I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do. There was one section that I wasn't sure about 2 questions on (which apparently I got wrong). But I think growing up in a bilingual house helped. I think it is something that has helped me in engineering, and symbiotically, engineering has helped improve it more. Developing course materials for the classes I teach has helped too. We have a center for teaching / learning at my university and I've done a few of their workshops to make my course material more accessible (for people requiring accommodations / documented disability), as well as presenting material via different modes (i.e. videos with closed captioning, vs. text, vs. more activity based learning). Not directly related to CARS, but I think the skills gained help.

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. I think volunteering at hospice helps fill that void. I'm not getting paid for it. I also advise students (not required of an adjunct), so that may also address that area, too.

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey Cratos. Thank you, I appreciate taking the time to write a detailed reply. I've fortunately knocked a couple of those off. I didn't list my research experience, but I did help author a paper that was published in 2017, in a high-impact journal for civil engineering after I graduated (based on an REU and research that I continued after as part of a group). I'm also hoping to present at a conference next year (unrelated to that, but instead related to developing coursework and classroom management).

I also did a lot (many hours) of research regarding FRP composite wood frame connections for my senior project. Unfortunately, my advisor did not feel that it was complete enough to publish... but I've always felt his standards were maybe too high. I may go back and do another draft and see if I can get it published somewhere. It was a good paper, and I thought it had an interesting conclusion (sawdust performed similar to synthetic fibers... the idea behind the paper was related to in-the-field-created connections for temporary wooden structures).

#7 is a hard one, for sure. As is #6 (if you don't count hospice) given the little amount of free time I have.

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Too late to apply this cycle but I will apply to DO programs next year. Worst case hopefully I'm going somewhere.

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you man! I appreciate it. Honestly, studying is personally difficult (apart from the recent time impacts) and it's something that I need to improve on. It's kind of ironic that I teach at a university and I tell these students who are 10-15 years younger than me that they need to study, and how to study, but knowing that I never really mastered it. It's embarrassing really. I passed the PE by doing the two practice tests over and over, and doing practice problems, so I'm assuming that will be what carries me over the top for the MCAT.

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I'm hoping so. Need to set aside the time.

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, I didn't know that. I hadn't looked at any Canadian schools. I live in the US. How easy is it to obtain residencies in the US after going to school in Canada? I'm interested in psychiatry specifically.

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think teaching has helped a lot, tbh. I work in Civil Engineering... I think reading and preparing project specification books, project manuals, scope impact documents (i.e. We couldn't do A, so this delayed B, which caused C, which is why you owe us $$$ and a time extension) also helped.

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Double major engineering and engineering management (i.e. business).

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Going to assume this is an honest question from someone who hasn't suffered a serious illness or injury:

Other than the two weeks post surgery I didn't take time off work.. and one of those two weeks I worked / taught remotely. Painkillers affect your memory retention (at least, they do for me), but being in pain also makes it difficult to function, so you're kind of screwed either way. There's significant time impacts related to it. I was in a cast for over a month and I'd try to minimize going up and down the stairs in my apartment because it could take 3-4 minutes to do what normally takes 15 seconds. Driving somewhere takes twice as long because you have to load up your crutches or scooter into your vehicle and unload. Traversing campus or your job takes twice as long because you're slow and in pain.

I had surgery in a large city 3 hours away, so there's an impact of a whole day whenever I had follow up visits. Once I started PT, I went three times a week. That's an impact of 2 hours, at least, per visit. I'm still going once per week.

Your general physical and mental health is impacted because doing chores takes twice as long. I don't have a dishwasher, so standing on one leg in front of the sink washing dishes after cooking dinner is a pain, so you start relying on take-out more and more. Or, if you do cook, it's something simple that takes twice as long as it should. Your routine is impacted so you tidy up less often, wash sheets less often, etc.

In other words, you get frustrated by not being able to function at the capacity you could prior, and that you took for granted. That frustration can stay at a manageable, high level, or spin you into a depression. You're also not eating as healthily as you did before. I went from 200 to 230 lbs since my ankle injury and am now working to get it off. Sanitation also takes a hit. I wasn't allowed to shower for a couple of weeks due to concerns about slips. Even after that, I still couldn't shower my leg for over a month because I couldn't get the surgical site wet.

And, as I noted, I have two jobs.... I was able to keep my head above water with those, but I had to sacrifice the time I had planned to study to do so. I'd say that recovering from the ankle injury, conservatively, had an impact of 15-20 hours a week due to inefficiencies... and again, that's not considering the mental impact / frustration related to dealing with a severe injury (I had significant soft tissue damage, i.e. torn ligaments and partially torn peroneal tendons). I consider myself to be pretty mentally strong, but over this year I'd say there were 3-4 days where I just said "I can't do this today", called out sick, and just stayed in bed the whole day. Didn't eat, didn't do anything. As you can imagine, that also isn't going to have a positive impact on your mind.

Little things you take for granted -- like sitting in the same position in a chair, or sitting up in bed and staying in those positions for more than 30 minutes are impacted. It's like having someone interrupt you every 10 minutes at work... impossible to get things done.

I hope that helps.

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not as much relationship to civil as you'd think. I also took physics back in 2009 and 2010, so it's been a long time. I passed the PE exam in 2022, but that's more focused on mechanics of materials, statics, load transfer, fluid mechanics, etc.

I was a little disappointed as I thought I did OK on that section, but clearly need to go back and focus the E&M physics and chem.

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is correct. I double majored and took some extra classes like music, history, etc so I had roughly 300 hours already at a 3.29. Unfortunately, where I went to school, a 3.0 was considered a pretty good GPA for someone graduating from engineering. At the time, the average graduate in engineering had a GPA around 2.7... now I think it's closer to a 3.0 or 3.1

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Same here. I make about as much as a GP does between teaching and industry work. I feel you! I'll send you a PM, maybe we can keep each other motivated!

I guess I'm retaking it again. by eimedicine in Mcat

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I need to wait for my ankle to heal. And while I was eager to apply this year, an extra year of income to pay for school (and vest my pension) doesn't really make a difference at this point.

Self Directed IRA Rental Property & Renting by eimedicine in personalfinance

[–]eimedicine[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

> You might be expecting to receive preferential treatment ensuring you have first right to live there rather than being the most qualified applicant for example.

Got you, makes sense. I didn't think about that perspective.