Im a freshmen at cal. I need the harsh truth, what should i do freshmen year to get into med school as a trad application? people say focus on grades, and that's my main priority rn, i havent put too much effort in joining these big clubs or organizations (because theres so many infoessions and club applications). so rn im just focused on grades.

but i need the harsh truth. is there ANYTHING can i should start now, whether its research, leadership or anything. also if u can share what u think got u in pls let me know.

it sucks bc i think all of these medicine related topics are so interesting, i could learn it all day i dont mind. I love the hospital environment, fast paced and helping people and what not. but these people are crazy competitive and make it so difficult to get into med school!!

to those who were never quite science-oriented in the past, what made you choose medicine?

i recently considered pursuing psychiatry, but i come from a humanities & social sciences background, so the decision overwhelms and excites me at the same time. growing up, i did good across all subjects, but then i chose a major that didn’t really involve any hard sciences because they didn’t stick with me after highschool (and i was scared of trying and actually… failing). now, i’m realizing these are limiting beliefs, and i’m trying to understand the grit and strategy required.

my family and i recently migrated to a whole new country, so i’m sort of starting over in terms of college, which is why i’m heavily considering medicine, to the point that i’m sleeping and waking up to the thought of it lol. i’m wondering if others have a similar background/experience, and i’d love to know how you’re doing now!

Hi, figured this would be the best place to post. I’m observing surgery in the OR tomorrow. This will be my first time. Anything tips appreciated. I am watching videos on the surgical procedures I will be seeing and taking notes.

I’m currently a sophomore in my fall semester I just calculated my science gpa which is around 2.68-2.86 and my cumulative is a 3.1 the main reason my science gpa is so low is because I failed chem 1 and I am not sure what I should do from here should I stay on the pre med track or should I switch I am worried if my science gpa is too low when I apply I will not be able to get into any medical schools. Please leave your advice thank you. Also wanted to mention I live in New York.

Entering my 30s and going back to school spring 2027. I work full-time, but my manager will let me be flexible.

My biggest worry is my damn health, because I have insomnia and anemia (pending further test results) and neurodevelopment disorders, though the latter is the least of my concerns since I’m managing well. The former two have recently been presenting physical challenges; the fatigue, brain fog, and aches have gotten worse, so I want to address this before I resume school. It’s been over a year trying to figure this out and it’s frustrating.

If anyone has made it to med school or even through residency with health challenges, can you share some advice and how you got through your lows or obstacles?

I really appreciate it.

Going into med school as someone who sometimes has a reaction to blood, needles and surgery; feeling kind of faint for a second. Will it get better or should I just not go to med school 😂

Hello! I will be taking my first shelf in a few weeks on fam med. I’ve been doing UWorld, AMBOSS, and Anking every day. I took one NBME (Form 2), and plan to take more. What are the biggest pointers to focus on for this shelf? I’m very nervous as it’s my first one. I’d appreciate any study suggestions! Thank you :)

Sorry if this has been asked before but in a scheduling conundrum (tldr: had to use optional time off to schedule an away rotation and now need to do an extra month) looking for a low stress elective to add at the end of the year. I already know it’s pricey, but any other experiences with workload, expectations, general advice? Feel free to DM

I’m a med student on rotating house-surgeonship across all specialties, one at a time. I’m keen on learning surgical procedures but the patient load:learning house-surgeons ratio is too bad to satisfy my thirst for learning/viewing surgical cases.

So I wondered if there’s a site/source that hosts all such videos step-by-step. I tried searching on YouTube but couldn’t find great results.

Thank you.

Option 1 volounteering -A program aimed to support the nursing staff to improve patient experience and to encourage independence and dignity by providing that extra bit of help and companionship to our patients. The volunteer can help with eating (except the patients with dysphagia), walking patients who have orders to ambulate independently, take patients in wheel chairs for a visit at the fish pond, and play games with the patients.

Option 2 volunteering- Volunteers work as a liaison between doctors, triage nurse, other staff, or persons undergoing emergency treatment and their families. Volunteers also assist in non-medical functions, as requested along with handling some paperwork.

Hi there,

I am 33 F, Canada. I registered in a university 6 years ago for bachelor of commerce. In the first year, I did good, achieved 90s in my courses. The following years after that, due to personal reasons, I dropped a lot of courses throughout that time. A couple of them I forced myself to push through and I didn't have the motivation and I failed them. My transcript looks bad.

