Current engineer. Going back to school for pre-reqs?

[mshahnoora]

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Hi Everyone!
I absolutely love the discussions here, especially with everyone's perspectives and experiences.

I'm currently a 23-year old "fresh" full-time engineer out of school, working for 5 months. I previously did 8 co-op engineering rotations during undergrad as well, where I implemented a complete automated system that ensures safety for operators in production facilities, by detecting human presence in an area, and shutting off any robots and machinery in that area. I went straight for Masters in Engineering after undergrad (also in Eng.), and really scoping whether to pursue medicine. I haven't taken any pre-reqs. yet, besides the Physics, Calc., Chem. I and possibly writing, that's mandatory anyway during engineering undergrad. Therefore, I would have to take Bio I&II, Chem II, Org. Chem. I&II, and possibly another higher-level bio course.

I'm really passionate about medicine, where I can combine my knowledge of advanced technology and apply them in improving lives of both doctors and patients. Pure engineering is great, but I'm really missing the people aspect.

I'm curious as to how someone would complete all the necessary pre-reqs for medical school. I will most likely have to go back to school full-time to complete them. But I'm really concerned about quitting my job, especially with some pending $30k student loans, fear of failure (not being able to get into med school), and not being able to fall back on engineering after quitting my job.

Has anyone else experienced similar things? I would really appreciate anyone's perspective on this, and could really use some support and insight.

Thanks so much!!!

 

[TwinsFan]

As someone who was in a similar position, explore medicine while you're working. Get out shadow, volunteer and ask tons of questions to docs, med students, other health professionals (PAs, RNs, NPs etc.) to really see if you like real world medicine or just the idealized image you have since you haven't noted significant exposure as well as at what capacity you want to be involved in health care. Save money during this time, maybe even take a prereq or two and if after a year or two it is still your dream figure out a way to make it happen.

What is your uGPA and gGPA? It will make things a bit easier if these are high.

 

[mauberley]

Hi Everyone!
I absolutely love the discussions here, especially with everyone's perspectives and experiences.

I'm currently a 23-year old "fresh" full-time engineer out of school, working for 5 months. I previously did 8 co-op engineering rotations during undergrad as well, where I implemented a complete automated system that ensures safety for operators in production facilities, by detecting human presence in an area, and shutting off any robots and machinery in that area. I went straight for Masters in Engineering after undergrad (also in Eng.), and really scoping whether to pursue medicine. I haven't taken any pre-reqs. yet, besides the Physics, Calc., Chem. I and possibly writing, that's mandatory anyway during engineering undergrad. Therefore, I would have to take Bio I&II, Chem II, Org. Chem. I&II, and possibly another higher-level bio course.

I'm really passionate about medicine, where I can combine my knowledge of advanced technology and apply them in improving lives of both doctors and patients. Pure engineering is great, but I'm really missing the people aspect.

I'm curious as to how someone would complete all the necessary pre-reqs for medical school. I will most likely have to go back to school full-time to complete them. But I'm really concerned about quitting my job, especially with some pending $30k student loans, fear of failure (not being able to get into med school), and not being able to fall back on engineering after quitting my job.

Has anyone else experienced similar things? I would really appreciate anyone's perspective on this, and could really use some support and insight.

Thanks so much!!!

I majored in EE, held a job for nearly eight years in the medical devices industry with a large manufacturer, and am now a week away from starting my first year of med school. Completing the prereqs while working is very doable if you can find a school that offers night classes; I finished organic chem and bio in a year that way. At my job it would have been impossible to take classes during the day. And I worked right up until a month ago; it was definitely a comfort to have the job there if my apps did not succeed.

You'll find that a lot of your fears may be allayed once you start having more input about what your chances are, but there's a lot of work just to get to that point. If you did well in undergrad, you should have at least a small bit of confidence that the prereqs are doable.

Feel free to PM me with any specific questions you might have.

