Getting requirement for certain pre-requisites waived???

[pharmamd]

Hey guys. Advice, please!

Little about my background:
- went into college already deciding to do pharmacy (for the most part, applied to uni's with schools of pharmacy)
- finished in 6 years (did both pre-pharm and pharm at the same school, didn't take any of the fun classes lol)
- been practicing pharmacy for ~3.5 years now
- love my specialty field, love the providers I work with, but have now become more and more interested in the clinical side of medicine (do have some clinical responsibilities which involves med mangement(stopping/starting/adjusting) in my current role however would like to treat the whole spectrum of disorders in the patients I come across rather than a limited role and feel MD would help me with this; cannot go PA route since financially, that makes zero sense.)
- do not fear the commitment and/or cost associated with going to med school at this age (currently 28, would start at 30)
- received encouragement from my family and even docs I currently work with saying "Do it if that's what you feel you want to do", even got a couple who have agreed to write rec. letters for me.

HOWEVER:

In looking over the pre-requisites for med school, keep getting stumped on the Physics WITH LAB portion. I did take 2 semesters of physics because the pharm school I went to required it (a bunch of pharm schools actually don't so that was a plus, now that I'm looking back). Got an A one semester and B+ the other.

Have you guys ever heard of anyone appealing to have this waived?? Or will I have to take a year off work just to take 2 physics labs?? Heard any stories about appealing to have requirement for certain pre-reqs waived?? I have everything else but those stupid labs. arghhh. Thanks a million!!!

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[Richardh]

yes; i heard my friends who got their physics lab waived, but (and this is a huge but) they needed to contact each school, ask, and finally get it waived which in the end was thought to be a big hurrah but it ended up being a big mistake. why? b/c even if the school said that it was okay for the physics lab to be left incomplete, my friends weren't offered a secondary application. they were lucky if they got an interview invitation, but they were waitlisted.

so bottom line it's best to complete the physics lab at either community or junior college.

worst case scenerio, the adcom for each school that you apply will be sticklers about you not completing physics lab. so again, i encourage you to complete physics lab for your personal benefit later on 🙂

 

[Pons Asinorum]

yes; i heard my friends who got their physics lab waived, but (and this is a huge but) they needed to contact each school, ask, and finally get it waived which in the end was thought to be a big hurrah but it ended up being a big mistake. why? b/c even if the school said that it was okay for the physics lab to be left incomplete, my friends weren't offered a secondary application. they were lucky if they got an interview invitation, but they were waitlisted.

so bottom line it's best to complete the physics lab at either community or junior college.

worst case scenerio, the adcom for each school that you apply will be sticklers about you not completing physics lab. so again, i encourage you to complete physics lab for your personal benefit later on 🙂

Richardh, where are you getting this info from?

OP - the chances of you matriculating without having completed a pre-requisite is next-to-nonexistent. You may apply; and you may get secondaries, interviews and maybe even acceptances. But you will complete the pre-reqs before you start your M1 year, or you'll be deferred while you complete them. You'll be waiting while you complete them however you look at it. There will be thousands of applicants with stories just like yours, except they have completed the pre-requisites. Choose not to jump through the application hoops to your own peril.

 

[DrMidlife]

Prerequisites vary by school, and there are a bunch that deviate from the usual. You can just apply to schools that don't require physics lab.

I'd be more concerned about this part: "Or will I have to take a year off work just to take 2 physics labs??"

Cry me a river. Are you going to try to argue out of the MCAT too? Part of applying to med school is demonstrating that you're good at jumping through arbitrary hoops without arguing about them. If you're not willing to make sacrifices to put together a generally solid app, then you're going to lose out to a whole lot of people who will.

Best of luck to you.

 

[aesposito]

Or will I have to take a year off work just to take 2 physics labs??

I work full time, have three messed up kids, a depressed husband, and still managed to take three classes this semester (two with labs). Get over yourself and take the class.

A

 

[Scottish Chap]

Hey guys. Advice, please!

Little about my background:
- went into college already deciding to do pharmacy (for the most part, applied to uni's with schools of pharmacy)
- finished in 6 years (did both pre-pharm and pharm at the same school, didn't take any of the fun classes lol)
- been practicing pharmacy for ~3.5 years now
- love my specialty field, love the providers I work with, but have now become more and more interested in the clinical side of medicine (do have some clinical responsibilities which involves med mangement(stopping/starting/adjusting) in my current role however would like to treat the whole spectrum of disorders in the patients I come across rather than a limited role and feel MD would help me with this; cannot go PA route since financially, that makes zero sense.)
- do not fear the commitment and/or cost associated with going to med school at this age (currently 28, would start at 30)
- received encouragement from my family and even docs I currently work with saying "Do it if that's what you feel you want to do", even got a couple who have agreed to write rec. letters for me.

