29 with a history degree and ensure what my first step is towards pre-med.

[PrinceMilliner]

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[MedicallyEnthused]

All you really need to do is get your medical school pre-reqs, as well as continue meaningful clinical experience and shadowing (and obtaining LORs).
In addition, you will need to study and take the MCAT, but I wouldn't worry about that until you finish most of your pre-reqs.

My suggestion, is start off in community college (which is still acceptable), since it is cheaper, but keep in mind a 4 year university looks more rigorous to medical schools. Maybe do the freshman classes at CC and move on to a 4 year after that.
I would just apply as a 2nd degree seeking student, as to do a DIY postbacc (do it yourself).
I think the best school for your location to look into would be Boise State university, but it really doesn't matter where you go to school.
Maybe there are some cheap formal career changer programs you can look into in your area, but DIY is definitely cheaper/more flexible in terms of schedule.

The main pre-reqs you should take that cover most schools as follows:
General Biology I and II (with lab).
General Chemistry I and II (with lab).
Organic Chemistry I and II (with lab).
Physics I and II (algebra based w/ lab)

Some other classes which may be advantageous to med schools and/or MCAT include Biochemistry, Calculus, Statistics, General Psychology, and really any upper level biologically related course (cell bio, genetics, anatomy, physiology, etc).
Some schools have further requirements like calculus or biochemistry, but it really just depends on what school you end up applying to.
Taking these pre-reqs also offers opportunities in obtaining LORs from professors.

As for financing your classes, I would just apply for FAFSA and see if you can get any federal loans. You may still qualify for some, even though you have a BA.
An alternative is to take out a private education loan (what I did for my postbacc), which has higher interests rates, but not that bad in my experience (depends on you/your co-signer's financial situation).

 

[PrinceMilliner]

Thank you very much for the thorough reply. Taking freshman classes at the CC is definitely doable. I think the BSU route is really good - I applied last night as a second degree seeker. There really aren't any programs nearby - this is one of the many times I regret leaving San Diego.

BSU would also give me access to more resources and hopefully my hospital job can open up some opportunities.

I was feeling very overwhelmed, so thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[lumya]

I wanted to add that some universities have educational credits for their qualified employees (usually full-time or at least 60% depending on the place). I ended up paying for my post-bac by working at the same university I took classes at.

Looking at BSU, it looks like they will cover up to 9 credits per semester for employees. You didn't mention if you were working at BSU or another hospital system, but it may be worth looking to see if there's a job at BSU that aligns with your work background.

 

[PrinceMilliner]

The BSU credit coverage is appealing, but I'm thinking I should probably stay in my current job - more opportunities for connections and plenty of clinical hours.

 

[Member2223]

All you really need to do is get your medical school pre-reqs, as well as continue meaningful clinical experience and shadowing (and obtaining LORs).
In addition, you will need to study and take the MCAT, but I wouldn't worry about that until you finish most of your pre-reqs.

My suggestion, is start off in community college (which is still acceptable), since it is cheaper, but keep in mind a 4 year university looks more rigorous to medical schools. Maybe do the freshman classes at CC and move on to a 4 year after that.
I would just apply as a 2nd degree seeking student, as to do a DIY postbacc (do it yourself).
I think the best school for your location to look into would be Boise State university, but it really doesn't matter where you go to school.
Maybe there are some cheap formal career changer programs you can look into in your area, but DIY is definitely cheaper/more flexible in terms of schedule.

The main pre-reqs you should take that cover most schools as follows:
General Biology I and II (with lab).
General Chemistry I and II (with lab).
Organic Chemistry I and II (with lab).
Physics I and II (algebra based w/ lab)

Some other classes which may be advantageous to med schools and/or MCAT include Biochemistry, Calculus, Statistics, General Psychology, and really any upper level biologically related course (cell bio, genetics, anatomy, physiology, etc).
Some schools have further requirements like calculus or biochemistry, but it really just depends on what school you end up applying to.
Taking these pre-reqs also offers opportunities in obtaining LORs from professors.

As for financing your classes, I would just apply for FAFSA and see if you can get any federal loans. You may still qualify for some, even though you have a BA.
An alternative is to take out a private education loan (what I did for my postbacc), which has higher interests rates, but not that bad in my experience (depends on you/your co-signer's financial situation).

I'm in a similar situation as OP. Do you think that a post-bacc program (non-linkage) would be valuable, given that it's more structured and lends to potential opportunities in research and clinical experience?

I'm currently torn between either doing it DIY at my state's uni or going the post-bacc route, which is almost 3x more expensive.

