Advice for Pre-Med Path

[MrProdigy]

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Hello everyone,

Sorry for posting another one of these "give me advice" threads, but it seems other people have received pretty good feedback, and I am hoping to achieve the same.

Background:
I initially began my college career pursuing a career in pharmacy, transitioned to medical school because I decided pharmacy would be very boring to me. During my biology undergrad, I felt very bored with the courses offered, as I felt they did not relate to medicine, and switched over to a BS in Computer Science. I just graduated with that this month (congrats to me), but am now realizing that I still want to pursue a career in medicine ultimately. I have interned with a company (BMW) and am now working a full-time position with them out of graduation, and plan to continue doing so until I knock out the pre-reqs I need to apply for medical school.

Classes I've taken related to science:
Biology I - B+
Biology II - C+
Anatomy & Physiology - C+

These were in my earlier college days, and I am confident that I can do better in my future coursework, so I am not sure if I should retake these classes to demonstrate improvement, or focus on showing improvement through the courses I will take.

My GPA from my CS degree:
3.5 institutional, 3.2 cumulative (accounting for my initial field when I began college at a community college)

My plan:
Spring 19 - Chemistry I (taken at community college)
Summer 19 - Chemistry II & Physics I (taken at community college)
Fall 19 - Organic Chemistry I & Physics II (possibly taken at community college/possibly university depending on schedule)
Spring 20 - Organic Chemistry II & Biochemistry (possibly taken at community college/possibly university depending on schedule)
Summer 20 - POSSIBLY take upper level biologies (probably at university )as some schools recommend this (probably ecology and cell/molecular biology since these are the beginner biology courses at all of my local universities). Also plan to began prepping for MCAT around this time, and apply by Novemberish timeframe as most medical schools begin issuing deadlines by this time

Hopefully matriculate by Summer of 2021 if all goes as planned.

I do have a variety of work experience (retail/warehouse/medical scribe in the emergency department 2+ years) as well as currently being employed as a software developer through BMW.

I would ultimately like to quit working by Fall of 19 to focus solely on my classes, but this will depend on family/financial obligations at that time (family is expecting me to begin helping with bills/mortgage as dad is now retired).

I will be 27 by the time I matriculate if things go according to plan, and am hoping for finishing residency by 34-35 (emergency medicine has really appealed to me from my time as a scribe, but I am definitely open to exploring/experiencing other specialties).

The only courses I could find that would allow for a full-time work schedule are ones that are offered two days a week, from 6-9PM at my local community college. I am afraid it may be difficult to balance the job/courses since I'll be working 8-5 then class 6-9, but I am willing to at least try so that I don't have regrets later down the road. My job is also pretty relaxed in the sense that I can call out when needed or work from home from time to time without being penalized for it.

I would like to know if my plan overall is feasible, and whether or not there is something I'm missing. It might help to note that in addition to scribing, I have done some volunteer work with the local salvation army here (roughly 50 hours), but have not done any shadowing or clinical volunteering work.

Thank you in advance for your time!

 

[Talkbirthytome]

Hi!

Your plan is very feasible. I'm working 40+ hours/week and completing the rest of my pre-reqs (Physics and Biochemistry) by taking 2 classes per quarter. As long as you get your study habits down, you should be okay.

The application opens in MAY (but submission is not available until June) of every year and that is when you want to send your transcripts to AMCAS for verification and have your recommenders submit their Letter(s) of Recommendation. The system goes LIVE the FIRST WEEK IN JUNE. Schools usually don't start responding until mid-July. Your primary application should be submitted June 1st so it can be verified (which can take 4-6 weeks during this time). Being *verified* should occur by Labor Day for MD schools to be considered "on time". This depends on the school (my state schools run a later cycle). Your secondary essays should be in within a week of receiving them.

Take your MCAT by the end of July so your score is back/available to schools by Labor Day (it takes a month to post).

Start doing more volunteering with an organization that resonates with you and shadow physicians as well to become more competitive.

