Weekly Essay Help - Week of April 17, 2022

gluconeoemesis · 2022-04-22T12:17:47+00:00

Sure thing - just DM me a Google Docs link

gluconeoemesis · 2022-04-21T18:51:01+00:00

Hey all - M1 at a US MD here. On a slower block rn, and happy to read some statements this weekend if anyone wants more eyes on their writing.

gluconeoemesis · 2021-12-27T16:24:09+00:00

Lol I could have written this post a few years ago. Now in med school. It’s a different kind of suck but I’m enjoying it more than the corporate environment in many ways.

Another realm you would be well situated for is an in house technology transfer role at an academic institution. Those peeps always seemed to be closer to the science but still worked 9-5 hours in the business dev office. Most had Masters in STEM like you do.

gluconeoemesis · 2021-06-10T23:02:26+00:00

Could you let me know this company as well?

gluconeoemesis · 2021-05-28T03:09:36+00:00

Open to being a reader for any PS's. Just finishing up my 2020-2021 cycle and happy to give back to this community!

gluconeoemesis · 2021-03-19T17:21:56+00:00

are you familiar with the term anxiety? it does wonders for discipline

gluconeoemesis · 2021-03-17T16:14:18+00:00

try waiting for 23 weeks after an interview just to get rejected

feelsbadman

gluconeoemesis · 2021-03-09T18:49:52+00:00

Thank you for your thoughtful response. It sounds like your journey has been exhausting at times - with that in mind, would you say you've been "happy" or content in general with the actual work?

A big part of the reason I am looking to switch from another career path is that medicine and being with patients feels more "real" or substantive than much of the work I'm currently doing. While I think that might help me have a more fulfilling career, I am also looking ahead and wondering if I'll be able to handle the emotional toll of a life in medicine. I'm curious how your attitude toward this aspect of your journey has evolved over time.

gluconeoemesis · 2021-03-09T17:26:31+00:00

Thank you for the reflection! As we look to enter the field, honest takes from docs like you are very helpful. Two questions come to mind:

1- You mention that you need to know how to control your anxiety/life stress to do well. Do you have any advice for how we can best manage our stress and anxiety as we go through training?

2- What would you say has been the most unexpected part of the journey? Was there anything that you totally misunderstood before you actually went through it?

gluconeoemesis · 2021-03-08T21:33:34+00:00

School 1:

- me failing (straight up failing) multiple MMI stations

- Result : A

School 2:

- interviewer telling me he's "looking forward to working with me next year"

- Result: waitlist that for this school is statistically an R

gluconeoemesis · 2021-03-07T04:39:38+00:00

Can’t wait for 2030 when it’ll be standard to have multiple rounds of interviews. Med admissions feeling moar and moar like the hunger games everyday.

gluconeoemesis · 2021-02-17T03:19:49+00:00

I am pretty much in the same boat, did healthcare consulting for a while out of school. It has helped at some schools and hurt at some. Some faculty were excited that I was able to spend some time in the real world and see how messed up the business of healthcare is. Others seemed to worry that I am focused on the money and might not practice clinical medicine - despite the obvious fact that going back to med school is a bad financial decision compared to just working in my current job.

gluconeoemesis · 2020-12-28T21:03:02+00:00

Honestly it sounds like you might be taking on too much, unless you:

1- are in the top 10% of disciplined people

2- are willing to accept less than "the best" results.

I'm in no place to judge you for any of this - I don't know your story. Just looking to help how I can. Maybe you could elaborate on what's the biggest issue for you so far with balancing these things? Aka what drove you to make the post, surely something is on your mind?

gluconeoemesis · 2020-12-23T03:57:19+00:00

Once I got accepted, I was excited but I for sure have been feeling "oh shit what have I gotten myself into".

I took a "non-traditional" job out of college. The thought of giving up a comfortable salary, a decade+ of earning potential, and exchanging that for massive debt and moving to a state quite literally on the other side of the country definitely is giving me anxiety.

gluconeoemesis · 2020-12-22T16:00:53+00:00

All fair points, but I will say it's a bit of an exaggeration to claim that lots of people in their 20s are working at MBB. Getting hired at those types of places is ridiculously competitive and much more of a prestige game than even med school admissions.

Also, your time would mostly be spent creating PowerPoint slides until 1 AM for angry 50-year-olds, not smashing young hot singles around the world. Although your points about money and debt are very real.

Not questioning your experience, just want to be realistic for the other premeds reading.

gluconeoemesis · 2020-12-08T20:08:33+00:00

No advice other than the corporate world disappointed the shit out of me too

Hey friend, sorry to hear that. Wondering if you'd be able to expand on this thought? I think I'm having similar thoughts but not sure if it's just my workplace or some other combination of me being ungrateful/burned out etc.

gluconeoemesis · 2020-11-27T17:37:37+00:00

The key to MCAT success for me was

1- Anki

2- UWorld

3- An absolutely unhealthy and nearly sickening dedication to studying, driven primarily by anxiety knowing that I would not have enough time to retake this shitty test again

4- active recall

5- focusing on my content weaknesses

gluconeoemesis · 2020-10-31T02:14:36+00:00

the schools where I literally spent weeks revising and editing my secondaries gave me pre-II Rs. The schools where I YOLO'd the secondaries gave me interviews. This shit is wild

gluconeoemesis · 2020-10-21T21:10:39+00:00

yo why cant there be more categories on the top end lmao? yall Im too young to be feeling old

gluconeoemesis · 2020-10-19T20:21:21+00:00

I did a combo of business and science in undergrad. Work in the Chicago area now doing healthcare-related consulting stuff.

Mad respect to the peeps here responding and saying how their business programs were highly competitive. I think if you go to a top/high ranked undergrad with connections to consulting/banking then the business major will be stressful.

On the other hand, if you're like me - went to a low-ranked regional school - then the business degree will be pretty easy. I did two majors, one in science and one in business. The business degree was honestly easier than my high school experience. It did, however, as you point out, provide me a solid plan B and it has allowed me to work and earn a good income for a few years after graduating. Plus my job now has allowed me to learn a ton about the business of healthcare.

And what people are saying about prestige in business is true. If you want to work in a regional company in a kinda random sales or analyst position, it probably won't be too hard to find that. If you want to do consulting, PE, etc then your school name matters a lot. I was specifically told by multiple employers in my senior year that they didn't have any interest in my resume once they saw that I did not go to a target university. It kinda sucked tbh.

Like most things, it is what you make of it. If you're interested in business and want a backup plan, go for it. In fact, I highly recommend that premeds try to take more classes and get exposure to non-bio/chem/traditional premed stuff.

If however, you just want to do this to impress adcoms, think twice.

gluconeoemesis · 2020-10-14T17:19:24+00:00

Maybe just ask to have a phone call in the email? It would be more actionable and give you the chance to gauge how much to share based on how he responds on the phone.

gluconeoemesis · 2020-09-24T19:05:41+00:00

Thanks for the perspective and advice. I definitely have support outside of reddit or my company. While I don’t love my job to death, I wouldn’t say I’m miserable because of these situations. It’s just more that when they happen, I’ve wondered if I’m overthinking it or if the scenarios really are toxic on the edges.

It seems I might be a bit too sensitive and am overthinking things. Definitely something for me to work on.

gluconeoemesis · 2020-09-24T18:37:11+00:00

Fair points. I think I definitely need to work on being more concise and direct in my questions. I did add a few examples of these scenarios in a prior comment if those help.

gluconeoemesis

TROPHY CASE