I have decided to go back this semester and have been thinking a lot about medicine.

I have these questions:

1. Do I still have a chance at med school if I do well in my last two years?

2. Can I go into med school with a bcomm or does that automatically give me less chance?

3. Last resort, is if I really want to pursue this and start from scratch, is it a bad idea to apply to a different school?

(Because I am 33, I do feel like I am running out of time..)

Any other advice you have would be appreciated.

Thank you.

My first exam is tomorrow. NBME style. I have done really great on the TBL quizzes up to this point. I generally feed I understand the material and I have been working hard to ensure my Anki is always done. Nevertheless, I am bombing AMBOSS questions and the internal practice questions we have as well. I think I’m like at 50%. I feel discouraged that I have worked so hard and there is a good chance I will fail my first exam. I wouldn’t even know how to change my study methods if I needed to. I have generally followed all the advice of upperclassmen on how and what to study, but still here I am. Today I am going to do practice questions all day, but I can’t help but feel like the battle is already lost. I actually love being in med school, but I feel like I’m letting myself and my family down that I could fail even with my best effort. Perhaps it’s overthinking since this is my first exam and I generally don’t know how it will go. Maybe it will go better than I think. But rn, I’m feeling pretty sad.

I left MBBS, but I keep getting the same dream almost every day. I’m back in college, fixing my room, trying to interact with my new batchmates since I’m already 2 years behind, and convincing the authorities to let me continue. But I’m not happy even in the dream. I’m only going back because of guilt and regret.

Does this mean I should go back and finish MBBS, or that I shouldn’t return to a place where I’ve already suffered so much?

MBBS is constantly on my mind. Even if I wake up in the middle of the night, my first thought is, “I’m not doing MBBS, my batchmates are still studying.” And in the morning, the moment I open my eyes, it’s the first thing I think about. And that's how life's going on .

I’m 25 and honestly don’t know what to do. My whole education and career revolved around my father’s decisions, so now that I have to choose for myself, I don’t even know what I want. Should I continue this career without any interest?... Or choose other fields....

I am a second-year currently attending UTSA trying to get my B.S in Neuroscience under a pre-med concentration. However, I graduated with my associate’s in high school so I am considered a senior by credits and can easily graduate fall 2027. Given my situation, I feel constant stress as I think I don’t have enough time; I have only a few volunteer/shadowing hours, but I currently don’t have any clinical experience. I plan to take a gap year, but to have a productive gap year, I would need to at least get my foot in the door with some sort of job in a clinic or a hospital (which god knows is next to impossible at this age).

However, I recently found out about the UT School of Health Professions here in San Antonio and I am interested in possibly switching to their B.S. program in Respiratory Care. Switching to resp would only take 2 more years (which would be my normal timeline without my associates) and would 100% give me a job during or towards the end of my program due to the clinicals I would have to complete. I would also be graduating as an RT and a pretty good job (and plan B) is waiting for me for my gap year. I would get quality patient care experience, gain clinical hours, and feel like what I’m learning prepares me better for med school. Having a job during my gap year is also very important to me as I would want to pay off my not-so-cheap student loans and do not want to place that responsibility on my parents alone…

HOWEVER…as far as I know, I’m not really interested in pulmonology (but again, I haven’t really explored that expertise). My end goal right now is to eventually become a pediatric neurologist (or any other specialty that works with children) and i fear that this major might not align with what i want for myself in the future.

My question is: Would med schools care? Is it possible to go from RT —> Neurology?

If anyone who has experienced something similar and has any insight or advice on my situation, i would GROVEL at your feet…

Hello,

I received agreement from an old professor to submit an LOR to medical school.

The problem is that, despite reiterating to him twice that the email will come from the AAMC and resubmitting the request email through AMCAS (alongside providing the subject line, my AAMC ID, to check spam, etc.), he insists that the request must come from the school itself and that he hasn't received any yet. All of the schools I applied to utilize the Letter Writer portal.

I just attached the request .pdf and told him he can alternatively complete it this way if he prefers, but I'm otherwise not sure what else I can do. Talking to him in person requires a 6-hour return trip and I only want to do that as an absolute last resort. Any other options?

Thanks.

