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Interview with WhiteCoatDO.com Publisher Ryan
Ryan is an MS1 (1st year medical student) and is at Western University College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. He blogs at WhiteCoatDO.com and his old website is PracticalPremed.com. He studied microbiology at UC Santa Barbara and shares how his undergrad classes has helped him in medical school.
Ryan talks about the transition from undergrad to medical school and how he’s studying 8 hours a day. He had heard from others about how much there was to study, but he never believed it. Now he’s living it! We have a brief discussion about some recent news about some medical schools offering 3 year medical school curriculum.
Interview with Non-Traditional Pre Med Torray
Session 8 of The Premed Years brings another great story from a non-traditional pre med student. Our first non-traditional interview was with Russell during Session 6. If you are still unsure about what a non-traditional student is, check out our interview with Rich from OldPreMeds.org during Session 5.
Like Russell, Torray has been teaching for the last decade as an English teacher. He talks to us about how some poor pre med advising during his undergraduate career led him AWAY from medicine. Then some health problems, as often the case is, lead him to rethink his career path.
Reader Profile: KH (55 year old MS3!)
If you're interested in contributing to this series, then drop me an email. The series can be a very valuable source for readers and I need a steady stream of new ones to keep it going.
Next in the series is MedicalSchoolHQ reader KH. She answered my questions (in red below) as follows:
Please tell us a bit about yourself (include where you are in your path to becoming a physician).
I'm someone who has always been interested in medicine. As an undergrad, I majored in biology/pre-med initially. When my GPA was about 3.25, I thought that was hopeless for medical school, and I transferred after my junior year into the junior year of a bachelor's degree nursing program. So after 5 years, had a BSN degree (with SOME of the premed prerequisites). Worked as a nurse, mostly ICU/Cardiac Surgery ICU for 13 years then went to graduate school to become a certified nurse-midwife (I'd gotten certified as a childbirth educator some years before while having my own children so there was SOME tie-in). Worked with a family practice doctor in rural Tennessee at a National Health Service Corps site (they had paid for my MSN in nurse-midwifery). Then moved back to my home state where practicing as a midwife was difficult at the time. Ended up teaching nursing for about 7 years before deciding to go to medical school. Now I'm a 3rd year medical student, at 55 years old.
10 Traits You Need to Succeed in Medical School
The Premed Years has reached 7 episodes! In this podcast I have a special guest co-host, my wife, Allison Gray. As of the publishing of this podcast, she is a Senior Neurology Resident in her last year of residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. You can read more about her in our About page.
We received a very personal email from a reader describing her own struggles and her dream of becoming a physician; she also asked some important questions, and we wanted to answer her question and make our answer available to everyone, so we did a podcast about it.
New Class of 2012 AAMC Data is Available
One of the biggest complaints that I have when I browse around the web looking at pre med advice is that there is a lack of TRUE data, a lack of REAL statistics in the advice being given.
Every year the AAMC, the main body behind allopathic medical schools, puts out amazing data showing the breakdown of applicants and matriculants to M.D. medical schools.
Interview with Non-Traditional Pre Med Russell
In the 6th installment of The Premed Years I had a great conversation with Russell. He is a non-traditional student, 35-years-old and a schoolteacher with a wife and 3 children. He decided to pursue a career in medicine late in life and is now accepted to Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine!
We discussed the path to music that Russell originally took in life and some of the struggles he had when looking for information and connections in the medical field.
Russell shared his experience building a DIY Post-bac program without really knowing what a Post-bac program is.
We also talk a lot about Russells experience during the interview process at both D.O. and M.D. schools and he shares why he thinks D.O. schools are more open to the non-traditional student.
Interview with OldPreMeds Publisher Richard Levy
In session 5 of The Premed Years I talked to Richard Levy of OldPreMeds.org (OPM). OPM is the #1 resource of pre med and medical school knowledge for the non-traditional medical student.
A non-traditional medical student comes in many varieties and usually is somebody that is coming late to the game of medicine. It could be somebody that didn't know they wanted to be a physician until later in life, or it could be someone who had to take some time to increase his/her grades to have a better chance at getting an acceptance into medical school.
Reader Profile: TJ
If you're interested in contributing to this series, then drop me an email. The series can be a very valuable source for readers and I need a steady stream of new ones to keep it going.
Next in the series is MedicalSchoolHQ reader TJ. He answered my questions (in red below) as follows:
Please tell us a bit about yourself (include where you are in your path to becoming a physician).
I began my career in education; first as a classroom teacher for 9 years and then as a counselor for 2 years. After years of telling my students that they should "chase their dreams", I decided it was time to go after what I always wanted to do - become a physician.Describe your path to medical school (MCAT scores, undergrad GPA with emphasis on any difficulties in required courses, D.O. vs M.D. and why, and if you are further along in your training any other information you think would be helpful to others – i.e. AMCAS process tips, interview tips).
As a non-traditional student, we are often viewed as having complicated backgrounds. Ironically, my story is far from complicated. Because I didn't take any of the pre-reqs in undergrad, I needed to take them prior to applying to medical school. After researching post-bacc programs here in L.A., I decided that Charles R. Drew University was the best fit because of the school's mission, a close proximity to my house, and the added benefit of the school having an affiliation with a College of Medicine. Although I haven't taken the MCAT yet, I will prepare for the exam through The Berkeley Review. Because my volunteer/shadowing work has been with M.D.'s and my mentor are M.D.'s, it is only natural that I would choose the M.D. pathway.Reader Profile: EK
If you're interested in contributing to this series, then drop me an email. The series can be a very valuable source for readers and I need a steady stream of new ones to keep it going.
Next in the series is MedicalSchoolHQ reader EK. He answered my questions (in red below) as follows:
Please tell us a bit about yourself (include where you are in your path to becoming a physician).
I began taking post bacc classes in May of 2011. I applied beginning in late June of this year, I had several interviews, but so far, I am going to MSU-COM. There are a couple of schools I might like to go to that I haven't heard from yet. I am glad just to have someone. I have a bachelors and master's degree in music education
Interview with MCAT for Me Founders Eric and Amy
In session 4 of The Premed Years I talk to Eric and Amy about their pre med path and what drove them to start creating MCAT for Me. Listen to this podcast to learn about the MCAT, volunteering, picking a pre med undergraduate school, research and more.
