Where do I belong now?

[ethanol4all]

Hi everyone,

I'm relatively new here and I was wondering if any of you could help me figure out where to go in life. Not just my chances with medical school, or a direction to a pharm program,

but honestly where to go and what to do.

Ok,

I'm a 20 y/o male, middle class background, and i'm extremely lazy, but I'm decently smart (a combination that people tend to hate, I know, i hate it too).
I've been trying hard to change that, and i'm making progress on that. Intellect generally isn't a problem, but hard work and motivation is (maybe it's not that uncommon a prob).

My GPA's a 3.244, and I'm a MIMG (Microbio) Third Year Undergrad at UCLA... I screwed up badly my first two years of college, but i'm working on consistency going to class....(which makes everything so much easier lol)

Haven't taken mcats, but i'm expecting definitely 30+...

EC's are erratic:

i have three years of volunteering in a convalescent home (10-12th grades in HS)

uhhh....what else...

5 months licensed EMT experience in EMS
a phlebotomist cert/license with small externship at UCLA med center

worked as a software developer for an AIDS diagnostic system (which was bought by 5 south african hospital groups)
worked as a software developer for this comptuer program that aids EMS personnel in obtaining pt. Hx's...
no research

that's about it, i think

so, i'm confused as to where to go now...

In terms of my interest for medicine, i've always been eccentrically good at medicine (have a few surgeons/docs in the extended family that are pushing me hard for the subject). I LOVE learning about medicine, but it's baffling that i'm not particularly interested in patient care. If i were to go a medical school, it'd be in the pursuit of the medical knowledge,

but not the pursuit of helping humanity, changing world, power, money, etc....don't care about that.

I catch myself reading medical books for fun, have a pretty well-rounded understanding of family practice already, and major pharmacology. I am genuinely interested in the subject, and I'm pretty sure I'd make a phenomenal doctor, except for the fact that I hate doctoring. Even if I were to get rejected from a med school, i wouldn't really think twice of it anymore. It's the knowledge that interests me anyhow, so what does it matter. (Don't get me wrong, Med School and formally learning clinical medicne would be intense!)

But maybe at htis point it's a Carrib vs. U.S. med school thing? (in which case i'll go to the Carib forums )

I've gotten many times that i'm an immature fellow, that i need to feel the "hardships" of real life, that i have it easy, w/e don't care

Anybody else feel this way? or is it just me?

And what are my options? Where do i go now? Do i still have a shot at a U.S. med school? Is med school even FOR me?

Thoroughly confused! lol

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[NotAndrew]

What are mcats? Also a 3.2 is low but you still have 3 semesters to bring that up.

 

[ethanol4all]

Haven't taken MCATs.....probably study for those for the next three months and take themm.... April ish? Maybe August of Senior year....ish?

 

[Mobius1985]

Being smart helps if one is in med school, but the most important characteristic one needs to survive is ambition, which you don't have. If you can imagine yourself being happy doing anything else, then don't become a physician just to make your relatives happy. You've been extremely successful writing software that requires you to research aspects of medicine and create tools that makes helping people easier for others. Why not stick with that and continue to make important contributions that require a knowledge of medicine? In the meanwhile, I'd still suggest that you try to raise your GPA as high as you can get it. Someday, in five, ten, or twenty years, you might come to the realization that medicine, pharmacy, a PhD, or whatever is something you need to be happy. When that happens, you'll be better off with a decent GPA that you don't need to spend a few years redeeming before you can pursue your new dream.

For a chance at a US allopathic med school, with a GPA of 3.2, you'd need an MCAT score of 35 to be competitive at the least-selective schools (none of which are in California). For a chance at an osteopathic medical school, you'd need an MCAT score of ~29 or so. For a shot at a Caribbean medical school, you need a good credit score (SDN joke, but it might be true, for all I know).

 

[ethanol4all]

A 35 on the MCATs?

What about in terms of EC's?

Appreciate it guys

 

[Mobius1985]

High school stuff doesn't count. Continue as an EMT on a regular basis; that's great for clinical experience. So is the time as a phlebotomist. You'll need lots of community service and some leadership. Research is desirable. Teaching/mentoring is good to have.

 

[Myuu]

A 35 on the MCATs?

What about in terms of EC's?

Appreciate it guys

Why not aim for a 45 on the MCAT? Don't sell yourself short!

 

[virusgirl]

I'm not sure how realistic this is given your grades (MSTP programs are even more competitive than straight-up MD programs), but have you considered going the physician-scientist route? You could do clinical research and contribute a lot to medical knowledge without actually being involved in patient care. One of my grad school professors was an MD/PhD and he developed the (fairly) new rotavirus vaccine, and was heavily involved in those clinical trials.

If you "hate doctoring" and are "not interested in patient care," then really think about not being a doctor. You can do other medical things, but people usually go to medical school because they like the idea of doctoring. Regardless of your qualifications to get into medical school, I don't think anyone should become a doctor unless it truly is their passion -- and whatever your relatives think is irrelevant. My mother is still broken-hearted that I didn't pursue art because I was really good at it, but I didn't like it, and I'm happy with the choices I've made.

 

[NotAndrew]

A 35 on the MCATs?

I still think you have time to pull your GPA up. If you can get it to a 3.4 or a 3.5 you will have a much better shot at getting in.

Also: It is just MCAT their is no S. It stands for Medical College Admission Test.