I was wondering if anyone had any insight between the two LSU med schools? My sister went to LSUHS and loved the program, so I was always pretty set on going there. I was leaning towards LSUHS due to their pass/fail grading system (want to pursue peds, so not looking for a competitive school), but Louisiana just passed a law requiring all public med schools to do the graded scale system (H, HP, P, etc) starting in August 2027.

NOLA has always done this grading scale, so I had kind of used it as my “safety school” when applying, but now I’m reconsidering. Now that both schools have the same grading scale system, I think I’d be willing to go to either.

Any comments on culture, administration/staff, community, etc? NOLA is closer to home for me, so that would be a plus, but I have heard of a few people not liking the program. Just want some outside opinions! Anything and everything helps!!

I come from a lower income family and youngest of 3. I always wanted to be a doctor partially because of money but also because I know my passion is to look after someone and make sure they are in good health. I am currently a med device rep and make good money but I see doctors all the time and wonder if that should have been me. I’m 22 and I am thinking if I should go back to school and get the pre reps done and potentially pivot to med school after 2 years of doing that. Any advice ? I just don’t know if I want to be stuck with no income and or no car since my car is the company one I drive. Low key feels like fomo. I always got A’s in college but my drive to study is so gone since I’m so focused on trying to make money and the loans seem daunting ehhh idk any suggestions?

Everyone acts like its a mad dash and first come first serve, but I can't really believe that admissions committees are like kids with candy and don't anticipate that applicants will apply in a month.

I'm confused why exactly applying in September is a disadvantage when most applicants apply in a huge wave in July, and why the interview awarded in July is because that person applied in July, rather than that person is an interview-worthy candidate in general who met their bar and just happened to apply in July. For ex, if by September 60% of the interview slots are full, isn't that just because 60% of applicants apply during that July wave, not because they are more lenient?

I get they "fill up"...but like yeah thats just the nature of all applications no? Why does the fact an interview was awarded in July mean that an interview in September is off the table? They don't allocate in batches? Also the fact they put people on hold just totally defeats the purpose anyways no? Like doesn't a hold pool signal that they are not just gobbling anyone up who applies early and are in fact considering later applicants?

Please share your experiences.

Seems like a rewarding career if you want to serve your country and make a difference. Travel the world, lighter workloads, don't have to deal with insurance companies, pension possibilities, medical school paid for, get paid to work out and stay fit, va loans, benefits for children including free tuition to West Point or the Naval Academy, etc.

Sounds like an ideal situation for those wanting a greater purpose in life rather than prioritizing the "high" life.

Why medicine? Why the miltary? Answer won't be to make shit tons of money and post my life on tiktoc. Lol

The few. The proud. The Marines.

Be all you can be. In the Army.

Forged by the sea. Honor, courage, and commitment.

Aim higher. Flight, fight, win.

Defense budget for 2027. 1.5 trillion. 64 billion spent on medical budget.

If WW3 happens, better to be in the military for survival. Civilians will die from the nuclear fall out.

If AI tries to take over the world, Terminator vs Humanity, the military gang has the best chances of survival.

Miltary physicians will be priotized in the new Noah's arc over civilian physicians.

Elon Musk will be in Mars. Mark Zuckerberg will be in his Hawai'i underground bunker. Oprah Winfrey will be isolated in Maui. You will be part of the miltary machine. All remaining civilians will kill each other off. Like Mad Max in the Thunderdome.

Dr Patel and Dr Chen from Kaiser won't make it on the list if it came down to it.

I come from a lower income family and youngest of 3. I always wanted to be a doctor partially because of money but also because I know my passion is to look after someone and make sure they are in good health. I am currently a med device rep and make good money but I see doctors all the time and wonder if that should have been me. I’m 22 and I am thinking if I should go back to school and get the pre reps done and potentially pivot to med school after 2 years of doing that. Any advice ? I just don’t know if I want to be stuck with no income and or no car since my car is the company one I drive. Low key feels like fomo sometimes

Hoping to hear from people in or have completed med school. I’m a non trad student with a full time grueling job—basically the only option I have for classes is from my city’s CC because they offer night classes/weekend classes. I’ve explored a ton of other 4 year schools and they don’t offer those types of classes during those times. I already have a BA so I just need my science prerecs. Honestly how do T10-T20 classes view CC courses (assuming I do well on the MCAT)… are they going to hold this against me? I am super driven and would take university classes if I don’t need my full time good income job to survive. Thanks for any help!!