Austin Fire Fighter - Seeking MD

[AFD1927]

I am a 35 year old, full-time fire fighter with the Austin Fire Department. I have been a fire fighter/EMT for the past 15 years and hold the position of Lieutenant. I am well-respected and decorated in the fire department, having served as a Public Information Officer (media interviews), Commander of the honor guard, and being assigned to the busiest station in the city for the entirety of my career. Currently, I have approximately 70+ hours of college course work aimed at a Business Management degree with a 4.0 gpa, albeit without any medical school pre-requisite courses.

My wife of eight years, is a fourth-year med student and has been accepted to an orthopedic surgery residency in the Northeast. Obviously, I am extremely proud of her accomplishment, however, this ultimately means that I will be retiring from the fire department to move with my family.

I have been contemplating the idea of medical school for some time. However, this move and life-changing circumstance has removed the security blanket of my current career and completely opened the door for me to take a mid-life leap of faith.

A few questions/concerns that I have are as follows:

Is a Business Management degree, along with the required pre-reqs, too unconventional for acceptance? I really enjoy the course work and have a true interest in how it could apply to running a medical practice.

Will my experience as a fire fighter/EMT be a bonus to the med school application process?

What other extracurricular, volunteer work, or research should I try to accomplish to before applying?

Thanks in advance for any advice you are willing to give. Stay safe.

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[Indianarn]

I am a 35 year old, full-time fire fighter with the Austin Fire Department. I have been a fire fighter/EMT for the past 15 years and hold the position of Lieutenant. I am well-respected and decorated in the fire department, having served as a Public Information Officer (media interviews), Commander of the honor guard, and being assigned to the busiest station in the city for the entirety of my career. Currently, I have approximately 70+ hours of college course work aimed at a Business Management degree with a 4.0 gpa, albeit without any medical school pre-requisite courses.

My wife of eight years, is a fourth-year med student and has been accepted to an orthopedic surgery residency in the Northeast. Obviously, I am extremely proud of her accomplishment, however, this ultimately means that I will be retiring from the fire department to move with my family.

I have been contemplating the idea of medical school for some time. However, this move and life-changing circumstance has removed the security blanket of my current career and completely opened the door for me to take a mid-life leap of faith.

A few questions/concerns that I have are as follows:

Is a Business Management degree, along with the required pre-reqs, too unconventional for acceptance? I really enjoy the course work and have a true interest in how it could apply to running a medical practice.

Will my experience as a fire fighter/EMT be a bonus to the med school application process?

What other extracurricular, volunteer work, or research should I try to accomplish to before applying?

Thanks in advance for any advice you are willing to give. Stay safe.

I think there are things that you have accomplished in your life that will help you get into a medical school. Your age makes you a candidate that is similar to me. I am 41 now and will be 42 when I start medical school this year. The way you wrote your question, my impression is that you have not talked to your wife about this yet. First thing you need to do is to talk to her. Secondly, a candidate like yours (is kinda like myself) is more suitable for the osteopathic medical schools. Frankly, that where I think you chanced of getting in are greater than anywhere else. You definitely need to finish all the science pre-req for a med school (That info is available on AACOM or any TX DO school's websites) Secondly, I would say to get a bachelor in something, use your 70 credits and get the rest while you complete your pre-reqs and get a Bachelor in your chosen field. Make sure your grades stay up. While going to school, get some volunteer work done in a hospital/nursing home and some non medical area. Your experience as and EMT will give you a leg up for a DO candidate. You are going to need letters of recommendations from some of the science professors so make you sure you have a good relationship with them, even better talk to the pre-med adviser and use them to help you. Last but not least you need to follow some docs including at least one if not more DO. Follow 4 or 5 different docs with different specialities (such as peds, family, OB, GI etc). I am sure you can do it. Good luck. If you wanna talk more just drop me a line.

 

[ChE04]

Secondly, a candidate like yours (is kinda like myself) is more suitable for the osteopathic medical schools.

I disagree. OP, if you keep going with a 4.0 or close to it (assuming no previous GPA skeletons in your closet), get a good MCAT score, and can provide a convincing narrative on why you want to go to medical school, you'll be an excellent candidate for an MD school, albeit a bit older than most. I agree that some sort of volunteering is a good idea, and maybe you can get your wife to hook you up with some attendings to shadow. Also this is definitely something you will want to make sure your wife is on board with. It may be a tough sell.

I am 41 now and will be 42 when I start medical school this year.

If you are not yet in medical school, why are you identifying yourself as a "medical student" in your status? Maybe I'm the only one, but it just bothers me when people do this.