I'm willing to cough up the extra cost, but I'm unsure of how much it makes sense to do so. I'd like to put myself in the best situation for an acceptance into a U.S. medical program and feel like having the structured guidance of a program would alleviate some stress along the way of figuring things out while juggling my extracurriculars and studies, but the high cost certainly is hard to stomach.

 

[MedicallyEnthused]

I'm in a similar situation as OP. Do you think that a post-bacc program (non-linkage) would be valuable, given that it's more structured and lends to potential opportunities in research and clinical experience?

I'm currently torn between either doing it DIY at my state's uni or going the post-bacc route, which is almost 3x more expensive.

I'm willing to cough up the extra cost, but I'm unsure of how much it makes sense to do so. I'd like to put myself in the best situation for an acceptance into a U.S. medical program and feel like having the structured guidance of a program would alleviate some stress along the way of figuring things out while juggling my extracurriculars and studies, but the high cost certainly is hard to stomach.

I'm assuming you need to do everything from the ground up like OP (pre-reqs, MCAT, clinical exp, shadowing, etc).

DIY makes everything a lot easier, both financially and in terms of flexibility for your schedule. So because of that you can juggle clinical experience with it a lot easier. Opportunities outside of the classroom may be a bit more difficult to find in a DIY, but it isn't really all that hard. Shadowing is a little hard due to covid though.

The only reason I would do a formal postbacc over a DIY in your situation is if there was some kind of linkage agreement, or at the very least a added consideration for your future application to medical school, for that particular school. This is ONLY for postbacc programs that have a medical school.

Doing a formal vs a DIY won't really matter to medical schools. What matters is what you do and the grades you get.

I think you should just go with the cheaper option and do the DIY.
This is especially given the fact how expensive the application process can be, as well as MCAT prep.

You can still find clinical exp and research opportunities like any other student, it isn't all that difficult.
For research, you can probably reach out to your professors or PIs whos labs you find interesting.

As for clinical experience, you can either take a course for a license (such as CNA, EMT, MA, etc) and look for a job or alternatively try to find volunteer opportunities at your local hospital. Scribing is also a good option, which doesn't require any kind of course.
There are lots of options out there, you just need to do your research and see what you can find and what best suits you.

 

[Member2223]

I'm assuming you need to do everything from the ground up like OP (pre-reqs, MCAT, clinical exp, shadowing, etc).

DIY makes everything a lot easier, both financially and in terms of flexibility for your schedule. So because of that you can juggle clinical experience with it a lot easier. Opportunities outside of the classroom may be a bit more difficult to find in a DIY, but it isn't really all that hard. Shadowing is a little hard due to covid though.

The only reason I would do a formal postbacc over a DIY in your situation is if there was some kind of linkage agreement, or at the very least a added consideration for your future application to medical school, for that particular school. This is ONLY for postbacc programs that have a medical school.

Doing a formal vs a DIY won't really matter to medical schools. What matters is what you do and the grades you get.

I think you should just go with the cheaper option and do the DIY.
This is especially given the fact how expensive the application process can be, as well as MCAT prep.

You can still find clinical exp and research opportunities like any other student, it isn't all that difficult.
For research, you can probably reach out to your professors or PIs whos labs you find interesting.

As for clinical experience, you can either take a course for a license (such as CNA, EMT, MA, etc) and look for a job or alternatively try to find volunteer opportunities at your local hospital. Scribing is also a good option, which doesn't require any kind of course.
There are lots of options out there, you just need to do your research and see what you can find and what best suits you.

Thank you for your detailed response, this really clarifies a lot of things. Lastly, if I choose to do the DIY option, do you think that I should maintain my current job? The hours are fixed from 6am - 2:30pm, which still gives me plenty of time in the day to pursue other things; the job itself isn't too demanding, there are no overtime demands, and it provides a comfortable salary of almost $70k a year.

My only fear is that I wouldn't be able to perform as well in the pre-req courses and MCAT as I would have been able to had I quit my job to focus full time on my studies, which is crucial as I would need to put my best foot forward in order to even be considered for an acceptance (my undergrad GPA is 3.0).

Luckily, I am in a position where my parents have offered to let me stay with them in during the pre-med years if I do decide to quit my job to focus full time on the pre-med process, so I wouldn't be having any real significant expenses.

 

[lumya]

Thank you for your detailed response, this really clarifies a lot of things. Lastly, if I choose to do the DIY option, do you think that I should maintain my current job? The hours are fixed from 6am - 2:30pm, which still gives me plenty of time in the day to pursue other things; the job itself isn't too demanding, there are no overtime demands, and it provides a comfortable salary of almost $70k a year.

