Engineering -> Medicine

[Ayettuhanda]

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Hi everybody,

In 2 weeks I will be graduating from FSU with a degree in industrial engineering (cGPA = 3.35). When I first got to college I was on the fence between engineering and pre-med, and have grown to regret not choosing the latter. I'm currently stuck with the decision of finding a job within industrial engineering (mostly just to start earning money), or to change course completely. I've done some research on post-bacc options here in Florida, and I'm also shadowing an EMD this coming Wednesday to hopefully help me with this decision. I'm also planning to shadow a pediatrician and an endocrinologist within the coming months. Assuming I change paths, do you guys have any advice on what logical steps I could take from here on out to set myself up as best I can for med school applications in a few years?

Thank you in advance!

 

[DocJanItor]

Your overall GPA is slightly low, but hey, that's how engineering goes, right? So you'll have to find a school to take your pre-reqs courses. It's best to take them at a 4 year institution, but it won't kill you to take them at a CC since you've already got decent undergrad grades. You'll want to get as close to a 4.0 as possible for these since you need to boost your GPA. You'll also want to establish good relationships with your professors so that you can eventually get letters of recommendation for your future application.

Once you're done with those, you'll want to start studying for the MCAT. You should give yourself several months to prepare and only take the test when you're scoring in your target range on full length practice tests.

Other than that, you'll need a good bit of volunteering in clinical and/or non-clinical settings (generally helping the underserved). Several hundred hours in each will do, although some med schools like to see crazy high numbers.

 

[Forever Geebs]

How many prereqs do you need still? What's your science GPA?

 

[Goro]

Hi everybody,

In 2 weeks I will be graduating from FSU with a degree in industrial engineering (cGPA = 3.35). When I first got to college I was on the fence between engineering and pre-med, and have grown to regret not choosing the latter. I'm currently stuck with the decision of finding a job within industrial engineering (mostly just to start earning money), or to change course completely. I've done some research on post-bacc options here in Florida, and I'm also shadowing an EMD this coming Wednesday to hopefully help me with this decision. I'm also planning to shadow a pediatrician and an endocrinologist within the coming months. Assuming I change paths, do you guys have any advice on what logical steps I could take from here on out to set myself up as best I can for med school applications in a few years?

Thank you in advance!

Read this book:
Med School Rx: Getting In, Getting Through, and Getting On with Doctoring Original Edition by Walter Hartwig

ISBN-13: 978-1607140627

ISBN-10: 1607140624

 

[Ordinary Ovary]

I'm in a very similar situation! Just graduated in June with my degree in Civil Engineering from UCLA (cGPA: 3.57) but looking to change my career path to medicine. From my engineering degree I've already taken physics, math, stats, and inorganic chem.
I'm currently trying to decide if I should take UCLA Extension classes or classes at a CC to finish the remaining pre-reqs.

 

[workaholic181]

Hi everybody,

In 2 weeks I will be graduating from FSU with a degree in industrial engineering (cGPA = 3.35). When I first got to college I was on the fence between engineering and pre-med, and have grown to regret not choosing the latter. I'm currently stuck with the decision of finding a job within industrial engineering (mostly just to start earning money), or to change course completely. I've done some research on post-bacc options here in Florida, and I'm also shadowing an EMD this coming Wednesday to hopefully help me with this decision. I'm also planning to shadow a pediatrician and an endocrinologist within the coming months. Assuming I change paths, do you guys have any advice on what logical steps I could take from here on out to set myself up as best I can for med school applications in a few years?

Thank you in advance!

I'm assuming you already have a lot of the prereqs done by being an engineering major. First I'd figure out what classes you still need to take. If it's just a handful, I would either start an engineering job or any job you can get in healthcare (probably will be minimum wage) to increase your patient contact hours, while taking these classes at local community college courses. You dont need a formal post bac; CCs will be cheaper. Your call though.

 

[Ayettuhanda]

Your overall GPA is slightly low, but hey, that's how engineering goes, right? So you'll have to find a school to take your pre-reqs courses. It's best to take them at a 4 year institution, but it won't kill you to take them at a CC since you've already got decent undergrad grades. You'll want to get as close to a 4.0 as possible for these since you need to boost your GPA. You'll also want to establish good relationships with your professors so that you can eventually get letters of recommendation for your future application.

Once you're done with those, you'll want to start studying for the MCAT. You should give yourself several months to prepare and only take the test when you're scoring in your target range on full length practice tests.

Other than that, you'll need a good bit of volunteering in clinical and/or non-clinical settings (generally helping the underserved). Several hundred hours in each will do, although some med schools like to see crazy high numbers.

I'm currently considering enrolling at UCF as a non-degree seeking student to catch up on my pre-med classes while also volunteering at a local hospital on the side. I've got about a 1-1.5 years worth of classes to catch up on before I start studying for the MCAT so I should be able to really bump up my patient contact before then. Fingers crossed I can land some kind of scribing position along the way -- I've heard adcoms really like to see that. Do you have any recommendations on where to start looking for non-clinical volunteering opportunities?

How many prereqs do you need still? What's your science GPA?

