How to survive your first year of medical school
Let me begin with by extending a hearty congratulation on matriculating to medical school. The pre-med years were tough with organic chemistry, staying involved with leadership activities, chasing down the elusive letter of recommendation, and sitting for the MCAT.
But you did it.
Be proud of what you’ve accomplished because you’re one step closer to becoming a doctor.
You may have fears, concerns or misgivings about what is coming your way and this is where I step in. In June, I completed my first year of medical school so trust me that I am qualified to share advice on making a successful transition to medica...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 28, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Jason Spears Tags: Education Medical school Source Type: blogs
banker applying
by Andino80 (Posted Mon Mar 24, 2014 1:30 pm)So I went to a very prestigious undergrad business school, majored in Econ. Did horrible my last 3 semesters and got out with a 2.7 after starting with a 3.6 my freshman year, started a career on Wall St. as a banker, after a few years I started my own arbitrage group and did very well so I put going back for a post bach for a few years, after some long hard thinking I decided I have had enough of finance and I wanted to go back and do a post bach program, so far i have 3.9 and only have 2 more classes to finish and take the MCAT, raised my gpa to 3.05, science gpa is 3.8 a...
Source: Med Student Guide - March 24, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
Considering Switching to MD or DO Program
by samuel.thomas (Posted Sun Mar 23, 2014 5:46 pm)I am currently almost finished with my first year of Chiropractic school, and I am considering trying to get into a DO or MD program. I have an undergrad in Psychology GPA=3.11 (graduated in 2006), and my prerequisites (basic sciences) and first year of Chiro are all A's except one B (so around 3.96). I am not sure how they will score that exactly. I am not sure what I would need to score on my MCAT, but if anyone knows what my chances are, let me know. Also I would have to do a lot of shadowing hours etc, (I don't think working as a Psych Tech would count would it)? As far...
Source: Med Student Guide - March 23, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
MCAT Study Ideas
by mcat_gold (Posted Thu Mar 20, 2014 4:11 pm)You can pass the MCAT even if you have a flexible self-study schedule. You can do this by availing of an MCAT book and an online MCAT prep course which offers lecture-style teaching on Physics, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biology and Verbal Reasoning; reviews and practice tests similar to the MCAT exam.Then, you need an effective self-study plan. Here, Dr. Brett Ferdinand, MD, creator of The Medical School Preparatory Course (MSPC) and author of “The Silver Bullet: Real MCATs Explained”, shares some self-study tips.Start with the least-liked subject“Begin with y...
Source: Med Student Guide - March 20, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
The Application Process
by foville1859 (Posted Tue Mar 18, 2014 10:00 pm)OK, I am assuming you are in a post-baccalaurate or similar program after having already done the undergraduate bachelor's degree :You will have done MCAT about two months from now, assuming the results are good enough to apply all the places you want, then that is fine After you have completed the whole program / requirements there is no reason not to submit the transcript to AMCAS as soon as possibleMy two concerns would be: - AMCAS essay portion is very important so spend considerable time thinking about that and writing it well - Faculty and busy professionals don't want...
Source: Med Student Guide - March 18, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
How to improve MCAT verbal score?
by mcat_gold (Posted Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:10 am)Hello just sharing a post on Verbal Reasoning from http://www.mcat-prep.com/forum/general- ... 13-15.htmlThere are 2 things that you should try, one of which you have probably done already. 1) You must try both techniques for VR to determine which one is best for you. In other words, try reading the passages first for an entire test, then try quickly taking a peek at the questions then reading the passage once while answering the questions. Students usually find one of these techniques helps most but everyone is different so the technique varies with the student. Now is the tim...
