Hello all! I looked for topics that were similar and couldn’t find any, so thought I would post it here! I’ve been enjoying the podcast and forum and am now facing the issue of how to categorize my experiences in graduate medical education (GME).
I began my pre-med journal a few years ago and had double-majored in Biology and a Humanities Major. My mother relapsed with cancer during my studies, and it resulted in lackluster science grades. I volunteered as a scribe at a free clinic for five years, and even worked as a standardized patient and home health aide on and off. Because I am naturally inclined in the Humanities (nerdy kid and a good reader), I had a 3.9 in that major which balanced out my BCPM score of 3.1 for an overall GPA of 3.5. I knew I was not in the right headspace to apply right away and pursued a Masters in Healthcare Management, which I did very well in.
After my Masters, I am now in a great position on the leadership team for our Graduate Medical Education department at a healthcare system. I have done a lot of work with our residency program leadership over the past few years, and some of that has meant that I have shadowed them in order to understand day to day operations, and spearhead quality improvement. I spend a lot of time consulting with subject matter experts who are physicians for other projects as well, and find myself wishing I was in their positon. My work here has just fortified this desire.
I can’t believe I just told you all my life story, but I am unsure of how to count these QI projects and experience, and am also generally unsure if I should be pursuing a post-bacc or putting everything into MCAT prep and just going for it.
Any thoughts or advice is welcome and greatly appreciated!