My only fear is that I wouldn't be able to perform as well in the pre-req courses and MCAT as I would have been able to had I quit my job to focus full time on my studies, which is crucial as I would need to put my best foot forward in order to even be considered for an acceptance (my undergrad GPA is 3.0).

Luckily, I am in a position where my parents have offered to let me stay with them in during the pre-med years if I do decide to quit my job to focus full time on the pre-med process, so I wouldn't be having any real significant expenses.

It really just depends on your own comfort and preference. I worked full time while doing my post-bac and it wasn't always great, but I did get some wonderful letters of recs.

You need to do well on your courses and your MCAT and if you thin you have to quit your job to best focus on that, as long as you have the option financially, you should. You'll also need to work on other aspects such as volunteering and clinical experience, which may conflict with your work as well.

 

[Member2223]

It really just depends on your own comfort and preference. I worked full time while doing my post-bac and it wasn't always great, but I did get some wonderful letters of recs.

You need to do well on your courses and your MCAT and if you thin you have to quit your job to best focus on that, as long as you have the option financially, you should. You'll also need to work on other aspects such as volunteering and clinical experience, which may conflict with your work as well.

Great points. I'll have to decide on that, perhaps I'll take courses and if it does get overwhelming, I always have the option to resign from my job. How many credits were you taking per semester while working full time?

Also, for clinical experience, I'm already shadowing a physician who is a family member, but do you know of any other high value opportunities that I should pursue? Would volunteering at a hospital as a scribe be better? Or perhaps EMT/CNS experience with direct patient interactions? I've head so many differing opinions on what the most valuable type of clinical experience would be.

 

[MedicallyEnthused]

Great points. I'll have to decide on that, perhaps I'll take courses and if it does get overwhelming, I always have the option to resign from my job. How many credits were you taking per semester while working full time?

Also, for clinical experience, I'm already shadowing a physician who is a family member, but do you know of any other high value opportunities that I should pursue? Would volunteering at a hospital as a scribe be better? Or perhaps EMT/CNS experience with direct patient interactions? I've head so many differing opinions on what the most valuable type of clinical experience would be.

As for clinical experience, and keep in mind this is just my personal opinion, I think getting some kind of medical license where you can actually take care of patients yourself (under your scope of practice) is more appealing than just scribing. I consider scribing as glorified shadowing, but since you are already shadowing maybe look at taking an EMT, CNA, or MA course.

I did EMT-B with IV cert which took one full time semester (~12 credits) + a national certification exam. I ended up starting off as a volunteer (3rd rider) for a 911 agency on an ambulance, from there got a job working on the ambulance (transport/911), and eventually got a job as an emergency department technician.

CNA definitely takes the least amount of time to complete, but there are many options out there. But I think these are some of the best options to get a real taste of medicine, rather than just scribing. Again, this is just my opinion.

 

[Member2223]

As for clinical experience, and keep in mind this is just my personal opinion, I think getting some kind of medical license where you can actually take care of patients yourself (under your scope of practice) is more appealing than just scribing. I consider scribing as glorified shadowing, but since you are already shadowing maybe look at taking an EMT, CNA, or MA course.

I did EMT-B with IV cert which took one full time semester (~12 credits) + a national certification exam. I ended up starting off as a volunteer (3rd rider) for a 911 agency on an ambulance, from there got a job working on the ambulance (transport/911), and eventually got a job as an emergency department technician.

CNA definitely takes the least amount of time to complete, but there are many options out there. But I think these are some of the best options to get a real taste of medicine, rather than just scribing. Again, this is just my opinion.

This is some very good information. I'll have to look into this further. Do you think that it would be feasible with maintaining an 8 hour work schedule in my current career + night classes for pre-reqs? It definitely seems more demanding in terms of hours.

 

[MedicallyEnthused]

This is some very good information. I'll have to look into this further. Do you think that it would be feasible with maintaining an 8 hour work schedule in my current career + night classes for pre-reqs? It definitely seems more demanding in terms of hours.

For an EMT class, probably not. I did it during the summer and it was like 4-5 hours days, 5 days a week.
During the normal semester, I would assume it to be around ~3-4 hours a day, 5 days a week.

I would just look at your local community college or local hospital and see if you can find flexible classes.
Keep in mind that ride along hours are part of most programs.
I did it at a community college, which normally also have CNA or MA classes you can also look into.
I've seen CNA classes as short of 3 weeks, so that may be an easier option if you want to keep working full time.
There also might be night classes you can look into.

As for pre-reqs, there may be online options which may be easier.
Just keep in mind some schools do not accept online pre-reqs.

You just need to do your own research on all this at your local cc/university/hospital and see what you can find.