Hello!
I am currently active duty in the Navy as a helicopter pilot. I went to my undergrad as a premed student on a ROTC scholarship, as my recruiter told me I would be able to pick up a spot to go to medical school for the Navy after my undergrad. I was informed this wouldn’t happen by my advisors in ROTC in my sophomore year, so I reluctantly dropped premed to try and find a new dream. (No one did end up getting a spot my graduating year, so unfortunately they were right.) I ended up applying for an aviation spot, got selected for pilot, made it through flight school and got my first choice of helicopters (choosing them for MEDEVAC/humanitarian aid/disaster relief opportunities.)
I’m coming up on the end of my minimum service requirement for the Navy and want to get back to my original dream of becoming a physician. It’s something that has constantly been on my mind and in my heart - so now is the time. (You know it’s right when you’re flying the helo and would prefer to be in the back helping the patient!) I have enrolled in a post-bacc premed certificate program and intend on taking 30-40 credits in the next 2.5 years both to refresh knowledge (I am 6 years post-undergrad) and hopefully boost my GPA. I’m doing this part-time as I’m still active duty. I do not have any clinical experience as of yet (other than flying medical evacuations and leading COVID measures at my workplace, neither of which are really clinical) nor research experience, so I am attempting to get experience in both of these areas as soon as possible (some hold-ups due to COVID.) Some stats on my undergrad: 2.9 science GPA, 3.34 cumulative, BA in Biology, I’m hoping to get that up to a 3.6 cumulative and 3.3-3.4 science GPA by the end of my post-bacc.
Is there anything I’m missing? A bit overwhelmed trying to pick up where I left off and hoping my undergrad grades don’t hurt me too much if I can prove my capabilities in my post-bacc. Thanks for any help!!