Getting med school prerequisites after being out of school for a while

[Ceilingcat]

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Hi all

First, some background. I finished by undergrad in Engineering in the US. I did the regular requirements for physics, general chemistry and math. But I never took any Bio or organic chemistry in my UG. I have some social sciences under my belt as part of the undergrad. My GPA was pretty good as well.

Current status, I have been working for 7 years, mainly doing software, currently reside in Canada (and intend to stay here) and am working on a part-time masters in Computer Engineering. And Im 29 and single.

I'm planning to make a career switch into medicine. The first step ofcourse is to get my pre-requisites, which will be a years worth of bio and organic chemistry. I can't quit my job right now and I don't think I will continue with the part-time master's program as I don't see the point of it anymore.

Does anyone have any advice on what the best way to get my pre-requisites on a part-time basis in Canada? Im based in Toronto. I doubt I will be able to find any evening classes for this, in which case I will have to work with my manager to make up for lost time. But if anyone has any suggestions for getting these requirements, I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks in advance

 

[punkiedad]

tough call, but have seen it done.

Does your manager know whay you need this time or does he or she just think these classes will be for your masters?

I took my pre reqs at night and it is doable. As far as during the day, if you are in IT or software, you may have the flexibility to fit them in. If that is the case, go for the obvious and find a class right at 8, 12 or as late in the day as possible to minimize distractions. Additionally, some of these day classes actually have and end of day or night time lab.

Best of luck, but yes it is doable.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

I took my chem. pre-reqs in late afternoon. I worked it out with my boss to come in around 7:30, work straight until 3:30, and head out on MWFs. Would something like that work?

 

[Ceilingcat]

except that I'm not sure about how I would go about getting the pre-requisites. My master's program is for Engineering specifically and they would prefer I stick to only the courses applicable to the master's program. I still need to bug some people about this, but my initial impression is that they won't let me sign up for ungrad courses.

Part of my reason for wanting to do these courses is to find out whether this is something I might like. I have not taken any bio coures before, since I was under the impression that I would be an engineer for life and anything like bio would be a distraction. Oh well, **** happens 🙂

It becomes a little complicated once you're out of an undergrad program. Are there programs in Toronto, Canada that would let you do pr-requisites on a part-time basis? I cannot find any kind of post-bacc programs in Toronto.

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
Meanwhile I will continue to scoure the inter-tubes and see how best to approach this.

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[pdeco1]

I dont have any Canada specific suggestions, but down south CC have all the classes you need and the schedules are a lot more flexible.

I was accepted immediately by my local state university because I already have a degree. I declared a major in Biology and the whole process took about a week.

Do you have any options that are similar? Can you put your masters program on hold?

 

[TacoStand]

I was also an engineering major working full time. I ended up taking night classes. It took about a year to complete bio and o chem. Not sure about your options in Toronto. I have classmates that quit their full-time job to work part time in engineering and also became an EMT and worked in a clinic part time while completing pre-reqs during the day. If you know that medicine is for you and you have a good shot of getting into medical school, then you will find a way to get it all done.

 

[Perrotfish]

Just an FYI, med schools seem to look down on those who start and then don't complete a degree program like a Masters. I'm not sure how true this would be with an engineering Masters, but it might be something to look into a little more. Anyone else have more experience with this and want to comment?

 

[sindadel]

Try Athabasca university - they have the classes you need and you have 6 months to complete each by distance learning. I'm not sure how they handle the lab work for organic chemistry, but I suspect they have a system.

 

[daffodilh]

You could take all your courses through distance study at athabasca university. It's in alberta, but you only really have to go there for a few days to do all the labs required for the courses, which could help you out a lot. And sometimes they have sessions at mcmaster university if you are in ontario.

 

[MeowMix]

I replied to your post in the Canada sub-forum. Basically, the Canadian system is different: some schools will not count the part-time prereqs towards your GPA, and some will not accept distance learning at all (McGill, for example). This is completely different from the US system. You need to know specific rules before you start spending money on courses.