 

[mshahnoora]

Guys, thanks so much for the valuable input!

The job I currently have is very demanding, and sometimes I may have to work really late or odd hours. I don't think I can pursue night classes while working at this company. I'm actively looking for another position that's more 8-5 or 9-5 (normal), just so I can have time for evening activities.

My undergrad GPA was 92.17/100, since my university used a " x out of 100" based system when I graduated. I tried inputting my grades into AMCAS calculator once with their conversions (but I didn't have all the pre-reqs though), and it was around a 3.71.

My graduate school GPA was around a 3.6 to 3.7 (I cannot recall exactly). Will this count?

I will definitely look into shadowing a local community free clinic on Saturdays as you guys recommended.

Any additional input from anyone would be much appreciated!
Thanks again.

 

[dmf2682]

Are you a citizen or permanent resident?

 

[mshahnoora]

I'm currently a U.S. citizen.

 

[mauberley]

Guys, thanks so much for the valuable input!

The job I currently have is very demanding, and sometimes I may have to work really late or odd hours. I don't think I can pursue night classes while working at this company. I'm actively looking for another position that's more 8-5 or 9-5 (normal), just so I can have time for evening activities.

My undergrad GPA was 92.17/100, since my university used a " x out of 100" based system when I graduated. I tried inputting my grades into AMCAS calculator once with their conversions (but I didn't have all the pre-reqs though), and it was around a 3.71.

My graduate school GPA was around a 3.6 to 3.7 (I cannot recall exactly). Will this count?

I will definitely look into shadowing a local community free clinic on Saturdays as you guys recommended.

Any additional input from anyone would be much appreciated!
Thanks again.

Both your undergraduate and graduate GPAs will appear on your application and factor into decision-making. Generally, your undergraduate GPA, which will include any classes you take as a post-baccalaureate student, is given more weight.

Your GPAs look to be fairly competitive, but you will also need a good score on your MCAT. If you're curious about the statistics of applicants that receive acceptances to medical school taking only MCAT and GPA into account, have a look at this thread.

 

[janman110]

Another recent engineering grad here who's in a similar boat (working full-time, need to go back to school for pre-reqs). This will be my first semester of part-time, but I'm running into a lot of trouble with my school trying to get into the night section of Orgo lab (since I enrolled rather late and missed the initial registration and am not in a post-bacc). Since you have some time before you start your night classes, my advice is to plan ahead as much as you can to avoid a situation like mine where you're locked out of a critical class. Find out a) which courses are being offered with night sections that semester and b) the earliest registration starts. I guess that sort of goes without saying, but it's still something to keep in mind.

 

[PostHaste]

Guys, thanks so much for the valuable input!

The job I currently have is very demanding, and sometimes I may have to work really late or odd hours. I don't think I can pursue night classes while working at this company. I'm actively looking for another position that's more 8-5 or 9-5 (normal), just so I can have time for evening activities.

My undergrad GPA was 92.17/100, since my university used a " x out of 100" based system when I graduated. I tried inputting my grades into AMCAS calculator once with their conversions (but I didn't have all the pre-reqs though), and it was around a 3.71.

My graduate school GPA was around a 3.6 to 3.7 (I cannot recall exactly). Will this count?

I will definitely look into shadowing a local community free clinic on Saturdays as you guys recommended.

Any additional input from anyone would be much appreciated!
Thanks again.

I'm pretty sure we went to the same undergrad. Heck, we might have even worked for the same employer, or at least in the same job type!

I graduated in 2003 and have been employed full-time as an engineer since. My app is in for this round.

I don't think I would suggest quitting your job to do pre-reqs. You're young still (even if it doesn't feel like it). Work on saving money and putting together a plan while looking for a more flexible job. Even if you quit cold turkey and went to school full-time, you're still looking at having to wait 2 years (okay, so 1.75) before applying. OR, you could spend 6-12 months looking for a more flexible job, then work full time while doing classes. $$$

 

[mshahnoora]

Guys,
Thanks again for all the valuable advice which I've taken to heart. I thought I would just give an update:

I managed to switch to another job closer to home, and very regular hours (8-4). Also, I just enrolled for a night Bio I class at a local community college starting this Jan., and feeling a little excited to at least explore this medicine path.

