Firefighter Paramedic to M.D. Needing advice.

[ECrowe]

Hello,
I am currently a Firefighter/Paramedic and I am employed by a City Fire Dept. We have a very high call volume and I have the great opportunity of temporarily caring for acutely ill and injure patients. I work a 24/48 schedule which results in a great deal of time off. I am searching for the best route for me to be successful in a pre-med degree. I have become heavily motivated in my EMS studies (Both EMT and Paramedic) And Believe I would excel in a Health Sciences degree. I would be continuing to work full-time as a firefighter/paramedic to support myself and my family. I have a few questions.

Are non-traditional pre-med routes common? I probably would not be able to do exactly full time semesters. Would this cause me issues with application and acceptance?

Is there anything I should know moving forward with this? I had been previously accepted at my local university but did not move forward at that time due a prospective job offer that did not end up happening, admittedly, this was a mistake. I greatly appreciate any information and guidance. Thank you very much.

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[Blueprint Med School]

In addition to above, there are some trade-off decisions that have to be made. To get an MD acceptance you realistically need a 3.6+ and 510+. Those two combined will get you on the right side of a coin flips chance of acceptance (50+%). Your CV should largely provide the finishing touches, most who make it through medic and fire school are good candidates to succeed clinically for somewhat obvious reasons.

Now if you working, you will have to start your course load slow until you are sure you can not only handle but unequivocally succeed in your classes and build the foundation you need to do well on the MCAT. This means you are looking at a slow-burn undergrad degree, which I agree with above has stronger benefits if you choose a more rigorous major choice.

Do your homework and bring your findings and plan to someone who specializes in health professions especially in non-trad or second career planning. Several of my classmates were second career docs and did quite well and it can be done with a lot of planning and patience. You are off to a good start by soliciting feedback.

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[MyOdyssey]

Hello,
I am currently a Firefighter/Paramedic and I am employed by a City Fire Dept. We have a very high call volume and I have the great opportunity of temporarily caring for acutely ill and injure patients. I work a 24/48 schedule which results in a great deal of time off. I am searching for the best route for me to be successful in a pre-med degree. I have become heavily motivated in my EMS studies (Both EMT and Paramedic) And Believe I would excel in a Health Sciences degree. I would be continuing to work full-time as a firefighter/paramedic to support myself and my family. I have a few questions.

Are non-traditional pre-med routes common? I probably would not be able to do exactly full time semesters. Would this cause me issues with application and acceptance?

Is there anything I should know moving forward with this? I had been previously accepted at my local university but did not move forward at that time due a prospective job offer that did not end up happening, admittedly, this was a mistake. I greatly appreciate any information and guidance. Thank you very much.

Are you familiar with the courses you’ll need to take for admission to medical school?

 

[Proudfather94]

Hello,
I am currently a Firefighter/Paramedic and I am employed by a City Fire Dept. We have a very high call volume and I have the great opportunity of temporarily caring for acutely ill and injure patients. I work a 24/48 schedule which results in a great deal of time off. I am searching for the best route for me to be successful in a pre-med degree. I have become heavily motivated in my EMS studies (Both EMT and Paramedic) And Believe I would excel in a Health Sciences degree. I would be continuing to work full-time as a firefighter/paramedic to support myself and my family. I have a few questions.

Are non-traditional pre-med routes common? I probably would not be able to do exactly full time semesters. Would this cause me issues with application and acceptance?

Is there anything I should know moving forward with this? I had been previously accepted at my local university but did not move forward at that time due a prospective job offer that did not end up happening, admittedly, this was a mistake. I greatly appreciate any information and guidance. Thank you very much.

