Welcome to my blog! My name is Dr. Danielle Ward, author of Atypical Premed: A Non-Traditional Student's Guide to Applying to Medical School and a current Plastic Surgery Resident Physician located in Miami, Florida.
A little more about me: I am a 35-year-old African-American female and single mother
to a super bright and sweet 15-year-old. I graduated from Louisiana State University in
2009 with a BS in Biochemistry (minor in chemistry), and I received a MS in
Biochemistry from the University of Saint Joseph in 2013. I graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic
Medicine – Georgia Campus with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree in 2018, and completed a Traditional Rotating Internship in General Surgery in 2019. I also practiced as an Urgent Care physician in Atlanta, Georgia for two years before finally matching into an Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency program.
I originally started this blog when I was accepted into medical school so that others on a similar like path could have someone who they could relate to. I noticed that it was very hard to find minority women in osteopathic medicine (or just medicine in
general for that matter) on the web, so I wanted to do something to highlight
these women. My goal for this blog was to be a source of encouragement and inspiration
for young minority females considering medicine, and it has grown to be so much more! It has become a documentation of my journey from newly accepted medical student to now physician! In it you'll find tips for applying to medical school, successfully navigating medical school, and most importantly, I share my journey. From the highs of being a successful medical student to the lows of previously failed match cycles, I share it all. I document my
journey so that I can have something to look back on one day as a reminder of
how far I have come. I hope it is as enjoyable for you as it is for me :-)
Find me on:
Twitter: @minoritydoctor
Instagram: minoritydoctor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/minoritydoctor
Twitter: @minoritydoctor
Instagram: minoritydoctor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/minoritydoctor
Other links that can answer the “about me” question are below:
Why I started this blog
My journey to single motherhood
As another aspiring minority doctor, I look forward to your posts. I came across this from a link on OldPreMeds.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found me :-) I look forward to bringing you more.
DeleteHi, I also came across this from your post on OldPremeds and I'm glad I followed the link. Thanks for sharing your journey.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to click on the link, and for reading my blog! I hope you are able to find it helpful and inspiring :-)
DeleteThank you for this! I am looking to apply to med school within the next couple of years.. I am a 26 yo African American female in the Air Force and this is inspirational. I have always been interested in the sciences but let my fear of underrepresentation get the best of me... But no more! I wish you all the best and will be checking in to see how you're doing in your med school journey...Oh and I also found your blog through Oldpremeds...
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't really think many people looked on that site! LOL Please keep going and don't let your fears prevent you from living the life you want! I wish you all the best as well, and thank you for reading.
DeleteOMG! I am sooo glad I found this!!!!
ReplyDeletethrough a sdn forum thread. This is great!!
DeleteI'm glad you found it too! LOL Thanks :-)
DeleteHey, Danielle! I found your blog through GA-PCOM's facebook page - I am one of your future classmates! You're blog is very inspiring, and I wanted to let you know how excited I am to be in class with you in August. I currently live in Suwanee, so let me know if you have any questions about the area. Also, I made a bucket list to complete before starting medical school, and I think it's funny that we have some similar items.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!!! I am excited to to be starting class with you as well! Definitely going to run over and check out your bucket list. Are you a member of the class Facebook group yet?
DeleteI just joined the facebook group yesterday, so I'm still getting caught up on everything. :)
DeleteThanks for being a pioneer and starting a blog for us minorities!! It does help to see someone like yourself who is also of color and achieving the same dreams that I have You are very inspiring and it pushes me to keep fighting as well! Also you're gorgeous! Keep it up. I wish you the best!
ReplyDeleteAwww, thank you! I wish you all the best as well. Keep fighting and achieve those dreams. I want us all to make it to the top :-)
DeleteHey girl! I just wanted to take the time out and thank you for all that you have done! You are awesome and inspiring. I really needed to read a lot of the things you have on here to help with self-confidence in applying to medicine! Keep doing what you're doing--I am SO proud of you!
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you! I definitely appreciate your words and you taking the time to read my posts. It really means a lot to me. I'm glad I could help you feel more confident in the process, and I wish you the absolute best on your journey!
DeleteThank you, thank you!!! I was about to, completely, reject the idea of becoming a Doc., I'll start working on my personal statement right now. Although this is the first time I hear of it, I will be applying to pcom as well.
ReplyDeleteI hope they accept me.
Stats: South American, 14 years living in the US; 37 y/o; low MCAT; BS biology; MS nutrition; high GPAs; lots of health experience and awards; and a little discouraged about my low mcat :(.
Claudio.
You're welcome, and thank you for reading! Never reject your dreams, and don't let a low MCAT score discourage you! It's a long road, but you'll definitely get there if you persevere. Good luck on your personal statement and application. I hope PCOM accepts you as well :-) Feel free to e-mail me if you need help with anything.
DeleteHi! I came across your blog through another WordPress blog (Z at 5 Year Journey). It's good to see another woman of color starting medical school this fall. Looking forward to your posts!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! I look forward to reading your posts as well. BTW, love your "about" section description LOL.
DeleteI'm really glad that you linked your site on SDN. I read your story about going through 3 application cycles before you were finally accepted. From what I read, you said that you graduated with a 2.5 from undergrad and then took on an MS program. When you were applying, did you also redo any of your classes or did you simply apply with your undergrad gpa and your improved grad school gpa?
