Many of you asked me to share what my pre-med journey looked like, so here I am! In this post, I’ll talk about my undergraduate experiences and my two gap years before medical school. I’ll also include my transcript to show you my GPA trend and how it is more important than the average GPA you finish with.
Summary of Work/Activities
- Shadowed clinical geriatric pharmacist and geriatrician
- Shadowed family physician at SNF (skilled nursing facility) and ICU
- Pharmacy technician at CVS pharmacy
- Flying Samaritans Volunteer
- traveled by car to rural town in Mexico to student-run clinic
- providing free primary health care
- team of pharmacists, providers, and dentists
- Delta Epsilon Mu
- Secretary
- Active member
- Volunteer Action for Aging
- Medical Assistant
- Medical Scribe
- Research Associate at Level 1 Trauma Center
Undergrad
Freshman Year
Some of you already know this, but I became the first in my family to go to college and graduate from a 4-year university. (first-generation college student). Unlike most Asian-American pre-meds, my family did NOT want me to go into medicine! They were worried about the lifestyle and the time it would take away from family, which is understandable because a stable family structure is essential in multi-generational immigrant households (I lived with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and two cousins).
My family had friends who were pharmacists, which is common among the Vietnamese community. So naturally, that’s what they encouraged me to pursue. But deep down, I knew that I wanted to pursue medicine.
That’s why I came into undergrad as a biological sciences major. But I was not prepared for the rigor of UC science courses. I did not feel prepared for college, I had no idea how to study for college-level classes, and I had to spend half my time working part-time in order to afford UC tuition (common first-gen problems tbh lol). My GPA each semester kept dropping lower and lower. I share my transcript to show you that despite my academic struggles, I still made it to med school. Have no fear!
During this time, I did not participate in any extracurriculars.
Work
- Sales Associate at boba cafe, 25 hours/week
Sophomore Year
I switched my major to public health sciences to make my course load easier because I didn’t have to take physics. That’s also when I decided to take the pharmacy route. I would have mentors in that field, so why not! But my GPA continued to drop.
During this time, I still didn’t participate in any extracurriculars.
Work
- Student Assistant III at UCI Neurobiology Finance Department, 15 hours/week
Junior Year
Clearly, I had to do SOMETHING! I realized that stress management and ineffective study strategies were the culprit. I joined a professional, pre-health, co-ed fraternity. My life changed from that point! The connections I made made all the difference. I found a strong support system to help me manage stress, I learned how to study more effectively, and I gained the professional skills that I needed succeed. Most importantly, I learned to take better care of myself and to give myself a break!
I realized my poor academic performance was due to studying inefficiently. Even though I was studying SO MUCH, I wasn’t performing well on exams. Once I figured it out, I was studying LESS and doing BETTER! This goes to show how important it is to study SMARTER, not harder! It also highlights how important stress management is. If you are studying while you are under stress, by default you are studying inefficiently.
My GPA improved dramatically! Take a look at the trend.
Activities
- Flying Samaritans (monthly student-run clinic in rural town of Mexico)
- Shadowing Clinical Geriatric Pharmacist
- Delta Epsilon Mu (Professional Pre-Health Fraternity)
- Research at neurochemistry lab
Work
- Pharmacy Technician at CVS Pharmacy, 25-30 hours/week
Senior Year
Despite being MORE involved in extracurriculars and working MORE, my grades continued to improve and I finished strong!
I changed my major back to biological sciences because I had taken physics courses anyway, which was the main difference between the two majors.
At this point, I was still on the pharmacy route. Graduation was in June 2016. I was going to apply for pharmacy school that year, so I started brainstorming for my personal statement around March-April. I started asking for letters of recommendations. When I asked the clinical geriatric pharmacist I was shadowing to write my letter, she asked me why I wanted to pursue pharmacy. I don’t remember what my answer was, but I know it wasn’t a great one. She looked at me, smiled, and said that I should consider medical school instead. I admitted to her that I didn’t think I could get into medical school. She laughed at me and said, “how do you know if you don’t try?”. Honestly, if that conversation hadn’t taken place, I don’t think I would have found the courage to pursue medicine!
I quit my job as a pharmacy technician. Earlier that same year, I started volunteering at a pharmacy at CHOC hospital, so I had to withdraw from that too.
I started shadowing a geriatrician, who worked with the clinical geriatric pharmacist I was shadowing. Most of my pre-med friends actually switched OUT of medicine, so I had very few people to talk to about the medicine route. Being a first-gen college student was hard. Being a first-gen medical student was even harder! I started talking to my friends who were pre-PAs about potential work opportunities. Luckily, one of my friend’s clinic was hiring a medical assistant (license not required). I also applied for a medical scribe position at a new company and was offered the position, starting June after I graduated.
Overall, I think my discipline, drive, and self-starter mentality from being a first-generation college student carried me a long way! If you are able to set your mind to your goal, I truly believe that you WILL get there. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Activities
- Secretary for Delta Epsilon Mu
- Flying Samaritans
Work
- Medical Assistant at addiction clinic
Gap Years
MCAT
- Princeton Prep Course (October 2016 to December 2016)
- Self-study (December 2016 to January 2017)
- MCAT date: Mid January
- Score: 507
Unfortunately, I made the mistake of working part-time (20 hours/week) while studying for the MCAT. I did ask for three weeks off before my MCAT date to focus on studying, but in hindsight I should have done that from the beginning. I continued to work because I needed to pay off my debt and my other expenses!
I didn’t want to retake the MCAT because I didn’t have the time or resources to retake it. Plus, I knew I was interested in primary care, which meant that DO schools would be a good option for me. My score also fell within the range of MCAT scores for DO schools. All things considered, I just didn’t think it would be worth retaking it and I didn’t want to be out of school for another year because I felt like the transition from gap years to medical school might be challenging.
Activities
- Volunteer Action for Aging (volunteering at senior homes)
- Research Associate at Level 1 Trauma Center in LA, CA
Work
- Medical Assistant
- Addiction clinic
- Family practice
- FQHC (federally qualified health center)
- Medical Scribe
- Mobile geriatric practice
General Advice
- If your GPA average is below average, but you have a consistently UPWARD TREND in your grades, medical schools see that. Especially if the upward trend occurred during your junior and senior years when you’re taking upper division courses!
- It’s okay if your GPA doesn’t trend upward. Many of my classmates enrolled in a masters or post-bacc program. If you are able to do well in the program, medical schools look at that more than your undergrad GPA! It also shows schools your maturity level, which they like!
- It’s better to have a few commitments that you’ve been active in for a long time versus many extracurriculars for a short period of time.
- Volunteering is a great way to show you are service-oriented! To stand out, it’s a good idea to have non-clinical experiences!
- The average age for entering medical students is around 26-27 years old, which shows how much medical schools value maturity. Therefore, don’t be afraid of taking more gap years!
- Retake the MCAT if you have to! Don’t be like me and worry about time.
I hope you were able to get something out of this! Let me know if you have any questions!
With lobe,
Kelly
