Any advice?

[DESTINATUS]

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Hello,

New here and looking for opinions and advice. A little history- at 18 I was a Volunteer FF/EMT. I was talking classes to get into paramedic school, but was a little unfocused and young. I ended up with only 20 credits and a low GPA 2.55. Since I have very little it the credit hour department I think I can drastically improve my cGPA. Life happened- my family moved, I bought a house, and I had to get a good paying job.

So, fast forward almost 12 years and I still have the burning desire to be a doctor (all through school I wanted to be a trauma surgeon). I currently work in law enforcement and I am not helping people the way I would like. I am also looking for something to challenge the brain matter 🙂 -police work gets boring at times. I started back to school this spring and I am getting good grades. I should have a 3.9 or 4.0 in my classes-finals are this week. I know I have a long road in front of me, but I am willing to work my butt off to get there. I have to work full time until I get my undergrad complete or nearly complete- house payment and tuition reimbursement👍. I will be taking two classes a quarter all year. I have rotating shifts, court, and call outs, so I don't want to put myself in a position to get poor grades.

My plan is to finish my two year degree and transfer to a university. I have a couple doctors willing to let me shadow them and I have a two charity functions I participate in every year.

Looking for any advice or guidance. Any undergrad degree suggestions? When is the best time to take the MCAT and what classes need to be completed to do well? Unfortunately my pre-med adviser has not been much help, and the university I want to transfer to only advises enrolled students.

I apologize for the long post and thank you for any info. Just a little more about me- single, no kids, and 30 in a few weeks. My goal is to be applying to med school by 35.

 

[Klemptor]

Find a major that you like and that you can perform well in. If it's not a science major, be sure to take the standard science pre-reqs. The best time to take the MCAT is during your junior year of undergrad or early in the summer after your junior year. Then during that summer you submit your AMCAS application. If you're enrolled in a part-time basis, I don't know how your coursework will align with the usual four-year plan, but the point is that you apply a year in advance, because a complete application cycle takes about a year.

Good luck!

 

[DESTINATUS]

Has anyone attended classes part time for any portion of their undergrad? Just curious if it will hurt my chances of being accepted into med school down the road.

Thank you Klemptor for replying to my original post🙂

 

[mspeedwagon]

Part-time is fine. I (and a number of us on here) have taken our pre-reqs part-time after completing college. Much more important is getting As. If you get As no one will care whether you were in school full or part-time.

Has anyone attended classes part time for any portion of their undergrad? Just curious if it will hurt my chances of being accepted into med school down the road.

Thank you Klemptor for replying to my original post🙂

 

[Klemptor]

You're welcome!

Yep, I did part-time for a bit while working full-time, and it didn't hurt my app.

 

[DitchDoc73]

Any undergrad degree suggestions? Complete a degree that you will enjoy (and get you to a Bachelors the fastest). Many of us busted our butts in very heavy science undergrad degrees, just to find out it doesn't matter that much. Just make sure you complete the basic sciences (Gen Chem 1 & 2, Org Chem 1 & 2, Bio 1& 2, and Physics 1&2). I interviewed with another candidate that had his Bachelor's Degree in French Lit!

When is the best time to take the MCAT and what classes need to be completed to do well? The best time to take the MCAT is WHEN YOU ARE COMPLETELY READY TO TAKE IT! But a good time frame to aim for is the April before you apply. This allows you to have your results in early, and get your primary application verified early and to the schools you are applying to. I would recommend having at least the basic required science classes completed prior to taking the MCAT. All of the info on the MCAT is supposed to be covered in those 8 classes. If you are looking for some "electives," some classes that I thought helped on my MCAT were genetics, immunology, molecular biology, and biochemistry. Not because of the material that was covered in those classes, but because of the concepts that were covered in the basic classes that were covered more in depth in the "elective classes." Take a look at some of the more popular exam prep courses / books to help as well. Princeton Review, Exam Krackers, etc...

Just curious if part time classes will hurt my chances of being accepted into med school down the road. You are fine. ADCOMs are realistic that non-trads have to work in addition to taking classes, but it is important to score highly in any classes that you take part time. The only way it can hurt you is if you perform poorly. It may make tham question if you can handle a full time class load.

Best of Luck! Many of us have been in the same shoes!

 

[montessori2md]

Part time is fine, but try to set yourself up so that you take most of the pre-reqs near the time you want to take the MCAT, so that the material is fresh in your head. That's particularly true for chemistry and physics, or at least for me it was. I highly advise as non-science major, honestly, you get plenty of science once you're here, not point in adding to it. But other people feel differently, this has been beaten to death on this forum.

The first thing you need to do is to figure out if this is REALLY what you want. Trauma surgery is a looooong training time, and not the easiest match. If you want to play in an OR, there are lots of ways to do that w/o necessarily shelling out all that time, but the coursework is different. I looked really hard at PA (they can do lots of great stuff, and as an officer you'd fit right in), and being first assist in surgery for life, but unfortunately for me I have this ego and this brain that gets bored quickly... I digress. My point is, spend a lot of time w/ docs and just take classes you'll do well in while you're figuring out the "do I want to" part. Then, when you're ready for the "can I do it?" part, take organic chemistry, and if it doesn't kick your butt, then you'll probably be ok.

 

[DESTINATUS]

Thank you all for your responses. It is encouraging to read that others have been in the same shoes 🙂