Changing Careers from EE to Medical

[KennyDoll]

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cGPA 3.1
sGPA 3.45

To clarify EE is Electrical Engineering.

I have almost none of the pre-requisites so that leaves me around 40 credit hours of GPA boosting if I go through a post-bacc program. My grades were due to first year as every subsequent year has been 3.5/3.6 which had boosted it up, hopefully showing a strong trend of improvement especially if I do well on post-bacc pre-requisites.

I've been working for a few years so I have a few years to prepare myself and get whatever I need together to increase my acceptance chances.

So where I stand right now:
GPA is low compared to what the average is (Do schools bother weighing what degree you got?)
I have no pre-requisites like chemistry or biology which works in my favor since that means more credits of 4.0 to boost the gpa
No volunteering/clinical time. I have a few years to start working on this, where would you suggest would be a good start?
I do have a few years at my job if that helps with any experience.

Based on this I doubt any MD schools will take me so I'm trying to focus on DO schools. Just trying to see what the next few years should be for me.

 

[Ell19]

GPA
-I wouldn't worry too much about your current GPA because you have none of your pre-reqs done, so your GPA could change quite a bit with 40 credits AND trends in GPA significantly more important as long as your GPA is at a threshold (I am really talking DO rn since that will be most probable); I would only focus less on agonizing about your current GPA and more on doing your absolute best in your pre-req classes whenever you decide to take them
-for what it's worth, I have many engineering friends and those GPAs are pretty good for EE. You just need to make sure you get consistently high grades in your pre-req courses

Volunteering/clinical time-
-Most hospitals have volunteer applications so I would start there (this won't really be clinical time, but you could develop some relationships and maybe get a chance to shadow some physicians)
-if you have a medical school somewhere nearby, that could be a great opportunity to reach out and have the potential to shadow physicians
-you also want to get non-clinical volunteering- helping those less fortuante than yourself- soup kitchens, meals on wheels (anything else)
-any volunteering is a good start, I volunteered at a hospital that required 3 hours a week, but I have also volunteered at animal shelters where they require 4 hours a month approximately

I will say- with no clinical experience or physician shadowing, that is where I would start to solidify this is the career you want to pursue (you didn't talk about your motivation for the switch, but engineering is a different monster from medicine so I assume you have your reasons).

Hopefully that helps a little! Feel free to ask any questions if you need me to clarify

 

[GreenDuck12]

The poster above lists some great pieces of advice for career changers. I would start with their advice about shadowing physicians in volunteering in a clinical setting to really make sure that this path is what you want to pursue. Being a career changer is hard, I know because I am one. I started taking night classes at 25 and will be matriculating at 30. This process is a marathon not a sprint.

In terms of what the next few years will look like for you it is going to be a combination of taking pre-requisite classes volunteering in a clinical setting and shadowing physicians. Depending on if you are working full time or part time and if you are a full-time or part-time students this process could take as few as two years or many more. If you are working full-time see if it would be possible to take classes at a nearby community college or university. generally speaking I think two classes is what is recommended for folks who are working full-time because anything less than that really won’t show that you can handle a rigorous medical school curriculum. One word of Caution some medical schools state a preference for pre-requisite classes being completed at four year university’s. While there are very few of these programs it is worth looking into to make sure that it won’t be a barrier later on. Full disclosure I took my first year of classes at a community college and had no problems. once you are done with your prerequisite classes it will be time to prepare for the MCAT. Most MCAT preparation companies and study plants that are posted on this website recommend a three month study plan. You will need to make adjustments based on your individual needs. Once you have your GPA finalized and your MCAT score you will be able to make a list of schools that you would like to apply to. You mentioned that you are targeting osteopathic schools but allopathic schools may be an option depending on how things end up.

The biggest piece of advice I can give to nontraditional students looking at changing careers is to resist the urge to rush through this process. Only take class loads that you will be able to manage. Don’t become so overwhelmed with building a resume that you overextend yourself. I attended an extension school for my post bac classes and the biggest factor I saw that caused my classmates to not have successful application cycles was because they were trying to get things done too quickly whether that be by taking too many classes or by rushing MCAT preparation or by turning in applications very late in the cycle (October). It is much better to take the time that is necessary to do things well and have a successful application cycle as opposed to having to reapply or retake classes or retake the MCAT. I really enjoyed the post bac process and I hope you do as well. Best of luck to you on your journey.

 

[KennyDoll]

The poster above lists some great pieces of advice for career changers. I would start with their advice about shadowing physicians in volunteering in a clinical setting to really make sure that this path is what you want to pursue. Being a career changer is hard, I know because I am one. I started taking night classes at 25 and will be matriculating at 30. This process is a marathon not a sprint.

In terms of what the next few years will look like for you it is going to be a combination of taking pre-requisite classes volunteering in a clinical setting and shadowing physicians. Depending on if you are working full time or part time and if you are a full-time or part-time students this process could take as few as two years or many more. If you are working full-time see if it would be possible to take classes at a nearby community college or university. generally speaking I think two classes is what is recommended for folks who are working full-time because anything less than that really won’t show that you can handle a rigorous medical school curriculum. One word of Caution some medical schools state a preference for pre-requisite classes being completed at four year university’s. While there are very few of these programs it is worth looking into to make sure that it won’t be a barrier later on. Full disclosure I took my first year of classes at a community college and had no problems. once you are done with your prerequisite classes it will be time to prepare for the MCAT. Most MCAT preparation companies and study plants that are posted on this website recommend a three month study plan. You will need to make adjustments based on your individual needs. Once you have your GPA finalized and your MCAT score you will be able to make a list of schools that you would like to apply to. You mentioned that you are targeting osteopathic schools but allopathic schools may be an option depending on how things end up.

The biggest piece of advice I can give to nontraditional students looking at changing careers is to resist the urge to rush through this process. Only take class loads that you will be able to manage. Don’t become so overwhelmed with building a resume that you overextend yourself. I attended an extension school for my post bac classes and the biggest factor I saw that caused my classmates to not have successful application cycles was because they were trying to get things done too quickly whether that be by taking too many classes or by rushing MCAT preparation or by turning in applications very late in the cycle (October). It is much better to take the time that is necessary to do things well and have a successful application cycle as opposed to having to reapply or retake classes or retake the MCAT. I really enjoyed the post bac process and I hope you do as well. Best of luck to you on your journey.

I figure that if I do well on the mcat and post bacc requirements I might have a shot at MD schools. But I didn’t want to needlessly hope since the requirements were much higher than what I had at this moment.

edit: When talking about clinical volunteer hours, what does that entail? Does watching a doctor do their thing count?