Back from Afghanistan. Want to become a MD. Is it possible?

[deks]

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So I am heading back home from a deployment in Afghanistan, and as a result from my experiences overseas I find myself, finally, wanting to commit to medicine and attend medical school. I think my story is generally ‘non-traditional’, so let me fill you in…
Graduated high school in 2002 and left home to attend a reputable 4-year University. The first semester was great in regards to grades, however I soon got caught up in the whole ‘party scene’ at college…stopped caring about attending classes and let my grades suffer in exchange for a more vibrant social life. I eventually realized I messed up big time, and dropped out of college around 2005 with a horrid 2.5 gpa. I ended up enlisting in the military shortly afterwards, hoping it would provide a stable income, let me clean up my act, and give me time to figure my life out. The military sent me to language school, where I earned an AA in Mandarin Chinese, a 3.4 gpa, and graduated with honors. Then it was off to another school, earned a 4.0, graduated with honors, and had the potential for another AA…but did not have the additional classes required to receive it. At this point Excelsior College came knockin’ and offered me a BA in liberal arts if I took just one more elective. I ended up taking an Immunology course over the summer at a local 4-year and pulled an A in that as well; receiving my BA from Excelsior and a 3.5 gpa. Then I deployed…
Now I never really considered medicine as a career until my arrival in Afghanistan. Long story short, I happened to be in the wrong place on several occasions and ended up providing primary care to a couple of people. Some lived while some passed away from their injuries. It was these events that brought me to this career decision. I just don’t know if I have a shot at becoming a MD with these horrid grades hanging over me…

The sciences I took while at undergrad looked something like this:

Bio 1 – B
Bio 2 – C
Micro – B
Chem 1 – C
Genetics - D (A's on the exams...skipped every discussion/lecture)

All of these classes were taking either in 2003 or 2004. Not proud of them at all, but thankfull I recieved them. So here are a few of my questions…

Do I stand a chance at even making it into medical school?
Should I retake the old Bio/Chem courses or just take higher electives at a local university?
Post-Bac (doing it myself), or go for a masters?
Will medical schools frown upon my ‘online’ degree?

I should say that I am not afraid of re-taking courses nor the subject material at hand. I have saved almost every penny from this deployment trying to make this a possibility, and can afford to pay my own way through approximately 2 years of full time study at a local university (which has a medical school). Plus I'll have the GI Bill. Any help or insight you guys could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

 

[DocBell]

So I am heading back home from a deployment in Afghanistan, and as a result from my experiences overseas I find myself, finally, wanting to commit to medicine and attend medical school. I think my story is generally ‘non-traditional’, so let me fill you in…
Graduated high school in 2002 and left home to attend a reputable 4-year University. The first semester was great in regards to grades, however I soon got caught up in the whole ‘party scene’ at college…stopped caring about attending classes and let my grades suffer in exchange for a more vibrant social life. I eventually realized I messed up big time, and dropped out of college around 2005 with a horrid 2.5 gpa. I ended up enlisting in the military shortly afterwards, hoping it would provide a stable income, let me clean up my act, and give me time to figure my life out. The military sent me to language school, where I earned an AA in Mandarin Chinese, a 3.4 gpa, and graduated with honors. Then it was off to another school, earned a 4.0, graduated with honors, and had the potential for another AA…but did not have the additional classes required to receive it. At this point Excelsior College came knockin’ and offered me a BA in liberal arts if I took just one more elective. I ended up taking an Immunology course over the summer at a local 4-year and pulled an A in that as well; receiving my BA from Excelsior and a 3.5 gpa. Then I deployed…
Now I never really considered medicine as a career until my arrival in Afghanistan. Long story short, I happened to be in the wrong place on several occasions and ended up providing primary care to a couple of people. Some lived while some passed away from their injuries. It was these events that brought me to this career decision. I just don’t know if I have a shot at becoming a MD with these horrid grades hanging over me…

The sciences I took while at undergrad looked something like this:

Bio 1 – B
Bio 2 – C
Micro – B
Chem 1 – C
Genetics - D (A's on the exams...skipped every discussion/lecture)

All of these classes were taking either in 2003 or 2004. Not proud of them at all, but thankfull I recieved them. So here are a few of my questions…

Do I stand a chance at even making it into medical school?
Should I retake the old Bio/Chem courses or just take higher electives at a local university?
Post-Bac (doing it myself), or go for a masters?
Will medical schools frown upon my ‘online’ degree?

