getting to mdical school?

[Shinta]

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Hi, im shinta and i have been thinking seriously about medical school. i have contemplated about being an electrical engineer but things have driven me to take more of an interest in this.

currently since its cheaper and more affordable for me im going to do my freshman and sophmore year at a comunity college then transfer to a University i was Accepted to do an engineering program. but im more interested in the medical field. can anyone tell me the steps i would need to take to become a medical student? im quite lost on how this works.

what pre-requisite classes do i need to take?

is anyone familiar with any good medical Schools in Austin TX or surrounding cities?

can i transfer from a community college to a medical school?

if i know what branch in the medical field im interested in, can i take a class for people who desire to be Tech's to help me?

how many years is medical school? not including the branch i would like to join.

 

[njbmd]

Hi, im shinta and i have been thinking seriously about medical school. i have contemplated about being an electrical engineer but things have driven me to take more of an interest in this.

currently since its cheaper and more affordable for me im going to do my freshman and sophmore year at a comunity college then transfer to a University i was Accepted to do an engineering program. but im more interested in the medical field. can anyone tell me the steps i would need to take to become a medical student? im quite lost on how this works.

what pre-requisite classes do i need to take?

is anyone familiar with any good medical Schools in Austin TX or surrounding cities?

can i transfer from a community college to a medical school?

if i know what branch in the medical field im interested in, can i take a class for people who desire to be Tech's to help me?

how many years is medical school? not including the branch i would like to join.

Many people who are currently physicians started their undergraduate work at a community college. You need to see the counselors at your community college and make sure that you are in a strong pre-bacculaureate program.

The pre-req courses for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) are one year of General Biology with lab, one year of General Chemistry with lab, one year of Organic Chemistry with lab and one year of General Physics with lab. You need to go to the AMCAS website and download the specific topic list for the MCAT and be sure that your coursework covers those topics.

You can major in any subject (engineering) for medical school as long as you take the pre-req courses listed above. What ever coursework that you need for pre-engineering in addition to the pre-med courses will be fine for medical school. Again, you should consult an academic counselor at your community college to be sure that you get all of the academic pre-reqs for the specific engineering program that you intend on transferring into as you will need to transfer to a four-year college or university to complete your bachelor's degree anyway.

As for medical schools in Texas, you can do a web search and get a list of schools as well as their locations and distance from any city in that state or other states. You should also obtain a copy of the MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements) publication from American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) so that you know the individual requirements for the medical schools that interest you. There are many useful links on this website so go there as soon as possible.

You cannot transfer from a community college into medical school. You can take coursework at a community college but your are going to likely need a bachelor's degree before you apply to medical school unless you currently have one and just need the pre-med pre-reqs.

Medical school is four years after you have obtained a bachelor's degree. There are some medical schools that offer BS-MD degrees but they are at the university level (not community college). If you anticipate attending community college first, you need to be sure that you obtain excellent academic counseling and perform well academically.

Following transfer to a four-year university for your bachelor's degree, you need to continue to do well in your coursework and make sure that you have excellent pre-medical advising at your four-year college or university. You need to meet and exceed all deadlines in the year (usually your junior year of undergrad) that you apply to medical school.

The above is a very short outline of the process. You need to go to the AAMC website (American Association of Medical Colleges) and download a timeline and other information about applying to medical school in addition to good pre-medical counseling at your college or university.

 

[Meatwad]

Hi, im shinta and i have been thinking seriously about medical school. i have contemplated about being an electrical engineer but things have driven me to take more of an interest in this.

currently since its cheaper and more affordable for me im going to do my freshman and sophmore year at a comunity college then transfer to a University i was Accepted to do an engineering program. but im more interested in the medical field. can anyone tell me the steps i would need to take to become a medical student? im quite lost on how this works.

First off, go "shadow," a doctor; this means you follow them around in their office for a few days to see what it's like. It's not as glamorous as it seems. Make sure this is what you really want, because the rest of your life might end up being dedicated to this one field.

what pre-requisite classes do i need to take?

The majority of schools require:
1 year of biology with lab
1 year of general chemistry with lab
1 year of organic chemistry with lab
1 year of physics with lab
1 year of English composition

In addition, some schools require a course in biochemistry and calculus.

is anyone familiar with any good medical Schools in Austin TX or surrounding cities?

All the public schools in Texas are great medical schools, as is Baylor.

can i transfer from a community college to a medical school?

No; you cannot transfer from Harvard to a medical school. What you can do is go to community college for two years, transfer to a regular college, finish your bachelor's degree, then apply to medical school. That's probably what you meant to say, though, right?

if i know what branch in the medical field im interested in, can i take a class for people who desire to be Tech's to help me?

You could do that, because it would give an intimate view of what the doctor's are going through, if you are a surgical tech or something like that.

how many years is medical school? not including the branch i would like to join.

4 year of college + 4 years of medical school + residency.

So, without the residency, it's 8 years from high school (ideally). However, you might not get in on first try, so you have to be prepared to be tenacious and reapply if necessary.

Also, as far as residency, it can range from only 3 years long (internal medicine) to 7 years (some general surgery programs, I believe neuroseurgery).

So total, with residency, you are looking at 11-15 years.

 

[medhacker]

Hi Shinta

You may also want to inquire about becoming an osteopathic physician. There are two types of full physicians in the U.S., MDs and DOs. DOs are trained in the same basic and clinical sciences as MDs and receive additional training in musculoskeletal medicine. DOs are licensed as full physicians throughout the U.S. and in many countries abroad.

To learn about DOs you may want to visit the website of the American association of colleges of osteopathic medicine ---> http://www.aacom.org/

Or the website of its application service ---> http://www.aacom.org/home-applicants/

If you have any additional questions you may ask, or visit SDN's osteopathic medicine forum.

 

[Shinta]

Hi Shinta

You may also want to inquire about becoming an osteopathic physician. There are two types of full physicians in the U.S., MDs and DOs. DOs are trained in the same basic and clinical sciences as MDs and receive additional training in musculoskeletal medicine. DOs are licensed as full physicians throughout the U.S. and in many countries abroad.

To learn about DOs you may want to visit the website of the American association of colleges of osteopathic medicine ---> http://www.aacom.org/

Or the website of its application service ---> http://www.aacom.org/home-applicants/

If you have any additional questions you may ask, or visit SDN's osteopathic medicine forum.

hrmm. ive been reading but the DO's seem to be discriminated against compared to MD's but. Doctor of Osteopathy, whats that title really? mean? all i read it says its a more hands on Doctor. could you give me more insight? maybe if you are one, what its like?

 

[saylorsdad]

I have a couple of friends who are do's. They both claim they have never been discriminated against, nor have they ever had to justify that they are a physician. I think the biggest difference is that pre-med students think there is a difference. Both are four year medical degree's, both are fully licensed to practice medicine in the united states, both can do surgery, and both do and md have to pass a test proving that they learned what is needed to practice medicine. Probably the biggest difference is that there are very few do schools around the country, compared to a boat-load of md schools.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

I won't repeat what others have said, but having lived in Austin, TX, I can tell you that there are NO medical schools in Austin. UTMB has a program where you can do your 3rd and 4th year rotations in Austin, but years 1 and 2 are in Galveston. The closest two medical schools to Austin are in Temple (small branch of Texas A&M medical school) and in San Antonio. Most of the rest in TX are in and around Dallas and Houston (A&M main campus and Texas Tech being the exceptions.)

One thing to note about prerequisities: Although most schools in _the US_ have the prerequisites as previously posted, here in the Republic of TX, schools require 4 semesters of Biology lecture (but still only 2 credits of Biology Lab.)

Best of luck to you!