I'm missing the following: Bio 1 lab, Bio 2 + lab, Chem 2 + lab, Orgo 1 + lab, Orgo 2 + lab, and biochemistry
According to the Temple University science GPA calculator I'm sitting just above a 3.647.

Read this book:
Med School Rx: Getting In, Getting Through, and Getting On with Doctoring Original Edition by Walter Hartwig

ISBN-13: 978-1607140627

ISBN-10: 1607140624

I actually just ordered it off Amazon, thanks!

I'm in a very similar situation! Just graduated in June with my degree in Civil Engineering from UCLA (cGPA: 3.57) but looking to change my career path to medicine. From my engineering degree I've already taken physics, math, stats, and inorganic chem.
I'm currently trying to decide if I should take UCLA Extension classes or classes at a CC to finish the remaining pre-reqs.

I'm glad I'm not alone on this! I'm meeting with one of the advisors at the FSU med school soon to help me with that same exact decision; maybe you'd find that helpful as well. Best of luck!

I'm assuming you already have a lot of the prereqs done by being an engineering major. First I'd figure out what classes you still need to take. If it's just a handful, I would either start an engineering job or any job you can get in healthcare (probably will be minimum wage) to increase your patient contact hours, while taking these classes at local community college courses. You dont need a formal post bac; CCs will be cheaper. Your call though.

Yep, I have just under half of the pre-reqs taken care of already! I've been trying to find jobs that might be able to bridge the gap between the two career paths but you can't have your cake and eat it too. I'm planning on calling some of the local hospitals in my area later this week to see what opportunities they might have available for someone in my position.

 

[workaholic181]

I'm currently considering enrolling at UCF as a non-degree seeking student to catch up on my pre-med classes while also volunteering at a local hospital on the side. I've got about a 1-1.5 years worth of classes to catch up on before I start studying for the MCAT so I should be able to really bump up my patient contact before then. Fingers crossed I can land some kind of scribing position along the way -- I've heard adcoms really like to see that. Do you have any recommendations on where to start looking for non-clinical volunteering opportunities?



I'm missing the following: Bio 1 lab, Bio 2 + lab, Chem 2 + lab, Orgo 1 + lab, Orgo 2 + lab, and biochemistry
According to the Temple University science GPA calculator I'm sitting just above a 3.647.



I actually just ordered it off Amazon, thanks!



I'm glad I'm not alone on this! I'm meeting with one of the advisors at the FSU med school soon to help me with that same exact decision; maybe you'd find that helpful as well. Best of luck!



Yep, I have just under half of the pre-reqs taken care of already! I've been trying to find jobs that might be able to bridge the gap between the two career paths but you can't have your cake and eat it too. I'm planning on calling some of the local hospitals in my area later this week to see what opportunities they might have available for someone in my position.

A friend of mine who just graduated med school was an engineer and worked in health care consulting.. basically being the point man at hospitals using certain companies equipment. Could be an interesting option.

 

[DocJanItor]

I'm currently considering enrolling at UCF as a non-degree seeking student to catch up on my pre-med classes while also volunteering at a local hospital on the side. I've got about a 1-1.5 years worth of classes to catch up on before I start studying for the MCAT so I should be able to really bump up my patient contact before then. Fingers crossed I can land some kind of scribing position along the way -- I've heard adcoms really like to see that. Do you have any recommendations on where to start looking for non-clinical volunteering opportunities?



I'm missing the following: Bio 1 lab, Bio 2 + lab, Chem 2 + lab, Orgo 1 + lab, Orgo 2 + lab, and biochemistry
According to the Temple University science GPA calculator I'm sitting just above a 3.647.



I actually just ordered it off Amazon, thanks!



I'm glad I'm not alone on this! I'm meeting with one of the advisors at the FSU med school soon to help me with that same exact decision; maybe you'd find that helpful as well. Best of luck!



Yep, I have just under half of the pre-reqs taken care of already! I've been trying to find jobs that might be able to bridge the gap between the two career paths but you can't have your cake and eat it too. I'm planning on calling some of the local hospitals in my area later this week to see what opportunities they might have available for someone in my position.

I think anything that's helping the underserved is good volunteering. I did Habitat for Humanity, but you could work at a homeless shelter, a food bank, or Meals on Wheels and have a similar experience. You want to find something that you care about, that you can do consistently, and that you can hopefully get a good LOR from. Since you'll have a few years until you apply you'll definitely be able to rack up a lot of quality hours.

 

[Ayettuhanda]

A friend of mine who just graduated med school was an engineer and worked in health care consulting.. basically being the point man at hospitals using certain companies equipment. Could be an interesting option.

Do you know by any chance how much patient contact he was getting in this position? I've heard that working in healthcare doesn't mean much to adcoms unless you were actually getting direct patient contact?

I think anything that's helping the underserved is good volunteering. I did Habitat for Humanity, but you could work at a homeless shelter, a food bank, or Meals on Wheels and have a similar experience. You want to find something that you care about, that you can do consistently, and that you can hopefully get a good LOR from. Since you'll have a few years until you apply you'll definitely be able to rack up a lot of quality hours.

