Regroup and Refocus!

It’s been way too long since I wrote a blog post. I’m sorry! During the hiatus though, I did something awesome. I went and opened my own family medicine clinic. It’s been really overwhelming, in the best kind of way. But it’s certainly more of an undertaking than I ever imagined it would be. More on the clinic later, but I got a bit of a break over this holiday weekend and realized that, as sometimes happens to us all, I’ve slacked on several things that are important to me- like writing this blog regularly and being intentional about encouraging the next generation of Black physicians.

So the moral of the story is, although sometimes really really awesome things happen, we can’t lose sight of the big picture and the end goal. So this post is a friendly reminder, or a kick in the butt-whichever you need, to dust off that dream and let’s get to work.

Freshman Year

If you’re in your first year of college and already know that you’re gonna be a doctor, then good for you! I hope you enjoy the blog, please take some time to look over previous posts—I hope you find them helpful. The biggest goal for this year on your journey to becoming a physician is mostly to survive. College is a different animal from high school and you’ve got to take some extra initiative to balance everything you have going on. I really encourage you to meet with a pre-med advisor to map out the next 4 years as soon as possible. Also, be sure to take a look at this pre-med checklist set yourself up to be a successful applicant to medical school when the time comes!

Sophomore Year

You survived freshman year! As a sophomore, among other things, you should be declaring a major and finding shadowing opportunities and clinical experience. I believe it’s really important to start getting this clinical experience as early as possible, certainly by sophomore year. After all, you want to be sure that a career as a physician is actually what you want…and there’s no better way to know that than shadowing and discussing it with practicing physicians.

Junior Year

If you’re a junior, this is a decision-making year for you. Are you planning to apply next year and go to medical school straight after college or are you thinking you’ll need to take a gap year? If you’re going straight through, you should have an MCAT study plan already made and you should be preparing to take the MCAT over the summer so you’re ready to apply in next year’s cycle. You should also really be focusing on your BCPM classes. If you’re applying next year, the classes you’ll take this year are your last shot before you submit your application to get that GPA as high as you can get it. Find yourself in your professors’ office hours, in tutoring sessions, or in somebody’s library…do what it takes to get those grades and MCAT score where they need to be!

Senior Year

If you’re a senior and planning to apply in this cycle, you should be in full swing of getting secondary applications submitted and setting up interviews. I beg you to make sure your secondary apps are complete (make sure you actually answer the prompt!!) and that you submit them in a timely manner. You want to get in on interviews as early as possible in the cycle. Also, make sure you’re prepping for interviews before you have them. There are all kinds of interview prep resources out there – what’s most important is that you’re prepping with a live human being, not just in your bedroom or in front of a mirror! And if your interviews are virtual, please practice virtually so you can make sure your background, lighting, etc is on point.

Post-grad

If you’ve already graduated and are applying this cycle, the same goes as above. If you’re planning on applying in the next cycle, then what are you doing right now to make yourself a stronger applicant? You should still be getting clinical experience, volunteering, and studying for the MCAT (if needed). You also should make sure you’re staying in contact with the people who will write your letters of recommendation. This year/these years after college aren’t “years off,” make sure you’re still putting in the work!

Regardless of what stage you’re at on your journey to become a physician, keep the end goal in mind! Distractions, even very good ones, will surely come. I encourage you to enjoy them in the moment but remember to always bring yourself back to the goal at hand.

You’ve got this!

More soon!