¶ Introduction to Nontraditional Pre-Med Path
I decided that I would go back to school , but the job that I had I could not keep it , so I actually decided to quit that job because it was full time and because it was so far from where I was going to be going to school and I was actually up for a promotion and I had to decline .
Now it would have increased my pay and promotion sounds like a great thing , but that was not what I was going for .
Not as a big fork in the road , Like I can continue this job and get more pay . But now all of my attention is going to be towards this job and you may have to let that dream go .
Going to medical school was definitely my priority . I ended up getting , at one point in time , four different jobs . Hey man , hey man , me home . How many times I got to tell you not to put your uniforms on my good sofa , don't yell at me , woman .
I drop me uniform wherever I want . I wear 15 job . I don't have time for your foolishness when I come home . I'm tired , dammit . What's good everybody ? We are talking Q&A about something I think a lot of you all who are listening are going through right now .
This is something that I went through , definitely something that Dr Renee went through , and that is basically what to do when you are trying to get into medical school but you are in another career or you are doing something different . This is something that we call a nontraditional pre-med . All right , so you ready to answer this question ?
Yes , who are you and who am I ? Okay .
Oh , we got it , listen , we family with everybody now ?
Do we got to tell everybody who we are ? Yes , because you have new listeners and they have no , then you okay .
So let me welcome you all . Yeah , let me welcome you all to the family . All right , guys , I'm Dr Knee , host of Docs Outside the Box for the past nine years . I'm joined by my co-host who has the most , dr Renee . Now we're going gonna stop right there . I thought you were gonna write a little bit more . Well , I'm a pretty good rapper , guys .
I'm a pretty good rapper . It's to the point where I wrote this rap , guys , I'm gonna put you up on game . I wrote this rap back when I was around nine years old , ten years old , in queens , new york your sister might have written it , but okay , In another episode we're going to talk about that , so but that's still through . It's in copyright .
It's in court right now .
Between you and your sister . Yeah , we have this in court , literally five lines that you are arguing that .
Five bars . Please understand music .
Five lines .
No , these are lines . Five bars . Please understand music . Five lines , no , five bars . Because these are no , these are bars . Ignorant people are a waste of time . That's a bar , but yet they commit the crime . Second bar , you see , understand music . Understand how rap is done okay so listen , this is the issue that I have a lot on this show .
Is that , like there's an expertise that I bring that you don't have and then you try to critique me ? Listen , anybody else who knows about music , who knows about bars , write in , let us know what's going on All right .
Yeah , let me let Dr Nino what's going on , cause he don't know what's going on .
Okay , all right , we got a question from Jay . Jay says hi , I'm currently in my second year or second gap year , studying for my MCAT while working a full-time job . And he puts in quotes or in parentheses overnight . So this is an overnight gig on the ambulance as an EMT . Okay , that's a really good . That's busy .
I am planning to apply this upcoming cycle . It has definitely been a struggle balancing studying and working for a department with such a high call volume , the longer hours can take a toll on my studying , but cutting back hours is not possible due to my financial responsibilities . Do you have any suggestions on how to balance working while studying ?
Thank you in advance . I really appreciate the knowledge I've gained from your show . Jay Yo Jay , thank you for writing . This is a really good question . Like I said before , I'm just going to be very brief and then I'll let you jump into this because I know this is more your bag . But so you know when you're in medical school or when you're in college .
It's super . You know the path is . You are taking your classes . Obviously , you don't have to worry about there's not many financial worries because more than likely someone has already paid the bill . Right , like you are . You have student loans or you know something , your scholarship or what have you . But you're already in school , you already have housing .
The next step is , once you finished and you go straight into medical school , if you're going to go the traditional route . But someone like me , like I , was working . You know I had to .
I had to take two years off and for a time I was working at Sports Authority , I was working at CompUSA and then I eventually I went back to Lehigh University and I did some grad assistant work .
But before you answer the question or I don't know how you want to answer the question do you want to let people know kind of what you did for those 10 years in between and then kind of go from there ?
