How Kelly Cruz, MABS ’23, Made a Mid-Career Switch to Med School
Kelly Cruz, MABS ’23, had a different life before coming to Chatham University.
“I’m what they call a career changer,” she said during a phone interview in January. Cruz graduated from William & Mary in 2011 and became a community health specialist in the Peace Corps the following year. She then worked for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for several years.
After the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily life in 2020, she realized she still wanted to pursue a longtime goal: going to medical school.
But med school admissions counselors were wary about how long it had been since she studied at the university level; they suggested that she go to graduate school, so she could prove she was able to handle the rigorous academics expected in medical school.
Chatham’s post-baccalaureate Master of Biomedical Studies program seemed like the right fit. “I liked the small class size,” Cruz said. “Having been out of school for a while, small class size was important to me, because sometimes I feel like, in larger universities, you can kind of get lost in the crowd.
“For me, I think I wanted to get to know my professors a little bit easier and have the access to ask questions if I needed to.”
Another appeal of the Master of Arts in Biomedical Studies degree was that it covered much of the same material as a master of science degree, but it could be completed in one year instead of the typical two. “I liked that option too, because it allowed me the opportunity to work in my gap year and help me pay down some of that [debt] before I take on more debt for medical school.”
The academics, she said, were indeed rigorous. It was a challenge. But it was also a good preview of the kind of course load one might see in medical school. Her anatomy course, for instance, was tough; her first exam felt overwhelming.
But by the next test, she had a better understanding of which parts of her lectures she needed to commit to memory. Working in the cadaver lab gave her tangible experience with the body parts that were covered in class, deepening her understanding of the material.
“I had to go into the lab one to two times a week to actually look at the bodies and identify things on my own and be able to talk about what muscle does this,” Cruz said. Without access to that hands-on practice and repetition, it would have been harder to keep up with the class.
She also said that her professor, Ali Abdulrahman, showed genuine care for the students. “To him, we weren’t just a grade that goes on his track record of how many people passed or whatever,” she said. “He actually cared about us as individuals and about our plans. He would always ask about my family, about my husband, which I really appreciated.”
Now, she’s getting ready to enter medical school. Cruz took the MCAT in April 2023 and submitted applications in June. She was accepted to two med schools and was offered interviews at several more, but she’s yet to find something that is a right fit for her and her family.
“You’re never too old to go back or to make a change, if you decide that’s what you want to do,” she said. “Don’t worry about being older or whether or not you can do it. If you’re willing to put in the work, it’s possible.”
Learn more about Chatham’s Master of Biomedical Studies degree, including the University’s state-of-the-art cadaver lab and more student outcomes, at chatham.edu.