 

[Indianarn]

I disagree. OP, if you keep going with a 4.0 or close to it (assuming no previous GPA skeletons in your closet), get a good MCAT score, and can provide a convincing narrative on why you want to go to medical school, you'll be an excellent candidate for an MD school, albeit a bit older than most. I agree that some sort of volunteering is a good idea, and maybe you can get your wife to hook you up with some attendings to shadow. Also this is definitely something you will want to make sure your wife is on board with. It may be a tough sell.



If you are not yet in medical school, why are you identifying yourself as a "medical student" in your status? Maybe I'm the only one, but it just bothers me when people do this.

I fixed it, sorry about that. I made a mistake.

 

[sazerac]

Is a Business Management degree, along with the required pre-reqs, too unconventional for acceptance? I really enjoy the course work and have a true interest in how it could apply to running a medical practice.

Will my experience as a fire fighter/EMT be a bonus to the med school application process?

What other extracurricular, volunteer work, or research should I try to accomplish to before applying?

Thanks in advance for any advice you are willing to give. Stay safe.

I was a fire fighter with an unconventional non-science degree. I went back to school to take the pre-reqs and the MCAT, and my academic scores put me above the typical MD acceptee, so I only applied to MD schools. I got several interviews and acceptances. I was 42 at med school orientation. If it's what you really want to do, and you have the scores, I say go for it.

I can't comment on the scientific research aspect, but for what it's worth I didn't have any. I didn't apply to research-heavy schools either.

Your leadership in the fire department will count for a lot. Nerds are everywhere, but medicine seeks leaders.

 

[Rocketdog]

AFD1927, welcome to the forum.

Responding to your questions:
1. Your UG degree can be in JUST about anything as you will find many Doctors didn't go the traditional science UG route.
2. Your EMT / firefighting experiences will add professional "hands on" first hand experience, so yes it will add a positive light (to a degree)
3. You need to shadow a Doctor, volunteer (if you can find time) to serve the less fortunate. Clinical experience will be needed. You need patient exposure from a variety of fields, try to get as much clinical exposure as time allows. Family medicine, derm, ENT, occupational med, any place a Doctor will allow you to be a part of practicing medicine. Nursing homes have specialists who visit, you can try there. Google types of Doctors....the list is quite extensive then check in your area for Doctors who practice that kind of medicine.

Your grades ALONG with as many hours as you can get in a clinical setting will serve you well. ZERO in on the science for the rest of your academic career if you can. Keeping your 4.0 will open a lot of doors. The poorer academically you do the less opportunity you have in medicine. You have an opportunity to really shine in this area since you have an emergency services background. I'd take advantage of everything you have at your disposal.

Let em have it with "both barrels"

Good luck and welcome.

 

[QuantumJ]

Is a Business Management degree, along with the required pre-reqs, too unconventional for acceptance? I really enjoy the course work and have a true interest in how it could apply to running a medical practice.

Your degree is fine as long as you get the prereqs. Keep the 4.0 as you take the science classes you need and you'll be in great shape. Find a way to convince the adcoms that your degree can be a positive too (the need for business literate doctors in today medical world blah blah).

Will my experience as a fire fighter/EMT be a bonus to the med school application process?

It will be a positive. You will have a large number of applicants though who have similar backgrounds so it's not entirely unique. It's up to you to show how your background is unique and how it will make you a better physician.

What other extracurricular, volunteer work, or research should I try to accomplish to before applying?

It would probably still be beneficial to volunteer in some medical related way. It might also be a good thing to find a volunteer opportunity that is fairly unique and shows off a part of you.

I think you're in a great spot. You've seen your wife go through this so you have insight that many premeds lack. It will come down to how you can perform in the science classes and your MCAT score.

 

[AFD1927]

I disagree. OP, if you keep going with a 4.0 or close to it (assuming no previous GPA skeletons in your closet), get a good MCAT score, and can provide a convincing narrative on why you want to go to medical school, you'll be an excellent candidate for an MD school, albeit a bit older than most. I agree that some sort of volunteering is a good idea, and maybe you can get your wife to hook you up with some attendings to shadow. Also this is definitely something you will want to make sure your wife is on board with. It may be a tough sell.

Thanks for the good vibes! My wife is 100% supportive of my goal and has been the driving force pushing me to take the leap. My rationale for posting my particular situation on SDN was to bypass the potential bias she may have toward my application

Great idea about shadowing the attendings too!

 

[AFD1927]

Just a quick note that I have had a few fire fighters/EMT successes. One off the top of my head had a degree in classical guitar then was a firefighter and medic. Another is/was a LT, I believe, in Florida. Your background is by no means too unconventional; how it led you medicine will make for memorable if not outstanding narrative in your application. While there is a perception that older students tend to go to DO school, my experience is that tends to do with their background and grades. Many had poorer original academic records and had improved postbacc work. DO application mechanics allow for grade replacement and the DO schools have lower average GPA and MCAT.