Working full time is going to be tough. You're going to need to pick a school and professors who are willing to work with you when it comes to assignments and exam days. Pick a major you are interested in but you need to take the prerequisites needed for medical school. These are usually

Year of gen chem
Year of ochem
Semester of biochem
Year of general biology
Year of physics
And a year of social sciences
And most schools have these as recommended courses so I would take most of these

A stats course
Anatomy and Physiology (Taken as 2 separate courses)
Microbiology
Genetics
And probably more

 

[MyOdyssey]

Working full time is going to be tough. You're going to need to pick a school and professors who are willing to work with you when it comes to assignments and exam days. Pick a major you are interested in but you need to take the prerequisites needed for medical school. These are usually

Year of gen chem
Year of ochem
Semester of biochem
Year of general biology
Year of physics
And a year of social sciences
And most schools have these as recommended courses so I would take most of these

A stats course
Anatomy and Physiology (Taken as 2 separate courses)
Microbiology
Genetics
And probably more

A year of English/writing classes

Science classes (except for Biochem) need to be with a lab section

 

[Proudfather94]

A year of English/writing classes

Science classes (except for Biochem) need to be with a lab section

Crap knew I forgot something. Yeah good catch with the lab part.

 

[cincincyreds]

Hello,
I am currently a Firefighter/Paramedic and I am employed by a City Fire Dept. We have a very high call volume and I have the great opportunity of temporarily caring for acutely ill and injure patients. I work a 24/48 schedule which results in a great deal of time off. I am searching for the best route for me to be successful in a pre-med degree. I have become heavily motivated in my EMS studies (Both EMT and Paramedic) And Believe I would excel in a Health Sciences degree. I would be continuing to work full-time as a firefighter/paramedic to support myself and my family. I have a few questions.

Are non-traditional pre-med routes common? I probably would not be able to do exactly full time semesters. Would this cause me issues with application and acceptance?

Is there anything I should know moving forward with this? I had been previously accepted at my local university but did not move forward at that time due a prospective job offer that did not end up happening, admittedly, this was a mistake. I greatly appreciate any information and guidance. Thank you very much.

your cumulative and science GPAs will have to be 3.7 or higher along with an MCAT of 511 or higher to give yourself around a 90% chance of getting into a US MD school. Without those numbers it will be close to impossible. The other issue is there aren't enough residency positions so that becomes another struggle.

 

[gyngyn]

your cumulative and science GPAs will have to be 3.7 or higher along with an MCAT of 511 or higher to give yourself around a 90% chance of getting into a US MD school. Without those numbers it will be close to impossible.

3.7 and 511 are about the median scores for successful US MD applicants. Those stats will vary a lot by state of residence and many other factors. Those scores do not result in a 90% success rate.

Half of successful applicants have scores less than that. Therefore, "close to impossible" would not be an accurate reflection of those odds.

 

[allseasons]

your cumulative and science GPAs will have to be 3.7 or higher along with an MCAT of 511 or higher to give yourself around a 90% chance of getting into a US MD school. Without those numbers it will be close to impossible. The other issue is there aren't enough residency positions so that becomes another struggle.

yea, you need a GPA of about 3.8+ and an MCAT of 518+ for a 90% chance of acceptance.

 

[Mojotheburrito]

Paramedic for seven years, I just got accepted to one of my top programs. I was on a 24/48 and then dropped to part-time to work 36/48 hour shifts on the weekends to be able to get a chemistry BS at my city's university. Lost all my benefits and was broke for four years but it paid off. My career was a big X factor that contributed HEAVILY to my acceptance and came up frequently in interviews.

You will HAVE to go part-time or find an ED job that gives you weekdays off. You will never be able to get every exam and lab day covered in a swap (definitely not now as a medic - we are down 6 guys a shift Im sure yall are hurting too). I studied M-F almost everyday and spent three months suuuuper broke studying for the MCAT while working 24 hours a week to maximize study time. It's a massive commitment, paramedic school was easy and national registry has nothin on the MCAT. If you're driven you can do it, good luck!

 

[06wolf]

ECrowe, lots of good advice above. Offering the following addition: you may wish to consider military options, either joining as an enlisted paramedic and taking advantage of enlisted-to-MD options, or going to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, where your experience as a firefighter / paramedic is likely to be greatly valued (and thereafter as a military doc as well). Going military is a path that can help greatly with the balance that needs to be struck between earning and studying. Feel free to DM me if you wish to discuss further.