Hi I currently have a 3.25 gpa, and I just graduated with my associates in information systems. I will be attending a 4 year in the Spring, and I’m wondering if medical school is out of the question. I have a bit of mixed history in my academics. I started off strong with a 3.4ish, but then I became ill with bipolar disorder, bringing my gpa down to a 2.7. I worked hard to boost my gpa to the 3.25 it is at now, meanwhile getting the deans list for the past two semesters. My main problem was with math, which really brought my gpa down, but it looks like I don’t have to take anymore of those. I’ve gotten A’s in both the biology courses I’ve taken so far, as well. I did some quick calculations and it looks like the highest I could get my GPA is to a 3.6-3.7, and that’s if I get straight A’s. I heard that one could also go to osteopathic schools, and I’m wondering your thoughts on that, as well.
Thanks all.
First of all, congratulations on improving your GPA. It must have taken a great deal of determination and hard work.
Is your bipolar disorder under excellent control?
The reason I ask is that med school and a medical career are extremely stressful pursuits and have caused individuals with no prior history of mental illness to develop stress-related mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. The suicide rate for physicians and especially for medical student is more than twice that of individuals who are in the same age/risk groups.
To answer some of your questions, you'll need to provide additional information.
Have you taken Calc 1 and statistics? If you haven't then you're not finished your math courses quite yet.
(I ask because my local CC only requires math thru College Algebra & Trig for an IT AAS. Maybe your school is different.)
Have you taken any of the science pre-requisities needed for med school? (Gen chem, ochem, biochem, physics, bio)
If so, which ones and what were your grades?
Have you done any volunteering at clinical sites? Have you done any job shadowing of physicians? (Both will help you see what the daily life of a physician is like.)
Hi WayOutWestMom, thanks for the reply.
I’d say that my bipolar disorder is under excellent control. I’m on a great mixture of medication that works for me, and I have a really good doctor. I attribute the raise in my gpa from my treatment.
I’ve taken both Calc 1 and statistics, so I believe that I should be done with math (thankfully!). My school is the same, and only requires precal for an it degree, though.
I’ve only taken two biology courses, principles of biology 1 and environmental biology. I haven’t taken any chem or biochem courses, though. In both my bio courses I got A’s.
I haven’t done any volunteering at clinical sites, but if I go down the route of attempting medical school then I definitely will.
Sounds like you have a good start, then. Congratulations.
If you can follow thru on your plan to earn only As from here on out, score strong on the MCAT and pick up the necessary volunteer activities/research/leadership positions/ etc needed to apply to med school, then I don’t see why you should rule out a medical career. It’s a possibility. (Though–caveat here–there are no guarantees for anyone–not even perfect students with 4.0 GPAs.)
Depending on what your final GPA and MCAT looks like, you may want to keep osteopathic med schools in mind. Admission to DO programs is slightly less competitive than MD programs. (average admitted: 3.5 GPA for DO vs 3.72 GPA for MD) And DO programs tend to be more forgiving of re-invention or new beginnings than MD programs. Consider using DO grade forgiveness to your advantage to retake any F/D/C grades. (DO programs use grade forgiveness when calculating GPAs–only the newest grade counts; MD programs do not. Also DO programs do not include math when computing your sGPA.)
Osteopaths are fully licensed physicians with identical practice rights to those enjoyed by their allopathic colleagues. The similarities are much greater than the differences. (And the differences will continue to shrink with the unification of the MD-DO residency match starting in 2015.)
If it’s all possible, consider shadowing a DO sometime during the next 3 years. (Some DO schools specifically require LOR from a DO; most don’t or will accept a LOR from an MD in lieu.)
Because you haven’t started the 5 semester chem sequence needed, plan on applying to medical school after graduation from college. Having 2 years of classes at your 4 years will also allow to get to know your profs better so you can get strong LORs from them. Use your 1-2 gaps years after college to strengthen your activities by taking a medicine-related job if at all possible. Maybe with your IT training–medical records management or scribing?
Take some practice MCATs and see how you do.
If you really want to be a doctor, you will get there.
There are a lot of doctors in the US with degrees from non-US medical schools as well. Talk to the pre-health advisors at your new school and they can help you get on your way.
Studying at an international school in hopes of practicing medicine in the US is no longer safe route. The number of US medical grads (MD and DO) is sharply increasing and the number of residency positions has stayed flat. (A US medical residency is required to be eligible for a US medical license.) This means the IMGs are getting squeezed out.
See: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1475200
If you look at the most recent match statistics, you’ll see only about 50% of IMGs match into any residency, including prelim spots (which are 1 year only and have zero guarantee that student will be allowed to complete the residency. Again no residency = no medical license)
Compare this to US grads (MD and DO) who have >97% chance of matching into a US residency.
http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Main-Match-Results-and-Data-2014.pdf