Rejected from 2021 cycle with 4 interviews. Please help me reapply!

[Mikeyavelli]

Hey everyone! First time reapplicant here AND FIRST TIME POSTER. I applied in 2021 and received 4 interviews in that cycle - UC Davis, CUSM (waitlisted), UNLV (waitlisted), and UNR. Cockily enough, I assumed I was going to get an acceptance that cycle, so I took a tech job in the Silicon Valley to make some money and see if engineering was right for me. Obviously, that didn't work out for me, and I was rejected from all my schools that cycle. Instead, of reapplying in 2022, I continued to work - turns out Silicon Valley tech work culture can be a bit of a tricky one to balance. Just recently I made a switch to a big medical company and am currently working as a Clinical Specialist in Cardiology (essentially, I'm helping map the heart during Electrophysiology heart ablations). Aside from working two different jobs since my application cycle, I haven't done much else. I was hoping I could get some advice on possible fixes to my application. Thanks, y'all!!

Components of application
1. "Hidden Ivy" Graduate
2. Biomedical Engineering Graduate: Overall GPA - 3.70, BCPM GPA -3.81
3. CA Resident
4. MCAT: 515 (126/126/131/132
5. Shadowing - 50 hours
6. Community Service - 500 hours Tutoring at-risk students, 200 hours in Habitat for Humanity (Treasurer)
7. Research - 300 hours in a Biomechanics of Sports Injuries Lab
8. Tutor (260 hours) and Teaching assistant (120 hours)
9. Team Design Lead for a Medical Devices Club (200 hours)
10. Hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (1000 hours)
11. Worked part time the entire time I attended school.
12. Worked as a Medical Devices Engineer (1 year ~2300 hours)
13. Worked as a Sports Medicine Medical Assistant (400 hours) [WAS NOT ON MY ORIGINAL APPLICATION-Worked as one during my cycle]
14. Working as a Clinical Specialist (Started January this year) [There is a patient in the room. Can this be considered clinical experience?]


Can I consider the Clinical Specialist role as clinical experience? We do interact with the patients, and we are mapping their heart during the procedure, as well as helping medical staff (placing EKG patches, teaching patients, etc.). However, we are not employed by the hospital.

Thanks for your help, everyone!!

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[Faha]

What does your work as a Clinical Specialist involve ? Is it research ? Did you work with physicians as a Sports Medicine Medical Assistant and what did that work involve ?

 

[Mikeyavelli]

It's a tricky job to describe to people. Still working on my wording. Essentially, I guide the electrophysiologist during heart ablations/EP Studies, by mapping the patient's heart. During all the procedures I am in the OR/Cath Lab scrubbed in and working with all the nursing staff and physicians. My company makes the catheters we use to map the patient's hearts, the catheters we use for ablation, and the software for collecting all those different signals and visualizing them. So, I also troubleshoot those devices. However, most of my work is on providing the best clinical support (pointing out possible arrythmias, telling the doctor where their catheter is in the heart, and referencing recent studies-in order to get the best patient outcome.

I worked with a Sports Medicine Physician and did patient intake, casting, vital reading, follow up calls with patients, sending PT orders, etc.

 

[Mikeyavelli]

School list:
CUSM
Hofstra
Kaiser
USC - Keck
UNLV
Temple
NYU
Jefferson
University of Utah
Stanford
Brown
Tufts
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UCLA
UCSD
UCSF
UCF
University of Colorado
University of Hawaii
UNR
Cornell

 

[Faha]

Both of your Sports Medicine and Clinical Specialist work appear to be clinical. I suggest these schools when you apply :
Carle Illinois (you fit their mission)
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UCLA
UCSF
UCSD
Kaiser
California University
USC Keck
Stanford
TCU
St. Louis
Rosalind Franklin
Medical College Wisconsin
Western Michigan
Oakland Beaumont
NOVA MD
Wake Forest
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia
George Washington
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Penn State
Hackensack
Hofstra
Einstein
New York Medical College
Albany
Rochester
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Tufts

 

[Mikeyavelli]

Hi Faha. Thank you very much for the list! I was familiar with Carle, but after reviewing its mission statement again, I feel it would be a great fit. Thanks again!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Carle and Texas A&M Enmed are both engineer friendly according to mission. Check them out.

Could you highlight what you added after you were employed? I want to separate what you did after college.

Yes guiding catheters for cardiologists has a clinical component, but separate those training hours in the OR from other marketing, technical, or administrative duties.

 

[Mikeyavelli]

I’ll check out Texas Enmed too! After college, while I worked as a medical assistant, I mentored/tutored at-risk students. However, I had to stop that once I took my first engineering job in the Silicon Valley. Once I moved, I continued to work on developing a medical device that my senior capstone team and I got grant funding from, but shortly stopped doing that after starting my job. So I haven’t done too much besides from working, for about the past year. It’s no excuse but working a salaried engineer position put significant stress on my time management as I was averaging 60 hours per week. I’m hoping that doesn’t look bad, because juggling insane hours is exactly what I will be doing during residency. That being said, I’ve started looking for more volunteeeing in my area to pick up.


I will definitley separate my hours. There is a also a research component to my job - we do research presentations and work with some physicians to collect data on different EP techniques.

 

[flyon_littlewing9587]

4 interviews tells me your app is successful on paper. How did you feel like the interviews went?

 

[Mikeyavelli]

2 interviews went well, and 2 went poorly. I had a chance to review my app with admin for the 2 schools, that I interviewed well at, and they said the lack of clinical experience was what held them back (I started work as a medical assistant during the application cycle). I’m certain my interviewing skills need to be reworked.

 

[EmperorK]

2 interviews went well, and 2 went poorly. I had a chance to review my app with admin for the 2 schools, that I interviewed well at, and they said the lack of clinical experience was what held them back (I started work as a medical assistant during the application cycle). I’m certain my interviewing skills need to be reworked.

If u need interviewing help, I can help you. Good luck!

 

[KaiBuzz]

Have you continued with non-clinical volunteering? That’s critical. Also remove Hawaii and Utah unless you have strong ties to those states.