There are plenty of other non-traditional students who get in and are older than you, including myself. You're still young. 🙂

 

[Blanky]

I do not mean to present any of this in a negative connotation.
You have switched your goals from pharmacy, med, to CS, and then again to medicine within a relatively short time frame. You also mention that you did not enjoy biology classes and scraped by with passes (C+) in all of your biology and anatomy courses. If medicine is something you do pursue you should prepare for many more biology courses of which are going to increase ten fold in difficulty. I do not doubt your ability to do well in the courses but when you do not enjoy something it is subjectively more difficult to do well and may drain you of motivation in the long term and medicine is an extremely long term goal.

I think the best advice would be to get a job within the CS realm, I'm sure the money is going to be great. In your free time commit to some shadowing and maybe some volunteer work with those less fortunate and see IF you even like medicine. I'm also not referring to specialties although its awesome if you are interested in a specialty, you should make sure that you enjoy something in the primary care realm.

 

[MrProdigy]

Hi!

Your plan is very feasible. I'm working 40+ hours/week and completing the rest of my pre-reqs (Physics and Biochemistry) by taking 2 classes per quarter. As long as you get your study habits down, you should be okay.

The application opens in MAY (but submission is not available until June) of every year and that is when you want to send your transcripts to AMCAS for verification and have your recommenders submit their Letter(s) of Recommendation. The system goes LIVE the FIRST WEEK IN JUNE. Schools usually don't start responding until mid-July. Your primary application should be submitted June 1st so it can be verified (which can take 4-6 weeks during this time). Being *verified* should occur by Labor Day for MD schools to be considered "on time". This depends on the school (my state schools run a later cycle). Your secondary essays should be in within a week of receiving them.

Take your MCAT by the end of July so your score is back/available to schools by Labor Day (it takes a month to post).

Start doing more volunteering with an organization that resonates with you and shadow physicians as well to become more competitive.

There are plenty of other non-traditional students who get in and are older than you, including myself. You're still young. 🙂

Thank you so much for your input as well as giving out some of those deadlines. I wasn't aware of them but looked more into them after your comment and didn't realize that I should be aiming to begin applying in June rather than August. Looking at some of the course offerings given at colleges in my area, it looks like I might get stuck with taking biochem over the summer of 2020, how would you advise me to adjust/update my schedule if I originally planned on beginning MCAT prep/applications over the summer?

 

[MrProdigy]

I do not mean to present any of this in a negative connotation.
You have switched your goals from pharmacy, med, to CS, and then again to medicine within a relatively short time frame. You also mention that you did not enjoy biology classes and scraped by with passes (C+) in all of your biology and anatomy courses. If medicine is something you do pursue you should prepare for many more biology courses of which are going to increase ten fold in difficulty. I do not doubt your ability to do well in the courses but when you do not enjoy something it is subjectively more difficult to do well and may drain you of motivation in the long term and medicine is an extremely long term goal.

I think the best advice would be to get a job within the CS realm, I'm sure the money is going to be great. In your free time commit to some shadowing and maybe some volunteer work with those less fortunate and see IF you even like medicine. I'm also not referring to specialties although its awesome if you are interested in a specialty, you should make sure that you enjoy something in the primary care realm.

Hey Blanky, no negativity perceived, I appreciate your input. I should add that changing to CS wasn't simply just for passion (family constraints regarding financials played a factor as well). The biggest thing I disliked about a undergraduate Biology curriculum is that it is designed to be broad-based at the university I attended (not sure how others are), so there was a significant amount of material we were expected to learn which wasn't related to medicine. I did thoroughly enjoy Biology 101 and 102 (even if I did not do so hot in them). The other thing I would like to mention, is that I have been working in the CS field doing software development for the past year (first an an intern, then part-time, and now full-time upon graduating). The money is well enough for a fresh graduate, and I could mindlessly do the work for a few years, but I do not feel passionate about it. However, the only job I have had that I thoroughly enjoyed, was working as a medical scribe. Working in the ED, I learned new things every single day. I was amazed by the knowledge physicians hold. I was in awe of how a patient could come into the emergency room terrified, concerned that they might die, and blindly entrust their faith to that physician, to take care of them. I am not looking for financial prospects, I know I could have a very lucrative career in the CS field and make a decent living, but I want something more passionate. I want to be able to look back at my life 40-50 years from now, and to be able to say I contributed to society in a meaningful way. With that said, I have looked at alternate routes (PA, social work, etc), but whenever I think about my career without being a physician, I feel very depressed. I say all of this to ask, do you think your original post is still the best advice you would offer me? I ask this because when I compare the effort I will need to make towards completing these pre-reqs, applying to schools, prepping/taking the MCAT, possibly quitting the full-time career I have, and ask myself if it would be worth it, I keep thinking "I would rather try and find out, instead of being afraid and regretting not taking the shot". Thanks again for your advice overall.

