and https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf). Also, RE: letters of recommendation, your recommender should be able to speak to the qualities outlined here: https://www.aamc.org/download/349990/data/lettersguidelinesbrochure.pdf -- these desired qualities will also help you weigh how your current activities demonstrate your suitability for medicine. Haven't shown one of the qualities? Think about how you might be able to.

It is, however, great to ask for advice that was not answered after consulting a reasonable amount of resources. You don't have to scour the corners of the net to find an answer, but almost everything that you have asked has an easily locatable answer, or could be addressed with common sense.

Your immediate plan should be to address your GPA and gain clinical experience to determine if you want to be a physician. As it stands, your GPA will bar you from admittance to any medical (DO/MD) school. Repair this while gaining clinical experience. If you can manage working part-time, consider scribing. If you cannot manage coursework and working part-time, that's perfectly okay, and instead consider coursework and clinical volunteering. Remember: your GPA is your gatekeeper right now. Do not sacrifice it. Start slow, and add on clinical experience and volunteering as you can manage.

Understandable and I appreciate your post. I have been on the WAMC thread reading over everyone’s post for the past like 2 weeks. And have found a lot of great advice.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Scribe...why would working as a vet tech be good for MEDICAL school (read: humans) lol

Again, scribe! It’s the best pre med job for people who want clinical experience

I was just contacted today and offered a job as a scribe!

 

[Vunami]

Clinical experience is something that requires patient interaction, not just interaction with a provider. It's good you shadowed a PA in order to see the difference between a PA and an MD, but shadowing either one is not going to count as "clinical experience".

Idk man. Sounds tough

 

[Disciple of Sattar]

White male 22 years old. My interest for medicine peaked when I was 5 years old and I had neuro surgery to correct a Chiari malformation.

Just so you know, this sentence states that your interest in medicine was the highest it ever was when you were 5 years old, and is definitely not something you want to say.

Edit: Didn't read the thread first, it's already been said.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Just so you know, this sentence states that your interest in medicine was the highest it ever was when you were 5 years old, and is definitely not something you want to say.

Edit: Didn't read the thread first, it's already been said.

Yea definitely a poor choice of words. Didn’t come out how I meant it. Haha