What should I do to get into Med school at this point?

[Roayer]

I have a few questions. My first semester freshman year was a fiasco....I dropped a class and made a 2.51 with a B in General Chemistry 1. Before that semester I got a MW for an intensive summer course. I suffer from post-concussive syndrome and that affected my first semester. Since then I have seen a good doctor and helped get that resolved and as a Biochemistry major and a Junior my overall GPA is a 3.67 and my Science GPA is a 3.86. Will Med schools not look too much into that first semester? If they don't my GPA jumps to a 3.84 and my Science to a 3.97 (got a B in orgo lab >.<). I know they like trends so I am hopeful. Also, I really don't have much extracurriculars at this point except for being in several clubs (not a leader in them). I also have not had much time in my summers for volunteering as I had to make up some classes because I did a semester abroad in Europe in order to take Biochem 1 last semester (nightmare, orgo was a cakewalk compared....). I plan on taking the MCAT on 5/20 and then again on 8/4. My next semester has Biochem II, Genetics, Physiology, Calc Physics II, Molecular Biology, and Research so I am pretty booked. I was wondering if I should be taking a gap year since I need to do research over the summer? I am going to try to shadow during the semester and during winter and summer break. I am not really sure where to go from here, I feel like I am running out of time as I am a junior and already have things to explain (I also got an I in a class because I had MRSA and got the stomach Flu back to back right before finals....). Was wondering if anyone had any good advice.

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[chcash]

If you're a junior with a 3.67 GPA, that is a good place to be in terms of grades. Still, keep trying to improve wherever possible, a small boost on that GPA could help a lot. The fact you have NO real extracurriculars at this point though is a bit concerning. There's probably no way around a gap year, but you should still go hard starting NOW when it comes to shadow and volunteering. That is unless you have other pertinent EC experiences that you haven't mentioned?

Also DO NOT "plan" to take the MCAT twice. Take it ONE TIME and do as well as humanly possible, stack the deck in your favor at all costs. If you plan on taking it twice, you're probably going to just allow yourself a mediocre first attempt, in which case there is no point in having done that to begin with. Use practice exams for that.

 

[Roayer]

I am scheduled for 5/20 but I might just use it as a practice if I feel I am not ready and void it. I think I will be ready for every section but maybe Psych by then. I go to a liberal arts school so CARS should be alright, and my Biochem teacher is a nightmare so that will alright. I think if I get psych down over this break I can be done with the MCAT in May. I was going to try to start a club next semester because the prehealth and bio clubs are a joke to anyone who is serious.
I forgot some of my EC: I volunteer and tutor O-Chem 2-5 hours a week since that class is a nightmare at my school, I am a Math tutor, member in SMACS, Micriobiology club, Tribeta, I spent a summer abroad I guess, I play an instrument but not through the school, but that is about it. Oh and I get a liberal arts degree as well as my biochem degree (3 philosophy courses, 2 religion, 4 English, 4 History, 1 Art/Music).


I plan on the volunteering and shadowing now and have a good set up going into next semester. I would have in the past but it was literally hard enough to complete my classes since I get daily migraines. Are health problems taken into account or are they just a liability for interviews and applications?

Also I was planning on taking a Gap year to scribe anyway.

 

[ski89]

You are definitely going to need to take a gap year. Your GPA is fine and med schools will definately be able to appreciate the difficulty of going to school and dealing with migraines - especially since you seem to have bounced back well. So I see that as a net positive overall. Obviously your MCAT is going to be a big determining factor as you know. But lets just say best case scenario you get a solid MCAT (say 32-35 on the old scale), you are still in need of some better ECs. Your clubs and hobbies are nice but mostly fluff. The math tutor thing is good. Solid clinical experience IN ADDITION to shadowing and research are the two most significant. You mentioned scribing, that would be great.

Recognize however that what you really need to do to be a successful applicant is not box checking, but rather building a narrative about your life and how your experiences have lead you to the decision that medicine is the career for you. Your ECs should provide evidence toward that narrative. In other words, picture yourself as an adcom reading your future application. They should be able to connect what you are saying in terms of your motivations and interests regarding medicine to what you have actually done.

 

[candbgirl]

Don't use 5/20 MCAT as a practice. Every attempt is forever seen in your record. It would be awful if you scored really low because it was just a practice. Plan to take the MCAT one time only and only when you are ready. You have a real problem with your ECs and I'm not sure you understand that.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

Med schools definitely are not going to cut you any slack for having health problems. Your GPA as it stands is good so do everything you can to keep it up! But just being a member in several clubs isn't going to cut it. You desperately need some clinical experience. And if I were you, I would prioritize patient contact and physician shadowing. Scribing is good but rarely involves patient contact. This could be done in many ways, like volunteering at a hospital/free clinic/nursing home/hospice.

