General Question for all fields

[alan83]

I did not know where to post this since I do not see a general or off topic forum... (mod could move if needed)

I have a business degree, hate it and want to do something hands-on in the medical profession (not a nurse.. a professional job).
I would consider all of the areas: medicine, optometry, pharmacy, vet, etc but not psychology.

Which area would be the easiest to get into?
Are there any areas to where I can apply BEFORE doing the pre-reqs? I would hate to go to school for a year.. get the pre-reqs not get accepted and then be back at this crappy business degree!

Thanks,
Alan

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[lilnoelle]

I did not know where to post this since I do not see a general or off topic forum... (mod could move if needed)

I have a business degree, hate it and want to do something hands-on in the medical profession (not a nurse.. a professional job).
I would consider all of the areas: medicine, optometry, pharmacy, vet, etc but not psychology.

Which area would be the easiest to get into?
Are there any areas to where I can apply BEFORE doing the pre-reqs? I would hate to go to school for a year.. get the pre-reqs not get accepted and then be back at this crappy business degree!

Thanks,
Alan

The nontraditional forum is the one you want.
No places are going to let you apply before completing the prereqs - in fact, most places will want you to do both the prereqs and a good amount of clinical experience to know for sure you like the field before you go to school.
I would advise doing some job shadowing to decide which field you like the most.
Every medical field is very competitive to get into. I have a friend who said it was pretty easy for her to get into a chiropractic school. (she didn't have to take an entrance exam) If you want a field that will take the least amount of time, look at being a PA.
I'm not sure of this, but I think PA's, optometrists, and pharmacists all make around the same amount ~70K.
I wouldn't advise going to be a vet unless you are truly in love with animals. A friend of mine has wanted to be a vet all of her life and isn't doing it because she would probably never pay off her debt. Making ~60K a year doesn't pay off 4 years of ~30K tuition very fast.

 

[alan83]

The nontraditional forum is the one you want.
No places are going to let you apply before completing the prereqs - in fact, most places will want you to do both the prereqs and a good amount of clinical experience to know for sure you like the field before you go to school.
I would advise doing some job shadowing to decide which field you like the most.
Every medical field is very competitive to get into. I have a friend who said it was pretty easy for her to get into a chiropractic school. (she didn't have to take an entrance exam) If you want a field that will take the least amount of time, look at being a PA.
I'm not sure of this, but I think PA's, optometrists, and pharmacists all make around the same amount ~70K.
I wouldn't advise going to be a vet unless you are truly in love with animals. A friend of mine has wanted to be a vet all of her life and isn't doing it because she would probably never pay off her debt. Making ~60K a year doesn't pay off 4 years of ~30K tuition very fast.

How hard is it to get in to be a PA? Are there any surgical PAs?

 

[MinnyGophers]

If you're going into a "professional" field just because you hate your business degree and not because you really want to be a doc/dent/vet/etc..., you're in for a tough time...

The reqs cannot be skipped over and it is very difficult to gain entrance into professional schools, no matter how "easier" it is for some.

I would reconsider if you don't want to go back to school, because chances are, you will have to be there for more than a year if you need to complete all pre-reqs.

 

[alan83]

If you're going into a "professional" field just because you hate your business degree and not because you really want to be a doc/dent/vet/etc..., you're in for a tough time...

The reqs cannot be skipped over and it is very difficult to gain entrance into professional schools, no matter how "easier" it is for some.

I would reconsider if you don't want to go back to school, because chances are, you will have to be there for more than a year if you need to complete all pre-reqs.

Who said I really did not want to go into a professional medical field and who said I did not want to go back to school?
I want to do both...
And I never said I would skip the pre-reqs either... . I said is there a program that lets you apply before you get your pre-reqs.. get in and THEN do pre-reqs and then go straight into the program. I do not want to waste a year and a years worth of tuition to end up not getting accepted and back in the same situation I am in now with this business degree..

 

[MinnyGophers]

double post

 

[MinnyGophers]

Who said I really did not want to go into a professional medical field and who said I did not want to go back to school?
I want to do both...
And I never said I would skip the pre-reqs either... . I said is there a program that lets you apply before you get your pre-reqs.. get in and THEN do pre-reqs and then go straight into the program. I do not want to waste a year and a years worth of tuition to end up not getting accepted and back in the same situation I am in now with this business degree..

Sorry, what I meant is that if you're not passionnate about the field you want to go into, it will be tough. You will not be "wasting" a year if you don't get in at first but want to keep trying. But you will definitely be wasting it if you apply with stats that are not good enough and feel that it's not worth trying again.
So it all really depends on what your stats are and what you want to do.

