@Tunde1
So some questions first–
Have you completed all your pre-req classes?
Have you taken the MCAT?
What is home state?
**SMPs** are specialized programs for individuals who need to improve their sGPA in order to become a strong candidate for medical school. These are kind of a last chance option. I don't advise them for students unless they have no other choice.
Applying to a SMP program is very much like applying to medical school itself. You will need a MCAT score, a resumé with the expected pre-med activities (physician shadowing, community service with disadvantaged, clinical volunteering) and 3 LORs (2 from your BCPM professors, 1 from a non-science prof).
Based on what you've written above, you wouldn't be a good candidate for a SMP. Your GPA is fine, and you're lacking a MCAT score, ECs and appropriate LORs.
Master’s degrees won’t help with med school application. Allopathic med schools (MD program) really don’t consider graduate coursework (except for that taken at a SMP) when admitting students. Osteopathic med schools will include graduate science coursework in GPA calculations.
Based on what you’ve written, your GPA looks OK so attending a MS program won’t help.
Penn offer several certificate programs. I'm not sure which one you're talking about.
Are you talking about the GTMS program(Graduate Training in Medical Sciences)?
That program is for PhD level biomedical researchers who want to gain exposure to the clinical side of biomedicine. It's really not designed for med school hopefuls.
Most of the certificates offered at Perleman are for med students or physicians in order to gain exposure to particular skills.
The Pre-Health Specialized Studies Program is Penn's SMP and requires that same application portfolio as any other SMP--faculty LORs, MCAT score and appropriate ECs.
Many of the medical certificate programs you're talking about are actually grade-enhancing post-baccs for pre-meds whose undergrad GPAs are too low to be creditable applicants to med school. This isn't your problem.
Other certificate programs are designed for career changers--individuals who have not taken their science pre-reqs for med school. If you have completed all or most of your pre-reqs, you're not eligible for these programs.
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My advice-- assuming you have finished all your pre-reqs, you really don't need additional coursework. Your GPA is in an acceptance range for most medical schools.
What you need is additional exposure to medicine through physician shadowing and clinical volunteering/employment.
You also need a track record of sustained non-clinical volunteering with disadvantaged populations. (Medicine is career of service to others so adcomms want to see a demonstration of your altruism.)
No formal program is going to provide these for you. This is something you need to do yourself.
Many recently graduated pre-meds spend 1-5 years getting their ECs done in order to build a strong application.
You can opt to work in a medically related job--many pre-meds work as as a medical scribe. (Lots of opening for these type of jobs through agencies that provide scribes to medical practices/hospitals. These companies will train you.) Another option would be to earn a CNA (certified nursing assistant) certification (It takes about 4-6 weeks, training available through your local community college.) and work as a CNA or PA (patient assistant) at a hospital, surgical center, nursing home, rehab center, hospice, etc. Still another option is earn your EMT certification (again, available through your local community college, typically a 1 semester/quarter class) and work or volunteer as a hospital EMT for a year or more, maybe even transitioning into being a ER tech.
Medically related jobs get you the patient contact exposure you need for med school, but they don't pay well.
If you need to support yourself, find a better paying job and devote your weekends/free time to volunteering at a hospital, hospice, or nursing home.
Clinical volunteering (and employment) brings you into contact with many physicians and once you have established yourself as a mature, trustworthy individual, many will be willing to allow you to shadow them. But you're going to have to put yourself forward and ask.
Which ever route you decide to pursue, you will still need to add community service with the disadvantaged to your activities. Find a cause that's close to your heart and volunteer with an organization that provides services in that area. It can be tutoring students at low resource schools, coaching a Special Olympics team, working in a soup kitchen or food pantry, Meals on Wheels, answering a suicide/rape crisis hotline. The possibilities are endless.
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RE: research experience. Unless you are gunning for research intensive medical schools, you really don't need laboratory research experience to apply to med school so don't worry about finding a PI.
Alternatively, if you have been involved with any type of physics research in undergrad, this is acceptable to med schools. Research experience doesn't need to be in a biomedical field. (My older D was a physics major who did medium energy particle research in undergrad--she was still accepted to med school. No one ever asked her about her research, but it ticked the research box on her CV.)
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I'm not sure what to tell you about building personal relationships with your professors. Unless you are planning on taking additional coursework the ship has kind of sailed on that.
Since D1 had also been planning on applying to medical physics programs I know that med physics program require LORs from professors. Who would you have asked for your med physics LORs?
Med school applicants need at least TWO LORs from professors in the sciences (biology, chemistry, physics or mathematics). Surely you have a physics or math prof whom you could ask for a letter? Letters from professors in those disciplines are perfectly acceptable so long as they address your abilities as a student. (IOW, the LOR isn't expected to be medicine-focused.)
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D1 was a physics & math double major who decide she wanted to pursue med school when she was a senior. She finished her pre-reqs and got her clinical and non-clinical ECs done post-graduation while working a day job to support herself. It took her 3 years. Then she went to med school. She's now an attending physician. It's not easy, but it can be done.
Good luck on your journey!