current healthcare practitioner seeking med school advice

[dubpt]

Her is my situation:

I am a 29 y/o physical therapist, in my first year of practice after receiving a DPT degree. I enjoy my profession, but I have had serious contemplations of becoming a physician.

This is my second time with serious thoughts of becoming a physician, with the first time occurring during my grad program. I just feel that medicine will provide me with the challenge and career path that I desire over the long-term.

I have accumulated over 100K in debt from the DPT degree, but I am still considering med school. Is it realisitic to apply to med school with this background?

I have all of the pre-req's except for the year of O-chem, and I may look into taking an upper-div bio course for the UC schools in Cali. I had a 3.5-3.6 gpa in undergrad and a higher gpa in PT school. If I got into med school I will definetly be researching all of the scholarships available to me.

Any feedback about my situation and chances with med school would be appreciated,

warren

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[cfdavid]

I'd recommend reducing your expenses/lifestyle asap. Keep your job while you study for the MCAT and, if necessary, fullfill any pre-req's still needed. That way, you can pay down that debt while preparing for a med school application.

I'll be 32 in Sept. and starting med school in 1 month, so it's not too late.

Set a 2 year plan for entrance for med school. Do some research over at the MCAT forum for best ways to study/prepare.

You can easily do this. But, get rid of all extranious expenses and start living a very spartan life. Move in with family, if possible (as unappealing as that may seem at 29). You'll be able to pay off that debt quickly if you are willing to make the right sacrifices.

Otherwise, I'd say you'd be a great candidate. Don't f-around. If you really want it, then go for it.

 

[chrisjohn]

Don't sweat the debt. Unless you have a large family and worry about supporting them during school, just take out loans. This is what normal (not wealthy) people do. There are plenty of scholarships available to serve in rural areas or the military.

 

[dubpt]

Thanks guys for the feedback thus far.

A few things I left out about my situation is that I am married, with no kids, so my wife will continue to work full-time while in med school.

Keep the advice coming.

warren

 

[beephlatPT]

Her is my situation:

I am a 29 y/o physical therapist, in my first year of practice after receiving a DPT degree. I enjoy my profession, but I have had serious contemplations of becoming a physician.

This is my second time with serious thoughts of becoming a physician, with the first time occurring during my grad program. I just feel that medicine will provide me with the challenge and career path that I desire over the long-term.

I have accumulated over 100K in debt from the DPT degree, but I am still considering med school. Is it realisitic to apply to med school with this background?

I have all of the pre-req's except for the year of O-chem, and I may look into taking an upper-div bio course for the UC schools in Cali. I had a 3.5-3.6 gpa in undergrad and a higher gpa in PT school. If I got into med school I will definetly be researching all of the scholarships available to me.

Any feedback about my situation and chances with med school would be appreciated,

warren

Hey, i've been a PT for going on 6 years now and i'm getting ready to spend the next couple of years getting ready to take the plunge (i'm 28 and I got one of the last Bachelor's in PT available). I'd say live like a college student for the next couple of years, pay down some debt and/or try to save some for med school if need; Keep working while you do you pre reqs if you can (it'll be tough, but so will med school, even with the PT background). These days PRN PT rates are pretty damn good so take advantage. Do you have a family, mortgage, other big attachments to consider? What part of the country are you and what do you want to specialize in?

 

[remo]

Her is my situation:

I am a 29 y/o physical therapist, in my first year of practice after receiving a DPT degree. I enjoy my profession, but I have had serious contemplations of becoming a physician.

This is my second time with serious thoughts of becoming a physician, with the first time occurring during my grad program. I just feel that medicine will provide me with the challenge and career path that I desire over the long-term.

I have accumulated over 100K in debt from the DPT degree, but I am still considering med school. Is it realisitic to apply to med school with this background?

I have all of the pre-req's except for the year of O-chem, and I may look into taking an upper-div bio course for the UC schools in Cali. I had a 3.5-3.6 gpa in undergrad and a higher gpa in PT school. If I got into med school I will definetly be researching all of the scholarships available to me.

Any feedback about my situation and chances with med school would be appreciated,

warren

Although you have a solid undergrad gpa do whatever you can to get a post-bac 4.0. It will make your life a lot easier as a non-trad applicant because the schools don't really pay that much attention to graduate school grades.

 

[chopstick1]

Her is my situation:

I am a 29 y/o physical therapist, in my first year of practice after receiving a DPT degree. I enjoy my profession, but I have had serious contemplations of becoming a physician.

This is my second time with serious thoughts of becoming a physician, with the first time occurring during my grad program. I just feel that medicine will provide me with the challenge and career path that I desire over the long-term.

I have accumulated over 100K in debt from the DPT degree, but I am still considering med school. Is it realisitic to apply to med school with this background?

I have all of the pre-req's except for the year of O-chem, and I may look into taking an upper-div bio course for the UC schools in Cali. I had a 3.5-3.6 gpa in undergrad and a higher gpa in PT school. If I got into med school I will definetly be researching all of the scholarships available to me.

Any feedback about my situation and chances with med school would be appreciated,

warren

hell yea you should apply!!, your background is fine and grades are good. just do the best you can on the mcat. I'll be 33 when I start, have spent the past 14 years in the health care field. 8 as a RN

you may not need the full year of O chem. look at your schools requirement. I substituted biochem for my 2nd required upper level chem course on my app.

as for debt...well it'll be there! military will pay 100%, also rural medicine program pays, federal indian reservation, other private underserved areas offers a payback for time deal once you graduate. look and see how much you can get from FASFA. they have a cut off...

 

[dubpt]

Hey guys thanks for the feedback

I have also received good feedback in the other clinical practitioners forum.

I currently practice in the San Diego, CA region and am married with no children. My wife has a good career and actually has a higher income than I do and we own our home with my brother (50% ownership).

I have recently spoken to UCSD and UCI and it looks like I may not have to take the lab portion of Ochem (UCSD does not require any labs and UCI only requires 1yr of labs total from any combo of chem required classes). I will look further into my potential of taking biochem in place of the 2nd semester of Ochem.

warren

 

[Beau Geste]

If Biochem doesn't offer a lab, then take the Ochem labs. You may not get into your dream school, and most other schools require labs.

I'm an SLP 6 years out of my M.S. I was in a Ph.D. program in 2001-2003 and just about got to my dissertation stage before my major professor left and I decided to pursue medicine (long story short). Anyway, I work full time while fulfilling pre-reqs, and will be applying next year and taking the MCAT in May 07. I am married, no kids. We have paid down our debt over the past few years to just having a house payment and car payment, and my husband's salary covers that with a little to spare. Not enough to cover future med school tuition, but the future compensation is more than enough to pay off med school loans.

I say go for it, but make sure you do it right. We PTs, OTs, SLPs, RTs, RNs, etc. have an advantage coming from the healthcare field already, but if you're not prepared for the MCAT or don't meet the schools pre-req requirements, you're still lacking.

Good luck!