Military Member seeking advice

[ls2892]

Hello All,

I am currently in the Air Force as a medic and am working toward my prerequisites. I had to take general chemistry online from a local community college while I was deployed. I had a lab pack sent to my location and received a good understanding of the subject. My question is, will medical schools look down on this? I've been in the military for about 6 years. I have worked in Labor and Delivery, Flight Medicine, the ER, Family Practice, and soon Internal Medicine. I am ACLS, BLS, CPR, EMT-B certified and have experience with an ambulance. I also have experience with surgical procedures, such as C-sections (worked as the OR tech and was the second pair of hands for the surgeon) and have working knowledge of running labs in the laboratory. My BS is from ODU in Sociology/ Women's Studies. I was top of my class and had a high GPA. With all of this, would I be held back because of the online course work? Active duty isn't very college friendly in terms of getting time to go to school. I have, however, completed my bio in class and will be completing my Ochem and Physics in class. Any advice on this matter would be helpful. Thank you!

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[masterchef876]

I was active duty army. I ets'd to go take my pre-reqs. Go to the AAMC website and they have the listings for all the colleges and what courses they require. You can also go to the universities that you are interested in to see what their specific requirements are. Unfortunately, many universities do not like online courses, and some don't accept them. Check your universities websites or call them to get the specifics.

 

[Goro]

Many thanks for your service to our country!

I've never heard of this but this level of granularity would never be noticed by Adcom members.

I am currently in the Air Force as a medic and am working toward my prerequisites. I had to take general chemistry online from a local community college while I was deployed. I had a lab pack sent to my location and received a good understanding of the subject. My question is, will medical schools look down on this?

Nope...We accept online coursework as long as it's given by an accredited university. MSAR Online gives you a school by school list of who accepts and who doesn't accept online credits. For example, Harvard and U CO don't say yay or nay, but U Chicago accepts.
With all of this, would I be held back because of the online course work?


Good luck!

 

[ls2892]

Thank you both! I've never heard of the MSAR until I found this website. Thank you again!

 

[alpinism]

Just be aware that some MD schools don't accept online pre-requisites. In addition, nearly all schools prefer in-class courses. I would suggest researching schools you are interested to find out their policy. Some schools will be understanding and grant a waiver while others will require you to retake the courses in-class.

All in all if you have a good GPA and MCAT you shouldn't have a problem getting in somewhere with your background. You just might have to apply broadly and go to another state for med school.

 

[DrOMG]

Hola! I was in the Air Force (4N0). When is your DOS? I would highly suggest retaking it if you have the opportunity. The only reason that I say this is because I noticed you were from VA and I spoke to VCU about something similar and they said they didn't look too favorably upon it. They also said if you go to a CC you better make sure that you have an outstanding MCAT. If you need any more advice I would be happy to help.

 

[ls2892]

My DOS is early 2018. I would hope that they would be understanding, knowing that many in the military do not have regular hours and can only go to classes that fit into their schedule. I do understand that some look down at cc, but I am trying to do some prereqs at a CC and a couple at ODU (physics, sociology, and A&P).

 

[babycatcher09]

Hey! I am active duty AF too!!! My DEROS is July '18, so I am saving some COLA and preparing for applications next year. Are you looking at USUHS? Full pay and benefits while in school no tuition, earn enough obligation to retire Anyhow, don't sweat the CC stuff, but most places do not accept the pre-reqs as online courses. If you want to take a biochem or other upper level science then I would say online may be okay, but prolly not the core sciences. MSAR is your best resource.