¶ Running goals and reality checks
I got this crazy goal where I want to try to break 20 minutes in a 5K Boy . I have never felt so far away from a goal . Yo boy , yo , I went out there , ran and I made it basically a mile and I couldn't keep up . So I was a little upset at myself and a little tight .
I thought that your expectations were essentially unrealistic .
You didn't know what my expectations were .
You talked about it all morning me . You thought you were going to run like a six minute mile or something .
I didn't say that . I said I was going to try to average like 630 pace .
Okay , 630 . I mean 30 seconds difference .
That's a big difference . That's a big difference If you had 30 seconds more . Of anything , you'd be happy , trust me . Yeah , buddy , happy ,
¶ Listener success story from Vladimir
trust me . We got an email from vladimir . I'm not gonna say his last name , but vladimir yo hello . Not sure why everything is all in caps . I am a listener of your podcast . It was instrumental . It was instrumental in my deciding to pursue medicine as a 30 plus year old , non-traditional student .
I wanted to thank you and let you know that I've been accepted to my top choice school . I really appreciate your podcast , so shout out to Vladimir . Shout out to Vladimir those are dope we love those
¶ Non-traditional student Grace seeks advice
type of messages .
I love those type of messages because you know , I feel like we are slowly getting to creating the podcast that I would have wanted to listen to when I was a pre-med , when I was a med student , when I was a resident , which is giving real value , like giving people , like the real feel of what it's like to be a doctor , what it's like to go through the
process , what it's like to be married to a doctor , what it's like to be married to a doctor who needs validation and trying to tell people that you know they got you through medical school and stuff like that . Like we give the real , real , y'all Really .
We give the real flavor .
You do yo Like you . I knew you was going to try to make this into like yo .
I got you through school and just be like yeah , you know all the questions that you saw in your quiz all the questions that you saw in your quiz . I said all . All the questions that you saw on USMLE were the questions that I wrote .
That's what you're trying to say , and I know you oh my . God Renee yo .
I didn't say nothing about no daggone USMLE . Okay , all right .
This one is for you , renee . This is one that you're going to have to answer . So this is pre-med prerequisites . As a non-traditional student , are you ready , dr Renee ? Sure , this is a tough one . Hi , my name is Grace . I am writing because I am an older non-traditional student . I have a BA in psych , but my goal is low . Oh , but my GPA is low .
Let me make this screen bigger . My eyes , man , not only is my . I got to get my weight up with running . I got to get my vision up . It's been nearly 13 years since I graduated . Unfortunately , at that time my child was struggling . We later learned she has bipolar disorder . I had to focus on caring for her .
I found myself in need of SNAP , snap , section 8 , et cetera . I am finally ready and able to focus on my education . She's doing great and they're all grown now . I've spent the last 11 years providing doula care and support to my community , helping as I can to change birthing outcomes for black women and POC birthing people .
I'm assuming that's people of color . Do we still use that nowadays ? Anyway , do you have any suggestions on how I can become a better candidate before applying to med school ? I have to do all sciences again . Thanks bunches for your time . And guidance Need follow up . I was accepted into master's in public health , so real quick . What's a doula ?
public health . So , real quick
¶ Explaining doula care and support
, what's a doula ? So a doula is someone that we typically see in OB . They are a non-medical person or medical adjacent , if you will , kind of person , and what they do is they essentially support pregnant women and postpartum women .
So you might see doulas , you know , come to prenatal visits with a mom , or you might see a doula during labor , or you might see a doula in a home with a postpartum mother , just providing , you know , that extra support that that person may need . And if there's anything more that they do , you know , certainly , if you guys know , write in .
But that is the capacity in which I have seen doulas and they can be , you know , they can be very integral in supporting , you know , supporting pregnant women . I remember there was one doula in particular .
So the mother and her husband were both at the hospital but the husband had very severe anxiety , very severe like really clinically severe anxiety , and so the doula essentially was kind of the support person to be there in case , you know , the husband might've had a panic attack or anything like that and was not able to be the support person .
So they got Is this covered by insurance or is this like something that you pay out of pocket for ?
I don't know . I would guess that this is not covered , but I know that there are . There's some legislation out there that might actually be pushing for some of this to be covered by , so I believe . So I think one of my mentors was working on a project like that in New Jersey mentors was working on a project like that in New Jersey .
