MCAT & More…
I’ve pushed up my MCAT testing date to August 5th so that I can take an “in-person” study course in Toronto, Canada. While up there I get to see my sister and brother-in-law which is going to be awesome. Even though I am a native New Yorker I’ve never really gone to upstate NY much - so it will be refreshing for me to go up there and see the area. Rochester area is supposed to be very pretty, and I don’t doubt it as upstate NY is gorgeous. It will be nice to get out of the summer heat Florida packs too. If I were rich I’d have a summer place somewhere milder than Florida - since I’m not my choice would be to stay here in Florida and enjoy the lack of snow, I’ve had enough snow to last me a lifetime - I seriously can live without ever seeing the white stuff again. I do however have fond memories as a child playing in it when it was over my head, I also recall having to shovel it too! One thing was certain my mom always had homemade hot chocolate waiting inside to warm us up, that and homemade vegetable beef soup too.
I had a blast in St. Croix this trip. Met two new CRNA’s and had some beach fun with another I met over Christmas holiday. Saw many interesting surgeries and more dynamics of the O.R. and made it even that much more clear to me that it’s 100% what I want to do. I think that every pre-med student should take the time to shadow a physician, it certainly gives you a wealth of information on many aspects of becoming a physician, and readies you for the challenges and the lifestyle ahead. In short, I’m extremely glad I put in the over 100 hours that I did in the Operating Room and I’d highly recommend any pre-med student do the same. Being that I am in the medical field via veterinary medicine I had some inkling of what to expect with regard to the surgery and medicine itself - but seeing and being part of it on the human side was a joy as well as an eye opener in many aspects. One thing it’s good for is to see if you can tolerate the view of surgery, you would find out real fast if you were squeamish and if the field was right for you. I was speaking with a young student the other day and she was explaining how she had thought she’d be a pre-med student but the site of blood made her ill and she realized early on she’d better go into the administration side of it - so she was going into marketing and business end of it. It just proves that you must be certain that in all aspects you are ready for medicine and that it is a good fit for you, and probably the best way to do that is to actually be there observing. Shadowing in my opinion is an invaluable tool, and I can see why medical schools like to see it on your application.