How much preparation do I need for first year?

[Dr. Leo Spaceman]

Hey guys and gals, the semester is almost over and it looks like the 4.0 post-bacc GPA will remain (knock on wood). Next semester I’ve got Ochem II, Microbiology and Genetics, followed by Biochem and a required Psychology course in the summer. MCAT is June 30th. Extracurriculars are VERY strong. I’m not super worried about getting in to a medical school.

HOWEVER…is this enough preparation for medical school? Will I be familiar enough with the sciences – with only the prerequisites plus biochem and genetics – to succeed in first year? I ask because next year I could either 1) take a load of awesome courses like virology, immunology, anatomy (w/donor body lab!), and histology while going a bit further in debt OR 2) do an Americorps program called City Year, which will make me eligible to APPLY (key work: apply ...there are only 20 scholarships available for all graduate programs) for a full-tuition City Year scholarship at my state’s DO school OR 3) use my econ degree to work at a decent “grown up” job and pay off my debt, relax, etc.

You guys think I can still kill first year as the econ major with only the prerequisites? Or should I go with option 1?

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[0dee]

3 seems the best option, the less debt you have the better you'll enjoy life later on.

In terms of preparation for medical school, there isn't a class that will fully prepare you for the amount of information that will be thrown at you. Yes, having some background information about biochem, genetics, cell bio, anatomy and physiology helps, but I don't think it's a determining factor to your success.

 

[edawgmd]

I hate to burst your bubble, but no amount of undergraduate/post-bacc coursework will "prepare" you for the pre-clinical course load of medical school (MD or DO). The sciences you take now will surely give you a good introduction, but as far as preparing you, it can't even compare. Just make sure you are the best applicant you can be, get into med school as soon as you are ready, and work very very hard .

To put it in some perspective, the whole semester's worth of material in your intro biochem class is covered within ~2-3 weeks in med school. In addition to this, you will be taking other courses with the same amount of material concurrently. After lurking on the forums for a while, you will see that the general consensus about undergrad anatomy is essentially a joke compared to anatomy in med school. I'm not saying this to scare you, but it's just to orient you in the proper mindset of what to expect. Best of luck!

 

[Dr. Leo Spaceman]

Wow! I definitely wasn't expecting these answers. I guess it just seemed like another 4-5 upper-division bio classes would make first and second year a lot less stressful.

 

[Dr. Leo Spaceman]

No love for the City Year option? It could potentially save me $100k in tuition if I were awarded one of those scholarships.

 

[Marrowist]

If I were you, I would be far more concerned about doing well on the MCAT right now. That should be your one and only goal right now.

 

[Espressso]

If I were you, I would be far more concerned about doing well on the MCAT right now. That should be your one and only goal right now.

Yeah, this.

City year sounds interesting. But again, you should be focusing on the MCAT before you say that you're not worried about getting an acceptance. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves here.

 

[medstar11]

MCAT and the City year thing is pretty awesome. You would do better to avoid some debt than to pay of your current more likely than not. Student loan interest is no joke...

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

If you can... take a full year of anatomy. Not even joking. That will help immensely.

 

[Kayce]

Hey @akc23 !! I actually just finished the year with City Year in June! PM me for additional questions about the program, I would love to answer any questions you might have! Good luck!

 

[Dr. Leo Spaceman]

OK so City Year won't let me use the full tuition scholarship for the DO program .....
But the more I look into it, the more it looks like such a rewarding program. I really love teaching! Plus they've already offered me a position in the 2017-2018 corps!