10 years , really . Nii , you know , what's really funny is that , like you try to take these jabs and you think I'm not going to notice , but I got you . You know what I'm saying I got you .
I would like you to center Jay into this . Can you center Jay ? He needs help .
Yeah , you should center Jay too , because that jab was unnecessary , anyway . So , yes , thank you , jay , for writing this question . Like you said , nhi , this is a very common issue that I run into with pre-meds that I work with all the time that work-school balance is .
¶ Dr. Renee's Gap Year Experience
It's really hard to answer because not everybody's situation is the same , and so the only thing that I can say is one I can tell you my story . And two , say do the best that you possibly can Like . That's literally all you can do . Now I will tell you my story very briefly , during my four gap years , not 10 .
Okay , um , so when I graduated is that a jab at me . No , it's not a jab at you , that's a correction . Oh , okay , what you said .
I was about to say , yeah , okay , I could do the show by myself .
You really could too , I could , you really could .
Yeah .
So when I was , when I graduated from college , one of the first things that I did was I actually ended up getting a job at a laboratory and it was like a food lab . So when you do those recalls and stuff like that , that was me . Salad don't eat it . Fish don't eat it . Tuna has so many rat hairs in it . If you want to eat it , that's fine .
That's what the FDA allows , but it's up to you . That's what I was doing . I was working at a lab and I started working at the lab full time during that summer and by the time the summer ended , I realized that I wanted to go back to school and do some post-bac courses .
So I did a DIY post-bac myself and and once I realized , ok , I'm going to go back to school and I don't , one , qualify for student loans because I'm going back part time and two , I just didn't want my parents to have to help me pay for school , because it helped me pay for college already . I wanted to pay for it out of pocket .
So while you're working this job , while you're working this job , you're living at home . I'm living at home .
That's important also right Because it depends on your situation . So , while you're working this job , while you're working this job , you're living at home .
I'm living at home . I am living at home .
And that's important also right , Because it depends on your situation .
And question did you apply to medical school while you were in college ?
No .
Okay . So you finished , you graduated , and you're like , all right , pack up and everything goes straight to your parents' house , and then you got to figure out a job , exactly Okay .
So , and I'm going to give you some takeaways from my story that you know might might help some of you out there but yes , I was living at home . I didn't want my parents to help me pay for school .
They were obviously paying for all , all of my living expenses , right In terms of like food , clothing , shelter not so much clothing , but food shelter and so I decided that I would go back to school , but the job that I had , I could not keep it and go back to school the way that I wanted to , and so I actually because it was full time .
So I actually decided to quit that job because it was full time and because it was so far from where I was going to be going to school . I was going to be going to school in Manhattan and I was going to be going part time , but I was working in Long Island and that just was not going to work for me and I was actually up for a promotion .
They were actually going to promote me to go and work like in a pharmacy , part of the lab that they had just started building , and I had to decline . I had to decline and I was like no , and my boss was like well , why ? And I was like I want to go back to school . I can't take this promotion Now .
It would have increased my pay and promotion sounds like a great thing , but that was not what I was going for . I was not going to that job to stay in that job and so I had to let that go because that was not my priority .
It was a job . It wasn't your career .
It was not my career .
Yeah . And then once you realize that , hey , once you realize like , hey , like now there's a big fork in the road , Like I can continue this job and get more pay and , you know , get some of the things that I didn't get before .
But now all of my attention is going to be towards this job and you may have to let that dream go of going into or studying for the MCAT or doing post-bac work .
So I get that part All right . Yeah , fair enough . So going to medical school was definitely my priority , so I had to get on the ball and start on this journey of doing this DIY . What I ended up doing was something that was extremely piecemeal . I ended up getting , at one point in time , four
¶ Balancing Multiple Jobs and Education
different jobs . Hey , man , hit it out .
So what are the jobs ? Hey , man me home . How many times I got to tell you not to put your uniforms on my good sofa ? Don't yell at me , woman . I drop me uniform wherever I want . I wear 15 job . I don't have time for your foolishness . When I come home I'm tired , damn it . What are the jobs that you got ?
So I got a job working as a , and all of these were part-time , obviously I didn't know all the jobs you got , so one was huh .