Keep in mind that ALL of your college grades will be factored into your GPA, including those from first semester. There's no escaping them but you can keep your GPA up, if you continue to do well.

Just a thought, though: it sounds like you're planning on a very heavy courseload for next semester. I'd be careful with this. You want to make sure you have the time and energy to ace these classes! It's not worth taking them if you're going to get lower grades because you've stretched yourself too thin.

 

[ski89]

I would prioritize patient contact and physician shadowing. Scribing is good but rarely involves patient contact. This could be done in many ways, like volunteering at a hospital/free clinic/nursing home/hospice.

I disagree. Volunteering at a hospital or clinic or whatever is perhaps the worst way to get patient contact. You will likely spend more time stalking shelves and retrieving items for medical staff. You will occasionally get patients and family something to drink or a blanket. And why would you possible prioritize shadowing over scribing? As a scribe you are involved with every aspect of the physician's day, from speaking with/examining patients, to medical decision making, to lab/imaging analysis, to discussions with other providers. It is very good clinical experience.

The only experience that is better than scribing in terms of clinical experience are payed positions in healthcare such as EMT, PRN, RN, MA, and others that require some certification and are much more difficult to get (even more so if you are still in school).

All that being said, volunteering (in any setting) is still a valuable part of your application. But will more often than not turn out to be poor clinical experience even if it is in a clinical setting.

 

[familyaerospace]

I disagree. Volunteering at a hospital or clinic or whatever is perhaps the worst way to get patient contact. You will likely spend more time stalking shelves and retrieving items for medical staff.

I disagree to your disagreement. I was a hospital volunteer in the ER, I had extensive patient experience and contact. I very rarely was restocking (as opposed to stalking) shelves and retrieving items. My top priority as a volunteer was to the patients. I probably spent 90% of my time with a patient of some sort usually walking with them to wherever they needed to be. They knew what the purpose of my being there was and they were certain to get me my money's worth.

 

[ski89]

I disagree to your disagreement. I was a hospital volunteer in the ER, I had extensive patient experience and contact. I very rarely was restocking (as opposed to stalking) shelves and retrieving items. My top priority as a volunteer was to the patients. I probably spent 90% of my time with a patient of some sort usually walking with them to wherever they needed to be. They knew what the purpose of my being there was and they were certain to get me my money's worth.

lol I assure you that your experience is the exception rather than the rule. More often than not, scribing is better clinical experience than volunteering. Even in your case, you may have had a lot of patient contact, but when you couple patient contact with the valuable experience of being attached to the hip of a physician for 20-40 hours a week, it makes scribing the better bet. I'm not down playing the value to volunteer experience, but recognize its not the best clinical experience.

Edit: I will also add that I am still reaping the benefits of my scribe experience as a med student. I have a better understanding of hospital politics, logistics, interprofessional collaboration, diagnostics, clinical reasoning, note writing, patient interviewing/history taking, billing, than the vast majority of the rest of my class.

And thank you for the spelling check... shhhh dont tell PDs that I cant spell worth ****.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

I disagree. Volunteering at a hospital or clinic or whatever is perhaps the worst way to get patient contact. You will likely spend more time stalking shelves and retrieving items for medical staff. You will occasionally get patients and family something to drink or a blanket. And why would you possible prioritize shadowing over scribing? As a scribe you are involved with every aspect of the physician's day, from speaking with/examining patients, to medical decision making, to lab/imaging analysis, to discussions with other providers. It is very good clinical experience.

The only experience that is better than scribing in terms of clinical experience are payed positions in healthcare such as EMT, PRN, RN, MA, and others that require some certification and are much more difficult to get (even more so if you are still in school).

All that being said, volunteering (in any setting) is still a valuable part of your application. But will more often than not turn out to be poor clinical experience even if it is in a clinical setting.

I never said that scribing wasn't great experience. It definitely is. But based on what I've seen adcoms post here on SDN, patient contact is something that many medical schools will be looking for. Scribing exposes you to how physicians function and that can be very valuable. But it rarely offers direct interaction with patients (beyond observing the doctor interact with them).

Scribing also doesn't show altruism in the way that volunteering does. At the end of the day, both are useful. They simply add different things to an application. (Honestly, I would recommend that OP do both, if they can.)

