WAMC - CA ORM 3.69/516, Heavy Research + Clinical Experience (Re-Applicant)

[cat_chase_dog]

I've been putting this post off for a while, but it's time to accept my fate that I'll be reapplying. Last cycle I made a lot of dumb mistakes, which could have been avoided if I had sought out more advice, so I'm turning to y'all for help. I'll say right off the bat that I DEFINITELY overshot last year in terms of schools (mostly T20), especially since I was applying to a bunch of MD/PhD programs. I'm hoping I can get some advice on my ~new~ school list (all MD btw). Also, I'd appreciate any feedback on my app as a whole - particularly what I should emphasize in writing or any activities I should do in the next few months. (apologies in advance for how long this is...)

1. GPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS

GPA: 3.69 & sGPA: 3.66​

2. MCAT score(s) and breakdown

May 2022: 516 (129/131/127/129)​

May 2023: I took the MCAT again…honestly I don’t think I improved my score that much…518 maybe?​

3. State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)

California​

4. Ethnicity and/or race

White (also F, avg SES)​

5. Undergraduate institution or category

University of Pennsylvania (2021)​

Neuroscience major with a minor in Computational Neuroscience (lol a bit redundant)​

6. Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)

Total Hr: ~1400 (Volunteer: ~300 / Paid: ~1100)​

Most of this was work as an EMT. I had two jobs, one kind of bs in event services, but then in my senior year of college (2020-21 aka during the worst of the pandemic) I got a job at a firehouse outside of Philly as an EMT responding to 911 calls. I worked there nearly full time which is where all the hours come from. Volunteer was an ambulance company in Haiti that I went down to work with a few times.​

7. Research experience and productivity

Total Hr: 5000+​

~1000 hrs are from my undergraduate lab, which was an animal lab investigating addiction and stress. I got the whole range of experience from handling rats and doing operant conditioning to slicing up brains to perform immunohistochemical analysis.​

~4000 hrs is clinical research, which is my full-time job now. I’m a Clinical Research Coordinator for a clinical trial looking at new treatments for PTSD in veterans. My research group operates some really cool neuro/psyc/pharm research, including some of the psychedelic medicine studies going on right now.​

Only publishing is my senior thesis poster project… I should have more, given how much time I’ve spent in research, but a mix of bad luck and bad prioritization got me here…​

8. Shadowing experience and specialties represented

Not really much… I figured because I had so much clinical experience I didn’t need shadowing…and that was a mistake.​

I shadowed in an ER (Level I Trauma) as part of my EMT training, and I’m going to shadow a colleague in an emergency psychiatric unit soon. I do think I should expand a little bit though…I’ll probably get more shadowing experience then throw it in an update letter.​

9. Non-clinical volunteering

Total Hr: ~40​

I didn’t really have any last time, but I’ve done some volunteering over this past year with Habitat for Humanity (very fun, would recommend). I’m also going to start volunteering soon as a suicide hotline worker. I also just started volunteering with an organization called Paws for Purple Hearts which raises service dogs for disabled veterans. ​

10. Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)

Theater ~1600 hrs - I’m a big ‘ol theater kid, and I devoted A LOT of my time during college to various performance groups on campus. I was in a lot of leadership positions too, including producer and technical director.​

Bartender ~900 hrs - This is how I made money! Also I do think it taught me a lot in terms of interacting with people you just met, making them feel comfortable, and other soft skills that helped w/ my bedside manor.​

11. Relevant honors or awards

Graduated with Honors in Neuroscience but that’s it…​

12. Anything else not listed you think might be important

I feel like I’ve been on two paths leading up to applying. On one side, my more clinical side, I really love the chaos and intensity of emergency med. As of now I most imagine myself doing a residency in emergency med. However on the other side, my more research side, I am so intrigued by the brain and how it controls the mind and how chemicals can alter both. I also feel very devoted to the field of mental health after working directly with PTSD patients for two years. Lately, I’ve been working to combine these two interests to focus on emergency psychiatry. In fact, last year I wrote a lot about how I would like to have a career heavy in both research and clinical care where I focus on behavioral emergencies and novel treatments for those situations. That being said, I wonder if I’ve painted myself too much in a corner, and instead I should broaden my interests beyond two very specific specialties…​

13. What I think went wrong last time

Added this category because I have been thinking about this question A TON​

• GPA is kinda low - but MCAT is good and I can’t really fix my GPA now…
• Could use more volunteer hours - I’m trying to emphasize the service heavy nature of my paid jobs. Also doing more volunteering now.
• No shadowing - I really didn’t realize that this was that important, hoping to find some opportunities.
• No publishing - trying to change that...
• My writing? - my personal statement is well written but kinda basic, and idk about my secondaries…
• SCHOOL LIST - this is probably the main reason I’m reapplying. I shot wayyyy too high, with most of my schools being T20 and also applying MD/PhD at half of them. I had a few more reasonable schools (i.e. UC Davis) but this time I added a lot more

School List (subject to change):​

*Schools that I applied to last year

• Stanford*
• UCSF*
• University of Michigan*
• UCLA*
• UCSD*
• USC*
• Oregon Health and Sciences
• U Maryland
• Boston University
• Brown*
• U Wisconsin*
• U Massachusetts Chan
• UC Davis*
• Georgetown
• Tufts
• U Illinois
• Jefferson*
• Rush Med
• Drexel
• UC Riverside
• Cal Northstate
• SUNY Downstate*

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[chilly_md]

You will still have very low non-clinical hours. You really only have about a month to add these, and projected hours do not count. Primary care shadowing in an out-patient clinic setting would be good to get. Focus less on research, medicine is supposed to be about the patients.

