Hey everyone!
I am currently in college finishing up my first year as a senior chasing my Psych degree. I first wanted to be a psychologist but I have had my mindset on something different lately. I have been set on becoming a doctor. It is weird because I have never considered it until this year. A lot of stuff has happened to me this year. I broke my knee cap, injured my wrist, broke my toe, and my mom was diagnosed with cancer. To say the least I have been immersed in the hospital/medical field as of late.
I have grown extremely fond of the idea of becoming a doctor. I really want to make this happen! I currently have a 3.08 Gpa with 98 credits but should be at 3.2 after this fall. My question is what do I do to get started? I think that my Gpa is lower because I was never really passionate about my school but now I feel different. I am beyond excited about my next semester of school. I am ready to be done with Psych classes and ready to take on the science course. I have taken Biology and absolutely loved it even though I got a B in the class. I loved going to that class specifically. I however did not do so hot in the Chem 1 but it was because I gave up and thought I only needed a C. I feel differently now. I really want to do well. Like I said before I am excited about school but I think it is because next semester I will have purpose. Not purpose in the sense that I will get my degree in Psych but purpose in the fact that I will take my first steps as a pre-med and man does that make me excited.
With all this excitement comes the sense of being overwhelmed. I feel this way because there is so much I need to do that I have not done. I need to take this class and that class and also get clinical experience. I am thinking about taking Chem 1 next semester with lab along with A and P with lab while also taking my last two Psych courses. What should I do about getting clinical experience? I just got the job as a pharmacy tech but that wont count as clinical experience. My question is what should I do to gain that. I need to work but also have time to study while also getting clinical experience.
My next question is can I get into med school? I understand that I need a good GPA and MCAT. I need to take around 6-7 prereqs but my current GPA has me nervous. Ideally, I would get all As but lets be honest that would be very very hard to do. I really want to make this happen but my current GPA and lack of clinical experience have me nervous to even start.
To wrap up my question is how can I gain tons of clinical experience while working and can I make it to med school with my current GPA plus the other prereqs given that I wont have straight As?
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I could have written this post as I could relate to your story. My undergraduate minor is in psychology, and I entered undergrad wanting to be a teacher or school counselor. I actually applied and was accepted to both teaching credential programs in my mid-to-late 20’s but decided against those as I didn’t feel called to either. Medicine didn’t cross my mind as a potential career until about 1.5-2 years after I graduated due to personal medical experiences. Also, I hated chemistry in high school and struggled with math my entire life. Needless to say, my fear of chemistry explains why I didn’t seriously consider a post bacc until my late 20’s and I started it a week before my 30th birthday.
A lot of schools look at upward trend so if your grades in your post-bacc are strong, that’s one way you can demonstrate readiness for the rigorous med school curriculum. In undergrad, I got a C in stats and some C+'s in required core classes my first few semesters. Most of my grades were B’s and A’s, but I wasn’t too concerned about straight A’s because I wasn’t interested in med school and knew that teaching credential and MSW programs were easier to gain acceptance. I personally think B’s are fine as long as your GPA is competitive enough for schools in which you are interested. However, some may disagree (my new advisor is one of those people as she told me no more than 3 B’s).
To answer your question about getting clinical experience, med schools expect to see it. It can be paid, volunteer, or shadowing. They want you to see that you understand the day to day reality of being a physician. I’ve been scribing for 10 months and I love it! It’s a great way to learn medical terminology and see clinical presentations of various conditions. If you can, I recommend looking for scribe jobs outside of companies like Scribe America because the private practice pay is higher and usually doesn’t require nights or weekends. Those companies typically place people in EDs, and shadowing 2 ER physicians taught me that the ED isn’t for me. I work for a solo doc, so I’ve been able to get to know him better than I might have in the ED scribing for multiple doctors. My job is part time as he’s a urologist who does a lot of surgery, so it’s perfect for my school schedule.
Just a heads up that finding clinical experience can be challenging. I was a receptionist at a mental health clinic (psychiatrists and therapists) for 2 years before my current job, and finding a new job took almost a year. In addition to scribing, I looked for MA and clinical research positions. A lot of scribe jobs are part time, or you could take fewer classes to get clinical experience (unless not having a full time course load disqualifies you from financial aid and/or living on campus)