Only fans .
Me Shut it .
Okay , first of all , Okay , what was the jobs you got ? What were the jobs you got ?
No , it wasn't only fans . Okay , and if it were only fans , you would have been my biggest customer . Thanks .
I didn't know you .
Yeah , okay .
I didn't know you O . Come on , let's go .
I ended up getting a job at a nonprofit organization and I was kind of like a marketing assistant .
Okay .
I ended up getting a tutoring job at a high school . Okay , I ended up getting a tutoring job at a high school . I ended up doing another job , actually in Long Island , that was on the weekends , so it was AHRC , which essentially was for people with developmental disabilities , so I could work that on the weekend . And then one other job .
What other job did I get ? There's one other job that I got and I can't even remember . Weren't you a teacher ? No , that was a tutoring job that turned into a teaching job , dang it . If I remember the fourth job , I'll let you know .
So either way , we get the point you were doing multiple jobs .
I know the last job . I was also tutoring at Polytechnic . Okay .
So I was also tutoring at Polytechnic .
Okay so I was . I was tutoring in two places , tutoring for high school and then tutoring for college . Okay so , and those were extremely flexible for me , right ? And so I ended up having to piecemeal everything , but it allowed me to do the DIY , right , post-bac , and it allowed me to pay for school .
So for me that was way more convenient , if you will right , because convenience to me wasn't oh , I have to go here and then I have to go there . I have to go . No , the convenience for me was what will allow me to do the thing that will bring me to my goal and that is going to be the most convenient thing .
So if I have to travel to two different boroughs and go to Long Island as well two different boroughs and go to Long Island as well then that's what I have to do . And so I was able to do that and really succeed in my post-bac because I was able to set my own schedule around my classes and determine how much time during the day did I need to study .
Because I and your post-bac was at Hunter College , right .
My post-bac was at back was at Hunter College . Right , my post back was at CUNY Hunter College .
Yeah , and just to be clear , this wasn't the way you did it . It wasn't a formal post back . Right , you were you , you did it , you piecemealed it all together correct got , you got . How did you pay for that ?
I paid for that with all those jobs .
I paid okay , so you didn't do any . You didn't take any loans or anything like that . Loans , no , nothing . I paid for a with all those jobs . I paid for it out of pocket .
Okay , so you didn't take any loans or anything like that . No loans , no , nothing , I paid for it out of pocket and I worked out something with the financial aid office because obviously I didn't have all the money up front . Luckily , you know , a city college is much , much less expensive than a private school , right ?
So one I didn't have as much money to come up with as if I was going to a private or even a state school . So I worked something out with the financial aid office to say , OK , I want to pay this much now and then this much later . And so they , they worked with me and they allowed me to pay for school as I went along .
And folks , just so you know , there's thousands of people who come out of this . I went along and folks , just so you know , there's thousands of people who come out of this , like some people will , who are not familiar with the CUNY system , the city university of New York system .
If you're from a different state or you're not familiar with it , you're like , oh , this , this is like a community college . No , it's not , guys , this is a .
Really this is a high powered university that just happens to be run in the city of New York , right , and they have different campuses and some high-powered people that you heard of and may not have heard of . Let me type in you keep going while I look up to some of the alumni of CUNY .
That's cute . There are lots of leaders that come from the CUNY system , lots of prestigious . My dad went there .
Yes no-transcript .
A suggestion of my sister . I ended up going to Hunter College because
¶ The Fork in the Road Decision
I was going to go to a community college . That's originally what my plan was to stay in Long Island , go to a community college . That's originally what my plan was to stay in Long Island , go to a community college so I could keep that job . That was that was .
You know , it's not a horrible thing , but it truly is not necessarily the best thing to come from a four-year college and then go , do you know , post back at a community college . It's not well looked upon , if you will , by medical schools , but I was going to go and do that so I could keep that job .
Medical schools but I was going to go and do that so I could keep that job .
Right , I was going to let this job derail what I wanted to do , and so , instead of staying at that job , I ended up quitting so that I could put myself in the best position possible , in the best environment possible , to be able to get an education that I knew would help me get into medical school .
