If you’re going to call me Darin, (please) put: Future Doctor in front of it.
This medium is used as a moment of reflection, perhaps a few pieces of advice for other pre-med students, and mostly as a time capsule for something I can look back on years from now.
My medical journey was far from a linear path, unconventional in some ways but very conventional in others. I came into college with no idea of what I wanted to do with my life, chose a major I didn’t care for, and coasted through my first two years — then I found medicine, the years that followed flew by.
Looking back though, I was pretty average stat wise: 3.45 gpa, 512 mcat, but that wasn’t what I wanted my application to represent. These past few years, I chose to do things outside of school that I loved. Whether it was in the projects I built (special shoutout to “Hunger, Over Easy”) the relationships I fostered (rocket rocket rocket / spop spop spop) or even the light night conversations and early morning breakfasts shared with patients on onco/in the clinic. It’s the experiences that led me to my answer to why medicine, and it’s this answer that would go onto inspiring my answers in the interviews and prompts.
“For me medicine and specifically through the role of a physician, there is a unique and special opportunity to connect with people with patients, in a way that no other profession really can & to use this connection to help heal … I want to connect with patients, I want to foster long lasting patient:physician relationships, and I want to heal as completely and directly as I can. To do all of this as a physician, and to do so in a way that I can continue to immerse myself in science and service — this is why I choose medicine.”
Even though I know I wanted to go into medicine, be a doctor, etc etc, that timeline wasn’t really clear to me. My first time trying, I wrote my personal statement in 2–3 weeks, something that should have taken months. I barely gave my secondaries any attention, and although my goals and ambitions wanted one thing, my heart was just not in it.
This leads to my first bit of advice: go at your own pace.
Being a re-applicant this year, after cancelling most of my applications last year because of motivation (or lack thereof) really does start you at a huge disadvantage. This is why taking time to take a moment, is so important. With one year off, I was able to really ask myself questions like “why medicine” I was able to pursue a job outside of medicine to really confirm if being a doctor was really what I wanted to do (backwards logic here…). I was able to explore other shadowing opportunities, and most importantly, I was able to just take a break. Coming from a college experience where nights of 3–4 hours of sleep was the norm, and when every day was a busy day, this year off (thanks in part due to the pandemic) has been vital.
Secondly, spend your college/pre-med years doing what you love, not what you need to “love” in order to have a good resume/app.
In my interviews and my apps, I talked so much about Sunny (woofer), cooking, working with kids and more. Reflecting on some interviews, we actually spent more time talking about non-medical stuff than medical. Your app is so much more than your gpa, your mcat, the hours you spent grinding in a hospital or clinic, or stuff of that sort. Yes, it is important to get these good grades and scores, and to spend time in this setting to see it for yourself, but I think it is equally (if not more) important to do what you love. In doing so, if you can see it translating well into medicine, this will give you such an advantage in terms of how unique you are as an applicant. For this, I can thank Hunger, Over Easy, thank my littles, my spopers, my mentees, sunny, and more.
Third, the money ain’t worth it
if money and prestige is what you want, go do something else. The 8yrs of college/grad school + 3–4 years of residency + 1–2 yrs of fellowship (optional) is 10000000000% not worth the grind man. That one summer I spent studying for the mcat was enough to tell me that this better be worth it, and if you are trying to find that worth in terms of salary or prestige, you will not be happy. Find the worth in the relationships you will be able to build with patients. In the healing you’ll get to be apart of, and in the lives you will impact; if you cant — there are thousands of others things well worth doing over this.
okay, well this was mostly me just rambling. to the me years from now reading this, good job! the longer white coat looks much better on you. remember your answer to why medicine and I really hope that we’re continuing to do as much good as we possibly can (!!!)
some closing thoughts
- so thankful for Tiff, she’s been here every step of the way through my atrocious writing (300 drafts later) to interview prep. She’s been my rock, my acute angel, we are going to be the ultimate health care couple. I’ll prescribe, she’ll dispense.
- “Hey look ma, I made it” — panic @ the disco: the song ill associate the first acceptance with ;)
- my personal statement started with “One house special, coming right up!” and ended with “It’s from chef’s coat to white coat that I dream of the day that health becomes my “house special, coming right up.”” which I think is pretty rad.
- the anxiety that has been eating at me, esp since I gave this application cycle my all (instead of the bare minimum…. darin of last year was a real slacker…) is finally gone!!! woo, hoo!
- I was in the lab when I got the call, and in my excitement, I got geobacillus all over my phone
- the next few years are going to be so incredibly difficult, but I am so so so excited
- I hope when i’m reading this years from now, its as a pediatric doctor, but who knows
- sunny’s not gonna like the new weather
- Also a huge big shout out to Biancka and Quan for also looking over my primary, and for Biancka for doing a mock interview with me, bless their hearts. I can not have do this without them.
- are you even a (future) med student if you dont tell everyone youre a med student???
“it’s a beautiful day to save lives” — mc dreamy