Can i be a doctor yet?

06Mar 2018 by Jesse Smith

Why I left Alternative Medicine: Part 1

This story is probably the most prominent and influential story of my life. The decision to enter and ultimately leave the field of alternative medicine has not only taken years of my life and cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars, but shaped the direction of my career in a permanent and meaningful way. I entered the field of Chinese Medicine at the age of 25, without much knowledge of the field, its practices or what my career might look like. After a few exhaustive years working in the outdoor education industry, I left in desperation. Having held a long standing interest in the field of chiropractic care after my experience being treated by a chiropractor after a car accident, I always felt I might be interested in taking my…

05Mar 2018 by admin

MCAT Nightmare!

MCAT

The MCAT is one of the most important events in a pre-med's life. It's a long, grueling day with huge implications on whether or not you will get admitted to medical school, and where. At the very least, a well-prepared premed plans for at least some sort of delay on the day of the test. This way, in the event of weather or traffic, you make it to your test on time. On the morning of my first MCAT attempt, I had everything in place, I was one time and ready to go. But I was thwarted. I was thwarted by beer. It wasn't the consumption of beer that got me. It was the delivery of beer. I'll explain. At the time, I was living in Santa Cruz, CA. My…

01Mar 2018 by admin

The 5 most influential pre-med books

Uncategorized

Every pre-med needs down time, so why not spend it getting a glimpse into your future career? Most of us all know how to get into medical school, but what is it actually like once you get there? There are more than a few well-written physicians out there who have documented their experiences in fictional or non-fictional form. These 5 books were the most eye-opening, influential or entertaining books that I read as a pre-med. 1. The Intern Blues: The Timeless Classic About the Making of a Doctor. Robert Marion MD Well, if you want a real deal account of what it was like to be an inner-city intern during the mid 1980's before intern and resident's hours were restricted, this is it. Personally, I want the cold hard facts…

26Feb 2018 by admin

The non-traditional pre-med defined!

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It's fair to start with a definition since you may be wondering as you stroll through the first few pages of this site whether or not you fit into this category of non-traditional. To define the non-traditional pre-med, maybe we should start by defining the traditional pre-medical student. *note: while we may focus on issue affecting non-traditional students, these topics surely apply to all medical school applicants, so we hope you'll stick around! Traditional medical students enter medical school within about 2 years of finishing college. Typically these students head straight into med school, but a few take the dreaded "gap year" before starting. Traditional students tend to be under 25 years old and have degrees in a science such as biology, biochemistry, chemistry or physics. So, if this does…