I should say that I am not afraid of re-taking courses nor the subject material at hand. I have saved almost every penny from this deployment trying to make this a possibility, and can afford to pay my own way through approximately 2 years of full time study at a local university (which has a medical school). Plus I'll have the GI Bill. Any help or insight you guys could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

I'm only applying this year myself but I would definitely think you have a shot. Your bad grades were awhile ago and your reasons for wanting to purse medicine are compelling. I don't know if you would need to retake your classes but I would think that a one-two year post bac program for you might be ideal since it would allow you to do the MCAT and get the other requirements out of the way. Retaking the classes won't erase them if you go MD but since you are non trad I am thinking you will get some forgiveness. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Good luck! I am sure you will do great.

 

[Playa]

You definitely can. I know a non-trad student who graduated from my uni two years ago. He was a medic in the army for 8 years before that. He got into all of the top 10 ranked med schools and currently goes to Hopkins.

 

[Catalystik]

The sciences I took while at undergrad looked something like this:

Bio 1 – B
Bio 2 – C
Micro – B
Chem 1 – C
Genetics - D (A's on the exams...skipped every discussion/lecture)

So here are a few of my questions…

1) Do I stand a chance at even making it into medical school?
2) Should I retake the old Bio/Chem courses or just take higher electives at a local university?
3) Post-Bac (doing it myself), or go for a masters?
4) Will medical schools frown upon my ‘online’ degree?

1) It will be easier to suggest a path to becoming a physician if we know your overall GPA and BCPM, including the coursework at the original college. And how many credit hours do you have all together? If you need help with the math, here is an AMCAS GPA calculator:
http://medschool.ucsf.edu/postbac/pdf/AMCAS GPA_Calculator Version 4 Final.xls

2) The vast majority of med schools require that the prerequisites and their labs be taken at a brick and mortar institution. If you did that, then consideration needs to be given to whether you learned the material thoroughly enough to do well on the MCAT. If not, that's a reason to retake. But otherwise, I'd say that Genetics is the only one you should retake.

3) For most med schools the GPA in a masters will not moderate a low undergrad GPA, so it's best to do a postbac, which you can do informally through a cheaper state school.

4) Med schools vary in their acceptance of distance learning, so you pretty much have to call each one you plan to target and ask their policy if it's not stated on the website. Be sure to mention you are active duty military, as schools tend to be more lenient in your specific situation.

 

[Lokhtar]

You have an extremely compelling story. If you spend a year taking and acing peeress and do some volunteering and then do well on the MCAT, I think you'll have success. Have you looked into the military medical school? They would love you if you are interested in military medicine.

 

[deks]

1) It will be easier to suggest a path to becoming a physician if we know your overall GPA and BCPM, including the coursework at the original college. And how many credit hours do you have all together? If you need help with the math, here is an AMCAS GPA calculator:
http://medschool.ucsf.edu/postbac/pdf/AMCAS GPA_Calculator Version 4 Final.xls

2) The vast majority of med schools require that the prerequisites and their labs be taken at a brick and mortar institution. If you did that, then consideration needs to be given to whether you learned the material thoroughly enough to do well on the MCAT. If not, that's a reason to retake. But otherwise, I'd say that Genetics is the only one you should retake.

3) For most med schools the GPA in a masters will not moderate a low undergrad GPA, so it's best to do a postbac, which you can do informally through a cheaper state school.

4) Med schools vary in their acceptance of distance learning, so you pretty much have to call each one you plan to target and ask their policy if it's not stated on the website. Be sure to mention you are active duty military, as schools tend to be more lenient in your specific situation.

Thanks for the calculator! Unfortunately the computer I currently have access to prevents the macros/functions from working, so I will have to revive this soon to be dead thread in a couple of weeks with the appropriate numbers...unless I get it working.

In regards to my credit hours, I have approximately 130 credit hours in total. Of those 130, all but one course (a tech. lit. course required by excelsior) were taken at a traditional brick and mortar university. Though I don't know how medical schools would react to college credit granted by a local college for military traning (classroom instruction)...which could lower that 130 to approximately 125 credit hours OR completely screw me.

I agree with sticking to the post-bac, it's great to hear it from someone else as well. I do plan on re-taking genetics (just so I can feel better about myself) and Chem 1. My logic for chemistry is the fact that it was so long ago, and I want to re-establish the foundation in that subject prior to moving forward. I think I'll be ok in Biology, and can always consult a Bio textbook if need be.

Thanks again...I'll try to get that spreadsheet you sent me working so I can throw some numbers at you. I appreciate the responses from everyone.

 

[Catalystik]

I have trouble opening that calculator program about half the time. Here is another one for you to try that can also calculate the BCPM: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=590424

I think AMCAS will expect you to submit transcripts for courses taken while in the service, even though you got credit for them on transferring them to a college (see AMCAS instruction booklet on-line). So long as you've taken all the prerequisites, I doubt med schools will argue about credit given by an accredited college or university toward a degree