MD WAMC: 3.6/518 | Mech E to Medicine

[Ahmed Kay]

What are my chances of acceptance to an MD program? High, Low, Intermediate? Are there any red flags in my profile?

Background:

• 25yo California Resident
• Arab but born in California
• Mechanical Engineering Major from UC Irvine

Stats:

• Cumulative GPA: 3.6
• Science GPA: 3.7
• MCAT: 518( 131/131/127/130)

Clinical:

1. 1200 Hours Hospice Volunteering. Ran daily acitivities and counseling. Also helped with blood pressure, weighing, and charts.

Research:

1. Spacecraft Thermal Managment- Built vaccum chamber to test liminal cooling limit of liquid nitrogren and amonia on metal surfaces in simulated space conditions.
2. Hand Project- Lead team of 3 engineers to design socket for prosthetic hand which our sponsor organization will distribute for free to underserved communities around the globe. Had many zoom calls with amputee patients to create design goals.
3. TVAR- Designed adjustable length catheter for alternative access in endovascular procedures in which femoral artery cannot be safely entered.

Shadowing:

1. Endovascular Surgery service 400 hours
2. Radiologist 200 hours
3. Endocrinologist 100 hours

Non-Clinical Volunteering:

1. Cars for Refugees- Worked for community foundation that bought junker cars and fixed them for refugees and poor families.
2. Soup Kitchen- Was a backroom organizer and donation coordinator.
3. Turkey Earthquake Rapid Response- Lead 20 volunteers to pack 12 shipping containers over 2 week period.

Honors:

1. My forearm prosthetic socket won the Dean’s choice award amongst 50+ engineering projects.

Hobbies:

1. Amatuer AM Radio Builder
2. Mountaineering
3. Reading

Other Work:

1. Operations engineer for Nano-fiber startup company
2. US Forest Service Wildland Firefighter- Sent all over the west coast summer 2022 to combat wildland fires.

Anything Else:

1. I’ve memorized 200+ poems, passages, historical documents, and speeches. One per week since I was a kid. No reason other than I like memorizing. Not relevant but I really want to find a way to add it.

School List:

1. Vermont
2. UC Davis
3. UC San Diego
4. UCLA
5. USC
6. George Washington
7. Carle
8. Drexel
9. Rush Chicago
10. California Colton
11. Ohio State University
12. Cincinnati
13. Wake Forrest
14. Creighton
15. Homer Stryker
16. Stony Brook
17. Temple
18. William Beaumont
19. Thomas Jefferson
20. Wayne State
21. Dartmouth
22. Hofstra
23. Michigan Ann Arbor
24. Loyola Stritch
25. UCI

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[Faha]

You have a good list and should receive several interviews. Add UCSF and Kaiser.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

That's a ton of shadowing hours. How much was done as part of your projects? Properly account for this as research vs shadowing if applicable.

Hours would help for your community service. Any volunteering affecting communities that are not Arabic or Turkish? That said, your firefighting is definitely attention-worthy and could be community service.

 

[Ahmed Kay]

That's a ton of shadowing hours. How much was done as part of your projects? Properly account for this as research vs shadowing if applicable.

Hours would help for your community service. Any volunteering affecting communities that are not Arabic or Turkish? That said, your firefighting is definitely attention-worthy and could be community service.

That is great advice! The shadowing came first then I started the project based on what I was seeing in the OR. But I was definitely using my time with the surgeon to hone the design.

To your second question, Yes! The recipients of the cars were mostly Hispanic and Afghan. And the soup kitchen served 1000 people a day so it was a diverse community.

I was getting paid for firefighting but I definitely did it as a service to my community. Do you think I should list it as a community service even though it was Wildland and not urban firefighting? Let me know me what you think.

Thank you!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I was getting paid for firefighting but I definitely did it as a service to my community. Do you think I should list it as a community service even though it was Wildland and not urban firefighting? Let me know me what you think.

Given the devastation of various small towns due to forest fires, I would include it and categorize it as community service, even if you (appropriately) paid. If anything you were a non-medical first-responder, and that's worth respect.