… However, he also recommended I write a “brief” synopsis here of what it took for me to get where I am, because he believes my story will inspire other premeds. I chose to do this first, and I’ll get to the book later.
I’ll start at the end, to lend some credibility to the beginning. I just got my letter of acceptance to medical school, after a truly epic battle over the last 7 years. I failed (and I mean FAILED! 0.00 GPA style) my first semester in college. After this awesome beginning, I decided to join the US Army, where I met my aforementioned friend. I was honorably discharged from the Army after only 14 months due to personal issues that the Army wasn’t too keen on, which gave me my second complete failure in less than 2 years. At this point, I was looking at living on the streets and using my Army uniform to panhandle in, because that is about the only option I seemed to have left. (I am not kidding, I seriously considered this. I was desperate and down and out…)
A strange thing happened though, having never actually been in trouble in the Army, I did get that honorable, and therefore was eligible for the GI Bill. My mother allowed me to sleep in her basement, as long as I worked and went to school. The VA asked me what I wanted to do with my GI Bill, and I figured if it was a free ride, I might as well go as far as I can. I told them I wanted to be a doctor. I got a job delivering food in a hospital to be as close to “medical” stuff as possible with no actual medical skills. (I highly recommend this-get your foot in the door, even if it’s maintenance, cleaning rooms, whatever! Then move up.) I got into a program at my community college for CNA training, and when I was done, I transferred to a CNA position in the hospital. Suddenly, I was “in the medical field.”
I continued at the community college, and after 6 months, my new (like dating for 3 months new…) girlfriend told me I was going to be a father. Needless to say, I was unprepared, and at 27 years old, probably should have been. I said, no problem. The Army taught me to “never quit, never accept defeat,” so I’ll take this in stride. We had a baby girl and I got married to her, and we moved into a 1 bedroom apartment, with my daughter snugly tucked into the living room. I finished 2 years at the community college, mainly focusing on pre-nursing (I though I could just slide into med school after nursing school! Hey, I was trying to figure all of this out on my own!)
I transferred to my state university, and took a perfect 4.0 for my first semester. (The only time I even made the dean’s list.) Another strange thing happened though. My gen chem II professor asked me if I was interested in research, because I was so interested in the subject. In short, I started with a collegue of hers in a research lab doing work I hardly understood, but by now, I had a fire in me for success. I was now working 20 hours in a research lab, 24 hours at the hospital per week, and full time in school, leaving practically no time for my family. Unsurprisingly, I had trouble at home. “No problem,” said I, “I’ll just take this in stride as well!”
In a whirlwind next two years, I became fed up with CNA work, so I went back to community college WHILE at the university, working, and doing research, to get my EMT cert. I was taking 22 credits (Seriously? I must have been insane!) and trying to hold everything together. As expected, I did not. I quit my job after blowing up under the crushing stress, I failed and subsequently dropped calculus, but still managed to pass my other courses, publish my research with me as the lead author, and I did so well in EMT school I was invited to go STRAIGHT into paramedic school. I believe opportunity knocks softly and only once, so I usually say yes to practically any one that passes by. I therefore took a semester off to go through an accelerated paramedic school, and during my clinical rotation, I also took 9 credits at my university, with the second and last 4.0 semester as the result. (If this seems like a good idea, it wasn’t- P-school is typically a year, and this means I was doing roughly 60 hours a week of paramedic work on top of the 9 hours! This was crushing.) My wife and I decided afterwards that the thing we needed was another baby! I was not the only one I guess who was grasping for straws looking for something to feel good about.
My wife’s subsequent pregnancy was the worst I have ever heard of with still keeping the child. She had a massive sub-chorionic hemorrhage at 10 weeks, and went into completely intractable pre-term labor at 29 weeks. She was in full blown labor for 9 weeks straight, with hard contractions every 2-5 minutes. I spent many, many nights doing homework in an L&D room. Being the saint she is, she also completed her semester in school, while going through this. Our baby was born perfectly healthy after an emergency c-section, and I got my first two Cs on my transcript, in calculus and physics 1. I started working as a paramedic and resolved to finish my undergrad strong. I had the BRILLIANT idea that I could work a “firefighter” schedule as a paramedic and still go to school full time. I worked 70+ hours a week at 9.90/hour as a paramedic and went to school. After looking at failing even more classes, I quit the job, lost the apartment, and moved back in to my mother’s basement with a wife and 2 kids.
I had somehow pieced together a AMCAS application and studied for an ENTIRE week to take the MCAT. By some miracle, I got a 28Q on the MCAT and according to AMCAS I had a 3.27 GPA, which, according to the AAMC website, left me at about a 33% chance of getting into medical school. I applied to 15 schools, and prepared to graduate with my BS in Biology and a minor in Chem. I was interviewed at 1 and only 1 school, and after driving 12 hours twice in 2 days so I could be back for classes, I found out two weeks later that I was waitlisted in the second third of the waitlist. (even this was quite an accomplishment!) I grimly prepared to apply next year, and signed up for another MCAT test date. Then one day last week, I got a call from medical school. I had made the cut- I was in! I am now sitting in my mother’s basement, getting ready to move my family across country to go to med school, and so far, I couldn’t be happier.
If nothing else, I can give this for advice. Don’t think your life has to be perfect to get into medical school- mine wasn’t by far. When all else fails, remember a good attitude, and an absolute refusal to quit will carry you through. DO NOT let opportunity pass by! If someone asks if you want to get involved in something, SAY YES, and if “they” don’t ask, go looking for “them”. Do physician shadowing and volunteer work! I didn’t, and if I had, I’d probably have had more than 1 interview. Do medical stuff! Get a job as a CNA, EMT, or whatever, and don’t think that an interviewer is going to be fooled by you trying to cobble together why your front door greeter job counts as “working in the medical field.” These are doctors interviewing you, not idiots. Be ethical! If you can’t admit when you suck, nobody will believe you when you don’t. Learn about EVERYTHING! Annoy your school with a million question about programs, financial aid, academic paths, and anything else that might help you learn how this huge, complex system works. And last, DO NOT GIVE UP!!! There was a guy at my university who applied to medical school 9 consecutive years before he finally got in. They now call that guy doctor- ask him if the wait was worth it.
I hope this helps some of you out there. I hope to see you along the way. Namaste.
Wow, DJ! You DID write a book! Thanks so much for sharing your inspiring story! Congrats on your med school acceptance!!
Kate
Just another example of “If you can do it, so can I!!!” ( See my intro post). Thank you for a beautiful, inspiring story that shows what happens when you NEVER take your eyes off the prize!!! 
What an awesome story! Thanks for sharing and congrats on your acceptance. Go get 'em!
Ugh, such… an inspiration. Congratulation on your acceptance and thanks a bunch for sharing.
Thanks everyone! I just want everyone to know that getting into med school is not an insurmountable task.