 

[familyaerospace]

lol I assure you that your experience is the exception rather than the rule. More often than not, scribing is better clinical experience than volunteering. Even in your case, you may have had a lot of patient contact, but when you couple patient contact with the valuable experience of being attached to the hip of a physician for 20-40 hours a week, it makes scribing the better bet. I'm not down playing the value to volunteer experience, but recognize its not the best clinical experience.

Edit: I will also add that I am still reaping the benefits of my scribe experience as a med student. I have a better understanding of hospital politics, logistics, interprofessional collaboration, diagnostics, clinical reasoning, note writing, patient interviewing/history taking, billing, than the vast majority of the rest of my class.

And thank you for the spelling check... shhhh dont tell PDs that I cant spell worth ****.

Actually all of the volunteers I know actually had this at the hospitals I worked at. Maybe it is just the location? We were all asked why we were doing it and the ones who said they wanted clinical experience to see if maybe medical school is the right path all ended up with very valuable experience. Our degrees were also looked at and our interpersonal skills were assessed. That helped with placement. The science degrees were more likely to go to ED where we had our own patients though and if someone took a liking to you (the staff loved me) you would be doing things well beyond what what you are supposed to be learning! Same with shadowing too.

I think your experience is a valuable one as well and 20-40 per week is better than 4. I was trained as a scribe as an EMT, but never worked it as I was considered overqualified before I was trained!

Personally I thought the concept of stalking shelves was very funny. I had to resist making a questionably poor joke.

 

[Mad Jack]

I have a few questions. My first semester freshman year was a fiasco....I dropped a class and made a 2.51 with a B in General Chemistry 1. Before that semester I got a MW for an intensive summer course. I suffer from post-concussive syndrome and that affected my first semester. Since then I have seen a good doctor and helped get that resolved and as a Biochemistry major and a Junior my overall GPA is a 3.67 and my Science GPA is a 3.86. Will Med schools not look too much into that first semester? If they don't my GPA jumps to a 3.84 and my Science to a 3.97 (got a B in orgo lab >.<). I know they like trends so I am hopeful. Also, I really don't have much extracurriculars at this point except for being in several clubs (not a leader in them). I also have not had much time in my summers for volunteering as I had to make up some classes because I did a semester abroad in Europe in order to take Biochem 1 last semester (nightmare, orgo was a cakewalk compared....). I plan on taking the MCAT on 5/20 and then again on 8/4. My next semester has Biochem II, Genetics, Physiology, Calc Physics II, Molecular Biology, and Research so I am pretty booked. I was wondering if I should be taking a gap year since I need to do research over the summer? I am going to try to shadow during the semester and during winter and summer break. I am not really sure where to go from here, I feel like I am running out of time as I am a junior and already have things to explain (I also got an I in a class because I had MRSA and got the stomach Flu back to back right before finals....). Was wondering if anyone had any good advice.

If you want to maximize your chances for MD, a gap year would be advisable. Not knowing your MCAT, however, it is hard to say where you will fall competitiveness-wise. Your GPA is fine, but your ECs definitely need some polishing. Score well on the MCAT and you're on your way to MD city.

 

[Roayer]

Oh thanks for the advice guys I really appreciate it. I sat down today and thought hard about my E.Cs because I agree it is a big problem and think I will try to volunteer at the local hospital 2 hours a week next semester and start a Biochemistry Club which will host guest lecturers and have member trips for volunteering and free tutoring and plan to have that meet 2 times a month. Also I will try to shadow every other week. My biggest problem (previously, now resolved) in the past with E.Cs was that I don't have a vehicle and there are no opportunities for clinical experience on campus or even volunteering. Do you guys think that the volunteering, club, shadowing every other week, and then gap year for scribing should fix my E.C problem. I personally (can't talk cuz I have not taken it but generally do well on standardized tests and biochemistry so far) don't feel like my problem will be my MCAT score but these E.Cs so I want to get them fixed this semester.

Additionally I will most likely be doing research until I graduate so I will have a solid 18 months of straight research

 

[IAMURMautoadmit]

I got my gpa up from a 2.5 to a 3.0. I think 3.0 is highly underrated. I know many peers who got in medical school with around the same GPA.

 

[Skyforever]

I got my gpa up from a 2.5 to a 3.0. I think 3.0 is highly underrated. I know many peers who got in medical school with around the same GPA.

What the ****, OP suffers from some disease that damaged her GPA, and is still pretty high discounting that episode. get your irrelevant URM boost out of here. blatant troll so insensitve.. but then again 3.2 and average MCAT is 80% admittance to allopathic schools. 3.0 shows a lack of work ethics on your part.