Getting into medical school

First, this is no way a guide into how to get into medical school. There are professionals out there who write books on this stuff. I must admit, I was suckered into buying a few of them, but in the end, it was a waste of money and brain power to read them.

This post is more of a reflection of the three years it took me to finally gain admission into med school. I really did not know what profession I wanted to get into. At least not until college. I was an athlete my whole life. Tennis always came first, but school a close second. Priorities, I know! But, reflecting back on this, I'm glad that it was prioritized in my mind this way. I worked hard on the tennis court and knew that without education, tennis would be almost meaningless. Plus, I'm competitive in nature. I was not about to flunk school and be another dumb athlete. (I may have offended people here, but I exxagerated this cliche. Those who are student athletes, especially in college, know there are more book smart athletes than there are dumb ones).

I was an athletic training major at the University of Montana. Go Griz! They invited me out on a recruiting trip (read more about this in other posts) and I got hooked to the Griz way and never looked back. Undergrad was a blast! I had so much fun playing tennis, competing, traveling, and training with my teammates. But there were many times where I found myself struggling in the classroom and on the tennis court. This is where it becomes crucial to have excellent time management skills. As I say this, I can hear my father's voice reiterating this very statement. "Manage your time efficiently, Annabelle" were words I knew too well to come from my dad. Believe it or not, he still says it. But, he is absolutely right! I learned from the start of my undergrad years to manage my time well. How could you not? Training and practice took up many hours of the day. Classes were scheduled around these times and by the end of the day, you just wanted to curl up and sleep even if it was on your desk:)

Since we traveled a lot especially in the spring semesters, I really had to stay on top of school. Usually we were on the road by Thursday mornings, which left only three school days to get as much information understood in lectures, have questions answered by professors, and get the extra work done before we left. If there were exams while we were away, which was the usual case, I had the pleasure of rescheduling the exam either before I left or when I got back. I usually liked to take the exam before I leave for a big tournament so I don't have school on my mind while I need to concentrate on the court. Some professors really try to accommodate you here but there are the occasional ones who dont give two fly swats for you or the fact that you represent the university in a positive manner. Yes, I know...a shameless plug for collegiate athletics! Moving on..

But looking back, I honestly don't think my college experience would be the same if I weren't playing tennis at the same time. I love competing. But not in that ruthless, in your face, I'm going to take you down every step of your waking life type of competitive. I think a little competition keeps people on their toes and always performing at their best. It's human nature to want to do something better than someone else, for whatever reason. And tennis gave me the juice to experience many many things and meet lots of people. This is where I got my traveling bug from!

Once I figured out that medicine was the profession for me, I set out with the same determination I put into tennis. And this is saying a lot because school really did not have this much effect on me until this point. I still remember the exact moment where I thought, "hey, I could be a doctor...maybe". There's always that hesitation, especially if you really don't know what you are getting yourself into. And I'm glad my first thought was "maybe" because I needed to know for sure that I wanted to become a doctor. At this point during my last semester of freshman year, I had only taken one science course, Introduction to Biology. What did I know of getting into medical school and becoming a doctor? At this point, absolutely nothing, nada, zilch. No one in my family is a physician and no one I was close to knew anyone who was a physician.

So how do I start? This was my first thought. If I don't know a single soul who has a relation to the field of medicine, how do I find out if this is right for me and who should I ask? And then it hit me....the INTERNET. Tada! All your answers at your fingertips. I can first find out what it takes to become a physician. How much school, how to get in, what kind of grades, what tests were needed to get in, etc. etc. My initial search pulled up a list of U.S. allopathic and osteopathic schools and the links to their respective websites for admissions information. From there my search arrived to UM's Biology program. It only seemed logical that if I were to be admitted into medical school, that I should be well versed in the pre-medical sciences and Biology was a major offered at my school. Of course it wasn't until much later that I learned you could take up any major and then take the required courses to apply to medical school. But what did I know at that point? Nada.

Needless to say, at the end of my early morning internet search for information, I had dropped my previous major of athletic training and signed up for introductory courses in Biology as my new major. Since then I have not looked back at my decision. I thoroughly enjoyed all my classes, with the exception of Physics. (I really tried to open my mind to it, but it never happened for me with physics). But there was more I needed to learn along the way about getting into medical school.