I made a list of the things that you know when you're trying to balance studying for med school and you are not in college , right , so you are in another career or you're considering , like you're in that transitory state , like how you were in me , like you're in your gap year , basically , or your gap years , and you're trying to figure out what to do .
But number two I have on there is choose the right job . So I have here flexible or part-time work , low stress jobs and remote work . And what I would say to Jay is I agree with you like Renee's advice is you know , what she did was ideal . In essence , she prioritized getting into medical school over all the jobs .
Now the situation is a little bit different , because she could stay with her parents . Parents would cook , they provide food , housing , like that's a huge expense that she ain't got to worry about , right ? All she had to worry about , in essence , was getting into med school .
You had to take care of your classes , you had to get transportation there and you had to get jobs and so forth . That's what you had to do .
But I definitely think that one of the biggest things right now , jay , is to determine is your job more important , or keeping your job more important than getting into medical school , and that's the fork in the road and you may have to take several jobs . You may have to cut back and do something else . Let me I'm going to tell a quick story .
Doing the bank thing right , Like working like , not a bank teller , but like the person who has a small little office that goes and you know the little desk , and you talk to them about your , your , your banking and so forth , and at the end they're trying to sell you .
You know why you should invest your money with them and so forth Something that was very unfulfilling to him . And he all of a sudden told me , like he's like , hey , me , like Uncle Nia , I want to go to law school .
And I was like , okay , and he kept telling me this over like several months and then he finally said , hey , I have a plan , I'm leaving my job and I'm going to get into law school . And I was like well , how are you going to do this ? And he told me so I'm going to be very honest , guys . So what he did was over that year .
I was very impressed with him . Over that year . He put his head down and he saved money like crazy . Number two he moved into a neighborhood that wasn't the greatest .
¶ Hard Choices for Medical School Success
Number two he moved into a neighborhood that wasn't the greatest , wasn't the worst , wasn't the best , but he moved into a neighborhood that , in essence , is where he kind of grew up in , that was going to be low cost and that , in essence , he was going to be left alone and he was living by himself , right . And then he made sure .
Three , that he developed a plan that he was going to study for the LSATs and , no matter what that plan was going to take like , there was nothing else that was going to get in his way . Now , granted , at this time he wasn't married . He wasn't married at this time , was he ? I don't know ? Yeah , either way , no children , you know .
And then he left the job and for several months , six or seven months , this is what he was doing . And then he called me one day and said , hey , this was my score in an LSAT . And two weeks later he's like I started getting these you know acceptances , or however long it took .
I started getting , he started getting these acceptances and I was really proud of him . You know , I know sometimes people are like , well , law school is different than getting to med school . But I was pretty impressed by his grind Right , because he made a plan to be like look what I'm doing right now , working in the bank .
I know that that's what I was studying and that's what everybody is expecting me to do , but that's not what my heart is telling me to do Absolutely .
And I'm going to sacrifice and save like crazy and I'm going to move into a neighborhood that I may not want to live in and I'm going to be uber isolated and I'm going to study and I'm going to follow through on that , because I got to get through my ultimate goal of becoming a lawyer . And now my guy is , you know , he's graduating .
You know , in a couple of months and he'll be done and I'm super proud of him .
Yeah .
You know . So , basically , what I'm trying to say , Jay , is that you can do this , but it's going to probably have to look different than how it looks for you right now .
Right , I don't know if you have children , I don't know if you have a spouse , I'm not sure about your social situation , but it's something that you may have to embrace and I think it's something that a lot of people do .
They don't necessarily think that they're doing it , but that's what they do where they're just like look , I'm going to have to change directions .
¶ Closing Thoughts and Next Episode
What's good , everyone . This is Dr Nii Yo . This is the end of this segment . I appreciate you for listening , but this ain't the end . If you want more , go ahead and click the next button on your favorite podcast app . Listen . That's next for more banter between me and Dr Rene . That's next for more topics . That's next for more segments . Listen .
Did you hit next yet ? Go ahead and click next . Hit it Next , peace .