Source: Med Student Guide - March 18, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
LizzyM vs. Studentdoc Score
by Percival B (Posted Mon Mar 10, 2014 4:22 pm)Yes, because the statistics for each school with average GPA and MCAT scores will change year-to-year. So you will not get the most accurate results if your LizzyM is 3 years out-of-date. This site has the most recent data for all the schools. (Source: Med Student Guide)
Source: Med Student Guide - March 10, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
18% on sample test MCAT with no studying, etc
by Percival B (Posted Mon Mar 10, 2014 3:30 pm)I thought this was pretty good for a middleaged woman who hasn't had a bio class in 26 years! Yes, it's good that you could remember the reasons for the answers, especially biology, which is mostly memorization !scored 18% out of the 39 questions on the MCAT online practice test done so far. After you finish the whole practice test, there should be a conversion table available - which estimates your numerical score for each section (Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Verbal) Does this mean I should apply to take the MCAT? Some have said 'go for it'. I have read about all...
Source: Med Student Guide - March 10, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
Doing decent on the MCAT without ever having taken biology
by nenew (Posted Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:09 am)I haven't had a biology or science course in over 26 years and did the MCAT online sample questions 'science' section and did better than I thought, considering I never studied for the test, am in pre-nursing currently, and didn't know any of the material except for (a bit) of one question, recalled from my intro to chem. class I had over 7 years ago. But I did it to see if I could get into med school! I know it is not the only factor, and that of course it is only a test to see how you could handle med school. I can understand someone wanting to take the test(if they have the tim...
Source: Med Student Guide - March 10, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
Horrible grades first 2 years
by Percival B (Posted Sun Mar 09, 2014 5:27 pm)First, not all U.S. medical schools accept students from Canada, and they differ in whether Canadian students are considered "international applicants" or not. Comprehensive list by schools :http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/Forms/Interna ... licies.pdfThe grades mean that you can't come out of a four-year education with greater than 3.0 cumulative GPA. If I understand the numbers correctly -1.8 x 2 years = 3.6 3.8 x 2 years = 7.6---- divided by 4 years = 2. 8 At best based on your past and current performance, looks that you will produce 2.8 cumulative, and possibly less in the scien...
Source: Med Student Guide - March 9, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
4.13 GPA Undergrad, 23 MCAT
by Brady Kinesia (Posted Sat Mar 08, 2014 4:44 pm)If you took MCAT three times already with no progress on the scores, then I agree that either: - You have to analyze why it was that the scores didn't improve, how you prepared for the exam each time, and do something drastically different and with much more effort - Or just leave it at that and apply with the 22. Thing is that all of your MCAT scores are received by the schools, not just the most recent one.So you have kind of established yourself as being in a below-average range as far as the standardized test is concerned. Your grades are great so it's not imperative to...
Source: Med Student Guide - March 8, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
Canadian Medical Schools
by Brady Kinesia (Posted Sat Mar 08, 2014 4:22 pm)Not many Canadian medical schools accept applicants from the USA. The AMCAS site says that 17 Canadian medical schools are members but that doesn't mean that you can apply to all of them internationally, it just means that they may use the MCAT exam as an entrance requirementhttps://members.aamc.org/eweb/DynamicPa ... l%20SchoolI got interviewed at McGill University medical school in Montreal which is the top school in Canada, and submitting the MCAT was optional in their applicationsTo answer the main question, yes the few programs that would accept you applying from abroa...
Source: Med Student Guide - March 8, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
Canadian Medical Schools
by artloversplus (Posted Sat Mar 01, 2014 1:28 pm)How can I find information on them and if they also require MCAT? Are they as competitive? (Source: Med Student Guide)
Source: Med Student Guide - March 1, 2014 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
The effect of imposter syndrome on medical students
I’ll never forget the anxiety of the first day of medical school. I was excited. I was enthusiastic. I was overwhelmed. But all of these emotions were humbly interrupted by my profound, palpable sense of otherness. I was surrounded by one hundred and sixty-seven brilliant peers, many from high-ranking undergraduate schools and each of whom had countless accomplishments in their already rich pasts. They clearly, unquestionably deserved to be here. As for myself? Maybe the admissions file got accidentally dropped in the wrong pile. Maybe the committee had naively misinterpreted my undergraduate GPA to actually mean that I ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 1, 2014 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Education Medical school Source Type: blogs
