Finishing my Masters in Engineering considering med school.

[poohfighter]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hello everyone! I am currently finishing my masters degree in systems engineering this semester and I am rapidly realizing that I will go crazy if I enter the cubical hell of my current chosen field. I am not sure if med school would even be the best route for me, but I am attracted to the idea as I feel it would be a challenging and dynamic career where I won't be confined to a desk for the rest of my days.

I am 23 going on 24 and my undergraduate degree is in Mathematics GPA 3.7 and my current GPA in grad school is 3.7. I still need to take OChem, Bio and one semester of physics as pre-requisites. I know that I wont be able to apply for med school until next year (2015) anyway if this is what I have decided to do.

I guess my question would be, would I be a good candidate to get into med school without a bacc program, if I just take the prereqs?

I know that before I make any decisions about applying I need to begin shadowing a physiscian to see if I would like it and decide if I'm prepared for the opportunity cost of leaving a career in engineering after getting a masters degree and having three years of work experience (I've worked in grad school and interned in undergrad on the same project). Any advice people in a similar situation can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Als, I have dual Italian citizenship and have been briefly looking at eupoean options for med school that are cheeper than the US, can anyone comment on that route?

 

[kendrick lamar]

I'm not sure if I can offer any help, but I'm a pharmacy student thinking the same thing as you. I'm more interested in disease states than drugs and pharmacy jobs are not the way they used to be. Looks like you have a pretty solid GPA. My GPA isn't too great b/c I have no idea what I was doing in school; still above a 3.0 but probably needs work. My best bet is to first find a physician to shadow than actually start preparing. I think experience gives you great insight. I dropped the idea of med school whilst in pharmacy school but now I'm kind of considering it again after having some experience.

 

[EngtoDoc]

Do you have any clinical experience? Volunteer anywhere? Have any leadership/teaching experience? As a non-trad with a masters in non-health related field, you will have to convince the AdComs that medicine is what you want to do above all else, that it's not just another stab in the dark for a career that you might like. With your GPA, I assume you can handle the pre-med coursework (lots of non-trads here get it done post-bacc, myself included), so it's really about figuring out why med school attracts you. Do you really see yourself being in school for another 7+ years? I have struggled quite a bit with that decision, money being a huge part of that struggle, since I have undergrad debt (BSME), grad school debt (MSME) and post-bacc debt piling up and that's going to be a drop in the bucket compared to the med school debt ahead (hopefully). But as much as I dislike my current job (Dilbert was right about the cubicle life), its not the main motivation for my desire to go to med school, although i can't say that it wasn't a contributing factor. So before really making any decisions - try volunteering in a hospital. Shadowing a doc is a great experience too, although that's usually just a day or two. To me volunteering in the ER has been most eye-opening, I think if you can handle the sights/smells/sounds of a room full of sick people and still have the desire to answer their questions and help them out - medicine might be for you. Hope this doesn't sound like I'm talking you out of it - just some of the thoughts that went through my mind when I started considering med school (and still do actually).

 

[Indianarn]

Hello everyone! I am currently finishing my masters degree in systems engineering this semester and I am rapidly realizing that I will go crazy if I enter the cubical hell of my current chosen field. I am not sure if med school would even be the best route for me, but I am attracted to the idea as I feel it would be a challenging and dynamic career where I won't be confined to a desk for the rest of my days.

I am 23 going on 24 and my undergraduate degree is in Mathematics GPA 3.7 and my current GPA in grad school is 3.7. I still need to take OChem, Bio and one semester of physics as pre-requisites. I know that I wont be able to apply for med school until next year (2015) anyway if this is what I have decided to do.

I guess my question would be, would I be a good candidate to get into med school without a bacc program, if I just take the prereqs?

I know that before I make any decisions about applying I need to begin shadowing a physiscian to see if I would like it and decide if I'm prepared for the opportunity cost of leaving a career in engineering after getting a masters degree and having three years of work experience (I've worked in grad school and interned in undergrad on the same project). Any advice people in a similar situation can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Als, I have dual Italian citizenship and have been briefly looking at eupoean options for med school that are cheeper than the US, can anyone comment on that route?

Here my few thoughts for you. I have no doubt that you can handle all the pre-reqs with ease given that you have a great GPA. My concern is that "do you really know what medical field is like?" You will have to deal will blood, vomit, poop, pee, pus, arrogance, rudeness, non-compliance, death, and of course life. Once who can handle all these are blessed and truly love their career. My advise would be to start volunteering even before you start shadowing. Pick a nursing home for this purpose. I say nursing home because it's easy to see there what I am talking about. Besides that do a few different types of volunteering. This will make you an experienced, stronger, and an appealing candidate. Then shadow a few docs, preferably in different fields i.e. Family, gerontology, peds, OB, psych. This will give you an idea about what docs really have to deal with. While volunteering at the nursing home talk pot nurses, dietary, and PT/OT. If you really wanna be a physician, after doing all this you will be even more eager to take the next step. Keeping you GPA in mind, I have faith that you can definitely handle this. Good luck.

 

[poohfighter]

Thanks for the responses. I have not had any clinical experience yet. I am planning on doing some volunteer work and shadowing this summer. Right now I am not sure whether med school is even the right option for me as I have had no experience with anything even related. Until recently it had never even occured to me as a possible career path, however I've discovered that I'm not liking my current choice and now med school is seeming like a good potential thing for me. I of course wouldn't commit to a medical carer without shadowing and volunteering first. Another few years of school doen't thrill me but isn't something I shy away from, before doing my masters I had planned on doing a Phd in economics. I have no debt from my undergraduate degree or my masters as I'm working as a research assistant right now, so while I'm eager to start earning a real living and not super excited about accumulating debt for med school, it's not really a problem for me. I guess my biggest question comming to this forum was to see if my background would help me in applying for med schools or be a hinderance. Is there anyone coming from a mathematics/engineering background who made the switch, who can offer some advice?