Try:

UCSD
UCI
UCD
UCR (only if from the IE)
Keck
CUSM
Rosalind Franklin
Colorado
Dartmouth
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Penn State
NYMC
Albany
USF
Miami
Ohio State
Cincinnati
Case
Cleveland Clinic
Nova MD
Hackensack
Vermont
Tufts
UIC (high OOS tuition though)
Western Michigan
Hofstra
Einstein
Rochester
Wake

Add DO schools too:
Western
Touro CA
Touro NV
PNWU
PCOM
DMU
KCU
Marian

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Retaking a 516 is very risky just to justify you are "brand school" worthy.

Commit to a number for nonclinical community service. How many hours will you have completed with H4H? For the dogs for veterans organization, what are your responsibilities there?

 

[cat_chase_dog]

Retaking a 516 is very risky just to justify you are "brand school" worthy.

Commit to a number for nonclinical community service. How many hours will you have completed with H4H? For the dogs for veterans organization, what are your responsibilities there?

Yeah in hind sight I wish I had spent the past few months gaining new experiences rather than studying but I was being stubborn thinking I could get a 520+

I’ve done 32 hours with H4H, plus about 6 hours with the dog thing and I’ll probably have some hours with the hotline by the end of the month. For the dog thing I’ve mostly just done tabling at the VA and then helping at one puppy + veteran social event .

I know it’s not as good, but I do plan on continuing service & shadowing over the next couple months, then including that info in secondaries and update letters. My job is very intense and I have a big work load, so it’s difficult finding time for activities outside of it. That being said, even though it’s research, my job is VERY patient facing (I have about 14hrs/week direct one-on-one patient contact), which I emphasized a lot last year and will do on this app too.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Small question: are you going for HPSP? That opportunity really sounds like it will help you with your expectations for medical practice (ER, mental health or psych, patient-facing, specifically).

More H4H, or pick up homeless shelter work... my suggestions.

 

[cat_chase_dog]

HPSP is an interesting idea, but I don't think it's really for me. I would like to continue to work with veterans and in humanitarian aid (I've always wanted to volunteer with MSF), but I am not personally interested in joining the military.

I live in San Francisco so there is no shortage of need for homeless shelter volunteering and advocacy. I think I may try to look into drug harm reduction programs in particular because it fits well with my interests and goals. Also definitely planning to keep up with H4H, it's honestly been the brightest spot for me in this kinda bummer year.

Thanks so much!

 

[jbc333]

apply to Virginia Tech Carillion! They have a huge research focus. I think you'd have a great chance at an II/A there.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

HPSP is an interesting idea, but I don't think it's really for me. I would like to continue to work with veterans and in humanitarian aid (I've always wanted to volunteer with MSF), but I am not personally interested in joining the military.

I live in San Francisco so there is no shortage of need for homeless shelter volunteering and advocacy. I think I may try to look into drug harm reduction programs in particular because it fits well with my interests and goals. Also definitely planning to keep up with H4H, it's honestly been the brightest spot for me in this kinda bummer year.

Thanks so much!

You would be very surprised how many ER folks had done HPSP. Military/combat medicine is pretty much like emergency medicine, and there is a lot of focus on mental health needs for military/veteran patients and families right now. I'm just saying you have a lot of additional opportunities to get you better prepared for the type of practice you say you want. Lots of vets are homeless too, if you didn't already know. Many who do MSF were in ED, and a number of those had experience in military medicine.

The opportunity to get out of medical school with zero debt (though with a service commitment but some exclusive access to some military-based residencies) should be very enticing. Serve on the USS Mercy or Comfort if you get a chance. If you are able to bring in your own money through HPSP, the more enticing your application becomes as well.

 

[chilly_md]

I would like to continue to work with veterans and in humanitarian aid (I've always wanted to volunteer with MSF), but I am not personally interested in joining the military.

There is HPSP for work in the VA. You would not have to join a branch of the military.

 

[cat_chase_dog]

There is HPSP for work in the VA. You would not have to join a branch of the military.

I did not know that! Do you have some resources/links about this? (jk I found more info after a quick search)

@Mr.Smile12 You're right, I may have dismissed the idea too fast, I'll look into it more. Re: homeless vets, I'm actually looking into volunteering or working with the homeless services at my VA, so I'm hoping I have a chance to be helpful there.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I did not know that! Do you have some resources/links about this? (jk I found more info after a quick search)

@Mr.Smile12 You're right, I may have dismissed the idea too fast, I'll look into it more. Re: homeless vets, I'm actually looking into volunteering or working with the homeless services at my VA, so I'm hoping I have a chance to be helpful there.

That's why we are here! We can help you think differently about your opportunities (and help make you stand out a bit more).