HOWEVER:

In looking over the pre-requisites for med school, keep getting stumped on the Physics WITH LAB portion. I did take 2 semesters of physics because the pharm school I went to required it (a bunch of pharm schools actually don't so that was a plus, now that I'm looking back). Got an A one semester and B+ the other.

Have you guys ever heard of anyone appealing to have this waived?? Or will I have to take a year off work just to take 2 physics labs?? Heard any stories about appealing to have requirement for certain pre-reqs waived?? I have everything else but those stupid labs. arghhh. Thanks a million!!!

I had English 101 and 102 waived. No way will you have physics waived. Believe it or not, some states will not license a physician without one year of physics and, for this reasons, medical schools mandate it. Take the class.

 

[pharmamd]

Cry me a river. Are you going to try to argue out of the MCAT too? Part of applying to med school is demonstrating that you're good at jumping through arbitrary hoops without arguing about them. If you're not willing to make sacrifices to put together a generally solid app, then you're going to lose out to a whole lot of people who will.

.

Honestly I wasn't really trying to say I CANT take the physics lab classes. It's just that when I browsed briefly at the physics lab class times at a couple of state universities that are close, the labs are in the middle of the day, when I would normally be at work and I work full time 8-5 or later. If there were labs offered after work, GREAT, I certainly would take them. I'm not trying to get out of doing the labs, just having a hard time seeing it fit into my current work schedule.

Now with people's two cents that I probably wont be considered at all without the labs, I can make my decision now regarding my current job and the sacrifice I would need to make, such as possibly taking a step back from my job and working only part time somewhere else instead.

Your MCAT analogy in this scenario makes no sense. MCAT review and studying is at your own pace, you're not locked into times specified by a university. It's a sacrifice but doesnt have to interfere with a full time job.

I truly appreciate the advice guys, even though some of you were making it seem like I'm trying to get out of doing what I have to do to be competitive. Wasn't saying that AT ALL.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Why would anyone need to take a year off for 2 labs? Those are at most 2 units each, likely 1 unit. You can do that in night school through most university extension programs, or you could take them both in the summer.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

your best bet is to just retake physics with the lab. generally speaking, most places that offer a class like physics at night usually have the lab incorporated with the class (ie Physics with lab- 4 credits vs. Physics- 3 credits, lab- 1 credit). If you can get into just a physics lab you are golden, but like you said, that is usually at a really inconvenient time for non trads. good luck.

 

[Luv2Cut]

Take the physics/lab at a CC. They offer night and weekend classes for students just like you that have jobs and families.

But let me ask a question. What are you going to do when you get into med school? Your going to have to take the next 4 YEARS from your job. Because all you will do is study. I don't know anyone that worked during med school. Its just unfathomable. What about when you have out of town rotations where you are away from your family?

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't sound like you've counted the cost. If your not willing to take a year to take your physics requirement then how will you endure medical school. Residency is even tougher, but at least your getting paid.

I recommend you step back, count the cost and what your willing to do to become a doc.

 

[pharmamd]

Take the physics/lab at a CC. They offer night and weekend classes for students just like you that have jobs and families.

But let me ask a question. What are you going to do when you get into med school? Your going to have to take the next 4 YEARS from your job. Because all you will do is study. I don't know anyone that worked during med school. Its just unfathomable. What about when you have out of town rotations where you are away from your family?

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't sound like you've counted the cost. If your not willing to take a year to take your physics requirement then how will you endure medical school. Residency is even tougher, but at least your getting paid.

I recommend you step back, count the cost and what your willing to do to become a doc.

To further clarify, I did not plan on working while in med school. I was just talking about taking time off from my job during the preparatory stages for med school, i.e. before I even apply...a good time for me to continue to save up money to put towards my future plans. Trust me, I've looked into the costs, how much salary I won't be making during that time etc. Well aware of the financial costs and as I previously mentioned, I don't consider that a deterrent.

 

[AvocadoLover]

Wow, your story is eerily close to mine! I did a 6 yr PharmD program, residency and now have been working as a clinical pharmacist for 2 years. I'm in the middle of applying now. I took both physics I and II while working, but luckily my schedule was pretty flexible (I work 10s and 12s so it was ez). PM me if you want to talk more and good luck!