You do not seem to have any of those issues. A business degree with prereqs added or done as postbacc with a good GPA, a good MCAT, you will be as competitive as other students for MD spots. Some young student may have research and bio degree who says he wants to help save people. You HAVE saved people.

I'm definitely aiming for an MD program versus the DO. It's a relief to hear of success stories from people in nearly identical situations, so thank you very much for the motivation! I'm assuming you are in some type of "position of power" as it relates to med school admission. A question for you: Would a recommendation letter from a fire chief, detailing my career, carry any weight with a med school?

 

[AFD1927]

I was a fire fighter with an unconventional non-science degree. I went back to school to take the pre-reqs and the MCAT, and my academic scores put me above the typical MD acceptee, so I only applied to MD schools. I got several interviews and acceptances. I was 42 at med school orientation. If it's what you really want to do, and you have the scores, I say go for it.

I can't comment on the scientific research aspect, but for what it's worth I didn't have any. I didn't apply to research-heavy schools either.

Your leadership in the fire department will count for a lot. Nerds are everywhere, but medicine seeks leaders.

Congrats on the success you've had! I really appreciate you sharing your story... I'd be interested in getting more details about your career and GPA/MCAT scores, if you're willing. PM or posted here would be great!

My wife doesn't seem to think the research aspect is needed. I have a few published articles in national trade journals and several successful fire department grants that I've written for a total of $1.6 million for the benefit of rural fire departments. Granted, these have absolutely nothing to do with medicine or research, but she believes they show a lot of the leadership skills you mentioned.

 

[AFD1927]

AFD1927, welcome to the forum.

Responding to your questions:
1. Your UG degree can be in JUST about anything as you will find many Doctors didn't go the traditional science UG route.
2. Your EMT / firefighting experiences will add professional "hands on" first hand experience, so yes it will add a positive light (to a degree)
3. You need to shadow a Doctor, volunteer (if you can find time) to serve the less fortunate. Clinical experience will be needed. You need patient exposure from a variety of fields, try to get as much clinical exposure as time allows. Family medicine, derm, ENT, occupational med, any place a Doctor will allow you to be a part of practicing medicine. Nursing homes have specialists who visit, you can try there. Google types of Doctors....the list is quite extensive then check in your area for Doctors who practice that kind of medicine.

Your grades ALONG with as many hours as you can get in a clinical setting will serve you well. ZERO in on the science for the rest of your academic career if you can. Keeping your 4.0 will open a lot of doors. The poorer academically you do the less opportunity you have in medicine. You have an opportunity to really shine in this area since you have an emergency services background. I'd take advantage of everything you have at your disposal.

Let em have it with "both barrels"

Good luck and welcome.

I've never had the opportunity to solely focus on school alone (I've always worked), so the position that I'm in is really exciting. I definitely plan to 'zero in' on the sciences and the others... my wife had a stellar high school and under grad career, but didn't have the greatest of MCATs (we had two young children at the time), which set definite limitations on where she had interviews. Lesson learned the hard way, for my benefit.

I follow what you're saying about the clinical hours, but I have one question: Should I 'round out' clinical shadowing to all specialties, or should I concentrate on one or two that I'm more interested in?

And for the record, I'm from Texas... we always have "both barrels" loaded! Thanks again to everyone who is giving me feedback... it's truly appreciated!

 

[AFD1927]

Your degree is fine as long as you get the prereqs. Keep the 4.0 as you take the science classes you need and you'll be in great shape. Find a way to convince the adcoms that your degree can be a positive too (the need for business literate doctors in today medical world blah blah).

It will be a positive. You will have a large number of applicants though who have similar backgrounds so it's not entirely unique. It's up to you to show how your background is unique and how it will make you a better physician.

It would probably still be beneficial to volunteer in some medical related way. It might also be a good thing to find a volunteer opportunity that is fairly unique and shows off a part of you.

I think you're in a great spot. You've seen your wife go through this so you have insight that many premeds lack. It will come down to how you can perform in the science classes and your MCAT score.

You're spot on about the business degree... the one medical related angle I have thought of was the private practice savvy it could offer.

By unique volunteer experience, do you mean Habitat for Humanity or similar? I had also thought about volunteering as a trainer for the college football team (I played college ball, which I think would give me an "in" to do that).

The grades I will get... it's just narrowing down exactly what else I need to do to get my foot in the door for interviews that I need to figure out. I shine during face-to-face communication. Thanks for the advice!

