M.D. in Texas with 3.45 GPA undergrad?

[Zmy6262]

Hello! I was wondering if I am a hopeless M.D. applicant with my stats! I am URM (Hispanic )
I have a 3.45 GPA with a strong uptrend for my undergrad (except for OCHEM 1 where I got a C ) I am currently doing an SMP in Biomedical Sciences and do think I will finish with a 3.8 or above. I am also studying for my MCAT right now.
Here are my other attributes:
Great LORs from 2 research lab PIs
Great LOR from Doctor who was also a Colonel in the Air Force
Just finished a pub, but I am not the lead author, no poster
Volunteer for a Crisis Line
Scribe Trainer for wound care, also have experience in Emergency, Endocrinology, Psychiatric and Specialty
Shadowing in Physical Therapy
Volunteer for Salvation Army
Please let me know what I should focus on/modify for my application! I really want to apply May of 2023.

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[Faha]

How many hours of physician shadowing do you have ? How many hours of clinical volunteering/employment with patient contact ? What about your hours for each non clinical activity ? Are you fluent in Spanish ?

 

[wysdoc]

Hello! I was wondering if I am a hopeless M.D. applicant with my stats! I am URM (Hispanic )
I have a 3.45 GPA with a strong uptrend for my undergrad (except for OCHEM 1 where I got a C ) I am currently doing an SMP in Biomedical Sciences and do think I will finish with a 3.8 or above. I am also studying for my MCAT right now.
Here are my other attributes:
Great LORs from 2 research lab PIs
Great LOR from Doctor who was also a Colonel in the Air Force
Just finished a pub, but I am not the lead author, no poster
Volunteer for a Crisis Line
Scribe Trainer for wound care, also have experience in Emergency, Endocrinology, Psychiatric and Specialty
Shadowing in Physical Therapy
Volunteer for Salvation Army
Please let me know what I should focus on/modify for my application! I really want to apply May of 2023.

Keep on doing your best in the SMP, that will help you quite a bit. Does your SMP incorporate MCAT study prep in its curriculum?

 

[Zmy6262]

Keep on doing your best in the SMP, that will help you quite a bit. Does your SMP incorporate MCAT study prep in its curriculum?

Yes it does include an MCAT prep

 

[Zmy6262]

How many hours of physician shadowing do you have ? How many hours of clinical volunteering/employment with patient contact ? What about your hours for each non clinical activity ? Are you fluent in Spanish ?

I am not fluent in spanish, I do not have any patient contact work

 

[Faha]

With no patient contact experience your chances for admission are low. You should accumulate 50 hours of physician shadowing (including primary care) and 200+ hours of clinical volunteering/ employment with patient contact before you apply.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Moving to WAMC

Hello! I was wondering if I am a hopeless M.D. applicant with my stats! I am URM (Hispanic )
I have a 3.45 GPA with a strong uptrend for my undergrad (except for OCHEM 1 where I got a C ) I am currently doing an SMP in Biomedical Sciences and do think I will finish with a 3.8 or above. I am also studying for my MCAT right now.
Here are my other attributes:
Great LORs from 2 research lab PIs
Great LOR from Doctor who was also a Colonel in the Air Force
Just finished a pub, but I am not the lead author, no poster
Volunteer for a Crisis Line
Scribe Trainer for wound care, also have experience in Emergency, Endocrinology, Psychiatric and Specialty
Shadowing in Physical Therapy
Volunteer for Salvation Army
Please let me know what I should focus on/modify for my application! I really want to apply May of 2023.

How do you have experience in those fields but no patient contact experience?

I echo the advice given above, if you don't have patient-facing clinical experience, you won't get in, period. That said, this SMP is also your one chance to repair your GPA, so I would not divide your attention by trying to accrue clinical experience while taking the SMP and preparing for the MCAT. Thus... I really think it would likely be prudent to aim for a 2024 application where you spend this year doing the SMP and next year getting clinical experience. You could also potentially line up a clinical job to start next May as soon as you finish your SMP and potentially accrue enough hours to apply in July 2023. But whatever you do, take your time and do this right. Med school will always be there when your application is ready, but you get only one shot at the SMP.

 

[Zmy6262]

I said no to patient contact because I have heard that scribing does not count. I was a scribe and scribe trainer for 2 years and that is how I accumulated these hours. Would scribing count as patient contact?

 

[wysdoc]

I said no to patient contact because I have heard that scribing does not count. I was a scribe and scribe trainer for 2 years and that is how I accumulated these hours. Would scribing count as patient contact?

I think it does if it was in-person, and see if you can get some shadowing hours in before you apply next spring.