Hi, everyone. My name is Katherine. I heard an NPR segment a few months ago about the rural health scholarship and it motivated me to look at what exactly is available for tuition assistance. The last mental barrier to pursuing my MD was removed. I’ve dance around this decision my entire life. I went to school to be a dietitian, I worked for in-home care, I currently work as an insurance specialist doing medical billing. But I had a huge mental block to making the final step: what if I can’t make it? What if I do make it and can’t pay for it? What do I do if I make it, can pay for it, but my other obligations are just too much for me to concentrate on my coursework? The ultimate caveat to all this: I’m a single parent to a son with a mental disability. (His father took off when he was diagnosed.) I’ve spent the past six years, teaching him skills that comes naturally to most children, but after all this time, he is as functional and mature as one could expect from a 9 year old. Buoyed by my success, I’ve taken stock of my chances and made a plan. I have a 3.3 gpa which I acquired while working full-time and raising him on my own. I’m going to spend the next year working and self-studying while saving money and paying off things like my car, so my expenses will be low. The next year I can continue to work while going back for the last two recommended classes. Then take the MCAT. Giving myself a couple years to study has taken a lot of pressure off. It also gives me and my son time to acclimate to another schedule and a new set of responsibilities. His maturity level at 13 (by the time I’m in my third year) should be high enough to handle me not being as available.
I want to be a family physician in an under-served area. I want it very badly. I study every day and listen to podcasts for about six hours every weekday, including oldpremeds. This podcast and community has answered so many questions, given me access to so many resources, and generally given me hope for my path. Thank you so much for being available to us non-trads.
Katherine, you rock, mama. That kiddo is lucky to have you in his corner, no matter the outcome. You’ve already proven that you can do hard things, and I’m rooting for you as you do this hard thing.
Thank you, NarcissticBalogna. And I have to say, that is the coolest name I’ve ever seen.
Awesome job. Your post really inspired me. What other podcasts do you listen to besides OPM?
@DocWannaBe wrote:
Awesome job. Your post really inspired me. What other podcasts do you listen to besides OPM?
I use podcast addict to listen to the university of il chicago lecture for biochem, the open yale course for organic chem, and khan academy’s video podcasts for higher math. With Google Play, I listen to Hospital and Internal Medicine, MedPod 101, and InsideTHEBoards. InsideTHEBoards is more for showcasing different resources for studying. MedPod 101 has been crazy helpful, though I don’t like how stereotypical and derogatory his impersonations of patients can be. I also use the apps picmonic, MCAT 2017 and Figure 1. I picked up a bunch of old text books from Goodwill to review. So whenever a podcast brings up something in which I’m not well-versed, I can jot down a note and look it up later.
Thank you.
Not a problem. Do you have any suggestions? What are you doing differently to prepare? I wish there were a study group near me for the mcat. It would really help to have other people to bounce ideas off. It’s pretty isolating doing all of this on your own, you know?
So I got great news. My undergrad university called and said that I only need to do the final paper to get my degree. I told them, thank you, but I still need to do these last two courses to complete my prerequs for med school. But it is absolutely thrilling to know that after so much hard work, I basically have that precious piece of paper to prove it. lol