So um listen most of it is uh . But yeah , I'm sorry , I didn't mean to talk over you . I apologize .
No , Well , you know , I did get you through med school Um yo , we on minute 26, .
keep it moving , keep it moving .
So , grace , thank you so much for writing in and I'm glad to hear that your daughter is doing great and that your kids are grown and that you are now ready to focus on yourself and this you know career goal that you've had to defer for good reason
¶ Master's programs vs. prerequisite courses
. So one of the things that you said that I was listening for so I'm glad that you included it was that you essentially took your last set of courses about 13 years ago , because that's important information . Many medical schools if not most , if not all might say that after the 10-year mark that you probably have to take your prerequisites over .
Don't take my word for it . Always call the schools you know that you're interested in and ask if this is the case . But I will tell you , with the pre-meds that I've worked with in the past , many of them who have had 10 years plus , have been told by schools many schools that they do have to take those prerequisites over .
So it sounds like you kind of already know that , so that you know that's something that's out there .
Now you've been accepted into an MPH program , and so this is where it gets a little tricky right , because A lot of so a lot of nontraditional students or a lot of students who find themselves on the path of being nontraditional oftentimes think that and I'm going to think real quick because I know this is what you do to me and stuff .
Like you , we assume certain things . So what's a nontraditional versus a traditional student ? Thanks , beth . Yeah , I'm going to be snappy on this call because you're over here trying to say that you got me through med school . What Knee darko ? You said that .
Is you ?
crazy .
You said that you said that . So a traditional student is someone who goes straight through right High school , college , med school . No , stops along the way , don't pay $200 . Just go straight in . Well , actually you're probably paying more than $200 because you're going to med school . So , whereas a non-traditional student is someone who doesn't take that path .
They take a more securitist path to medical school . So they might have several gap years , or maybe they finished high school and didn't go to college or whatever , but they fall outside of that norm of high school , college , medical school .
They choose another career .
They might yeah they might come back after another career . Anything could happen , but that would be someone who would fall out of the traditional path .
That was you and me , yeah that was you and you .
Yep , that was you and me . So I was talking about a master's program , right ? So Grace said that she got accepted into a master's program . Congratulations on that . I want to clarify , however , the whole master's thing , because a lot of non-traditional students will say , well , I have to get a master's .
Or students who are planning to be non-traditional students before they even graduate from college might say well , I need to get my master's right . A master's degree does not necessarily get you any closer to being in medical school .
And I'm taking advanced level classes .
I want to explain why . I want to explain why Okay , not that people who do master's degrees as non-traditional students don't get into medical school . You were you obviously one of them . You didn't even actually get a degree , which I'm going to get to in a second because no , I put my business out there like that . No no , no , no , I like .
I like the fact that you didn't get that master's degree , because I use you as an example on many occasions with my students , because I want them . I want to iterate and reiterate the fact that doing the master's or getting the master's degree does not necessarily put you in higher favor with an admissions committee .
Okay , first of all , most people who get into medical school do not have a master's , so that's not even the standard Right . That's not even the standard to have a master's Right . So if you're getting a master's in public health or anatomy or biosciences or physiology or whatever , there's so many different masters that you can get that .
There's no standard right , so it's just the masters . The reason that people get master's degrees or go through a master's program is only to show that you are taking advanced level courses . That's it , which is why the master's degree itself is not what's going to get you closer to medical school . So me I like to use me as an example .
You took left master's level courses , but you did not obtain a master's degree before going to medical school . No , right , because you didn't need the degree . What you needed to show was hey , hey , I have mastery of higher level , more rigorous courses , that's .
That , literally , is the only reason that you would do a master's , or you know , or get a master's degree , that's it .
So I just want to clarify that that master's degrees don't get you any closer to medical school , because you could get a master's but if your GPA is a 2.5 , then you know , that's not like you got a degree but you didn't quite master , if you will these higher level courses .
So for Grace , what I would say is , yes , you probably do have to do your prerequisites over , right ?
So prerequisites for medical school two semesters of biology , general biology , two semesters of general chemistry , two semesters of organic chemistry , two semesters of physics , and then English and then other you know other schools might say , hey , you need biochemistry or you need anatomy or you need genetics , right , that's like independent schools .
