“Congratulations! You have matched.”
Watch out, Emergency Medicine. There’s a new doc in town.
Get hit in the side of the head with mardi gras beads.
Think you have a subdural hematoma.
That moment when you finish a book, look around, and realize that everyone is just carrying on with their lives as though you didn’t just experience emotional trauma at the hands of a paperback.
Oh my gosh, I can totally relate to this!
Yes!! THIS!
(Source: treesquirrrel)
christinajane86 asked: First, I wanna say that I really enjoy reading your blog posts! Congrats on making it to the 4th and final year!!! Where do you go to medical school? Did you attend a public university for undergrad? I'm starting a post-bacc premed program this summer, and I'm nervous about my chances of getting into med school! Did you know any classmates at med school who hadn't done stellar in undergrad (gpa)? Did you know any nontraditional students... Perhaps any former nurses???
Thanks and thanks! Fourth year is amazing, if you haven’t yet gathered that from my mountain of blog posts to that effect. To answer your questions, well, you’ve come to the right place!
I attend a state/public school for medical school, and I also attended a fairly huge state public school for undergrad. As it turns out, I do know a few nontraditional students — including myself! At least, I think I know myself. Can anyone truly know his or herself? … .
Sorry, where were we? ADHD. That’s why I’m going to be an emergency medicine physician.
So, I graduated with a degree in English lit back in 2004. Loads of fun, and plenty of easy A’s for me, but I took a grand total of one science class. So a few years later when I decided I wanted to pursue that high school dream of being a doctor after all, I mostly had to start from scratch.
As a side note, when I was trying to decide whether it would be worth it to go back to school, I was talking to my grandmother about it, bemoaning the fact that I would be 30 by the time I graduated. Her response, “You’re going to be 30 anyway!” I think those might be the most meaningful words of wisdom anyone has ever given me, because here I am now, 30 years old, and just a couple of months away from receiving my MD. Beats the hell out of being 30 without an MD.
Anyway, so I packed up and went back to school full time — the same large university I attended for undergrad, as a matter of fact — in 2007, after a three year stint in “the real world.” Miraculously — and through the beauty of the fact that you can there are TWO summer sessions! You can knock out two sequential courses in one summer! — I actually managed to finish by the end of 2007.
In January of 2008, I became an ER scribe and worked at that job full time until I entered med school in August.
So I wasn’t a nurse, but I can tell you that there are a few former nurses in my class, and they know their crap. I’m pretty sure med school admissions people are probably well aware of this, and that will take you far in terms of getting admitted. I do know that if your grades aren’t amazing, they tell you that you can make up for that by having a lot of experience in the medical field — and you certainly have that. I think that is ultimately the thing they value the most other than grades. Case in point — when I applied, my MCAT wasn’t stellar (it was about average to a little below average for those who got admitted), and I was wait-listed at the three schools that interviewed me. However, after I got my scribe job, I mailed a letter to the school that I really wanted to go to, and I reiterated my interest in their program and told them about my job in the ED. They called me literally the day after they received my letter and offered me a slot in their class. So I think your experience makes a huge difference. It shows you’ve been there, you know what it’s like, and you still want to be a doctor — you’re not just imagining some amazing doctor fantasy land where everyone loves you and thinks you’re the most important person on the planet and the patients bring you valentines and cookies every holiday after you fly back in your own personal jet from your 7 day Caribbean cruise in your yacht.
Oh, another important thing — your previous grades aren’t going to carry nearly as much weight as your post-bac grades, so study your ass off, because you still have some control over this part. And try to beat the hell out of the MCAT too. It also makes a big difference, and it is also something you can do very well at if you’re willing to put in the time. My score should have been higher, but I bombed one of the sections for some reason. It was an off day.
You sound like you’re in a really good position though, so work hard (it’ll prepare you for the studying gauntlet of med school anyway), and always keep your end goal in sight. I can’t tell you how many times that alone kept me going.
Keep me posted!
Ain’t no party like a spinach party, cuz a spinach party is high in nutritional value BD
I WOULD TOTALLY HAVE A SPINACH PARTY, I LOVE SPINACH.
Hee hee.
(Source: thedailywhat)
The show that started it all …
Yep, I’m one of those kids who became a doctor because of ER. Hey, give me a break! No one in my family was a doctor!
50% of people are dumber than average.
At House of Blues to see Brandi Carlile!
So I went to my first day of my radiology rotation today. Guess what I did. I sat in a reading room with an attending for two hours and looked at ultrasounds. And then I went home.
Life is good.