 

[hamiltonnyc]

I'm not going to doubt your motivations and just assume you know what you want to do. In terms of feasibility, it seems like a big concern might be the timing between finishing your classes (end of Spring) and MCAT. Like someone else mentioned, you want to get the MCAT done early in the summer if you want to apply that cycle.

This might present a problem since you are squeezing the time frame when you finish all your pre-reqs, study, and then take the MCAT. With your GPA, you need a strong MCAT, so I'd block some time off to study for that. I wouldn't even take summer classes that time. To put it in context, many applicants take weeks and even months off leading up to their test date. You will definitely have to do this because you'll be relearning Bio.

If I were you, I'd take my time and do it right, even extending a cycle if I have to. It sounds like you want to rush things and you feel like there's a time crunch, but there isn't. You don't want to end up in a situation where you're not performing as well as you'd like on the MCAT, which would extend your application anyway but also make your application weaker overall.

I suggest considering lightening your load while you work full time and going the slower route. You'll have more saved up for your parents and med school, will have more time to do better in classes and MCAT, and have more time to decide if you even want to do it. Don't forget volunteering and shadowing which will take more time as well.

 

[MrProdigy]

I'm not going to doubt your motivations and just assume you know what you want to do. In terms of feasibility, it seems like a big concern might be the timing between finishing your classes (end of Spring) and MCAT. Like someone else mentioned, you want to get the MCAT done early in the summer if you want to apply that cycle.

This might present a problem since you are squeezing the time frame when you finish all your pre-reqs, study, and then take the MCAT. With your GPA, you need a strong MCAT, so I'd block some time off to study for that. I wouldn't even take summer classes that time. To put it in context, many applicants take weeks and even months off leading up to their test date. You will definitely have to do this because you'll be relearning Bio.

If I were you, I'd take my time and do it right, even extending a cycle if I have to. It sounds like you want to rush things and you feel like there's a time crunch, but there isn't. You don't want to end up in a situation where you're not performing as well as you'd like on the MCAT, which would extend your application anyway but also make your application weaker overall.

I suggest considering lightening your load while you work full time and going the slower route. You'll have more saved up for your parents and med school, will have more time to do better in classes and MCAT, and have more time to decide if you even want to do it. Don't forget volunteering and shadowing which will take more time as well.

You're absolutely right in the sense that I am trying to rush this. I guess I just feel like I'm not getting any younger and would be at least 27 at time of matriculation with my current plan, but I need to focus more on getting it done right rather than rushing due to my age. Thank you for the tips.

 

[Talkbirthytome]

Thank you so much for your input as well as giving out some of those deadlines. I wasn't aware of them but looked more into them after your comment and didn't realize that I should be aiming to begin applying in June rather than August. Looking at some of the course offerings given at colleges in my area, it looks like I might get stuck with taking biochem over the summer of 2020, how would you advise me to adjust/update my schedule if I originally planned on beginning MCAT prep/applications over the summer?

You can still do the MCAT prep over the summer BUT if you can finish your classes and then study + take the test you might be better off than trying to juggle so much at once. You can take the MCAT in January following your prep or even in the fall after that summer. Yes, this means you won't be applying for 6+ more months but it gives you much needed time to get a great score.

27 is very young in the grand scheme of things. You'll look back and see this in about 20 years, if not sooner. Take the time to do your best.