So you would have to find that out with calculus . Some schools might recommend that you do that . But if you do the first ones that I mentioned , the two semesters of two semesters of , then you should be fine in terms of prerequisites for most schools , for most schools .
So , going into a master's program , I wonder if that is going to be more or less helpful than if you just went and did your prerequisites over .
Right . So you're saying in a master's there's not going to be time to take general chem again , there's not going to be time to take general biology again . All the basics that you really need to show those basic prerequisites . They're not going to be doing that in the master's program .
Correct and , especially in public health , right and frankly , the question becomes well , do you even need to do the public health program outside of your own interest in public health ? That's a different story . But do you even need to do that in order to get into medical school ?
Because if you take the prerequisites over and you rock it out , medical schools might say , well , yeah , it was 10 years ago , but she took it , you know , she took all these prerequisites within the last two years and she rocked it out , did well on the MCAT , let's , you know , let's give her a chance , so you may not even need to go into a master's program
. That's my view on it . That's , you know . That's how I think this is what I would probably recommend .
Let's give some real advice , and I appreciate what you're saying . Let's give some real advice . What if she said listen , dr Renee , do you think that I'm wasting my time going through this ? Like , let's say , I did this just because I I it was for what you said .
I think that if I finish this program , I get this degree , it's going to help me get into school . I'm not really passionate about it . I'm doing this because I want to show that I can handle a higher level of of courses . What do you ? What should I do ?
I would probably say , given the landscape of medical schools and how they typically look at 10 years and you know above , you know , not having taken prerequisites , that you probably should spend most of your time on prerequisites .
I got you .
So focus on the focus on your general prerequisites , on the prerequisites .
Yeah , you so focus , focus on the focus on your general prerequisites .
Yeah , Because you're . You're going to increase your chances of being eligible to more schools that way .
Right Now . What about now ? What about now ? What about ? What do you call it ? What about ? Here's the next question .
Okay , I get what you're saying I'm going to leave my master's program possibly , or you know whatever , don't leave on my account , call around and ask Well , but you should do what you can to help her get through , because you know what to do to get people through . You know certain courses .
I'm just telling her , based on my advice .
But I'm just joking , what I'm saying Verify what . I'm just saying this , though I'm saying this . The next question I have , and I think most people have , is yo , should I , should I just do this at my community college Right , take these bio courses , these chem courses , physics ?
Should I do it at that type of school or should I do it at a four year type of university ? Talk to me .
I did get this question . I got this question from another pre-med asking if she should take organic chemistry . She took organic chemistry once before . No-transcript . Yes , yes , I think they will pay attention , absolutely , from having known a lot of admissions , from having known a lot of admissions officers .
Cause that cost per credit that could them dollars per credit .
It's a lot Dollars per credit is a community college is a big difference . So I did say that to her . I said if cost is an issue , if cost is an issue , then do what you got to do , what you got to do , right . If , if , if you're like I can't afford to take this at a four-year college , it would take me too long to save up the
¶ Community college vs. four-year institution
money Take it at the community college and explain that you know in your personal statement do something Because I mean that's a good platform .
I'm sure that's a platform for a lot of non-traditional students .
right Is the community colleges , right Like they are doing , particularly those who are doing a different career right . It could be .
They are studying , they're doing their career and then they're going to community college on the side .
It could be , yeah , it could be , but you recommend four-year versus a community college . I recommend taking it at a four-year institution .
Okay , I recommend taking it at a four year at a four year institution .
You know , the other reason is a lot of four year institutions are also going to have pre-med advisors at your disposal , whereas you know community college isn't necessarily going to have a pre-med advisor at your disposal , right ? So that's another .
You know , that's kind of another perk of going to a four year college , right , you have somebody who can write a letter for you , the pre-med letter whereas you know , in a four year institution , whereas in a two year institution , you might not have somebody who's qualified enough to say whether or not you're a good candidate for medical school , or might not even
know , like , what's the criteria for getting into medical school , because nobody is leaving community college and straight going into medical school . Right , you , you usually finish up at a four-year college before you go to medical school . So that that's the other piece . But if finances is your issue , then do what you got to do .
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 . No-transcript .