How I Got Here

If any other pre-medical students or passerby are curious as to what activities and qualifications got me to this point, that is the purpose of this post. With that in mind, here is my combination of activities, with minor activities left out:

• 4 years member of pre-med student org, 1 year social chair, 2 years president - involved coordinating CPR training, volunteering in Mexico, guest speakers, etc.
• 1 quarter and a half of research (Autism)
• Certified phlebotomist, worked at Kaiser for 3 years
• 7 months shadowing D.O. physician
• Double major, Biochemistry and History
• GPA: Overall 3.4, BCPM 3.1; MCAT: 32R
  

I only write this for the record, or so I can refer people here later. In the meantime, I am anxiously waiting to hear from TUCOM-CA, and the interview at WesternU is next week! I have a good feeling about this!

As an afterthought, I had the pleasure of attending my history of ancient Egypt class tonight. We covered the relevant topic of ancient Egyptian medicine. Several interesting tidbits came up. For one, Egyptian physicians were exalted, of course, and even more specialized than medicine today - each physician specialized in a particular ailment (head trauma, stomach pain, broken legs, swollen throat, malaria, tuberculosis). Imagine going to the hospital and seeing the "influenza doctor" for treatment, or the "lower back rash" specialist. At that time, it was probably feasible - as they could not easily differentiate intestinal blockage, swollen appendix, or extreme diverticulitis - it would all fall under the jurisdiction of the "lower stomach pain" specialist. Today, there would need to be at least a thousand physicians in a single hospital to match the number of known individual diseases, symptoms, and conditions. As for their treatments, they used pills, liquid drops, liquid, food, and combinations. Some common effective treatments were castor (oil, fruit, root), prunes, and coriander for digestive problems. Fitting that many of the earliest treatments involved herbs or foods which affected the digestive tract, such as anti-diarrheals, laxatives, diuretics, anti-diuretics, and gas/bloating relievers.