I have merged all you post-conference de-lurkers into one thread.
Are you a lurker? You know a lurker. Someone who lurks around the OldPreMeds forums without posting. Oh, sure you look at the forums. Maybe you just read them occasionally, sneaking in a quick peek every now and then. Maybe you are on them all the time, trying to glean every piece of information that you can. But still you don’t post. Perhaps you think, “well I am just starting out, I really don’t what I could to say.†We all started out that way, wanting to get back in the medicine but not quite sure how to do it. Everyone struggled to figure out what courses to take, how to master organic chemistry, and the best way to approach a professor to get a letter of recommendation.
Maybe when you read a question in someone’s posting, you think, “well I had to do that but I don’t know if I did it the right way.†So you don’t post. When you see someone vent about how difficult the last biology exam was, how much text books cost, or how hard it is to be so busy that you don’t spend any time with family and friends, you say to yourself, “yeah, I feel the same way too,†and you wish for a few words of encouragement. Still, you hesitate to post a reply just saying “hang in there, we’re all with you.â€
Maybe you have a suggestion on how to tackle a certain physics problem, a little trick that got you through a tough verbal reasoning passage on an MCAT practice test, or how you are caught up in the middle of writing your personal essay. You can let everyone know you got an interview, and we can share in your success or that you got the dreaded “thin envelope†and we all can share a little of your pain. Or maybe it’s just to say “Hi, I’ve always wanted to be a doctor.â€
OldPreMeds is a community created by members themselves. As the medical adage goes, “watch one, do one, teach one.†There are no experts here, just those who’ve gone before us, those who will travel with on the journey with us, and those who will follow us. So join us and post a reply, a short comment, or a small tidbit. Let us know if you’re doing something well, if you are having a difficult time, or that you’ll make it to the conference this year. Maybe just let us know that you’ve taken the first step on this long path to medicine. So stop lurking already and post!
Hello and welcome everyone. I met quite a few of you at the conference but didn’t spend as much time mingling as usual since I have step 2 boards in a month or so and had to squeeze in some studying. Please post your questions, suggestions, or jokes. OPM is a major reason this Canadian is now starting her 4th year at a DO school.
Lynda
Woot Woot for the erstwhile engineers 
! Aero here…Best wishes for your upcoming classes!
Piling on…fantastic weekend. Huge thank you to everyone involved!
Monte
Thank you! It’s good to be here.
Okay! Okay! I’m posting…
I found OPM just a few weeks before the conference and if I believed in fate, I’d reckon that was why. I found the conference completely energizing and clarifying! So it’s with new purpose that I have returned home and back to the “waiting game.”
I am early in this process. Really I am still deciding if this path is right for me. It was just a few months ago as I was plotting my next career move into clinical lab science that I started to research pathology as an end goal. And when I vocalized it for the first time as a possibility… going to med school… the response surprised me. Like, a LOT. With very few (but notable) exceptions folks were amazingly encouraging! My favorite line when I said, “but I’d be like 48 before I was finished,” was “honey, you’ll be 48 anyway…”
Folks have been so encouraging and supportive that I have been referred to a wonderful gentleman who has amazing connections at the med school closest to me, especially with research physicians. So have a scheduled conference with a doctor to discuss where I can do some shadowing.
That feels like the most important piece for me right now. I do still need to finish Ochem 2 and Physics 1 & 2 and I need to take the MCAT, but other than that I have all the suggested pre-reqs. I have a good deal of volunteering under my belt. Some leadership roles. A lot of work experience. I was even informed at the conference by Dr. Whitehurst-Cook (to my infinite joy) that my current career would be counted as hands-on patient experience!
So not to sound too new-agey, but I feel like once I actually said the words, “I’m thinking of going to med school,” the universe responded in kind. And thus, the next chapter begins…
Thank you to all of you who do share here. These stories and answers and questions are VITAL. They inspire. They refresh and refocus. This is a brilliant forum with amazing people.
I promise to be more engaged now!
Thanks again to Rich and all the wonderful presenters from the conference! And thanks to the great folks I met! I’m so happy to be a part of this!
Hey Zuggie!
Nice to see you on the board. I certainly remember you too! 
Hey ya’ll, thanks for making the conference the worthwhile experience it most certainly was. After returning home after Saturday’s session, I looked over my notes and realized just how great the takeaway was from only two short days of listening to the insights of industry folk and other like minded adults.
I’m wrapping up summer sessions for Organic 1 Lab and Lecture next week and I sh*t ya’ll not my grades in both have improved in the short time since the conference. Go Peer Support!!
You are among kindred spirits here. I encourage you to read the diaries as there is a ton of information there and you may just find someone’s story is very similar to yours.
I just finished two things I learned from the conference that I should do: Order all my college transcripts for self-appraisal and read House of God. (This last one still doesn’t deter me.)
I’m already looking forward to next year’s conference!