Auditor to MD

[auditor2doc]

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Hello!

I suppose I fit in the non traditional section. I am wrapping up my masters in accounting. I am all set to start working in Big 4 Audit, and having doubts. I am considering the change - to go to med school.

I am in a situation in that I need to stay in Dallas regardless of what happens. So I think the only med school that I have options to go to is UT Southwestern. I do not even know if I could get into the school. My BS was in accounting with a GPA of 3.4, and I have a 3.7 for my masters. I was thinking about maybe being nurse while I get all the requirements and to get experience to make my application better. (I am sure med schools do not really care about my 5 years of business work experience and Big 4 Audit experience) I am sorry for rambling, but I do not know where I should start. This might even be just a stray thought that I am getting to passionate over and will pass.

I welcome any advice, the more blunt the better. I suppose the questions that I really have deal with:

1. Students that get into UT Southwestern - if I have a chance from the beginning
2. Not even starting Med School until 28 in regards of family, etc.
3. Starting as a nurse to keep income flowing.

Thanks in advance!

 

[medhacker]

Hi There

Hello!

I welcome any advice, the more blunt the better. I suppose the questions that I really have deal with:

1. Students that get into UT Southwestern - if I have a chance from the beginning

Your GPA is not terrible, however you need to take the science pre-requisites and make sure you have the non-science ones

2. Not even starting Med School until 28 in regards of family, etc.

A doable task despite all that

3. Starting as a nurse to keep income flowing.

hmm, you would need an entire nursing degree to work as an RN, or a 1 -2 year degree to work as an LPN or even CNA, not sure it is the best way for you to pursue a career as a physician. You are probably better off taking the pre-requisites and then the MCAT.

Thanks in advance!

Ask again if you have more Qs and the search tools will give you gems in terms of your questions, as well.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hello!

I suppose I fit in the non traditional section. I am wrapping up my masters in accounting. I am all set to start working in Big 4 Audit, and having doubts. I am considering the change - to go to med school.

I am in a situation in that I need to stay in Dallas regardless of what happens. So I think the only med school that I have options to go to is UT Southwestern. I do not even know if I could get into the school. My BS was in accounting with a GPA of 3.4, and I have a 3.7 for my masters. I was thinking about maybe being nurse while I get all the requirements and to get experience to make my application better. (I am sure med schools do not really care about my 5 years of business work experience and Big 4 Audit experience) I am sorry for rambling, but I do not know where I should start. This might even be just a stray thought that I am getting to passionate over and will pass.

I welcome any advice, the more blunt the better. I suppose the questions that I really have deal with:

1. Students that get into UT Southwestern - if I have a chance from the beginning
2. Not even starting Med School until 28 in regards of family, etc.
3. Starting as a nurse to keep income flowing.

Thanks in advance!

I would probably figure out what you want to do with your life before uprooting things and launching into another path. Take some time, volunteer, shadow, talk to doctors and see if it is really for you. What is it you don't like about your current career and why are you looking to bail? You really need to be going into medicine because you want to do medicine, not because you are running away from your current career.

 

[auditor2doc]

I enjoy my current career. I can safely say that I am not switching for money reasons either due to the salary possibilities that I have in the near future. In fact, fiscally speaking, I am giving up quite a bit. So, I am definitely not running.

The switch to medical would be out of the desire to help people. I know it sounds terribly cliche, but I just lost my grandfather a few weeks ago. I was helpless, and I really looked up to his doctor. While he was unsuccessful with my grandfather, he works hard every day to try to help others. I know that my services are needed as an auditor, but what better service than to devote your life to the study of healing your fellow man/woman. I understand that I probably have an overly romantic view of what the position is and should really investigate it before I do anything.

I suppose another option is to take the job after my masters and just do the prereqs. Then again, the true test of wanting to do something is letting go of stability and going full force and not holding back.

 

[montessori2md]

I think the skills/training you have as an auditor would be envied by many private practice physicians, but as mentioned above, you really need to spend some time inside medicine (in your spare time, without dropping your current job) to see if the fantasy in your head is similar to reality or not.

I think you could certainly directly help people simply via a seg from your auditing experience and learning how to help people wade through health insurance reimbursement issues, or to help people set up ways to pay medical debts for a non profit. That is, of course, quite different from wanting to spend all day on your feet, or looking at images, or telling people to quit smoking, lose weight, etc.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

While other people are questioning your motives for pursuing medicine, I think your real problem lies with only wanting to apply to one Medical School. It's really too early to even guess at your chances of being accepted to UTSW because you haven't yet taken the MCAT. But, having been accepted to UTSW with a lower-than-their-average GPA, I (and others like me) are proof that it can be done; however, statistically, your chances of being accepted at any single Medical School are less than 5%. If you really want to be a doctor, I would definitely suggest applying to more than one school.

EDIT: If you don't just have to stay in Dallas, proper, but can stay in the metroplex, you can/should also apply to TCOM in Fort Worth.

 

[auditor2doc]

Thanks for the feedback. I went to the websites of a few local hospitals and wrote down the phone numbers to call in order to enter their volunteer program. This might be a good way to get a little more hands on experience, yes?

 

[medhacker]

Thanks for the feedback. I went to the websites of a few local hospitals and wrote down the phone numbers to call in order to enter their volunteer program. This might be a good way to get a little more hands on experience, yes?

👍

also, you may want to shadow a DO, you never know if you may end up deciding to go the DO route and you do not want to miss the opportunity to get that letter from the get go (some schools require it).

 

[PT2MD]

I had the same notion last year only in the Houston area. I applied to a small range of schools and very late. I agree with what's been said before. You really limit your opportunities to study medicine by stating you will only consider Dallas area school(s).

With your GPA, which isn't bad, you should concentrate on being outstanding in other areas to give the adcoms very few reasons to pass you over. Southwestern is a tough school to get into statistically speaking, so you have a tough mountain to climb. If you step back to examine your motivation and willingness to sacrifice some important aspects of your current lifestyle to become a physician, you will come to the right decision.

 

[auditor2doc]

Alright! The request has been made. They told me that I should be receiving the application from in the mail in the next few days.

Hopefully I will get to see enough to make a decision. Such a hard decision when you put it all down on paper. In a way, you give up the 9-5 and evenings to spend with your family to pursue the calling of helping people. The thought of not being around quite a bit with my future family does scare me. Do Doctors have the ability to have quality family lives or are they normally married to the hospital?

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

Alright! The request has been made. They told me that I should be receiving the application from in the mail in the next few days.

Hopefully I will get to see enough to make a decision. Such a hard decision when you put it all down on paper. In a way, you give up the 9-5 and evenings to spend with your family to pursue the calling of helping people. The thought of not being around quite a bit with my future family does scare me. Do Doctors have the ability to have quality family lives or are they normally married to the hospital?

You are not the first person to ask that question. The search function is your friend. The one-line answer is, "it depends."

 

[auditor2doc]

Spoke with some doctors and I ended up going online to confront the images I would be faced with (gross anatomy). Yeah, I can't do that. It was making me sick just looking at the pictures. I'll stick to excel 😎. Thanks though for all of your help. Good luck to everyone!