 

[alpinism]

I am a 35 year old, full-time fire fighter with the Austin Fire Department. I have been a fire fighter/EMT for the past 15 years and hold the position of Lieutenant. I am well-respected and decorated in the fire department, having served as a Public Information Officer (media interviews), Commander of the honor guard, and being assigned to the busiest station in the city for the entirety of my career. Currently, I have approximately 70+ hours of college course work aimed at a Business Management degree with a 4.0 gpa, albeit without any medical school pre-requisite courses.

My wife of eight years, is a fourth-year med student and has been accepted to an orthopedic surgery residency in the Northeast. Obviously, I am extremely proud of her accomplishment, however, this ultimately means that I will be retiring from the fire department to move with my family.

I have been contemplating the idea of medical school for some time. However, this move and life-changing circumstance has removed the security blanket of my current career and completely opened the door for me to take a mid-life leap of faith.

A few questions/concerns that I have are as follows:

Is a Business Management degree, along with the required pre-reqs, too unconventional for acceptance? I really enjoy the course work and have a true interest in how it could apply to running a medical practice.

Not at all. As long as you complete all the prereqs with decent grades (shoot for 3.5+) you should be fine.

Will my experience as a fire fighter/EMT be a bonus to the med school application process?

Yes. It absolutely counts as leadership, teamwork, and clinical experience.

What other extracurricular, volunteer work, or research should I try to accomplish to before applying?

Shadowing and maybe research for top medical schools. Community service would also help as well.

Thanks in advance for any advice you are willing to give. Stay safe.

See bolded above.

In the end your choice of schools will likely be dictated by your MCAT score. If you can keep your GPA above a 3.8 you should have no problem getting into multiple MD schools with a 28+ score. Let us know if you have any other questions and good luck!

-former LACoFD FF/Medic

 

[AFD1927]

See bolded above.

In the end your choice of schools will likely be dictated by your MCAT score. If you can keep your GPA above a 3.8 you should have no problem getting into multiple MD schools with a 28+ score. Let us know if you have any other questions and good luck!

-former LACoFD FF/Medic

Great info brother... off subject, but on point with your past FD, we had several LACo fire fighters living at our station for a several days, while they helped with a big fire near ATX. Good fellas. Congrats on being where you are and I'll definitely keep you posted.

 

[MackandBlues]

I am a 35 year old, full-time fire fighter with the Austin Fire Department. I have been a fire fighter/EMT for the past 15 years and hold the position of Lieutenant. I am well-respected and decorated in the fire department, having served as a Public Information Officer (media interviews), Commander of the honor guard, and being assigned to the busiest station in the city for the entirety of my career. Currently, I have approximately 70+ hours of college course work aimed at a Business Management degree with a 4.0 gpa, albeit without any medical school pre-requisite courses.

My wife of eight years, is a fourth-year med student and has been accepted to an orthopedic surgery residency in the Northeast. Obviously, I am extremely proud of her accomplishment, however, this ultimately means that I will be retiring from the fire department to move with my family.

I have been contemplating the idea of medical school for some time. However, this move and life-changing circumstance has removed the security blanket of my current career and completely opened the door for me to take a mid-life leap of faith.

A few questions/concerns that I have are as follows:

Is a Business Management degree, along with the required pre-reqs, too unconventional for acceptance? I really enjoy the course work and have a true interest in how it could apply to running a medical practice.

Will my experience as a fire fighter/EMT be a bonus to the med school application process?

What other extracurricular, volunteer work, or research should I try to accomplish to before applying?

Thanks in advance for any advice you are willing to give. Stay safe.

I'm curious on where your wife goes to medical school, did she commute to San Antonio from Austin?

 

[AFD1927]

I'm curious on where your wife goes to medical school, did she commute to San Antonio from Austin?

She is at Texas A&M... They have a 2/2 program in Temple/Round Rock...

 

[QuantumJ]

You're spot on about the business degree... the one medical related angle I have thought of was the private practice savvy it could offer.

By unique volunteer experience, do you mean Habitat for Humanity or similar? I had also thought about volunteering as a trainer for the college football team (I played college ball, which I think would give me an "in" to do that).

The grades I will get... it's just narrowing down exactly what else I need to do to get my foot in the door for interviews that I need to figure out. I shine during face-to-face communication. Thanks for the advice!

This is what I meant. You can talk about how you enjoyed playing football and wanted to be around it from the medical related side and in the future as a practicing physician you want to make sports an integral part as well. Another example, I did science outreach to local schools. So I would go to the school and do science experiments for them that related to what they were studying and it made it fun for them. I tied this into my tutoring to demonstrate my love of teaching and commented how I would like to integrate teaching in some way in the future as a physician. This was a talking point at a few interviews.

 

[R1MD]

AFD, check your private messages.

Stay safe
R1MD