Medical Would like to pursue medicine, but struggling with mental health. What should I do?

[Goro]

I have struggled with mental health on and off throughout my undergrad and it's been exacerbated by the unexpected death of a family member who was murdered in a mass shooting and difficulties as a young newly married person who's husband just started a new business full time and the financial stress of a mortgage, etc. I'm only 25 but was married at 22 and all these things have happened in the last three years. I know everyone has their own struggles and can thrive but I haven't handled stress or coped well. I felt very suicidal recently also. I'll cut to the chase...

I was enrolled in only 2 classes (about 6-8 hours) for a couple semesters and working as a science tutor about 10 hours a week because I was struggling mentally and still got only B's in those classes. I was also enrolled in an EMT-B program. Since then I've been in marriage counseling and personal counseling. I began shadowing, I'm a casa advocate, a hospice volunteer and animal shelter volunteer. I volunteer at my church on sundays, my husbands business has done much better. We got roommates to relieve some financial stress and I am no longer working but fully dedicated to school.

I upped my enrollment in my junior year and received 3 A's (biochemistry evolution and physics lab) and 1 B's (physics) (made the deans list! whoo) and now coming into my senior year I started with 13 hours. Well I just realized I'm struggling again with some health issues but I'm trying really hard to take care of my self and stay positive but those nagging suicidal thoughts have come back around the anniversary of my family members death. I'm doing pretty well in my classes so far. I made a 96 on my first immunology test but I dropped the lab tonight because it's 1 credit hour, I don't need it to graduate. It doesn't contribute greatly to my gPA and I missed the first week of lab (automatic 10 pt. deduction on lab grade.) for someone who is struggling to repair their gPA and up there game was this a stupid move? I have a metabolism test coming up and I wanted to focus my energy on that and not my lab report. I want to take the lab again but it's separate from my lecture portion. I'm obsessing about the W on my transcript but I'm really trying to show an upward trend on my transcript and I know that If I drop this lab it'll free up at least 4 hours a week for me to focus on my harder classes. I have a 3.24 science gpa and an overall 3.47 gPA. I have 30 credits of purely science classes left so I have a chance to get this right I think if I can manage a 4.0 over my last 3 semesters and I believe I can do it If I'm strategic. What do y'all think? for ref. I'm taking immunology, metabolism, histology, histology lab and experimental biochem rn. I dropped the lab 1 credit hour portion of immunology.

Very sorry to hear what you're going through.

First off, you're going have to get your mental health to 100%.

Medical school is a furnace, and I've seen it break even healthy students. The #1 reason my school loses students to withdrawal, dismissal or LOA is to unresolved mental health issues.

Depression is poorly managed on anonymous message boards. Go seek out your school's counseling center and get some help.

DO definitely doable; MD not. Your sGPA is not competitive as is, unless you have a steep rising GPA trend.

It sounds like you have a lot going on in your life and you're also going to have to develop time mgt skills, and figure out what your priorities are.

Read this:

• Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

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[Mr.Smile12]

I agree: do well in school, but do better for yourself.

 

[BC_89]

A common theme every so often on here when it comes to correlating grades with self-preservation is that each user either:

1) Did not take quality time for themselves (breaks, small activities with family, exercise, etc).
2) Excluded themselves from seeing professional help with a specialist in the Behavior Health Department

Having experienced mental multiple types of health crisis while on active duty (and since then been medically retired), I strongly encourage you to take time for yourself (even if it means grieving in your own way). Seek a primary care physician to give you a referral to a Behavioral Health Specialist or therapist.

Many have stated in the past that medical school programs (any program for that matter) are not going anywhere and this is 100% true. You are better off getting it right the first time when sending in primary / secondary apps when the time comes. For now, take your time and know your getting one step closer to your goals. I wish you well.