Career change from commercial theatre, thought experiment

[RichardSM]

Hey all, I’m in the early days of considering a career change to medicine and I wanted post a little thought experiment on here to see if there’s any viability in it. This is a little long winded so I really appreciate anyone who’s taking the time to give it a go.

For the sake of this, let’s ignore finances and why I’m considering leaving my current field, but consider everything else.

About me: I am 22, currently a senior in college in NYC where I study stage management. I work a lot as a freelance stage manager and have been pretty successful so far in the off-broadway world. I think I have a good shot at having a good career doing this, but I’ve been floating the idea of leaving it for a multitude of very personal reasons. In reality, I’m going to give myself a year to make up my mind so I’m not just jumping ship.

Anyway, I’ll be graduating with a 3.5 GPA if all goes well this semester, with a BA in stage management and a minor in history. I only needed 1 science w/ lab for my degree and I took neuroscience, which I loved and got a B+. Just about everything else I studied were humanities and technical theatre.

What’s interesting is before I started college I was pretty dead set on medicine. I’ve always loved it, but decided to go a different way for schooling. Before college, I volunteered a lot in my local hospital. I started with just transporting patients, but eventually got a position in the OR, where by the end of it all, I was helping out the Anesthesia Assistants with turning rooms over and setting things up at the beginning of the day. I got to see dozens of surgeries and intubations. I think by the time I stopped I’d clocked in like 600 hours of volunteer time.

Nowadays I volunteer with a theatre based foundation in NYC that raises money for AIDS patient support and also writes grants for natural disaster relief. They put on shows in Broadway theatres to raise money and I work on their stage management teams. Just because of the nature of stage management work days, I’ve probably done about 150 hours with them.

The clinical volunteering was all done back in High School, which was a bit of time ago. Would a medical school and post-bacc program even still consider that?

So now, I’m looking at Post-Bacc programs. There’s a lot of options in NYC but the big ones are Columbia and NYU, given my background and GPA, do you think I’m a good candidate for these? It might just be blind confidence, but I have a good feeling I can teach myself to effectively learn and study the material, and I could spend the next year learning how to do that. Ideally I would want to find a linkage program but I’m no stranger to how difficult that process would be.

Finally, how would a medical school look at all of this? Would a career change from something like this help me or hurt me? Does being LBGT (which I am), and working with an AIDS related charity help me?

I’m not sure what else to add but I’m happy to answer questions! Thanks for your input!

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[deleted367183]

I was at City College for prereqs and had a fantastic experience. But, last I heard, second bachelor's people are now registering after everyone else, which would make it hard (literally impossible?) to finish on time. See what the current registration situation is at CCNY and Hunter, and consider the other CUNY campuses if necessary. I took microbio at Medgar Evers and their labs were brand new!!!!!!

 

[GreenDuck12]

Yes, a career change to medicine would be viable. Many postbac programs are filled with students who made it to senior year before decided to do medicine. In terms of where to do a postbac, that is entirely dependent on what you are looking for and how much you are willing to spend. Formal programs are more expensive but will offer more support in the form of advising and structure. DIY programs can be completed at most colleges and usually are significantly less expensive. I think the general consensus is it matters less where you do your postbac and much more how well you do in your classes and on the mcat.

As for how schools would look at this is that it isn’t that uncommon. You’re not too far into the non traditional group because of your age and being extremely early in your career. Average age of a medical school matriculant is around 24-25 so you’re definitely in the middle of the pack by the time you’re ready to apply. As for your major, medical schools really don’t have a preference for majors, my guess is there aren’t a ton with your background. As for identifying as LGBTQ, it could be something that helps speak to your bringing different perspectives and experiences to a medical class. Schools like to have folks from diverse backgrounds. Your non clinical volunteer work is interesting but I wouldn’t say it is any more or less interesting than volunteering with any other disadvantaged group. With non clinical volunteering you’re trying to show that you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone to serve people from different groups/backgrounds from your own.

If I were in your shoes, I would spend the next few months spending time shadowing doctors and volunteering in hospitals/clinics/nursing homes/hospice to find out if you really want to pursue a career in medicine (which will be needed for your application anyways). Once you’re sure, then you start taking the prerequisite classes and continuing to round out your application.

 

[Goro]

Hey all, I’m in the early days of considering a career change to medicine and I wanted post a little thought experiment on here to see if there’s any viability in it. This is a little long winded so I really appreciate anyone who’s taking the time to give it a go.

For the sake of this, let’s ignore finances and why I’m considering leaving my current field, but consider everything else.

About me: I am 22, currently a senior in college in NYC where I study stage management. I work a lot as a freelance stage manager and have been pretty successful so far in the off-broadway world. I think I have a good shot at having a good career doing this, but I’ve been floating the idea of leaving it for a multitude of very personal reasons. In reality, I’m going to give myself a year to make up my mind so I’m not just jumping ship.

Anyway, I’ll be graduating with a 3.5 GPA if all goes well this semester, with a BA in stage management and a minor in history. I only needed 1 science w/ lab for my degree and I took neuroscience, which I loved and got a B+. Just about everything else I studied were humanities and technical theatre.

What’s interesting is before I started college I was pretty dead set on medicine. I’ve always loved it, but decided to go a different way for schooling. Before college, I volunteered a lot in my local hospital. I started with just transporting patients, but eventually got a position in the OR, where by the end of it all, I was helping out the Anesthesia Assistants with turning rooms over and setting things up at the beginning of the day. I got to see dozens of surgeries and intubations. I think by the time I stopped I’d clocked in like 600 hours of volunteer time.

Nowadays I volunteer with a theatre based foundation in NYC that raises money for AIDS patient support and also writes grants for natural disaster relief. They put on shows in Broadway theatres to raise money and I work on their stage management teams. Just because of the nature of stage management work days, I’ve probably done about 150 hours with them.

The clinical volunteering was all done back in High School, which was a bit of time ago. Would a medical school and post-bacc program even still consider that?

So now, I’m looking at Post-Bacc programs. There’s a lot of options in NYC but the big ones are Columbia and NYU, given my background and GPA, do you think I’m a good candidate for these? It might just be blind confidence, but I have a good feeling I can teach myself to effectively learn and study the material, and I could spend the next year learning how to do that. Ideally I would want to find a linkage program but I’m no stranger to how difficult that process would be.

Finally, how would a medical school look at all of this? Would a career change from something like this help me or hurt me? Does being LBGT (which I am), and working with an AIDS related charity help me?

I’m not sure what else to add but I’m happy to answer questions! Thanks for your input!

What happened in high school stays in high shcool. You nee dot get in some fresh clinical exposure (patient contact experience AND shadowing) because you need to show Adcoms that you career change isn't due to impetuosity, dissatisfaction with your current career, or any starry-eyed notions. Plus, the perspectives of when you were a child will have changed now that you older.

Yes, you're a good candidate for any career-changer post-bac program.

Many med schools consider LGBT to be URM, which is a plus. However, you need to walk the walk and not merely talk the talk, so volunteer with LGBT communities or be involved with advocacy as such, such as in public health venues. Being LGBT will only be a minus at Loma Linda and LUCOM.

Being a non-traditional student is fine. The world has a superfluity of pre-med Biology majors. You bring a fresh and often wanted perspective.