I'll look into which of these are available in my area, thank you!

 

[Ayettuhanda]

To people who completed DIY post-baccs and got into med school, did you feel disadvantaged or behind the curve due to not having taken courses such as ecology, molecular cell biology, genetics, evolutionary biology, botany, etc. prior to getting to med school? I'm weighing my options between doing a DIY post-bacc/formal post-bacc/2nd bachelor's and could use some insight!

 

[DocJanItor]

I did not feel behind the curve. Biochemistry and genetics are taught in med school anyway, so at worst you'd be at the same level as a lot of other people. As for ecology, evolutionary bio, botany - absolutely not. Those are pure biology courses that have little to do with medicine. While there may be a few things in those courses that you'd find useful in medical school, the signal to noise ratio is very low.

 

[Ayettuhanda]

I did not feel behind the curve. Biochemistry and genetics are taught in med school anyway, so at worst you'd be at the same level as a lot of other people. As for ecology, evolutionary bio, botany - absolutely not. Those are pure biology courses that have little to do with medicine. While there may be a few things in those courses that you'd find useful in medical school, the signal to noise ratio is very low.

Fair enough, thanks for clearing that up!

 

[Meridian32]

To people who completed DIY post-baccs and got into med school, did you feel disadvantaged or behind the curve due to not having taken courses such as ecology, molecular cell biology, genetics, evolutionary biology, botany, etc. prior to getting to med school? I'm weighing my options between doing a DIY post-bacc/formal post-bacc/2nd bachelor's and could use some insight!

No.

 

[Ayettuhanda]

After quite a bit of research it seems like a DIY post-bacc is going to be my best option. I was hoping some of you might be able to shed some light on my questions below!

Current stats:

• Graduating with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering in 2 weeks
• cGPA: 3.34
• sGPA: 3.71
• Clinical Hours: ~10 hours
• Non-Clinical Hours: ~30 hours

Classes still needed:

• Bio 1 lab
• Bio 2 + lab
• Chem 2 + lab
• Orgo 1 + lab
• Orgo 2 + lab
• Biochem 1

Questions:

1. Will I be better off getting a second bachelor's in biomedical sciences rather than doing a DIY post-bacc?
2. If not, since prerequisites require I take chem 2 > orgo 1 > orgo 2 > biochem, will a light course load (1-2 classes/semester) not look bad to Adcoms? Should I look to take additional biomedical science classes to circumnavigate this? @Goro
3. The doctor I shadowed this past Wednesday said he would be more than happy to secure me a position as a scribe. Is it ill-advised to do this while taking the aforementioned classes?
4. Thoughts on this general timeline? Suggestions for improvement?
   
   August 2018 - December 2019 -- Finish prereqs while racking up quality clinical and non clinical hours
   January 2020 - March 2020 -- Stop volunteering; focus on MCAT prep
   April 2020 -- MCAT
   June 2020 - September 2020 -- Start applying to med schools
   September 2020 - May 2021 -- Continue racking up quality clinical and non-clinical hours; interviews
   May 2021 - July 2021 -- Break
   August 2021 -- Begin medical school!

 

[Goro]

1. Will I be better off getting a second bachelor's in biomedical sciences rather than doing a DIY post-bacc?

No need for a new degree. Just do the post-bac.

1. If not, since prerequisites require I take chem 2 > orgo 1 > orgo 2 > biochem, will a light course load (1-2 classes/semester) not look bad to Adcoms? Should I look to take additional biomedical science classes to circumnavigate this? @Goro

Whenever possible, you want to take a course load that convinces Adcoms that you can handle med school. But keep in mind that you have done well so far as a student, do taking 2-3 courses/semester should be OK.

1. The doctor I shadowed this past Wednesday said he would be more than happy to secure me a position as a scribe. Is it ill-advised to do this while taking the aforementioned classes?

Only you can answer this. Scribing is a full time job, isn't it? If so, can you handle that plus taking 8-12 credits?

1. Thoughts on this general timeline? Suggestions for improvement?
   
   August 2018 - December 2019 -- Finish prereqs while racking up quality clinical and non clinical hours
   January 2020 - March 2020 -- Stop volunteering; focus on MCAT prep
   April 2020 -- MCAT
   June 2020 - September 2020 -- Start applying to med schools
   September 2020 - May 2021 -- Continue racking up quality clinical and non-clinical hours; interviews
   May 2021 - July 2021 -- Break
   August 2021 -- Begin medical school!

Seems fine!

 

[Ayettuhanda]

Whenever possible, you want to take a course load that convinces Adcoms that you can handle med school. But keep in mind that you have done well so far as a student, do taking 2-3 courses/semester should be OK.

Fair enough! I'll be sitting at a measly 4 credits (lecture+lab) for some semesters though; is this where you would advise taking additional courses?

 

[Goro]

Fair enough! I'll be sitting at a measly 4 credits (lecture+lab) for some semesters though; is there where you would advise taking additional courses?

Yes

 

[Ayettuhanda]

Yes

Thank you!