Pre-health -- unsure what to do

[quinnscaup]

Hi everyone! This is my first post so I'm just gonna jump right in.

I'm a senior in college intending on taking a gap year. I have been pre-optometry since my freshman year when my grades dipped a little below where I felt comfortable for the pre-medical track. In the past couple years, I pulled my GPA back up and now I am confused as to what to pursue. Now that I feel like I'm in a safer range for dental/medical schools, I have begun to see how I feel about these fields. I have always been interested in the medical/health field. I also have been looking at dentistry, but I also want to try to shadow some different medical specialties as well.

I'm not really sure where to go from here or if I have a shot at medical school. I have a 3.68 cGPA and 3.5 sGPA. My GPA dipped during my sophomore year but I pulled it up a few tenths of a point over the past couple years. I've shadowed several optometrists and a few dentists, but no medical doctors (I do go to a university with a medical school as well so I could easily look into it). I have a lot of free time this semester to check things out. I was planning on taking the DAT/OAT in June, but if I decide to pursue medicine, I don't think I would have enough time to gather my bearings to take the MCAT and apply this summer/fall.

For extracurriculars, I am a resident assistant, orientation leader, research assistant, and have been a teaching assistant for multiple courses. I have multiple strong letters of recommendation in already, but they're not specific to which healthcare field I want to go for -- I also have one from an optometrist.

How likely is it that I could go for medicine? And how long would I have to prepare myself to catch up? I don't really want to settle for optometry because I know I can shoot higher, but I do enjoy the field. Thank you in advance!

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[virtussis]

Being a physician is not “better” or “worse” than being a dentist or optometrist. Shadow a physician and do some clinical volunteering to find out if/why you want to be a doctor. If you cast a wide net with your GPA (assuming you can do well on the MCAT) then I am sure your app will get some attention. However, every medical school will ask “Why do you want to be a doctor”, and “For the prestige” will not impress anyone.

 

[quinnscaup]

Being a physician is not “better” or “worse” than being a dentist or optometrist. Shadow a physician and do some clinical volunteering to find out if/why you want to be a doctor. If you cast a wide net with your GPA (assuming you can do well on the MCAT) then I am sure your app will get some attention. However, every medical school will ask “Why do you want to be a doctor”, and “For the prestige” will not impress anyone.

Yeah, re-reading my post, it sounds like I’m just in it to say “I’m a doctor” lol. I actually originally wanted to go into medicine, but I was discouraged by my performance in school and felt I no chance. So it’s kind of like I’m able to revisit it again now that I feel more comfortable in my academics. I hope that makes my intentions a bit clearer! Thank you for the response!

 

[DO2015CA]

Shadow all 3 professions prior to taking entrance exams. Don’t just throw yourself into medicine because it sounds cool. Make sure you want to work in this setting. You don’t want to get to 3rd year and realize you hate patient care

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

Take advantage of your gap year to shadow all kinds of different health professions and then be honest with yourself about which one fits your personality, work ethic, etc.

Please don't make the mistake that many people make by choosing med school just because it sounds like the most "prestigious" or highest-paying of all the health professions. That may sound very romantic to you at age 21 or 22 but you might be totally miserable by the time you're 40 and working so many hours that your wife wants a divorce and your kids barely know you and you finally realize you hate your job with every fiber of your being.

 

[Siromas]

but you might be totally miserable by the time you're 40 and working so many hours that your wife wants a divorce and your kids barely know you and you finally realize you hate your job with every fiber of your being.