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[rrt]

IMO, there is nothing wrong with your plan to take classes and work at the same time. Get your pre-reqs, meet that GPA and MCAT score, and start applying. As far as online physics, it really depends on if you will be taking a in person lab. My college has students taking lab together that are in either an online lecture class or a traditional lecture class. Same course ID and name. I don't know if you'd rather take a physics that is traditional though just for learning's sake? My profession is respiratory therapist, and it is somewhat important to have working knowledge of airway physics and general physics due to gas laws and such.

 

[theseeker4]

Hello everyone,
This is my first post here and I know some information may have been covered. I did use search function and still have questions that I couldn’t find answers to.
A little bit about me. I am 24. I have a bachelor’s degree in finance and masters in secondary education. I have a full-time job that is heavily math/excel based (insurance related). I worked in this field for about a year, before that I was a high school math teacher. My current job is very undemanding and is not a good fit of my personality given my need to be occupied with urgent projects and more interaction with people. The job of a teacher was a better fit, but for a number of reasons (primarily financial, and poor administration) I felt underappreciated for the amount of work I did.
I never really considered medicine prior to meeting few acquaintances who are doctors and finding out more and more about this career. I also happened to spend some time in a hospital due to family reasons. After doing some more extensive research and talking to more people involved, being a doctor appears to be a right fit.
I do want to keep my current job due to decent pay and flexibility, while taking some pre-med prerequisites in my local state university. I am torn between taking just chem and bio or adding online physics (I already took physics in my undergrad but it was beginner’s physics and not the one recommended for pre-med). I am not sure if I can manage a work load, although when I was a teacher I did 2 year full-time master’s program while working full-time.
My other question is about hospital volunteering and shadowing doctors. How do I go about finding those opportunities? Are there any flexible ones which I will be able to do while working full-time and taking 2-3 classes? How about clinical research?
I know this is a very long post and I many questions. I sincerely appreciate you reading it and providing some answers. Thanks!

Since you stated that you searched already, I assume you know what is expected of an applicant regarding GPA and MCAT scores. Regarding what courses to take initially, I would start with just chemistry your first semester, especially if you have little to no experience with science courses. Make sure you have enough time to get an A while working before you load up too many classes at once. If you have a ton of free time and you are convinced you can ace both classes at once, go ahead and take bio at the same time, but I would definitely not take 3 classes at once, each with a lab, while working full time your first semester.

For volunteering, many hospitals have information on the website for volunteers. Regarding shadowing, feel free to utilize the doctors you know personally, and ask them for other specialists they know personally who would be willing to allow you to shadow them. Scheduling volunteering is usually very flexible so that shouldn't be a problem, and shadowing would depend entirely on the doctor. Good luck!

 

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[theseeker4]

Thank you so much for your replies. Very helpful. I was kind of warried about taking 3 classes wirth labs while working full-time.

I have few more questions that are in my mind. My plan is to take classes at my local state univiersity, although classes at community colleges are much cheaper and more flexibale. They are also smaller so I will have a better opportunity to get to know my professors for LOR's. However, I want to show med school that I am able to handle science classes on university level. So should I stick to my plan?

My job is also not at all medicine related but it pays ok and has flexible hours. Thus, I really would like to keep it for the time being. Is this a bad idea? Should I be looking for something healthcare related?

Lastly, I am really warried about doing research. Is it necessary and how do I go by finding those opportunities?

Thanks a lot!

I would go to the university since some adcoms expect one to demonstrate they are able to do work at a university level. Since you are not planning to take upper-level science classes at a university after you finish the CC classes, you are not demonstrating you can handle university-level courses in the sciences. If your undergraduate GPA is marginal, going to a CC may also make the Adcoms think you are trying to inflate your grades.

Keep your current job and use volunteering and shadowing to demonstrate commitment to medicine. You will not be working while actually in medical school, so keep the well-paying job while you can to keep your debt load as low as possible.

Regarding research, all you can do is inquire at your university in the psychology, biology, chemistry etc. departments about opportunities. Some universities/departments may require you to have a declared major before doing research, but only your university can answer that one. Research is required for MD/PhD programs and looked highly upon by MD programs. Some medical schools may even have research experience as an unofficial requirement. However, if you are an otherwise excellent candidate, the lack of research shouldn't mean the difference between acceptance somewhere and rejection everywhere. I would do research if you have the time, but don't think you are completely screwed if you don't. If you don't, you will simply have to examine the schools you want to apply to to see what their requirements are.

 

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Thanks a lot!

 

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[theseeker4]

Another quesiton. I see people taking classes at community colleges because it is cheaper. It seems to me that med schools would look somewhat down on it, questioning the level of difficulty. I want to take classes at my local university, but it is pretty expensive. I was talking to people at my financial aid department and they told me that there are federal loans available to non-degree grad students taking classes required for acceptance into med school. Anybody has any experience/knowledge about it?

Regarding community college, medical schools want to see that you can handle university-level work. What is your undergraduate GPA? If it is strong, as in 3.7-3.8+, taking the classes at a community college shouldn't hurt your application at all, as long as you get A's in them.

There are federal loans available; I simply had to state on the loan application that I was taking courses required to enter a graduate program, as opposed to simply taking classes for fun. I maxed out the loan and had to have someone cosign on another ~7 grand in order to get all the pre-reqs in. Depending on how many you actually have to take, and how much they will cost, you may have to take additional loans. Or you could take some of the classes at a community college and others at the university, to defray the cost while demonstrating you can do the work at a university. This depends on your GPA, etc.