First off, I would just like to thank all of the people who spend time answering questions on OPM as well as SDN; You all have been more help then you could ever imagine.
A little history about myself before we get into the dilema I am facing. Highschool:Honors classes, with decent grades but never really challenged or had any real motivation to excel… Planned to join the military straight out of highschool, so I never took the act or sat. About a month before I was scheduled to leave for the military I decided that college is something I am interested in. By this time it was to late to enter the fall semester…entered spring semester in a CC- Drank, partied, worked as a bar tender and ski instructor for the semester(school was not my focus) then I transferred to a state school, as I was on academic probation from the CC. I got a horrible GPA this past year but walked away with my emt-b cert. At this point in my life my parents sat me down and said maybe college was not right for me, and I should work to find out what I wanted to do, as well as grow up alittle bit. So I did, I work for an ambulance service in a ALS system, (Iv varienced, CPAP, Vent, as well as some SQ injections). Through my job as an emt, I have had a ton of patient contacts, started a lot of iv’s, intubated a patient, delivered a preterm baby and performed cpr, reviving the baby, GI bleeds, performed cpr on cardiac pt’s etc. I also work in an emergency room as an aide where I come into contact with even more patients as well as working with doctors and nurses on a daily basis, I observe a surgery about once a week(off the clock).I also volunteer as a hospice home health aide, am an AHA certified cpr/first aide instructor, A DOT certified EMT/First responder instructor. If you can’t tell I love medicine as well as the EMS system;
Now back to my dilema. I am returning to school at the age of 20, and I am wondering if med schools will take into consideration my maturing and experiences working in the health field. I know with my previous mess ups going to a state md school is going to be out of the question, but do I have a shot at a D.O. or maybe even Carribean school? I will be done with UG, in around 2 1/2 years and will finish with a strong 3.3-3.4 gpa. I guess I am looking to you guys who have been through the application process, and acceptance process, who really know what adcoms are looking for as well as who has a chance and who doesn’t.
Sorry for grammatical errors, I am at work in the er, and am trying to find time to post.
Thanks
scritches his head You may want to hear replies from some of the people who are farther along in the process than me but if you’re going to finish with a 3.3 or 3.4 GPA, I don’t see why you wouldn’t have a good shot at getting into any med school. You have plenty of medical experience so obviously clinical experience is covered, you volunteer, your GPA you expect to finish with is still good, and if you do well on your pre-med req classes and the MCAT, I would think you’d have an excellent chance. There are some specific medical schools too, such as Drexel, that supposedly give preference to people with experience as EMTs or medics.
Agreed. If you can finish up with a 3.3-3.4 gpa, and score a solid 30+ on the MCAT you will be fine for US allopathic. That’s your best bet by far.
And if the MCAT doesn’t pan out like you expected, come back here for advice.
mdjd