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Academics are just one part of what makes a great physician. And when it comes to the kind of academics you need on the #premed and #medschool path, a lot of it is rooted in study habits and self-discipline that can be learned. So there's no need to be intimidated when you struggle with o-chem or get a bad #MCAT score. If being a physician is what you really want, you CAN do this. You just need to learn the right habits and stick with it for the long haul. And smash that idea of a "perfect" premed or med student. It doesn't exist! No one is perfect, and med schools aren't expecting that. I had two C's on my application. I was rejected in my first year applying, but I stuck with it, and I got in. Since then, I've advised premeds with multiple F's on their transcripts who have done it. Trust me when I say that a couple of bad grades aren't the end. Trust me when I say that it's okay to struggle on this path. If your advisor is discouraging you, find a new one. Listen to my interviews with admissions committee members and successful med students on The Premed Years for a realistic view of how to do this. And just lock onto your goal. No plan B. Keep your focus on what you know you're meant to do, and you will make it happen. Patience and hard work!
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#medicalstudent #medicalschool #futuredoctor #medstudents #whitecoat #usmle #step1 #medicalstudents #medschoollife #futuredoctors #medicallife #medicalfield #medicaldoctor #doctorsofinstagram #PAstudent #premedlife #meded #futureMD #familymedicine #premedstudent #doctortobe #usmlestep1 #medicalhumor #futurePA #shadowing #medschoolproblems #osteopathicmedicine
No, you don't need a clinical job as a premed. They can be GREAT for your #medschool app—but you don't need one.
Sometimes I'll get questions from #nontrad premeds, saying they need to keep their full-time non-medical job to support their family while taking prerequisite classes. That is totally okay.
Most entry-level clinical jobs are pretty low paying. So it makes sense if you need to stick with a non-medical job through this process.
Just make sure you're getting your #clinicalexperience somewhere. Make sure you're getting some #shadowing. You need to show the medical schools that you've really experienced being around sick people, interacting with patients, and observing what doctors do.
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#premed #premedpostbac #premeddaily #nontradpremed #medschoolapplications #medschoolgrind #premedblog #premedgrind #premedclub #premedstruggles #premedstudents #premedstudy #premedtips #medschoolmotivation #premedicalstudent #futuremedicalstudent #futuremed #AMCAS #premedicine #futureDO #futureMDs #medicalstudy #premedadvice #studentdoc #medschooldiaries #futurephysician
Your potential as a #futuredoctor isn't predicated on having perfect grades from day one. It's okay to struggle. It's okay if it takes a while to find your footing.
The premed path is a process that forces you to grow and become better. It's not about nailing everything perfectly from the very start. It's more about your persistence through the challenges.
It's more about how bad you want it than about how easily it comes to you at first.
You don't have to be THAT smart to become a doctor. It's about hard work, priorities, and the right study habits more than anything. These are things you can learn and practice.
So don't let anyone discourage you just because of a bad grade or some other struggles you're having early on. You have time. You're still "doctor material" underneath. Keep pushing one day at a time. You'll get there.
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#premed #medschool #medicalstudent #medicalschool #medstudents #whitecoat #usmle #step1 #medicalstudents #mcat #medschoollife #futuredoctors #medicallife #medicalfield #medicaldoctor #doctorsofinstagram #PAstudent #premedlife #meded #futureMD #familymedicine #premedstudent #doctortobe #usmlestep1 #medicalhumor #futurePA #shadowing #medschoolproblems #osteopathicmedicine
|lets talk about SHADOWING|
in america, doctor shadowing is an ESSENTIAL part to your medical school application. everyone seems to know this, but i get so many questions weekly on how to get this experience!
a) go through your local hospital’s directory and mass email. draft up a very professional request and send it. bonus points for customizing by specialty and discussing your interest in the ones you like. it only takes ONE doctor saying yes, then they can network you with colleagues. this is probably the least effective way.
b) get a scribing job. i get 24 shadowing hours a week for this (36 over the summer), giving me over 500 hours in less than half a year. this is the best way to mass accumulate shadowing hours. some schools are tentative about accepting scribing as shadowing, so make sure you have additional hours!
c) scribing isn’t the only way to get shadowing- as an anesthesia tech, i get to network in the OR and ask for shadowing opportunities from people who already know me. any job in the hospital can help you interact with doctors!
d) ask your family. ask your friends. ask facebook. anyone who happens to know a doctor personally is a super helpful asset!
e) look around your local hospitals for shadowing programs! that’s where i got my first shadowing experience in a level two trauma center. a lot of hospitals have connections with high schools and technical schools for shadowing, and i was lucky enough to find a program that didn’t mind adopting a college freshman.
my main piece of advice: find shadowing early. shadowing fueled my passion and confirmed that i wanted to be a doctor. i watched lives being saved, codes, and saw plenty of nasty things. i also got some stories i could have used for my personal statement had i not gotten further experience.
have you shadowed? what specialty, and what was your favorite? (also, drop cool or funny shadowing stories! they’re always fun to hear)(i passed out and got a concussion my first time shadowing watching someone get an IV placed... IVs are still my weakness to this day). do you guys want a part two about the actual shadowing experience? let me know what questions you have!
Be proactive. Be curious. Show up ready. Repeat. Spent most of the day shadowing in the OR with the Plastic Surgery team and absolutely LOVED it! What made today even better was being able to prep for the cases ahead of time by reading up on the procedures and reviewing relevant anatomy to better understand the surgeries. Ask questions, be observant, and genuinely express your interest - all things that allowed me to scrub in and even assist in the cases today!
If you're working in the hospital gift shop—that's not #clinicalexperience.
If you're just restocking the linen cabinets and the towel warmers in the ER—that's not clinical.
Clinical experience is not necessarily "being in a hospital."
Clinical experience = patient interaction (in or out of a hospital).
"Close enough to smell the patient" is a phrase I got from a Hopkins advisor years ago. I stole it because I think it's a nice, memorable rule of thumb.
Technically, you’re close enough to smell patient when you’re #shadowing, but you’re still not really “smelling” the patient. You’re just observing when you’re shadowing. It’s mostly passive.
Clinical experience is active. Being a CNA, EMT, medical assistant, #phlebotomist, paramedic, nurse, PA—these are amazing clinical experiences. Volunteering counts if you're talking to patients, helping patients. Scribing can be weird to categorize but usually counts as clinical.
The point is: You need to put yourself around patients. Clinical is not just a checkbox for the application. You have to know whether you like patient care!
#premed #premedical #studentdoctor #premedlife #premedstudent
You don't have to be the student who goes directly from high school into college, applies to medical school in your junior year, and then matriculates immediately into #medschool.
Nontraditional is the new traditional. More and more #premed students are taking gap years to make sure that this is what they want. It's a great idea.
Many of my podcasts and posts focus on perseverance on the premed path and how rewarding it can be to take care of patients as a physician. But it's actually fantastic if you realize that medicine's not for you. This is a difficult path, so it's great if you realize that it's not your calling.
And this is another reason not to view shadowing and clinical experience as just being boxes to check off. Getting #clinicalexperience helps you make sure you like interacting with patients, and #shadowing helps you decide if being a doctor is the right role for you in the healthcare team.
If this is the path for you, shadowing and clinical experience will give you certainty and motivation. If it's not the path for you, shadowing and clinical experience could save you 10+ years, hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and ending up in a career you don't love!
So there's no rush on the path to being a physician. Make sure it's what you want before running full speed into this.
#premedical #premedjourney #docsofinsta #premedprobs #SoMeDocs