Medical Would an AdCom look past these red flags?

[AlteredScale]

I currently work as an acute care speech-language pathologist and have 2500+ hours of direct contact with patients and collaborating with physicians/other allied health professionals. I've realized, however, that I love the case history/pathophysiology/education piece of SLP, but not the rehabilitation piece. I always find myself wanting to know more. Making the change to becoming a physician would allow me to continue helping people and allow me to satisfy my intellectual curiosity as to why/how various diseases/disorders occur. Now that I have had exposure to medicine, I see that being a physician is the path I should have been on all along. I am confident that I can do well in both my pre-reqs (which I have just started) and on the MCAT, and can easily start getting shadow and volunteer hours.

The problem is, I have some red flags in my past. For reference, I am 30 now.

1- uGPA: overall is a 2.84 due to a variety of factors, mostly centering around difficulty adjusting to college after high school was so easy/general immaturity. In the few hard science courses I took as an UG, I did earn As, though. My last 3 full semesters + 1 winterim of UG are mostly A/A-s, with 2 B+s, with a Dean's List each semester. I graduated UG in 2015, and subsequently earned a 3.85 GPA from my SLP masters program in 2018.

2- academic probation: due to one of the incidents discussed in point 3, I was briefly suspended from my undergraduate university for violating alcohol policy

3- criminal history:
a) In 2011 after just turning 21, I was arrested for DUI. This is what caused me to be suspended from my university. I was not convicted and instead went through "probation before judgement." I was reinstated in school once I completed an alcohol education program. I was out of school for about a 2 years before getting myself together and mentally in a place where I was mature enough to return to school. I was incredibly stupid to have done this in the first place, and I certainly learned a lot from the process.

b) At the time of the DUI/during my time out of school, I found myself in an abusive relationship with a man 6 years my senior. This relationship culminated in a final physical altercation in fall 2013, during which I was arrested for misdemeanor offensive touching for my actions to defend myself. I pled not guilty. The final disposition of the case was "Nolle Prosequi" or unwilling to prosecute (my ex claimed that I had a substance abuse problem; when I passed a drug test, the court was unwilling to prosecute). I later was granted a restraining order against my ex-boyfriend. The court also expunged this offensive touching charge at my request when I was applying to SLP graduate programs.

My question is: can I even get into medical school with this kind of past, even if I do well in pre-reqs and on the MCAT?

I think an important question to follow with this is since that time (from 2013 on), have you grown? Did you follow the restraining order and stayed away from any further behavior such as reckless use of alcohol or other drugs that would be concerning to medical schools?

If you have, then sure. But that's only the start. Your academic record shows a turn around especially with the strong SLP courses and the improving trend at the end of your undergrad. Follow through with that by getting A's in the additional courses you will need to take (probably need to do a post-bacc) for pre reqs for medical school. Of course do as good as you can on your MCAT.

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[TheBoneDoctah]

I completely agree with the above. It has been a while since your incident. If you have shown in your application with ECs that show community service, amazing grades, an amazing MCAT, then you can probably overcome. We always say time between the incident and application is key. Agree that it would be a good idea to do post-bac work to show you are a changed student that can study effectively and achieve good grades. This will also give you an additional year in between you and the incident.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I agree with above. You need a strong post bacc and a strong MCAT. If you can pull that off, you have a shot.

 

[Goro]

Agree with the above!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I agree but you need to get some champions as references and student affairs advocates. Get an idea of which schools will be more interested in you.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I have two physicians that I currently work with that have offered to write me rec letters (one of whom actually recommended that I go to med school), and I know my SLP supervisor would also be willing to write one. I need to do a DIY post bac for pre-med courses, so I hope to make a good connection or two there as well. Would you consider these options champions enough?

Thank you for your input!

The best letters are from people who know you well and are willing to write you a personalized letter. If they can talk to your character this would help you.