Session 95

For our episode today, I got the opportunity to interview Deandre, a 30-year old, nontraditional first-year medical student at Boston University. Deandre took the long road to medical school, starting from a community college.

Listen to this podcast episode with the player above, or keep reading for the highlights and takeaway points.

Deandre’s Journey from Community College to Medical School

Deandre shares with us his journey to med school, which certainly had a number of detours. He attended several years of community college, trying to figure out what he really wanted. Then he went to a four-year university, still not knowing what direction he was going to take.

Eventually one of Deandre’s professors talked some sense into him, and that conversation was what ignited his passion for science and his passion for healing people. That set him on a path toward getting multiple acceptances to medical school and where he is today.

How Deandre Went from Community College to Premed to Medical School:

• How Deandre is adjusting in his first year of med school
• The rigors of studying and what you gain from it
• Advantages of exposed to patients as early as the first year in medical school
• The trend toward more nontraditional students in medical school (he is not the oldest one in the program)
• The conversation he had with his physiology professor that got him to start working on his medical school application
• How his community college grades came back to haunt him
• How he entered the workforce and almost gave up the path to med school
• His experience studying for the MCAT and how nauseated he felt after the exam
• What surprised Deandre when he walked into his first medical school interview
• Narrowing down his choice from multiple med school acceptances
• The value of finding a mentor to guide you on your journey from community college to medical school

Some pieces of advice for premed students:

• You really have to know yourself before you walk into the interview because the interviewer will deconstruct you. (You can practice interviewing with our anytime mock interview platform.)
• Make sure by the time you graduate, you’re confident you have the skills needed to get through med school.
• You can go from community college to medical school. Don’t be discouraged by people who say medical schools look down on community colleges. That tide is changing, and it’s not unanimous.
• Don’t rush into classes when you’re not ready. Don’t let peer pressure get the best of you.
• It’s not a killer situation to get one bad grade or two. But it is a killer situation to not learn from your mistakes and keep doing the same thing over and over again.
• It’s never too late to go to med school. Don’t compare yourself to others. Just do your thing.

Links and Other Resources:

• Connect with Deandre on Twitter @doctororbust
• Deandre’s blog: doctororbust.wordpress.com
• Related episode: Interview with a 56-Year-Old Medical Student
• Related episode: Deciding if Medicine is Right for Me at 30 Years Old
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