If you had to coach a clean slate ... What would you tell him?

[OilPatchGuy]

Hi guys, this is my first post here--just looking for a little advice.

I am 25 years old, got an Economics degree from a Canadian university and worked in the oil patch for a while doing a technical job. I could explain how and why I view my previous line of work as extremely similar to that of the Medical industry (with subtle differences), but I feel that is neither here nor there. My life decisions, a forecast of potential futures I could have (or want), and my general love and interest of scientific knowledge (the non-institutionalized kind) have led me to believe I want to give Med School a shot.

Right now I have a lot of time, money, and ambition to make this happen. I feel if I don't at least try, I will regret it until the day I die. What I don't have is an accredited science background (I managed to take an entire degree mixing Economics, Business and Philosophy courses without ever touching a science class); and I don't have a CV / resume even remotely similar or catered to the likes of many of you folk probably reading this.

My undergraduate trained me to be a wizard with data, to efficiently interpret statistical and/or results [sometimes] even without context, to overlap and consider knowledge bases from multiple disciplines in problem solving applications, and to build models.

Beyond this, I know very little of your world and I wish to succeed in it. What would you tell me? How much time shall I give myself to prepare for the MCAT? Where am I likely to fail where others before me have also failed? Etc.

Any and all help would be appreciated.

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[DrHart]

From what I gather, you've got to show why a medical career is for you, you can't talk the talk unless you walk the walk. SDN kids tend to skew things a little because its mostly the hardcore kids who actually get on this forum.
But back to walking the walk... what I gather the average kid looks like these days:
3.7ish cGPA, 3.7ish sGPA, 30-33 MCAT
50+ hours of shadowing
50-100+ hours medical volunteering
Leadership in 1 or more clubs
1-2 summers of basic science research
Service trip/community service of some sort
That said, non-trads are not held to the same standard for obvious reasons, but you do have to demonstrate why you're interested and how you know. You say you have time, money, and ambition. Start by exploring the medical field. Find a doctor to shadow and spend time in a hospital.
You've got a neat story and I'd have to imagine someone somewhere would bite. Adcoms would probably have the best insight/advice

 

[nomdeplume1234]

I would say "son.. I know you are still in High School.. But it's time to start prepping for your MCAT."

 

[KungFuPanda123]

You should enroll in a post-bacc program. It'll probably be intensive since you have no med school pre-reqs (aside from Philosophy possibly counting for writing and economics for some schools), but at least it sounds like you have money, so you can probably just concentrate on your studies. The post-bacc program will lay out everything for you that you need to do from coursework to mcat prep to providing extracurriculars to do that are applicable to the med field. Overall, they'll give you a structured way to enter into the med field; I recommend this as your best shot.

Alternatively (if you missed the deadline to apply to post-baccs/want to save money), you can start taking classes at CC now for your lower-div requirements like gen chem/physics/bio. Then, use the post-bacc to fulfill all your upper-div requirements like ochem/biochem/whatever you didn't finish in your 1st year at CC.

 

[summergirl]

You'll need to get the pre-reqs for med, so get those done as soon as possible. They should take about 1-2 years. Given your lack of science background, you may have a tough time with the MCAT. but if you take the pre-reqs before the MCAT it may be less of a problem. I would suggest reading up on MCAT stuff right away, so that you can get familiar with the material, and it would help you in your pre-reqs. If you plan carefully, you may be able to get enough pre-reqs and the MCAT done by this time next year and will be able to apply next cycle. Then there's always the problem of clinical extracurriculars, which is also going to be an issue for you given the short time frame. Just do what you can in the time being.