“My GPA isn’t competitive, can I still get into medical school?” -The Chocolate Docs

 
Hello to the White Coat Black Doctor family!
 
We want to send a special thank you to the WCBD family for providing us with this platform to share our story. Our names are Nneka and Jessica and we are currently 2ndyear medical students from Texas. We created our YouTube channel, The Chocolate Docs, during our first year in medical school with the intent of sharing our authentic advice to premedical students. We know that the rate of physicians of color is growing slowly. So, we wanted to deliver content catered to students of color to show them that aspiring to become a physician is an attainable and realistic goal. In addition, we acknowledge how important it is for individuals to see people of similar ethnic backgrounds pursue careers that their interested in and now after a few months of producing content for our channel and connecting with our viewers we truly understand how important our voices are to the next generation of minority physicians. 
 
We strive to always remain very accessible to our supporters by encouraging them to email or DM us their pressing questions. In this post, we wanted to address the most popular question we receive from our supporters, “My GPA isn’t competitive, can I still get into medical school?” 
 
The answer to that question is simple. Yes. We believe that if you are passionate about medicine and becoming a doctor is your goal, you can get into medical school with hard work, discipline and determination. We never want a low GPA to deter students of color from achieving their dreams to become a physician. However, you must know that it is not going to be easy and your journey will most likely be non-traditional. And that’s okay. Everyone’s path before medical school is so different and your unique experience will be what builds your character, patience, and resilience. The common options we suggest for improving your GPA include post-baccalaureate and special master’s programs. We strongly advise those programs for students who are near the completion of their undergraduate college career. For more information on these options, we always (always) direct our supporters to the AAMC website. It is the holy grail for premedical students and is a great resource for your most common application questions. For students who are still in the early stages of their undergraduate career with ample time to improve their GPA, we suggest that you reevaluate your study habits and seek help from academic coaching or tutors. 
 
Although your GPA is an important component of your application, you must be aware of other factors that add to the quality of your medical school application and your standing as a competitive applicant. Thus, leadership, clinical, and research experience as well as community involvement should be a high priority for all applicants. By incorporating these experiences into your undergraduate career, you can show the admissions committee that you are a well-rounded and strong applicant.
 
Ultimately, positivity and words of affirmation are vital components of our channel and they dictate how we interact with our supporters. We’ve encountered so many qualified students of color who don’t feel worthy or capable of entering the medical field due to a well-known feeling of “imposter syndrome”. Imposter syndrome occurs when individuals feel inadequate despite their evident success. We admit to struggling with imposter syndrome, but we make conscious efforts to replace those negative thoughts with uplifting and empowering reminders of our accomplishments. To help others battling “imposter syndrome” we intentionally open all our videos with words of affirmation and encouragement. It is so greatly needed!
 
We are so blessed to be in this position to serve others and help future minority physicians reach their goals. The overwhelming love we have received from our supporters is truly amazing. We are just two goofy and down to earth black women who have a passion for mentorship and changing the face of medicine. We are overjoyed that people can relate to us while picking up some gems along the way. Again, thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your amazing platform. 
 
If there is nothing else that you take away from this blog post, just remember, “You are worthy, and you can do this!”
 
The Chocolate Docs
Nneka Madu and Jessica Green