froshie phd needs suggestions

[jmis]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I recently completed my Ph.D. in Engineering from a top-3 school and I am now an Assistant Professor at another university. I barely received my PhD and I have been teaching at my university for about 2 months (I love my students! And despite my PhD, I am younger than many of my own graduate students)

For personal reasons, I want to study medicine but there are some problems:

E.g.

- I have no pre-med courses on my transcript (except maybe Engineering Physics).

- My department chair does not want me to be taking pre-med courses with undergraduate students because I will be teaching undergraduate students myself.

- I am about 4 hours away from any other university (8 hours round trip).

- I teach Mon/Wed/Fri, which is when most pre-med courses are offered.

- I have a family, with a special-needs child, which means I cannot leave my job and pursue full time pre-med studies. After I get into medical school I am prepared to abandon my job and live off loans but not until then.

1) Is there a way for me to skip pre-med studies and directly join a medical school?

2) What suggestions would you offer me?

Thank you.

 

[JJMrK]

First of all, congratulations on your recently earned PhD.

The bottom line is that you're going to have to find some way to take those courses. You're also going to have to be able to tell an admissions committee why you're interested in medicine; most applicants do this by citing exposure to the field through volunteering and shadowing.

 

[schrizto]

1) Is there a way for me to skip pre-med studies and directly join a medical school?

Sorry, but there is absolutely no way a medical school is going to allow this, PhD or not.

 

[rockaction]

Sounds like you got a really cool life and a solid job. Why do you want to throw that away for a 7-8 year commitment to another field of study?

 

[not so calm now]

What sounds like the best bet for you is to get in some medical experience (i.e. shadowing doctors, volunteering at a clinic) and some community service experience right now while you teach. Then you can do a one year, high linkage, career changer's postbac after you get all of your extracurriculars straight. At the end of that you should take the MCAT, but you will be faced with the problem of having an extra glide year. It doesn't really sound like taking classes while working full time is an option for you right now, but I know that full-time programs allow you to take out more loans than the usual max if you have documented need (i.e., a family).

Your job right now sounds pretty awesome. It's insanely hard to land an assistant professor position at a good school, and it's a great lifestyle.

 

[musafirah]

you said universities are far away, but what about community college?

 

[brooklynblunder]

I recently completed my Ph.D. in Engineering from a top-3 school and I am now an Assistant Professor at another university. I barely received my PhD and I have been teaching at my university for about 2 months (I love my students! And despite my PhD, I am younger than many of my own graduate students)

For personal reasons, I want to study medicine but there are some problems:

E.g.

- I have no pre-med courses on my transcript (except maybe Engineering Physics).

- My department chair does not want me to be taking pre-med courses with undergraduate students because I will be teaching undergraduate students myself.

- I am about 4 hours away from any other university (8 hours round trip).

- I teach Mon/Wed/Fri, which is when most pre-med courses are offered.

- I have a family, with a special-needs child, which means I cannot leave my job and pursue full time pre-med studies. After I get into medical school I am prepared to abandon my job and live off loans but not until then.

1) Is there a way for me to skip pre-med studies and directly join a medical school?

2) What suggestions would you offer me?

Thank you.

nope. unfortunately since you have a family, you are at a position where you will have to decide on your priorities. you will, without a question, have to take all pre-med classes and the MCAT and do some clinical work/volunteering to be competitive. I do not know about medical schools in other countries. Good luck

 

[WellWornLad]

Are there any nearby community colleges? They are cheaper and cater to working folk, so the hours may be more amenable to your schedule. You've got the PhD and "top 3" pedigree (whatever that means), so you don't have to prove much academically, but you do have to jump through the hoops.

But yeah, definitely get some health care experience. It may make you change your mind.

 

[ChiDO]

Does your unniversity have a med school at all? (I'm guessing no)

At my med school, we've had some of our professors start attending our medical school (not sure if thye had pre-reqs done or what), but they would go to class with us and then when we reached their field, they sometimes gave the lectures while being a student per say.