ReplyDeleteGlad you found me! For the record, my undergrad GPA was UNDER a 2.5, but I probably won't disclose the exact number until I have my med school grades to contrast it with. I had a ton of retakes in undergrad due to the fact that anything less than a C was considered failing in my program, so that GPA is with the retakes. With that being said, my grad school GPA was probably the strongest factor in my acceptance.
DeleteThank you so much for responding to my question in such a timely manner. Good luck with school. As a fellow low GPAer working hard to make her way into medical school, I'm rooting for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I really appreciate it :-)
DeleteHello young lady! I stumbled upon your blog and I must say it was truly a blessing! I am truly a non-traditional student in many ways; I am a 43 year old wife and mother with 2 college students and soon to be 3 who has been out of college for a little while. I have been really nervous about the MCAT and just the applying for medical school process. I really appreciate you sharing your experience in this process and all the other information on here. It was 3 months ago that I made this decision to apply which includes taking the MCAT and completing my application right before the closing dates. Are most acceptance decisions made early in the applying process? What part of the MCAT would you say weighted more?
ReplyDeleteHi and glad you found me! Very few schools don't have rolling admissions, so it is absolutely best to get all your application materials in as early as possible. For the MCAT, I think biology and physics are probably about equal in weight (maybe with a little more on bio), but that's just a complete guess. The best thing to do is consult the MSAR or individual school websites to see exactly what they are looking for, because every school is different. I hope this helps, and thank you so much for reading! Best of luck to you :-)
DeleteYou talk about an inspiring blog, this is one. I would like to email you in person as i am applying to PCOM-GA this June 2015 for 2016 application cycle. Hopefully, you could be my mentor. Great job and thanks for sharing your motivating history.
ReplyDeleteAwww, thank you! Feel free to definitely send me an e-mail (contact info under "disclaimer" tab)...I would be honored to be your mentor! You can also request me as a mentor through diversemedicine.org. I appreciate you reading and best of luck to you on your journey!
DeleteHello! Thank you for your blog. I am currently in my last year of undergrad. I was currently Pre-PA, but i'm having second thoughts. I see myself going into primary care-family medicine- working in a community health center type setting. Do you think it's a good investment to go to med school if i want to work in primary care at a community health clinic? Thank you in advance!
ReplyDeleteHi, thank you for reading :-) That decision really depends on your own personal desires. Being a PA would still give you the opportunity to work alongside physicians in a primary care or any other setting that you choose. Making the decision to attend medical school is not one that should be taken lightly, It will take more years to obtain your degree and eventually get out to practice, and there will be more debt to deal with. If you desire something that is quicker and will still put you in a primary care setting, then continuing on the PA path might be your best bet. I'm pretty clueless about the PA side, so it might be better to reach out to a few PAs who decided to leave and go on to medical school. Hope this helps and wish you all the best!
DeleteHi, I hope to pursue DO school but need some credentials to boost my portfolio. So I'm attracted to MS degree programs. I have completed all the necessary coursework for med school applications, so have undergone Biology, Physics, and Chemistry courses but have not undertaken the MCAT yet. It has been 8 years since I graduated with my BSPH. I have since worked in hospital quality assurance and research (with posters but without any publications). In that time, I have also been concurrently enrolled in several science courses as well as obtaining a medical writing and editing certificate. Now I'm divided and uncertain as to which MS degree, biochemistry or pharmaceutical chemistry would best serve my intended purpose. What would you suggest I do? My interests have always been in the medical world but I hope to learn more about natural medicinal chemistry / pharmacognosy / nutraceuticals as it relates to patient care and natural drugs. It seems to me the underpinning of these studies is still biochemistry. In fact, a basic Google search for jobs in such fields yields a prerequisite for MS or PhD in biochemistry or a PharmD. I hope someday to create or advise in drug development and research of natural medicines, alongside patient care. But pharmacy school is not my calling, rather being a holistic physician (not ND) is more appealing to me. Your thoughts to help me decide would be much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I can't give you a definitive answer on which to choose. My MS is in biochemistry and it really helped me during my second term of medical school. Plus it covered other basic science courses that were taught again during my first year. Pharmacology is also covered in med school, so you probably wouldn't go wrong with the other option either. As long as your MS focuses on hard science coursework that shows the schools you can handle the coursework, then you should go with what interests you the most. Hope this helps a bit.
DeleteThanks so much, you have in fact helped a lot. I decided to pursue USJ's biochemistry masters for now since DO is my primary goal. Maybe in summers to come, I'll enroll in pharmacognosy courses. Wish you the best for the rest of your med school years!
ReplyDeleteThank you and best of luck to you on your journey!!!! The USJ Biochem masters program is hard, but sooo worth it!!!!!
DeleteThank you for starting this blog. I am a single mother also aspiring to become a doctor. This is just what I needed to see. Thank you. I have my bachelors in biology and am taking A&PII and Biochem in the fall. I will be studying and testing on the MCAT this summer. Then applying for PCO, Morehouse, & Mercer. Please continue to post on the actual logistics of parenting and being in medical school. How you work out the finances of everything as well. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading, and will do! Best of luck to you on your journey!
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