Career Change- Please orient me

[jdiaz037]

Hello to everyone, my name is Jose and I am new to this forum. First, I must say that its extremely educational and I appreciate how everyone has each others best interest in mind. I had posted this in the MCAT forum, however this seems like the more appropriate place since I am a non-traditional student.

Some background on me; I am 33 and I am currently a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Florida. I have been the field now about 9 years. Its been about 8 years since I graduated with my master's and obviously much longer than that since I took any science courses. My AA and BA are both in psychology. I have decided to change careers and pursue a DO and then specialize in psychiatry. It is really what I should have done from the beginning but I doubted myself so I took the easier road. I have now realized were I belong and what I deserve to give myself. More about my previous schooling, A.A. GPA- 3.4 (Honors College), B.A. GPA- 2.5 (Life got me), M.S. GPA- 3.7 (Got back up from life). Also have many more field accolades and certificates.

I have been looking at the course catalog at a local college I attended for my AA to begin the pre-reqs needed. How far back should I begin since its been over 10 years without a science course? I would be a non-degree seeking student correct?
Am I required to take the pre/core-requisites for courses even if I am non-degree seeking?

Where should I begin is the ultimate question. I appreciate everyone's feedback.

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[futuremdforme]

No idea on the requirements of your school, but you'll want to take 1st year bio/chem/phys etc (all pre-reqs) and the classes where you got C and lower since you're aiming for DO. Since med school pre-reqs start in 1st year, that generally will be the baseline of the college pre-reqs, no?

 

[jdiaz037]

Yes, I know about the first year pre-reqs. I will follow up with school regarding courses.

Any other advice?

 

[GreenDuck12]

I would figure out what your sGPA and cGPA is using the osteopathic medical school GPA rules to figure out if you need to retake any courses. If your cGPA or sGPA is below a 3.3, I would recommend retaking F/D/C courses that you have on your transcripts. Osteopathic schools allow you to replace grades if your retake the class. You definitely need to take the basic pre-reqs: 1 year each of biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, plus one semester of biochemistry. Try to keep your GPA as high as possible but above a 3.5/3.6 would be great.

Your background in psychology is helpful but you will need to spend some time volunteering in a medical setting. Osteopathic schools like to see letters of recommendation from osteopathic physicians. Find a few osteopathic physicians that are working in different specialties and shadow them/build relationships with the.

 

[DrMikeP]

Awesome, Psychologist in FL to DO myself. It won't be easy but you can do it! It will be like starting over in many ways though.

You will need to retake all required science classes because they are old and some schools might not accept them, but more importantly to build the proper foundation and prep for the MCAT.

You need to shoot for a 3.5+ sgpa and 504+ mcat to be well competitive but can likely get in with a 3.25 s/c gpa. DO has grade replacement so that can help. Schools mostly care about undergrad gpa but will look positively on your Masters. If your undergrad cgpa is too low then retake F and Ds and maybe C's to boost it.

You can go to any college and DOs won't care, but you should enroll as a second bachelor's degree seeking student. That will get you higher priority in registration and you don't have to finish the degree if you get accepted to med school.

You need shadowing exp for a DO. Also if you haven't worked in a public hospital psych unit shadow or do so, as psychiatry is often med management and different than many think. If you have then great and you know what ur getting into.

Look up the AACOM MCIB and read the first quarter as it will give you good info on DO.

If you have questions let me know and best of luck!


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[jdiaz037]

DrMikeP- great to hear we have something in common. How long did it take you to complete the pre reqs? How many classes per semester?

Which second bachelors major do you recommend?

I have tons of inpatient and outpatient experience. I currently work outpatient behavioral and also provide counseling supervision to 4th year psychiatry residents.

Also do what does AACOM MCIB stand for?

 

[Dullhead]

Also do what does AACOM MCIB stand for?

http://www.aacom.org/news-and-events/publications/cib

 

[DrMikeP]

DrMikeP- great to hear we have something in common. How long did it take you to complete the pre reqs? How many classes per semester?

Which second bachelors major do you recommend?

I have tons of inpatient and outpatient experience. I currently work outpatient behavioral and also provide counseling supervision to 4th year psychiatry residents.

Also do what does AACOM MCIB stand for?

Thanks Dullhead!

OP: You should aim for 2 classes/2 labs a term to show you can handle the coursework. It took me 3 yrs as I was working full time and running a practice. Don't rush yourself, as the worse mistake is trying to get through too quickly and you really don't want to mess up your sgpa. The challenge is that you'll have to take the chems in sequence, Chem 1 & 2, Ochem 1 & 2, then Biochemistry (Don't take the MCAT without biochem!!! It is a majority of the sciences portion!). Ochem and Biochem are often gpa killers so use caution in taking those in the summer. Give yourself several to 6 months of studying for the MCAT as well. One word of advice on classes I can give is attend all of the test reviews profs offer and many schools will have TA's do class/test reviews (often charge $15-$30) and some have copies of old tests they use for the review, so it really helps. For Ochem check out www.crackochem.com

I'd recommend a Biology major just because you'll find the advisors give you a little less hard of a time approving courses and some bio advisors know a little about premed, but you can take any major. A couple of FL universities offer pre-health certificates and want you in a bio major, but you don't have to have the certificate as DO schools care more about the gpa and mcat than another piece of paper. Use caution if your advisor starts telling you that you must take lots of extra courses, make all A's, etc or you'll never get admitted.

Sounds like you know what you're getting into. I did a lot of training/counseling for med students and physicians. It gives you a good perspective on the various challenges you'll face. If you want a job during the premed time that will give you a huge boost consider becoming a scribe.

You can backchannel me if you'd like on what part of FL you're in and I might can give you some tips on universities/colleges and where to find drs to shadow.

 

[jdiaz037]

DrMikeP- awesome! Thank you for the advice. I think it would take me about 2-3 years to complete also. You are a great example that it can be done.

I will back channel you soon to get some more specifics.

 

[Goro]

Do a search for advice from the wise DrMidlife

 

[Crayola227]

hmmm make sure you do shadowing in some other doc fields.....

med school is very different from psychiatry

be sure the difference is one you can handle

also, I would be sure I had a firm grasp on the difference between being a psychologist and a psychiatrist
they're actually more different than people think

be sure the difference is worth it