Medical School: Rejected!

A quick aside: This will be my last post for MyUVic Life. I can’t say thank you enough to all the administrators, editors, and my past & present colleagues in this project. Over 1 million hits! I will still be writing a blog, so if you like my stuff and want to continue reading my posts, you can find them at: www.walkingtheplank.net.

I’ll post a detailed analysis on that blog of all the analytics of my medical school application and my thoughts on the process. I’ll keep it entertaining for this post, but if you’re interested in my AQ, NAQ, TFR, MCAT scores, the interview, etc. you can check it out there.

Nobody more than me wanted to write an acceptance post to give hope to everyone who has Fs on their transcripts, had to re-write the MCAT three times, and is like 40 years old. I gave it my best. It was not to be. On with the rejection!

A recurring dream serves as a metaphoric window into my thoughts. The goal of medical school is some sort of island paradise. A real Shangri-La in island form. But I’m on a wooden boat in the middle of the ocean paddling tirelessly. For years, I paddled in oblivion with no island in sight. Then one day I spotted land on the horizon. 

Every year, I get closer and closer to this island. I finally feel like the island is in reach and my boat springs a leak. I start taking on water, and have to decide if I’m close enough to swim to shore or if I keep bailing water and trying to get closer before my boat sinks. Have I calculated the tides correctly? Will I get swept into the ocean immediately if I abandon ship?

Turns out, I drown immediately.

On May 12th, I was one of many students who got a letter of rejection from the UBC faculty of medicine. I feel like I let my family & friends down. I desperately wanted to give my mom and girlfriend the present of acceptance for Mother’s Day. It just didn’t happen. What can I say? It sucks! Believe me, I’m tired of coming up short.

I have two major emotional responses on the rejection:

It would have been nice to get the validation for the people who support me. Without living it, it is difficult to have insight on what the world of academics is about currently.

People have to trust that you are making the right decisions. My family trusts that I know what I am doing, but in a results oriented society it is impossible for them to ignore outcomes.

I didn’t want the stress of not getting into medical school to persist another year for them. As you get older, you want to save your family and friends from as much stress as possible. You want them to be happy. You want them to be proud of you. You want to be able to help them physically, emotionally, and financially in any way possible. Medical school, for me, would be the starting point of a journey that would allow me to hopefully uplift not only my friends & family, but the community and everyone in the world I get the pleasure of connecting with.

The rejection also gave me a wave of relief. I’ve still got a goal to work towards. I’m pretty close to achieving it. I’m definitely not perfect. I’ve got a lot of room to improve in my personal & professional life. It’s not like getting into medical school solves all of your problems. There will be challenges in life no matter who or where you are. That being said, I’ve grown a lot and come a long way. I’ve met some amazing people, had some great experiences, and enjoyed every second of it.

I would like to congratulate the UBC faculty of medicine class of 2021.  You earned it!

As for me, I still feel like a winner, but ask me next year around this time :).

In parting, I want to thank everyone I had the privilege of meeting on this journey. All the professors, administrators, and of most of all my fellow students. We are a team! Every person who smiled at me or lent their support; I needed every bit of it to get to this point!  Thank you! 

I wanted to leave university a little bit better for the students just starting their journey. I tried my best to do that. I wish love, fulfillment, and success to all of you. Cheers to living our dreams without falling asleep!