Path to successful Pre-Med/Med preparation.

[MAAntonius]

Hello everyone,

I'm an enlisted Sailor in a field nowhere near medicine. I'm partway through six years of it and have found a very specific motivation to pursue medicine as a career. I have a an AA with a strong GPA and will likely finish my degree in a social science using my MGIB in order to advance down my path more quickly. I intend to minor in Chemistry or, if available as a minor, Biophysics, but in the meanwhile would like to spend the next couple of years refreshing in key subjects in my downtime, of which I have much these days.

My questions are, simply, what texts would you recommend for the required AAMC core courses if one were simply studying while off work, not attempting to get credit for work done? For example, I took Calc1 using the Stewart text, but my professor recommended I purchase Spivak's tome for a more comprehensive knowledge. Is there any recommendation for similar books to Campbell's Biology? I took Bio1 and Calc1, at this riding would need to retake both upon re-entry to school, and am god-awfully rusty with (inorganic, basic, etc.) Chemistry, having taken only the lowest level college chemistry which proved roughly equivalent to my high school course. I need to emphasize that I have loads of time to do this but would rather not take courses online since accumulating many more units would raise undergrad admin eyebrows even more than my 90+ currently do.

Additionally, I'm reasonably confident I'll major in the social science I studied in community college because I enjoy the subjects and will be able to nail that degree anywhere within two years, where most schools would probably start me no higher than a first semester sophomore in a hard science. Is there any serious flaw in pursuing med school in this fashion (an efficient and parsimonious route which will permit sufficient time to complete at least premed reqs) in your views? Am I underestimating the difficulty of the course, given that. I'll also have at least a two-three year lead in time studying at least the core subjects?

That's about it. Sorry for the excessive length and thank you all for your time. Looking forward to your responses.

Very respectfully,
MAA

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[MrLogan13]

Personally, I like Alberts' Molecular Biology of The Cell and Tro's Chemistry: A Molecular Approach. Both of them are well written with great examples. You can find either of these cheap (or free...ahem). I don't think your path is flawed, but I don't think you should sweat accumulating too many units; I had ~136 community college credits accumulated before I transferred to a university (changed majors and had to take new pre-reqs).

 

[MAAntonius]

MrLogan,

Thank you for the recommendations. Regarding another contgency, would the liberal arts degree hurt chances at pursuing a PhD/MD in the future? I've considered recently that aside from languages and some of the specifics of economic sciences, there isn't much offered in the IR degree that can't be addressed by being an informed citizen/individual. Due to background and years of study, I'm confident I could easily pull at least one language minor, which would likely keep me sane in the face of an otherwise fully hard-scientific course load.

In general, do you think it would be smarter to take one or two courses for credit (whether online or night courses) each semester for the next 3ish years in order to be close to eligible for junior status in a scientific discipline within which research can be conducted, that is of great interest to me, etc.?

I'm asking because this seems like the route with more footwork to be done up front but which has a potentially stronger payoff and is the stronger contingency... Which would mean that having, say, a biochem or biophysics major and intending from the start to pursue the PhD/MD but ultimately choosing to pursue the MD on its own has fewer potential problems than getting the BA in social sciences with minimal requirements and finding myself wanting but unable to pursue the PhD path later.

Sorry for the lengthy questions and thanks for your help.

V/r,
MAA