Confused....

[candykolor]

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I have always had a desire to study in medecine.....After completing high school I decided to opt out of post secondary studies....Now I find myself at 23 (6 years out of school) with an infant, with a renewed desire to to pursue what has been my life long aspiration....Ive registered in a general BSc program in the hopes of gaining admission to med school after completin gmy degree....I have so many questions and I feel utterly stupid asking them (I would ask my advisors but Im afraid of looking stupid :S) I figured I would ask you all....

What is premed? (I wanted to registered in a premed program but couldnt find a Bachelors or anything else in premed) Is it actually a field of study or more of a track one would take in order to make it to med school (ie: it could be a bach in arts could be premed as long as you are fufilling prereqs for med school?)

As for volunteering...Ive heard it is very important. How much do I need (per year or during the duration of my entire degree)? Ive noticed posts on here in regards to clinical volunteering involving patient care...How could one volunteer in a clinical setting if they have no actual medical training or credentials?

Are extracurriculars very important? Can I leave out extracurriculars if I volunteer more? (im not much of a club kinda gal and the ones at my university kind of suck)

How long on average does it take to complete med school?

Generally speaking are there more prereqs for admission into med school on an undergraduate level than if I apply after completing my degree (does that make sense?)


Anyways thats all I can think of as of now, hopefully you all dont think Im too foolish or stupid.....Any insight would be uber appreciated!

 

[Kittee]

What is premed?

Premed is just a catchall for those who are pursuing medicine and have not yet entered medical school. That is, undergraduate student is to graduate student as premedical student is to medical student.

There are a minimum set of requirements that are actually basic and quick to cover (completed during the first 2 years of college, usually), and some courses like biochemistry or genetics aren't even required! (although recommended.

As far as a major goes, there is no fixed major. You can major in anything as long as you completed the required prequisites to enter medical school. These will be basic chemistry and biology courses and a few other things. Your school advisor should be able to point you in right direction.

As for volunteering...Ive heard it is very important. How much do I need (per year or during the duration of my entire degree)?

Are extracurriculars very important? Can I leave out extracurriculars if I volunteer more? (im not much of a club kinda gal and the ones at my university kind of suck)

Volunteering is one of the best extracurriculars you can have and helps relatively more than other ECs. That being said, it is still just an extra, and its importance is highly overvalued on SDN. Any meaningful ECs can take its place, and if you don't have the time for it, don't fret about it.

That being said, if you have an option of ECs, you should do volunteering and shadowing.

How long on average does it take to complete med school?

4 Years, almost no exceptions. There are a few pilot schools that are initiating 3 year programs with great success (and a much older one in Canada...), but these are not widespread and may be limited to a few TX schools.

Generally speaking are there more prereqs for admission into med school on an undergraduate level than if I apply after completing my degree (does that make sense?)

No, requirements are always the same for all applicants.

I hope this helps and goodluck on your journey!

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

good points in the post above! and re: volunteering without certifications or "qualifications", I'd volunteered in the emergency department of a local hospital; there are lots of different paths and things you can do as an unpaid person; the primary point of this is to get you in a hospital or medical setting for substantial hours; many volunteers do not do anything too exciting (at least I didn't) but it's still good experience to be in the hospital hanging out w/hospital folks.

I'd heard from admissions folks that 100 hrs was really about the minimum; I applied w/around 200-250 hrs and there were no questions about this being sufficient experience at all.