Stats at A Glance:
- DIY Post Bacc credits (34 total, all BCP mostly upper division)
- cGPA: -- Will state at the end because I want to give context first
- sGPA: 3.8
- Post-Bacc GPA: 3.9
- MCAT: March 2023 - 505
- MPH GPA: 3.9
- Non-Clinical Volunteering: Catholic Charity ~180 hours (1 day a month for the last 7 years)
- Physician Shadowing - 40 hrs (I really was just checking a box)
- Clinical & Research Experience > 12,000 hrs (attained through paid employment for the last 8 years)
*Worked full-time throughout all schooling*
The Context:
I graduated, after my 2nd attempt at undergrad, with a BA in Psych in 2015 with no aspirations or dreams to attend medical school - Never even considered it - it was nowhere on my radar. Directly after graduating, I applied blindly to a million research assistant jobs and ended up getting one at an academic institution (within Dept of Med - Div. Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences) with a vague plan to maybe apply to PhD programs (Clinical Psych or Public Health - truthfully, I just needed a job). Little did I know the effect this would have on the trajectory of my life.
The PIs who hired me were two BIG names (PhDs - full professors) in HIV Prevention & Behavioral research and an early career infectious disease researcher (MD) who was just about to initiate their first pilot study (it was research but more clinically focused). My effort as an RA was split between their projects (pilot study + large trials funded by NIAID/NIDA/USAID). In the next two years, I gained research experiences that might seem unbelievable if you read the W&A section of my AMCAS app without considering my non-trad status.
As these initial projects were winding down the MD who had the pilot study received funding to open an HIV-prevention-focused clinic where research would also be conducted. At this point, I was given the option to continue research only with PhDs or move to a more clinically oriented role with the MD. I went with the MD. In the years that followed, that clinic and the research produced from it was successful and we grew. We are now a program that encompasses the original clinic, a mobile clinic, and a clinical research unit, all of which I help to develop and manage (official title is program manager). While working here I ended up doing an MPH then started to consider, and ultimately decided to pursue, medicine.
Some notable features of my work and experiences I should mention:
Research:
- I have published over 20 manuscripts, several of which have been first author, in a wide array of journals including The Lancet, JAMA, JAIDS, Implementation Science and more.
- I have had many abstracts (I've lost count) accepted and presented as poster and oral presentations at various scientific conferences (one won an award for excellence in research).
- I have contributed to the writing of several grants that have been both public and industry funded
- I have had to interface with my institution's IRB and ORA, manage staff and student volunteers, recruit study participants, create lit reviews, study protocols and reports, develop data collection instruments, conduct data collection and more.
- I have helped to manage large clinical trials conducted within our CRU.
The clinics:
- Put me in a position that was initially mostly patient facing, and later in one where I've had to deal with admin/back-end clinic management.
- Have a patient population made up of majority low-SES, uninsured, immigrant, sexual minority, individuals
- Have provided clinical services to over 2000+ patients as of today
- Provides all services to patients at no cost (we are funded to do this)
Now we get to the bad part.
As calculated by AMCAS, my undergrad cGPA is 2.1 🥴 -- Post is already too long. I will not explain why here. But awful grades were accumulated during my first attempt at undergrad more than a decade ago.
I applied. WAMC for MD & DO for the 2023-2024 app cycle? Applied broadly to lower stat schools (28) all over the US.
FL resident if this is relevant/helpful info.
Thanks, I would appreciate some realism here.
- DIY Post Bacc credits (34 total, all BCP mostly upper division)
- cGPA: -- Will state at the end because I want to give context first
- sGPA: 3.8
- Post-Bacc GPA: 3.9
- MCAT: March 2023 - 505
- MPH GPA: 3.9
- Non-Clinical Volunteering: Catholic Charity ~180 hours (1 day a month for the last 7 years)
- Physician Shadowing - 40 hrs (I really was just checking a box)
- Clinical & Research Experience > 12,000 hrs (attained through paid employment for the last 8 years)
*Worked full-time throughout all schooling*
The Context:
I graduated, after my 2nd attempt at undergrad, with a BA in Psych in 2015 with no aspirations or dreams to attend medical school - Never even considered it - it was nowhere on my radar. Directly after graduating, I applied blindly to a million research assistant jobs and ended up getting one at an academic institution (within Dept of Med - Div. Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences) with a vague plan to maybe apply to PhD programs (Clinical Psych or Public Health - truthfully, I just needed a job). Little did I know the effect this would have on the trajectory of my life.
The PIs who hired me were two BIG names (PhDs - full professors) in HIV Prevention & Behavioral research and an early career infectious disease researcher (MD) who was just about to initiate their first pilot study (it was research but more clinically focused). My effort as an RA was split between their projects (pilot study + large trials funded by NIAID/NIDA/USAID). In the next two years, I gained research experiences that might seem unbelievable if you read the W&A section of my AMCAS app without considering my non-trad status.
As these initial projects were winding down the MD who had the pilot study received funding to open an HIV-prevention-focused clinic where research would also be conducted. At this point, I was given the option to continue research only with PhDs or move to a more clinically oriented role with the MD. I went with the MD. In the years that followed, that clinic and the research produced from it was successful and we grew. We are now a program that encompasses the original clinic, a mobile clinic, and a clinical research unit, all of which I help to develop and manage (official title is program manager). While working here I ended up doing an MPH then started to consider, and ultimately decided to pursue, medicine.
Some notable features of my work and experiences I should mention:
Research:
- I have published over 20 manuscripts, several of which have been first author, in a wide array of journals including The Lancet, JAMA, JAIDS, Implementation Science and more.
- I have had many abstracts (I've lost count) accepted and presented as poster and oral presentations at various scientific conferences (one won an award for excellence in research).
- I have contributed to the writing of several grants that have been both public and industry funded
- I have had to interface with my institution's IRB and ORA, manage staff and student volunteers, recruit study participants, create lit reviews, study protocols and reports, develop data collection instruments, conduct data collection and more.
- I have helped to manage large clinical trials conducted within our CRU.
The clinics:
- Put me in a position that was initially mostly patient facing, and later in one where I've had to deal with admin/back-end clinic management.
- Have a patient population made up of majority low-SES, uninsured, immigrant, sexual minority, individuals
- Have provided clinical services to over 2000+ patients as of today
- Provides all services to patients at no cost (we are funded to do this)
Now we get to the bad part.
As calculated by AMCAS, my undergrad cGPA is 2.1 🥴 -- Post is already too long. I will not explain why here. But awful grades were accumulated during my first attempt at undergrad more than a decade ago.
I applied. WAMC for MD & DO for the 2023-2024 app cycle? Applied broadly to lower stat schools (28) all over the US.
FL resident if this is relevant/helpful info.
Thanks, I would appreciate some realism here.
