Medical When should I start postbac as graduating senior?

[TheBoneDoctah]

Hi everyone,

I am at a bit of a crossroads in deciding when I should do my postbac and if I should do a formal vs unstructured postbac.

My background:
I am currently a senior at a private undergraduate institution in Texas (where I have resident status). I am earning a BFA in Dance Performance and a BS in Geophysics along with a Math minor. I didn't realize that I had a passion for medicine until I was finishing my sophomore year of college and got injured. The difficulties in communicating with my team of healthcare providers who had no experience in dance made me realize that my extensive background in dance and my interest in kinesiology and biomechanics could be used in helping prevent the further misdiagnosis of musculoskeletal injuries specific to dancers. Because I was nearly 3/4 of the way done with my geophysics major and it was still of interest to me, I decided to not drop the major in exchange for pursuing the pre-med track. Through my major I have taken the following pre-med courses and received the following grades:

Chem 1 (no lab): A
Physics 1 w/ lab: A
Physics 2 w/ lab: A+ ( I took this at another college that included an A+ on their grading scale unlike my home university)
Calc I, II, III: A
*Diff Eq: A
*Linear Algebra: A-
*Boundary Value Problems and Partial Differential Equations: B+
* I know these last 3 are likely not needed for medical school applications as pre-reqs

I do not have any clinical or shadowing experience, and all of my research experience consists of research projects in geophysics that were part of course requirements. I will also be graduating Summa Cum Laude with an anticipated GPA > 3.96

My questions now are:
- Would I be a competitive applicant for a formalized postbac program as someone that just finished undergrad? (I am currently looking at Columbia for their linkage schools and Johns Hopkins since they seem to cater towards artists)
- Based on my prereqs, would it even be worth it to do one of these costly postbacs if accepted vs going to a local university and doing a DIY postbac? (I have heard that sometimes DIYs take longer due to limited class enrollment)

I am hoping to go to a medical school in either New York or Houston; however, I am of course open to going wherever will accept me.

Thank you in advance for your advice!

Why are you wanting to do a post-bac? Instead of spending a year in a post-bac, I would spend that gap year boosting your clinical experiences, shadowing, and gaining non-clinical volunteering. You also need to take the MCAT. If you spend the year grinding and doing these things, I think you have a good shot!

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[TheBoneDoctah]

I was wanting to do a postbac so I could take the premed requirements, to gain access to medical school advisors and research opportunities, and to prepare for the MCAT.

Oh I didn’t see you didn’t have all the prereqs. Yeah, get those done! I think you will have a good shot with a year of good grades and then the other things I talked about.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

As a major-switcher, you should let us know what other classes are left for you. You don't really need to go for a formal postbac if all you need are a few more prereqs and recommended classes. That said I would also think carefully about your career path and what really motivates you. You have many options based on your own experience with dance to lean towards podiatry or physical therapy which would really value your dance experience (and I have reviewed many apps that reflect this). To that end, clinical exposure is going to be important before making a decision and taking your MCAT or GRE.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Hello!

I still need to take
- Biology (2 semesters)
- Chem 2 (potentially Chem 1 again depending on the school because I didn't take Chem 1 lab w/ my lecture)
- O Chem (2 semesters)
- Statistics
- Psychology (potentially upper-level since I have college AP Psych credit)
- Electives: Biochem, Cell Bio, Genetics

I've thought about different paths in the medical field (my mom is a nurse and a lot of my family friends are physical therapists); however, after speaking with some physicians and reflecting on what motivated me to pursue medicine, I believe that a career as an MD (as opposed to a PT, PA, etc.) aligns best with my interests and passions. I really want to be the first point of contact for patients, specifically, dancers who are seeking medical care for injuries and injury prevention (not just in the lower extremities). I want to be the one diagnosing injuries specific to dancers and I believe that my extensive background in dance will help me to form more accurate diagnoses and treatment plans tailored to the goals of dancers. My personal experience as a dancer with dance specific injuries that were misdiagnosed by multiple doctors has also influenced my decision and passion for wanting to be an MD. I'm working on gaining some clinical exposure through shadowing this upcoming Spring semester, but I've found that shadowing is not an option for most of the physicians I know considering COVID. I am hoping that once phase 3 of vaccinations is complete I will be able to shadow this summer!

So shadowing isn't going to count as clinical experience though. Clinical experience would be like scribing, MA, nursing assistant, COVID screener, etc..

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Thank you for that correction! I forget that shadowing is its own category. I am interviewing for a scribe position in an ED soon, so hopefully, I can learn more through that experience.

You can get shadowing experience from
Scribing though haha