Applying to medical school with unrelevant undergrad degree

Okay- so. I’m sure there are a lot of posts like this. I’m not sure if this should go in the “what are my chances” topic or this one, but here we go-

I graduated from a state school with a bachelors degree in environmental management. I never took any chemistry, biology, or physics. My gpa was 3.39. I had a customized minor in sustainable design. My lower grades were in classes like economics and accounting. I did a bunch of internships, but the only one really remotely relevant to the medical field was an internship testing the water quality of my town- testing for chlorine levels, dissolved oxygen, etc. I also worked at a nursing home for a couple of years in high school and early college. I wasn’t really in any clubs but I was in an honors society.

Now I’m thinking about medical school. I have a few options I’ve thought of:

  1. Just take the necessary classes for med school at a community college. They'd be cheap and easier then anywhere else but I don't know if that would look not as great on a resume.
  2. Take the necessary classes at my state college which would be more expensive, but maybe it would look better.
  3. I've been wanting to go abroad, so I could possibly do a one year masters of science somewhere abroad that would cover all the necessary classes.
  4. Get a masters of biology or chemistry in the US somewhere and then apply to med school. I figure if I get a high GPA my undergrad GPA won't count as much.
  5. Participate in one of those post-bac programs. I haven't researched much about them.

I know that’s a lot of info- but I feel like I have a lot of options. Does anyone have any suggestions on what would be best? Has my undergraduate low GPA already ruined my chances? All advice appreciated. Thanks!

You still have some hope. But not to any MD school. You should concentrate on DO schools. All those proposed post bacc programs are fine except the CC and abroad routes, medical schools don’t like prerequisites being taken at the CC. And med schools will not take any credits from foreign schools. If you can get a high Gpa in post bacc and a high Mcat there is a DO school will take you.
But how about your medical ECs? Have you done shadowing, clinical volunteering or some bio related research? Research is not absolutely needed but helpful.

  1. DON'T do this. You have mediocre GPA from a 4 year college. You need to demonstrate to adcomms that you have the academic ability to be successful in med school. Taking all your pre-reqs at CC will not help your case.
  2. Much better option.
  3. DON'T do this-- AMCAS/AACOMAS/TMDSAS will not accept transcripts or pre-reqs done at colleges/universities outside of the US or Canada.
  4. Bad idea. MD schools do not consider graduate GPAs when screening students for admission--only your undergrad GPA so getting a Master's degree won't help you.

EXCEPTION: some DO schools will consider a graduate GPA in conjunction with your undergrad GPA.

  1. A definite possibility.

Here is the AMCAS portal for info about post-bacc programs.
https://students-residents.aamc.org/postbacc/


There is more to med school admission than just having the pre-reqs. You need the right ECs--

--physician shadowing
--long term community service with vulnerable populations
--clinical volunteering (clinical means close enough to smell the patients in a place where you can observe first hand patient-physician interactions)
--bench or clinical research if possible
--demonstrated leadership 

The ECs are just as important as the GPA and MCAT score. 

I would suggest you start by doing some clinical volunteering and see if a physicians's life appeals to you before investing time, energy & money into a career change.

Thank you for all of your advice. Right now I have no extra curriculars focused around the medical field except for the fact I worked at a nursing home for a few years in high school and my first year of college. Should I try to start doing extra curriculars ASAP? Can you shadow a physician without even doing post-bacc or being in med school? How would I go about doing research now that I’ve graduated?

Yes, you can shadow a physician without being enrolled in post-bacc. Begin by contacting anyone you know --friends/family/acquaintances – who is a physician or who has a physician family member and asking if they will allow you to shadow. Also try asking your own primary care provider. Network outward from there. It can be difficult finding a physician who is willing, but be persistent.

Research is of lesser importance than other ECs, but if you’re interested in pursuing it, try contacting professors at any nearby colleges/universities and volunteering to work in their labs. Long shot, but may be worth a try. You will probably need to wait on getting involved in research until you’re formally enrolled in post bacc.

Great, thank you. Would volunteering st a hospice center or anything like that be of value?

If you’re truly interested, you find ways to take on the right level of experiences, not just any old thing. Vol’ing in a nursing home, years ago, as a hs kid, was likely just hanging around, talking or playing games?. What do you think you’d do at hospice?

Sorry, but you don’t sound like you know much about this, have ever taken on the responsibilities, nor have truly tested your interest and abilities. How do you know you want to be a doc?

There’s a hospice center near where I live, and I know they need volunteers, which is why I asked. I worked in activities at the nursing home but I also had CNA type responsibilities. You’re right, I don’t know much about med school yet, which is why I’m asking these questions about how to get started to see if it seems right for me. I want to be a doc because I have a special condition that not many doctors are specialized in and that there is not much research it. I’d like to help change that.

Hospice volunteering is fine.

If that is your primary motivation, you need to understand right now that you’re not going to have that kind of impact on medicine unless you have an an academic research career–which is a very specialized career track and usually requires a MD/PhD.

You should not consider medicine as career unless you would be happy working as a primary care doc (family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics).

You need to know that all medical schools have what are called technical standards–which are the minimum physical & communication requirements that all medical students must meet. No exceptions.

You also need to be aware that medical school and, even more so, residency is extremely physically, emotionally and mentally demanding. Medical residents work 80 hours/week (sometimes more), including up to 26-30 hours straight. Resident also work constantly rotating shifts. If this is something that will harm your health or exacerbate your condition, you should think long & hard whether becoming a physician is the right path for you.

Thanks for your input. I will be able to meet technical standards and I’d be very happy working as a primary care doc as well.

Hospice experience may be fine, but the most reputable don’t let people just come in off the streets and volunteer in healthcare delivery. The vol roles are more social support or admin and, ime, there’s vetting. It’s a sensitive environment. Add to that, unlike a hospital setting, these patients are not alert and able to engage.

Yeah, I felt like it’d be good for me because when I worked at the nursing home I often worked with people that were on hospice and when I didn’t I worked in a unit for people with severe Alzheimer’s. Thanks for your input.

@lookingforward @CapeKodKwassa

Hospice volunteering can be either clinical or non-clinical (aka community service) volunteering. It depends exactly what duties the volunteer has and the existence (or lack thereof) of opportunities to observe patient-physician interaction.

Either way, hospice volunteering is a worthy endeavor.

You have received great advice. I might want to add that if you are out of your UG for more than 5 years, the medical school will give special consideration and they call it non-traditionals. Your UG grades will play less in their decisions. Nevertheless, you still need high grades from post-bacc(3.7++), it must be done in a 4 year college and you should have a killer Mcat.

Good luck