It will probably me 1-2 years to complete all prepreqs, and will try to enter medical school Fall 2014 (hopefully, this is possible).

Have any fellow Engineer-Doctors thought about going into medical device/technology entrepreneurship eventually? It seems doctors with a technical background would be best suited for such ventures.

Thanks again everyone for all the valuable advice, which I'm heeding to. Really appreciate it.

 

[blue0rchid]

Guys,
Thanks again for all the valuable advice which I've taken to heart. I thought I would just give an update:

I managed to switch to another job closer to home, and very regular hours (8-4). Also, I just enrolled for a night Bio I class at a local community college starting this Jan., and feeling a little excited to at least explore this medicine path.

It will probably me 1-2 years to complete all prepreqs, and will try to enter medical school Fall 2014 (hopefully, this is possible).

Have any fellow Engineer-Doctors thought about going into medical device/technology entrepreneurship eventually? It seems doctors with a technical background would be best suited for such ventures.

Thanks again everyone for all the valuable advice, which I'm heeding to. Really appreciate it.

if possible, take prereqs at a 4 yr university and not CC. A lot of schools do not like prereqs taken at CC.

 

[cantthink]

I'm always amused at the number of engineers i see in this section.... I know I hate my job...but i didn't know it was so universal! haha 🙂

good luck! i've got a year and change left as well

 

[NuttyEngDude]

I'm always amused at the number of engineers i see in this section.... I know I hate my job...but i didn't know it was so universal! haha 🙂

good luck! i've got a year and change left as well

I had thought I was "stuck" in that career for years. If I knew you could come back from a bad gpa I'd have done it sooner.

 

[PostHaste]

I'm always amused at the number of engineers i see in this section.... I know I hate my job...but i didn't know it was so universal! haha 🙂

good luck! i've got a year and change left as well

I was thinking this, too. You know how physics is sort of the fundamentals of chemistry, which is the fundamentals of biology, and you can know biology without being top notch in physics, but if you know physics then you can really know biology? Engineering is like the physics of medicine. They're both the applied version of a basic science, both big on problem solving, and medicine deals with living things whereas physics usually doesn't.

Either that, or we're just smart people who like math and science and realized too late that we have some level of affinity for people over machines and processes.

Or something like that. 🙂

Anyway, glad to hear you've got a plan worked out! Best of luck with not going crazy in the mean time.

 

[mauberley]

Either that, or we're just smart people who like math and science and realized too late that we have some level of affinity for people over machines and processes.

I'm imagining you as an enzyme acting on people substrates now. 😉

 

[NuttyEngDude]

I'm imagining you as an enzyme acting on people substrates now. 😉

when in doubt just close all the person's openings and give them the three finger salute. hmm... that doesnt seem to work does it? 🙂

 

[mshahnoora]

Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to thank all of you for the valuable advice! I was deeply investigating for the past 1.5 years about possible options in pursuing med. school.

During this time, I've managed to switch jobs, applied to Bryn Mawr's Post Bacc program, and was just accepted!
Hopefully, I can look into starting this upcoming Summer 2013.

Thanks everyone again so much for the shared perspectives and advice. You've helped tremendously.

 

[vc7777]

Congrats! That is a strong program, and I have two classmates I really like from there! Good luck!

Sent from my phone

 

[mshahnoora]

That's awesome! Really glad to hear you're also doing medicine. Did your two classmates attend Bryn Mawr as undergrad. or the Post-Bacc program?

Thanks!

 

[vc7777]

Post bacc. One at case western reserve proper (the university track) and one at my program (the college track). Both great people.

Sent from my phone