Repentant deadbeat ISO an MD, here we go again...

[WanderingDave]

I was the valedictorian of my high school. Honors. AP track. Hospital volunteer work. Extracurriculars galore. Numerous beatings from jocks.

Then I got to college. A small northeastern US liberal arts place. I had no vision for my future, and so became a burned out loser who smoked pot, drank beer, surfed the net, battled heavy bouts of existential angst, and racked up a string of straight Bs due to native ability alone. Liked by many, respected by none. Majored in Chinese and minored in Japanese and film. Graduated in 2002 and felt like a fraud.

Fast forward 2 years. I'm 24. Backpacked 15 countries on 3 continents. Speak 2 Asian languages. Looking to learn another. Clean and sober 2 years. Issues sorted out, baggage disposed of. Very interested in anatomy and health-related topics, good at dealing with people in pain.

I'm teaching English at a private school in Taiwan now, and building myself a nice little 5-digit nest egg. Never been in debt in my life. Lied on my resume and said I had experience. Was given no curriculum. Taught myself how to teach. The hard way. Seen as hard-working and well-liked by co-workers and students.

I am very serious about a career in medicine now that I've put my head back on straight. It's taken me many miles and many moons to learn some big life lessons I wish I'd known 6-8 years back... But enough on that. No more "could've"s and "should've"s. Regret and self-pity suck.

What now? What's the first step? Here's my thoughts. Please comment:

* Take some science and math courses for a year somewhere, to supplement my skimpy college transcript. I'd be willing to go anywhere in the world where instruction is in English, a European language that I could easily pick up, Chinese, or Japanese (though you can guess which of these would be my first choice )

* Beef up my formal knowledge of Chinese or Japanese, if necessary.

* Backpack some more. Be a medical school tourist, talking to students and profs at med schools wherever I go.

* Take exams. The MCAT and its ilk. Aim very high.

* Apply to WHO-recognized schools in several of countries. The USA and all the anglophone countries. The Philippines. Jamaica. Malaysia. Singapore. Hong Kong. Taiwan. Japan.

* Enroll at whatever place takes me and doesn't leave me in too deep debt.

* Bust my butt and get a good residency.

Thoughts, anyone?

Dave

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[::Seabass::]

you have the kind of story that is going to have several adcoms in the US eating out of your hand. they love this crap as long as you do well on the MCAT and take a couple upper level post bac science classes and excel. you are the kind of student they want to diversify their classes.

if you want to save some money, head back to the states and establish residency in a state so you are able to apply to some state schools.

 

[tms]

if this is for real...pack your bags.

come back to the US and apply to one of the top post-bacc programs...they will love your story. it will set you back some benjamins..but afterwards, you will be nearly guaranteed admissions to some top med schools.

some students, including myself, did much the same as you in college. some of us are getting in to medical schools and we didn't backpack a million miles nor teach in another country nor speak asian languages.

your liberal arts background will open the doors to competitive post-baccs which will in turn open the doors you know where.

good luck...hope you use your diplomatic and language skills in medicine (ie world health and preventative medicine)

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Wow - if you do well in your prereqs and MCAT you'll be a shoo-in for med school with your background. Talk about a diverse and interesting life! If you have a desire to practice in the United States I would definitely come back here to take your prereqs because some schools won't accept "foreign" credits and if you get you're medical degree somewhere other than the US and want to practice here you'll have to do some extra things to get licensed (I think). It sounds like you have a great plan of attack tho so welcome and update us when you figure out where you're gonna go etc

Good luck!

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[Mike59]

Let me be the first to boldly raise the B.S. Flag - now flapping in the wind above SDN country

 

[geromine]

Originally posted by Mike59
Let me be the first to boldly raise the B.S. Flag - now flapping in the wind above SDN country

Why would someone make up a long complicated story like that? It sounds legit to me.

WanderingDave, I agree with other posters that you're likely to get into a US allopathic program if you do well in your premed classes and the MCAT. No need to apply around the world (unless you prefer to go outside of US that is).

Good luck to ya.

 

[WanderingDave]

Hi everyone. Wow -- what I've read here has given me a lot of encouragement. I think I'm going to go back to the US pretty soon and try to take some of my prereqs. As for my story being true or not, really the only thing I lied about was getting beaten up by jocks. In a small private Catholic school, bodily harm wasn't half as common a weapon as good ol' ostracization. I just said this to joke about how nerdy I was.

I crave novelty like a drug. (I'm thinking of specializing in psychiatry, the most novelty-laden specialty there is, and will almost certainly do research into cross-cultural mental health issues.) I had to reinvent myself and try the lazy party life in college, because in my naivete, I thought that was how everybody in college lived. I know people who partied their butts off and still got into good graduate programs and/or lucrative corporate jobs after college. But what they didn't have in study drive they made up for with amazing networking skills and old family connections. They played the game. I didn't. Coming from a semi-rural, devoutly Christian, very sheltered working class background, I had neither to fall back on. Not that I really take this or any personality test seriously (I see it as sort of an educational toy), but I'm an INFX (borderline P/J) on the Myers-Briggs test. Going from a devout faith in God in a small town Irish-German-Catholic home to the staunchly secular tradition of liberal arts was like quitting heroin cold turkey for me. It shook me badly, and was bound to make me do some erratic and self-destructive things. I tell you all this just so you know where I came from.

I'm considering working abroad, since travel is my passion (as a kid, I dreamed about doing photo shoot assignments for National Geographic). I might volunteer or cater to an expat community somewhere, or mabe both at once! But if at all possible, I'd rather study and train in the US. Since that's where I'm a citizen, and that's where most of the cutting edge medical technology is, why not?

Peace,
Dave

 

[Adcadet]

I think coming back to the US is a good idea - from my international classmates, US medicine is the envy of the rest of the world. Doing your pre-reqs here might make it easier to compare you to other applicants. You could do a post-bacc to get your pre-reqs, or you could pick up a graduate degree (master's level) if there was something in particular you're interested in. Public health comes to mind, seeing as how that's what I'm doing (see sig), and your international background might help you 1)get in, and 2)apply what you learn internationally (which is a big focus in many programs now). The search function seems to be disabled now, but do a search for pathdr2b's thread "MS vs. Post Bacc".

 

[racergirl]

WanderingDave,

Let me just echo what everyone has said here and add a few quick things.

First, you will have NO trouble gaining acceptance to a US medical school if you do well in your prereqs and the MCAT. Second, you should come back to the US to fullfill your prereqs, which just so you know will probably take you a couple of years (2 years chem, 1 year physics, biology courses, etc), but you don't necessarily have to take them all at once. Do make sure you do well on the MCAT--as you say, AIM HIGH! But after all that and with your history, you WILL get in to a US med school. Finally, let me encourage you to attend a US med school rather than a foreign one--with a US MD, you can practice pretty much anywhere in the world, and will be better able to pursue your international goals.

By the way, I messed up MUCH worse in undergrad then you did, and I'm finishing my first year of med school now. And I didn't have NEARLY the interesting story you have! Good Luck! --Racergirl.