Hi all! I’ve lurked on the board for a little while now, but since I’ll be attending the Vegas Conference this weekend, might as well make myself known.
I’m a 26-year old with a background in science, but it has taken me forever to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I graduated from the College of NJ in '07 with a degree in Biology and College Honors. GPA 3.33, BCPM 3.07 … certainly nothing to be ashamed of. I was rather burned out from stress by the end and not sure what the next step should be. I had done a REU (research internship) in ecology and I loved biology and natural sciences, but I also wanted a secure, well-paying career.
Without a clear-cut plan, I got a job in an environmental testing lab and had a terrible time of it. I was good at the mind-numbing, repetitive work but it paid peanuts and I was constantly on the verge of completely broke. This couldn’t last. Eventually I decided to make another go at pharmacy school (I had applied and gotten into Temple pharm at the end of undergrad, but I couldn’t convince myself that it was really what I wanted.) I got a better paying job and went into a MBS program to pick up some anatomy and physiology courses I needed for pharm school.
Trying to make a long story shorter: I fell in love with medicine. My MBS program was at Robert Wood Johnson and I took a bunch of classes with the med students. It was amazing and I want medicine more than I have ever felt towards another career. It’s going to be a LOT more schooling (I’m sure many of you can relate) but I think I’m up for it.
Going to the conference this week and my fiance (Fedaykin… another poster on here) and I are enjoying the Grand Canyon and some vacationing beforehand. Applying to schools this cycle. MCAT is one week away. I’m studying (hopefully enough) but I did well on the GRE and PCAT (pharmacy school version of the MCAT) so I hope to do well-enough to be competitive.
A quick question while I have your attention. I have extremely little volunteer experience. I’ve worked in hospitals for years but pharmacy tech-ing doesn’t give any patient contact. I’ve shadowed a physician but he ran a pathology lab… no patients there either. Am I at a complete loss here? I’ve volunteered through my church at a soup kitchen like twice and I can definitely put in some good hours to more of that and shadowing at a local clinic once the MCAT is done, but is that enough, especially when it will be in the days/weeks before submitting my AMCAS? I can talk up the soup kitchen, but it’s not really going to be a unique experience to separate me from the crowd. The “Need Advice on Applying now or in a few Months” thread in the Applying discussions was helpful, but I’m not sure about the drawbacks between “almost no experience” and “some little experience that was clearly immediately before applying”. Any advice would be great.
See some of you tomorrow and this weekend!
Welcome to OPM! I’m also going to the conference, and look forward to meeting you. 
- scifiblue Said:
Any advice would be great.
See some of you tomorrow and this weekend!
See some of you tomorrow and this weekend!
Yay for conference, and I bet this totally gets covered for you this weekend.