Do prerequisites expire?

[PT/MD]

I am a physical therapist who has been practicing for about 4 years now and I am looking into going back to medical school. I graduated from undergrad about 6-7 years ago (2.5 yr PT school, 4 years of practice). My undergrad course work was exactly the same as pre-med with the exception of organic Chem I & II. Will all my pre-req courses still work or do I need to re-take them since it has been so long? Remember my freshman year was 10-11 years ago. Any information would be very helpful. Thanks

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[beephlatPT]

I am a physical therapist who has been practicing for about 4 years now and I am looking into going back to medical school. I graduated from undergrad about 6-7 years ago (2.5 yr PT school, 4 years of practice). My undergrad course work was exactly the same as pre-med with the exception of organic Chem I & II. Will all my pre-req courses still work or do I need to re-take them since it has been so long? Remember my freshman year was 10-11 years ago. Any information would be very helpful. Thanks

Funny that you bring this up; I too am a PT and having been in practice for 5 years and took most of my prereqs 9-10 years ago; From my understanding of it, you'll have to do some science course work plus you still have to take orgo 1 and 2 b/c med schools want to see recent ability. I personally am starting school again this coming fall to prepare to apply to med school. I am choosing to start from square 1 with all of the stuff that I took as a freshman and sophomore but that is a personal choice; I'd actually like to improve on my performances in those classes but more than that, all of that stuff is on the MCAT and I don't remember a lick of it. I guess I could study on my own to get refreshed but I function better in the classroom when it comes to that kind of stuff. If you don't wanna retake everything like i'm choosing to, you will still need to take some upper level courses in additon to the orgo and probably biochemistry as most med schools either require or STRONGLY recommend that course. At any rate best of luck to you. Where are practicing as a PT??

 

[Scottish Chap]

....do I need to re-take them since it has been so long?

No.

 

[blee]

No.

For some schools, yes. But for the most part, Scottish Chap is right.

 

[packerfan]

The majority of my prereqs were 20 years old. Physics and biochem being the only recent coursework. I e-mailed the directors of admissions at the schools I was interested in and asked them. ( One of which I have since been accepted for the class 2010.) I did not have to redo the work but I had to have a working knowledge to pass the MCAT. Good Luck !

 

[Lugnut]

Not to beat a dead horse, but has anyone contacted any schools about this? I have all the pre-reqs + many upper division sciences including gross anatomy, biochem, micro, pathology, embryo, cell bio, histology, genetics, etc., however they are from 12-13 years ago. I have also already been through a basic science curriculum similar to med school taking 20+ credits per semester and getting above 3.5. I need to know what schools are going to be Ok with this. I feel it is unnecessary to go back and repeat classes just as an exercise. The MCAT should sort things out just fine. I also have years of clinical experience.

Thanks

 

[PT/MD]

Thanks for the info everyone. Not much of a concensus but I guess as a few of you mentioned the best thing is to contact the individual programs. I just wanted to see what info is out there. I am a good test taker and can count on myself study independently for the MCAT so hopefully I can just take Org Chem and start studying. I already have Bio Chem and the rest of the courses. Best of luck to everyone.

Also I am currently practicing in Florida.

 

[beephlatPT]

Thanks for the info everyone. Not much of a concensus but I guess as a few of you mentioned the best thing is to contact the individual programs. I just wanted to see what info is out there. I am a good test taker and can count on myself study independently for the MCAT so hopefully I can just take Org Chem and start studying. I already have Bio Chem and the rest of the courses. Best of luck to everyone.

Also I am currently practicing in Florida.

Where 'bouts in FL are you? I'm from Florida, currently on travel PT assignment in Seattle, WA, getting ready to move back to finish pre reqs at UCF.

 

[PT/MD]

Near Orlando, I opened my own practice about a year ago mostly outpatient ortho. We also have a off site peds practice and contract home healthcare. Will you be looking for PRN work when you come back? Good therapists are hard to find right now.

 

[JimmyG]

So, PT/MD,

You have your own practice after only being out 4 years of PT school? I'm just interested, but why go back to medical school??

I'm an occupational therapist who has many reasons to go back but PTs usually have so much more recognition and autonomy than the rest of us...especially in your case.

Good luck to you.

 

[OldManDave]

I am a physical therapist who has been practicing for about 4 years now and I am looking into going back to medical school. I graduated from undergrad about 6-7 years ago (2.5 yr PT school, 4 years of practice). My undergrad course work was exactly the same as pre-med with the exception of organic Chem I & II. Will all my pre-req courses still work or do I need to re-take them since it has been so long? Remember my freshman year was 10-11 years ago. Any information would be very helpful. Thanks

Boy, you're gonna hate this answer: yes & no. I concede that I was an applicant several years ago & things may have changed. But, there were many, if not most, that paced an age-limit on all or some of the pre-requisites. It seems that English was never exempted based on age, o/w the science courses typically did.

That may appear somewhat silly...at least it did to me. However, once I started retaking my prequisites (the orginals were ~15 years old & horrible grades), I was astounded at how different things were. For the traditional-track student, all of the general science & math seems so stagnant throughout my public school & college education. But, with that 15 year gap - it was amazing how dynamic those fields actually were.

For example - Biology used to have only three phylla: plant, animal & microscopic - I was a HS grad in 84. When I went back to college in 96, there were 5 phylla & a 6th proposed...

So, there is a method to their madness in limiting ages for pre-requisities

 

[beephlatPT]

Near Orlando, I opened my own practice about a year ago mostly outpatient ortho. We also have a off site peds practice and contract home healthcare. Will you be looking for PRN work when you come back? Good therapists are hard to find right now.

Maybe. I'm trying to line all of my ducks in a row right now. What kind of medicine do you think you wanna go into and what are your reasons for going back?