EXJW Medicine

[gnich1914]

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Hi all! Wanted to gain insight on any former Jehovah's Witnesses/PIMO's (you'll know what i mean) that are in the medical field. Education is highly discouraged within the organization and the experiences of individuals that were able to overcome this is needed. Please post as your experience would be very encouraging.

 

[The REAL Doc McStuffins]

Hi all! Wanted to gain insight on any former Jehovah's Witnesses/PIMO's (you'll know what i mean) that are in the medical field. Education is highly discouraged within the organization and the experiences of individuals that were able to overcome this is needed. Please post as your experience would be very encouraging.

Are you still in the organization?

 

[gnich1914]

Are you still in the organization?

I am actually planning on leaving when I get into med school. Currently a rising senior at my University.

 

[Anchor of Hope]

I was born and raised in the organization, and while I teach as my primary profession, I am also in the the medical field part time as a Pharmacy Technician. I am curious about getting into actual medical school, but I have a mortgage, bills, and no outside support, and question whether or not I could afford to take out both a loan for the cost of schooling plus living expenses.

I am now an atheist, and I left the organization just before starting undergrad.

 

[LizzyM]

I was born and raised in the organization, and while I teach as my primary profession, I am also in the the medical field part time as a Pharmacy Technician. I am curious about getting into actual medical school, but I have a mortgage, bills, and no outside support, and question whether or not I could afford to take out both a loan for the cost of schooling plus living expenses.

I am now an atheist, and I left the organization just before starting undergrad.

Most students can borrow up to the cost of attendance (tuition plus the school's estimate of cost of living). That can be a very large number but the people making these loans believe in the earning power of physicians to make it possible for borrowers to pay back those loans. It is best to go into medical school without a ton of credit card debt or a poor credit rating.

Depending on your state residency, in-state tuition can be affordable. Some schools will offer merit and need-based aid. The best money you can spend at this point is to buy access to MSAR through AAMC. There you will see the tuition cost for various schools as well as average student debt. Although that is skewed by the lucky folks who have everything paid for due to their family's affluence, there is also an effort made on the part of medical schools to expand their enrollment to those who come from far more modest means.

 

[Dr. Faust]

I was born and raised in the organization, and while I teach as my primary profession, I am also in the the medical field part time as a Pharmacy Technician. I am curious about getting into actual medical school, but I have a mortgage, bills, and no outside support, and question whether or not I could afford to take out both a loan for the cost of schooling plus living expenses.

I am now an atheist, and I left the organization just before starting undergrad.

You may be able to cover your mortgage with some portion of student loans depending on how expensive it is. If you are working multiple jobs to cover the bills, it might be a good idea to downsize some bills before applying. If you are dedicated enough, you will have to make some sacrifices, but you can do whatever you put your mind to.

 

[Anchor of Hope]

Most students can borrow up to the cost of attendance (tuition plus the school's estimate of cost of living). That can be a very large number but the people making these loans believe in the earning power of physicians to make it possible for borrowers to pay back those loans. It is best to go into medical school without a ton of credit card debt or a poor credit rating.

Depending on your state residency, in-state tuition can be affordable. Some schools will offer merit and need-based aid. The best money you can spend at this point is to buy access to MSAR through AAMC. There you will see the tuition cost for various schools as well as average student debt. Although that is skewed by the lucky folks who have everything paid for due to their family's affluence, there is also an effort made on the part of medical schools to expand their enrollment to those who come from far more modest means.

Until this last year, I was doing very good avoiding debt and had kind of forgotten about my med school idea because I had settled into my teaching career, or so I thought. I had a back to back job loss and health crisis, lost my home, and will now be doing bankruptcy... but medical school is on my mind again once I get somewhat stable healthwise and the bankruptcy is done.

 

[LizzyM]

In the years that have pasted since your previous post, the rules for federal loans have changed. Having a bankruptcy on your record may make it very difficult to continue down the med school path unless you are able to arrange something with a very low cost of attendance (tuition plus living expenses).

 

[Anchor of Hope]

In the years that have pasted since your previous post, the rules for federal loans have changed. Having a bankruptcy on your record may make it very difficult to continue down the med school path unless you are able to arrange something with a very low cost of attendance (tuition plus living expenses).

Well, I'll need to do a post-bacc anyway since my undergrad didn't have any sciences in it. My choices 10 years ago were full ride (plus living stipend) at a liberal arts college or paying my way at a science/tech college, so I picked the full ride one. Instead of a regular post back, I'm thinking I'll file my chapter 7 in November 2026 (a year after selling my home under duress), start a second bachelors in spring 2028 majoring in clinical lab science and minoring in sociology, work as a CLS a few years to age off the bankruptcy the rest of the way (the rules for borrowing seem to be 5 years post discharge before everything is kosher), do some social worky 1099 stuff on the side to see if I can still tolerate different populations of people after my misadventures in high school teaching (my motive for the sociology minor, since my state requires a major or minor in a social science for that), and then start applying for med schools in 2033 when I'm like, 37 years old and the bankruptcy discharge is 7 years old. I froze my teaching license but have no desire to ever work with kids/teens ever again. I still enjoy the elderly and may volunteer with hospice these next few years. Optimistically, if I get in a med school right at 37, and I graduate on time at 41, I could still work in medicine 30 years before retirement.

My mother, despite her conservative Jehovah's Witness outlook, has let me move back in with her to save money, and I'll be doing overnight guard shack work through the end of that second bachelors and should make enough to pay my own way through the second bachelors.

By the way, is there a sub-forum on this site for clinical lab science?