Somewhat Non-Traditional student with low GPA

Hello everyone,

I am currently a senior at Texas Tech University studying Biology. I am in extreme need of advise and counseling. I will be graduating this December with probably around a 3.1-3.2 overall GPA and roughly 3.0 science GPA. It has taken me 6+ years to complete undergrad due to having to work full time jobs to pay the bills and struggling with debilitating anxiety and depression.

I got married half way through college, which only took more time away from my studies. I cannot afford not to work. I have to support my wife and we have a baby on the way. They take precedent over everything, because I HAVE to support my family. However, this has made it difficult to go to school and perform well. I am at the point now where I know I will need to complete some sort of Master’s program (if I can even get into one) or post bacc, in order to show that I can perform well in school and get good grades. And I will need a masters in order to get a real job to support my family. Also, with having to work so much, I have no time to do extra-curricular activities. I was a scribe in the ER for two years, which was the best experience I have ever had. I learned so much about medicine and what it truly means to be a doctor, but that is the only “real” clinical experience I have. I am currently a medical equipment technician and work on testing medical devices (defibrillators, patient monitors, stretchers, EKG machines, etc.). I have had this job for about 8 years.

I HAVE to go to medical school and become a physician. It is a 100% HAVE TO and there are no other options for me. I cannot see myself being happy doing anything else. But I am stuck between a rock and a hard place with my track record of bad grades and length of time it has taken me to graduate. I am becoming increasingly worried that I will never be able to get into or do well in med school and I will be unhappy for the rest of my life.

Is there anyone out there with some advice as to what I can or should do right now to start turning this around. I feel like I need to completely start from scratch and I am so so worried that I have ruined all my chances of becoming a doctor just because I had to work and support myself and took a long time to graduate. On paper, I look like a horrible student. I am just worried that I will not be able to support my family and I will end up being unhappy if I don’t do everything I possibly can to try and get into medical school.

Any advise or suggestions would be awesome, and I am sorry for such a long post my first time on here. Thanks everyone!