Also, you cannot apply to professional schools until you have done at least most of your pre-reqs since they look at how you did on those. They do not all have to be completed, but usually entrance exams will be based off those. However, they will have to completed BEFORE you matriculate, if you gain admission, and if you have done none, one year will probably not be enough unless you work your butt off.

It all really depends on how you did/will do in school and on the entrance exams.

Otherwise, there are other jobs such as Medical Assisting, Dental Assisting, Physician's Assistant which require less schooling.

 

[notdeadyet]

And I never said I would skip the pre-reqs either... . I said is there a program that lets you apply before you get your pre-reqs.. get in and THEN do pre-reqs and then go straight into the program.

No, there isn't. Med school is far and away the toughest type of schooling to get in to. There are way more applicants than spots, so they don't have any special programs to try to pull people in.

I was working as a business consultant in tech when I decided to go into med school. That was three years ago and I'm only applying now. I've used the time to do lots of volunteering and take my pre-requisites (if you don't have a science background, it takes about two years, one of them part time). There is a very real chance that I'll apply and not get in anywhere.

No guarantees and no fast-track. That said, there are a few postbac programs you can enroll in which will have guaranteed criteria for what GPA and MCAT you need if you want to go to their med school after you finish.

I do not want to waste a year and a years worth of tuition to end up not getting accepted and back in the same situation I am in now with this business degree..

I don't blame you. But you pretty much have to take the risk.

Be real sure that this is what you want to do. Particularly for career changers, it can be tough. It'd be foolish to try unless you were completely confident that medicine is right for you.

 

[alan83]

No, there isn't. Med school is far and away the toughest type of schooling to get in to. There are way more applicants than spots, so they don't have any special programs to try to pull people in.

I was working as a business consultant in tech when I decided to go into med school. That was three years ago and I'm only applying now. I've used the time to do lots of volunteering and take my pre-requisites (if you don't have a science background, it takes about two years, one of them part time). There is a very real chance that I'll apply and not get in anywhere.

No guarantees and no fast-track. That said, there are a few postbac programs you can enroll in which will have guaranteed criteria for what GPA and MCAT you need if you want to go to their med school after you finish.


I don't blame you. But you pretty much have to take the risk.

Be real sure that this is what you want to do. Particularly for career changers, it can be tough. It'd be foolish to try unless you were completely confident that medicine is right for you.

It is what I would love to do... it is hands-on (most important), up walking around and seeing/talking/interacting with different people all day. Plus I really like medicine/dental/pharmacy/etc.. I really like the health field. I just found out too late.

I would go INSANE sitting behind a desk all day which is basically the only thing I can get with this business degree except for sales which I do not want.
Really my only option (for me and for me to be happy) with this business degree would be consulting...... how did you get into it? I have been applying to consulting firms/jobs all the time and have not gotten one single response in 7 months.

 

[txfisher]

.

 

[Sondra]

For the career fields you listed, most have very similar pre reqs. Maybe you can start doing some of the pre reqs while you shadow people in these positions to find out which you like best?

 

[notdeadyet]

You should look into podiatry, its much less competitive than medicine, pharmacy, or even vet school.

For the record, vet school is actually more competitive than medical school. It's ridiculous.

 

[notdeadyet]

It is what I would love to do... it is hands-on (most important), up walking around and seeing/talking/interacting with different people all day.

From what you describe, nursing might be something to look in to. Also competitive, but there are loads of jobs, great pay, and you don't have the ten year commitment that it will take to become a practicing physician.

Also, you'll find after doing a lot of shadowing and volunteering that physicians aren't as patient-centric and hands on as you might think. It's very intellectual, but los of the hands on care is done by nurses.

I really like the health field. I just found out too late.

It's never too late. But are you prepared to kiss off the next three years to work very hard on something with the understanding that at the end of those three years that you may not be accepted to medical school? It's a risk, but what a risk.

Really my only option (for me and for me to be happy) with this business degree would be consulting...... how did you get into it? I have been applying to consulting firms/jobs all the time and have not gotten one single response in 7 months.

For consulting, you need to be pretty established in a career skill set before you can bill your time for it. If you're looking at Big Three consulting, they want an MBA and a real MBA at that (not one of the many unheard of programs).

The best way to get in to consulting is to be good at a particular aspect of business to the point that you become known for it in the community. Then consulting jobs are pretty easy to come by.