Fulfilling Med school requirements without a structured program??

[briy61]

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After taking time to consider the pro's and con's, i've decided to pursue a career in medicine as a physician.

I graduated in 2005, and have been working for an academic research center in that focuses mostly on health policy.

I've heard alot about post-baccalaureates, but it's too late to join any programs that begin in January.

In light of the fact that I'd like to start in January, I am thinking about simply taking the required classes (chem,phys.,bio,o-chem) independently as a continuing ed. student and then taking the MCAT and then applying to med school.

Do med schools frown upon this, dare i say, 'rogue' approach?

I would assume that it doesn't, as long as my grades are good, but I'd like to make sure I'm not shooting myself in the foot.

-Brian

 

[powerbooki]

I did this, taking pre-med classes one per semester while working full time. I only took what were needed besides what I took ~10 years ago. Never even thought about any post-bach programs. Then I took the MCAT and applied. Maybe some schools didn't like this approach (no structured post-bach), but I doubt they would ever tell me that.

I have heard some use post-bac to improve undergraduate GPA, and some others chose to enroll in some so-called well known and competitive post-bach to prove a point. But I got in, and I can tell you it's acceptable to plenty of schools.

 

[njbmd]

After taking time to consider the pro's and con's, i've decided to pursue a career in medicine as a physician.

I graduated in 2005, and have been working for an academic research center in that focuses mostly on health policy.

I've heard alot about post-baccalaureates, but it's too late to join any programs that begin in January.

In light of the fact that I'd like to start in January, I am thinking about simply taking the required classes (chem,phys.,bio,o-chem) independently as a continuing ed. student and then taking the MCAT and then applying to med school.

Do med schools frown upon this, dare i say, 'rogue' approach?

I would assume that it doesn't, as long as my grades are good, but I'd like to make sure I'm not shooting myself in the foot.

-Brian

It really doesn't matter how you take your pre-med coursework as much as how you perform in your pre-med coursework and on the MCAT. As long as your courses cover what you need in sufficient depth and as long as you do well on the MCAT/coursework, you can take your courses within or outside of a formal post bacc or degree program. Just look carefully at the content to make sure that your coursework will be adequate. After you pay for and take a course is not the time to find out that it was not the one that you needed. Also, look at the pre-recs for any medical schools that you are interested in applying to and make sure that you have these courses too.

Take the MCAT one time and do an excellent job. Plan on a minimum of two years unless you have already taken some the the pre-med coursework with your previous degree. Good luck!

 

[Law2Doc]

I have heard some use post-bac to improve undergraduate GPA, and some others chose to enroll in some so-called well known and competitive post-bach to prove a point. But I got in, and I can tell you it's acceptable to plenty of schools.

Agree with the others on this thread.
There are different postbacs for different people. Most of the "formal" ones require you to have never taken the prereqs. Others allow you to take upper level classes. Informal programs (such as the design your own, the OP is suggesting) can be used to either take the prereq classes, or perhaps take/retake things to make yourself more competitive. Then there are SMPs (special masters programs) which are not really postbacs as they are graduate level, and in those schools you can demonstrate your ability to handle yourself in med school level courses, presumably the "to prove a point" reference powerbooki was describing.
So yes, OP, you can do what you are describing and it has worked for folks. Med schools don't frown upon them. But I wouldn't underestimate some of the value added benefits of the more formal programs if you qualify -- most have good advising services, dossier services for LORs, directors who market their students directly to med schools, some have linkage, and they often have a "brand name" med schools know and are comfortable with.
There is another board on SDN specifically on postbacs that is filled with helpful info you (OP) may want to consult.

 

[DrMidlife]

I've been taking my postbac premed classes at my state's huge research university, which I chose because it's the best school my state has, and I didn't have to move to go here. I started out using the school's extension program to enroll as a nonmatriculant. This is more expensive than getting admitted, but getting admitted as a postbac wasn't going to happen until I'd already gotten some A's and recommendations. So that was 2 quarters of school, and then I got admitted for winter quarter last year. Being a nonmatriculant also meant I was last in line for registration priority. Until I got admitted, any premed advising I got was effectively stolen. I planned my curriculum and got friends in med school to yay or nay it. As an admitted student I was able to get some financial aid this fall quarter, and in theory I'll be done this coming June.

Things I wish I'd known before, wrt rolling my own postbac premed program:
- My school is frigging huge, and this hasn't been fun. There are 500 students in my biochem lecture, 300 in microbio. Labs are extremely competitive to get into. No real opportunity for faculty to get to know me well enough to recommend me, which means extra classes/work/volunteering to get recommendations.
- We have no premed committee. The premed advisor that is well spoken of is not affiliated with undergraduate advising, but with the multicultural center. So I got about a year's worth of stolen advice from a not-very-good source.
- Being 40, and surrounded by 18-24 year olds, takes its toll. I get really starved for adult conversation that isn't about how drunk y'all got/are going to get last/this weekend. But my age has made it easier to get to know professors.
- Not being admitted meant I got no financial aid, getting admitted mid-year meant I had to wait for financial aid, and having been employed meant I got very little financial aid. I could have planned this better.
- The classes I'm taking are probably way too hard. I don't need to be in a yearlong phys/anat course offered by the pharmacy school, but I'm taking it because it's fun and because one or two med students I know said it could be good preparation. But if the point is to get done and get out, I overshot.
- Sigh. The real regret I have at this point is that I'm not getting straight A's. I wish I had made A's mandatory, and deprioritized everything else to make it happen. Instead I've been travelling, remodeling/selling a house, going on dates. And then cramming for tests and getting clobbered.

So all things considered, with respect to paying through the nose and not getting great grades, it would have been much easier, and just as effective, to pay high tuition at one of the local small private schools. Or to move to Boston and take Harvard Extension.

Oh, and I have no regrets about starting volunteering right away. That's been the best proof for me that I'm going in the right direction.

I don't recommend taking anything at a community college, given a choice. Adcoms might say it doesn't matter where you take your prereqs, but personally I would not consider myself prepared for a competitive med school's curriculum, even if I could get admitted, with science classes taken off the competition track. The community colleges here are arguably as good as the private colleges here, so I might be arguing form over function, mea culpa.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Law2Doc]

- Being 40, and surrounded by 18-24 year olds, takes its toll. I get really starved for adult conversation that isn't about how drunk y'all got/are going to get last/this weekend.

FWIW, med school is not going to be much different than this. The average age in allo med school is about 24, and the median age is probably even a couple of years younger than that. But medicine is all about relating with folks of different ages, so use it as a learning opportunity for your clinical years (and your classmates will have an opportunity to do the same, since they will regard you as ancient ). If anything, you have the advantage here as you were 20 once.