Banker to Doctor? Need Advice

[JennyBenny]

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I graduated last year (May 2007) with a degree in Finance and worked for around 7 months at an investment bank. But now I have decided to go back and take my prereqs to apply to medical school.

What classes do I need to take to be prepared for the MCAT? I heard in Texas Biochem is required at some med schools and Genetics is usually required.

Also does anyone know of jobs/volunteer positions that I should try to do? I have applied to every research position I have seen in the last month but no one will even interview me because I have only taken one science class in undergrad. What are some other avenues to find these opportunities?

Does it matter what school I do my post bacc at? I am trying to decide between UT Austin (where I got my BBA) and UofH.

Would really appreciate any advice! 🙂

 

[crusinmsu]

hey hey another banker here ! haha well i'm not as young as you. been in banking for 4 yrs and got an MBA along the way but have been taking pre-reqs for a yr. i'm at a community college b/c i can go after work here in Dallas. where you from in TX ?

 

[JennyBenny]

Houston... I would have done banking while taking prereqs but I realized I barely had enough time to sleep. I guess you are an associate?

How are the classes compared to banking? I know it is completely different but I wanted to get a comparison. How long did they say it would take you?? The adviser at UofH told me it would take 4 years to build up my credentials. I'm thinking that is just an overestimation so I'm going to try to do it in 1.5-2 years.

 

[gman33]

If you go full-time you can do the prereqs in a year.
It might be better to start off part-time and make sure you get all A's.
Don't underestimate the challenge of the basic science courses.

If you have no clinical experience, it is best to start by getting a volunteer position at a hospital. This will give you a better idea of what being a doctor entails than a research position. Most larger hospitals have some type of volunteer program.

 

[JennyBenny]

It's just the labs im worried about haha. and the oh-so-wonderful physics.

What about leadership? I had a lot of leadership at my undergrad school but it pertains to business orgs and jobs. Do I need to do it all over again with medicine related orgs in the next 1.5-2 years? I have already started volunteering at hospitals... I also did volunteering through business orgs in college.. i wonder if that will matter?

 

[crusinmsu]

see I don't really have an advisor.. i'm just takin the classes on my own and doing so where i can have night classes and still make a decent living while trying to get in. i'll be doing this job for another 2 yrs while waiting to get in. believe it or not it takes a good bit of time to get all this stuff done.. esp texas which requires 2 more bio classes than other places and a Calculus 🙂 gotta love em. oh and it can't be business calculus. the deal is you have to apply the year BEFORE you can start med school so it is alot of lead time. gotta love it though... as for the classes they're damn challenging i won't lie... I take 2 every semester just to get it done reasonable and i'm in class mon-thurs nights... haha gotta love that you also have to have a night for the LABS!!! it's totally diff. than our experience as undergrads in business.. lol it will challenge your mind like nothing before.. honestly I don't study that much and have made A's in everything thus far.. taking Gen chem in the summer was a freaking beating but i learned so much about chemistry and then almost finished with organic and bio and jus have physics and the other bios to go with calc. will take mcat in dec. and hoping for a high score.. great thing is TX has soooo many schools we can apply to and they have to accept 90% in state applicants!!! wooo hoooo!!!

 

[fireflygirl]

I can't stress enough for non-trads : DON'T RUSH THROUGH YOUR PRE-REQS!!! I was also a banker for a while and switched careers and thought I could finish the pre-reqs within a year and then I screwed up my first semester because of that. The sciences are a different beast than our old business classes so take your time and test out the first semester and see how you fare out with 1-2 lab classes. Don't worry about where you go to do them - though you may want to think about a formal vs. non-formal post-bac - just do well in your classes!

Schools are going to want to see that you can handle a difficult workload but don't care to see a student take on 3 lab courses and get Cs in all of them. If you can handle the first semester, then make a decision about how many other classes to take. As a full time student for the first two years of my post bac, I did 2 major pre-reqs at a time and took upper level sciences in the summer or as a 3rd class. That was plenty for me and I noticed that I could get As with a fairly full class schedule but not trying to squeeze everything in a year. Depending on what kinds of pre-reqs you need to take, it may take you nearly 2-3 years to get them done. And then another 18 months of upper level sciences and my glide year. It's hard to swallow sometimes, but with exception to my MCAT, I know for me, I did it right. Don't worry - you're young and you have a lot of time.

Your volunteer work in college will go a long way. The interviews I had, I was asked about my own college ECs and I could see that part of the reason they were interestsed in me is because you could see from my experiences that I had subconciously or not, been involved in the medical world for a while. However, they will want to see you involved in more healthcare related fields so consider volunteer and/or some clinical work, whether that be research or bench research, or just shadowing. I have been doing research at a major peds hospital for nearly 2 years now and I know that my research here has helped me a lot personally, and in interviews. Get involved in the healthcare field and really learn about what you're getting into.

 

[C equals]

I agree with fireflygirl- Volunteer work in the health field is very important. If you are coming from another field, you have to show your enthusiasm and dedication to your new career choice. Also- If you work in the field, you'll know if you really want to spend the extra years to get to your goal. You don't want to spend another 10 years studying to be a doc and then find that you aren't suited for the profession in one way or another.

 

[polishtexan]

The timing of your coursework will depend on your situation, particularly whether your are working full/part time.

Quick sample roadmap from me:
Last summer, I left a bulge bracket after two years (finance BBA background), took my Bio I/II & Chem I/II fall semester at HCC. Currently taking OChem I, OChem I Lab and Genetics at UH. MCAT will be in May and then OChem II, OChem II Lab and Anatomy will be summer semester. Placed out of physics/calculus with AP credits back in the day. Worked at a lab (non-salaried/student trainee - took over 2 month to find), volunteer with oncology patients (picked something that fit my interests), shadowed/shadowing a number of doctors and tutoring bio/chem.

As to the location, I decided to move back to Houston because of the Texas Medical Center - more opportunities to volunteer and interact with doctors/fellows/residents/med students & fellow non-trad pre-meds.

After making the jump, I can't see myself doing anything else except practicing medicine. Congrats on your decision!

Best of luck!

P.S.- UT San Antonio additionally requires Biochem. All UT schools require 6 hrs of upper Bio (fulfilled by Genetics + Anatomy). Baylor only requires 1 year of Bio/Bio Lab.