Private pre-health advisor/coach?

[Anonymous]

Looking for a recommendation for a private pre-health counselor. My DC just finished sophomore year with a failing grade in chemistry and following a low grade in biology freshman year. Looks like med school is out. Trying to re-assess other post-grad options and considering PA or accelerated nursing/nurse practitioner routes. Pre-health advisor at college isn’t great.

[Anonymous]

If they failed chemistry and also got a low grade in Biol, it is highly unlikely they will be able to do PA or NP. What subjects do they enjoy AND excel in? Steer the career in that direction.

[Anonymous]

^i am a physician who runs a premed/pre-PA advising company with two other physicians. We have all served on MD or PA admissions panels.

[Anonymous]

I mean, would you want to be treated by a PA who failed basic classes like chem and almost bio?
It’s not your kid’s strength or passion OP.
Have DC work with a career counselor to figure out other career fields that may be better suited to their interests

The basic sciences in college are easy classes for future health care professionals.
The stuff in PA school is much harder. And the work in a job is way harder than school, in terms of speed of work, amount to remember, decision making, and sacrifice of other parts of life in order to do the job well.

Let your DC find their true passion instead.

-signed an MD

[Anonymous]

OP those 2 grades have likely tanked their GPA. Nursing and PA are off the table unless they take extra undergrad time to retake the classes.

[Anonymous]

Unless there is a really good explanation such as medical emergency or family emergency, most top flight healthcare careers are probably out including NP, PA, med school, DPT, etc. there will be countless applications to graduate schools down the road that don’t have the low grades and as others have mentioned, most of us wouldn’t want to be treated by someone that struggled with basic science courses. Sorry OP, but it’s time to make a major pivot. Find what your kid likes AND is good at naturally.

The best case scenario would be BSN, but that will be hard. Maybe athletic training or exercise science before looking at two year degrees like cardiovascular technology or ultrasound/ x-ray tech.

However, I’m guessing a pivot away from the sciences might happen. Is the kid outgoing with an interest in the medical field? Switch to business and go into medical sales. The kid will make bank and not deal with the medical field insurance industry nightmare. Or, get into insurance and be the nightmare for the medical field.

[Anonymous]

MPH could also work

[Anonymous]

Or take the classes over and carry on if this is the dream. Don’t listen to DCUM.

[Anonymous]

The original classes will still be on the transcript showing the poor grades. If the current college uses grade forgiveness when calculating gpa, there is no guarantee med school will do the same. You can either waste time and money and realize this the hard way in a few years, or be proactive and switch tracks now. There is no room for error with med school unless you want to go to one in the Caribbean. This is because there are medical school rejects that have perfect grades, so even if you retake the course and get an A, there is a mark in the transcript that will disqualify unless there was a medical or family emergency. OP, I implore you to listen to those that are in industry, not delusional parents that don’t want to admit the gig is over.

[Anonymous]

OP, something "tech". Radiologic technologist, as just one example. There would be many "tech" fields if she wanted to stay in healthcare. The training would come after undergrad, likely. But, the major at her college to get through and graduate, I have no idea.

[Anonymous]

+1 to medical sales, insurance, or med tech.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the suggestions. Major is public health. Yes, there is a family emergency situation that likely contributed to the academic outcome (parent with cancer), but I think we will be encouraging a pivot. DC has EMT certification, loves all their public health coursework and especially loves the lab portion of class (scores 98+ in the lab section of biology and chemistry). We welcome any other suggestions!

[Anonymous]

Tell DC to not give up. If med school is the dream there are many ways to get there. No
one should give up a dream based on two classes at 20. I would take classes again. I would have an explanation for first set. You could consider going abroad for med school and yes people still get residencies. There is a guy on instagram who talks about what he went through to become a doctor. It was inspiring. Not everyone has an easy time of it but if you want something you keep trying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell DC to not give up. If med school is the dream there are many ways to get there. No
one should give up a dream based on two classes at 20. I would take classes again. I would have an explanation for first set. You could consider going abroad for med school and yes people still get residencies. There is a guy on instagram who talks about what he went through to become a doctor. It was inspiring. Not everyone has an easy time of it but if you want something you keep trying.

This is so kind. Thanks. DC mentioned maybe applying to an accelerated post-grad program for get their BSN (RN), but from the MD comments above it sounds like even that is out of reach. College advisor is saying to retake the two classes for grade replacement and says this is fairly common (this is at a top 40-50 college). DC will continue to reassess possible options before school starts in the fall and keep working as an EMT this summer.

[Anonymous]

OP can she definitely take 2 classes for grade replacement? Will the original grades still show on her final transcript?