I need advice about my future (and I know you know the answer) ;)

[Aneczka]

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Hi everyone!

I'm living in America for 5 years. Im originally from Poland. Got married, have son and still don't know what I should do with my life. I didn't go to university in Poland because I met my husband and did not planned my future in my country. I had to come here. I had big plans when I came here, go to college, have a good job. But life happens, I got pregnant, then my husband (veteran) went to school (for me that was important to let him finish his degree so he can provide for family while i'm getting my education).
Now i'm 28 and have that huge dream of becoming a doctor. That was my dream since I was a little girl. I have big need of helping other people. My mom was a nurse and nursing school teacher in Poland. I always loved everything about humans body. But i didn't wanted to be a nurse.
Its been a while since I was in school last time. I don't have any degree (just high school diploma). I know I need bachelor degree before I even consider getting in to med school. My question is: what is the best degree to get and in case if i don't get accepted that can be as close to be a doctor as possible 😉 I heard about physician assistant but I don't know if that's enough to get in med school.
I know i'm old maybe too old for my dream also I have a 4 year old son. I know its gonna be hard. But how hard?

 

[g2603]

You could major in biology maybe? That would be a good start

 

[doctorleospaceman]

To become a physician assistant you will need a bachelor degree as well. Since you said that you do not want to do nursing, I would recommend looking into a bacherlors degree in allied health.

You are by no means too old for your dream.

 

[arc5005]

They also offer bachelor-level Physician Assistant programs like at St. Johns University and Rochester Institute of Technology... And some others. You could always apply to one of those programs. Or, just study whatever you are most interested in, and also do your pre-med reqs.

 

[DokterMom]

Get a degree in a field that interests you and on one where you will be able to find rewarding work in case you don't end up in medical school. A bachelor PA program sounds great if you live near a university that offers it.

 

[Lawpy]

You will find a lot of solidarity and support in the Non Trad forums (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/nontraditional-students.110/)

Physician assistant is a good alternative outside of medical school, but I wouldn't recommend going into that direction if your goals are in medicine. Normally, I would say major in whatever you like and go from there (at the cheapest, but well respected university), but if medicine is really something you are passionate about, you should major in something along the lines of biology/human biology/physiology etc.

Ideally, you should major in something that allows you to complete the following prerequisite courses for medical school:

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
1 year of math courses (calculus or statistics, but the latter is accepted and easier)
a biochemistry course
a sociology course
a psychology course

(Trust me, they aren't long and scary as they look. It's perfectly doable 😉)

Some schools may have additional requirements, from which you can find out by using a handy feature called the Medical School Admissions Requirements

While you are completing your coursework, you should definitely explore the US healthcare more by shadowing physicians, PAs, nurses etc., as well as acquiring some clinical experience by volunteering in hospitals/clinics etc.

There are other requirements involved, but you should focus on the simplest things first to make sure you know more about the career you want to pursue.

 

[Aneczka]

You could major in biology maybe? That would be a good start

I thought about biology. But if I don't get accepted to med school what I'm gonna do with biology degree? I heard that's useless degree.

 

[Aneczka]

To become a physician assistant you will need a bachelor degree as well. Since you said that you do not want to do nursing, I would recommend looking into a bacherlors degree in allied health.

You are by no means too old for your dream.

Thank you for your advice! I will read more about allied health.

 

[Aneczka]

Get a degree in what interests you and also completes the standard med school pre-reqs.

I also need to think about something that's not super hard. I know I need to have good grades to get in med school.

 

[Aneczka]

They also offer bachelor-level Physician Assistant programs like at St. Johns University and Rochester Institute of Technology... And some others. You could always apply to one of those programs. Or, just study whatever you are most interested in, and also do your pre-med reqs.

I live in Charlotte, NC I looked in couple places but its hard to find programs like that one. Maybe I need to look harder 😉

 

[123456123456]

You could major in anything that interests you that you think you can excel in, just make sure you do the pre-reqs including a few psych/sociology classes and a few upper level science classes like 2-3 (such as genetics, immunology, biochemistry, histology, etc). My school offers a interdisciplinary studies major which I think is cool because you pick three different majors and take classes in each (whichever one you want to take) so you could do psych, sociology, and some type of medical science that includes A&P, immunology, biochem, etc.

 

[Aneczka]

Get a degree in a field that interests you and on one where you will be able to find rewarding work in case you don't end up in medical school. A bachelor PA program sounds great if you live near a university that offers it.

That's what I was thinking about but in my area is no PA programs...Or i don't know how to look for that...

 

[Aneczka]

You will find a lot of solidarity and support in the Non Trad forums (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/nontraditional-students.110/)

Physician assistant is a good alternative outside of medical school, but I wouldn't recommend going into that direction if your goals are in medicine. Normally, I would say major in whatever you like and go from there (at the cheapest, but well respected university), but if medicine is really something you are passionate about, you should major in something along the lines of biology/human biology/physiology etc.

Ideally, you should major in something that allows you to complete the following prerequisite courses for medical school:

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
1 year of math courses (calculus or statistics, but the latter is accepted and easier)
a biochemistry course
a sociology course
a psychology course

(Trust me, they aren't long and scary as they look. It's perfectly doable 😉)

Some schools may have additional requirements, from which you can find out by using a handy feature called the Medical School Admissions Requirements

While you are completing your coursework, you should definitely explore the US healthcare more by shadowing physicians, PAs, nurses etc., as well as acquiring some clinical experience by volunteering in hospitals/clinics etc.

There are other requirements involved, but you should focus on the simplest things first to make sure you know more about the career you want to pursue.

Thank you for your help 🙂 from all that classes I guess biology will be the best fit. But i'm nor sure if i find good paying job with that degree if i don't get accepted to med school 🙁
I'm not worrying about med school to be long and hard 😉 for me it will be interesting. I'm only scared of looking at dead bodies...

 

[Aneczka]

You could major in anything that interests you that you think you can excel in, just make sure you do the pre-reqs including a few psych/sociology classes and a few upper level science classes like 2-3 (such as genetics, immunology, biochemistry, histology, etc). My school offers a interdisciplinary studies major which I think is cool because you pick three different majors and take classes in each (whichever one you want to take) so you could do psych, sociology, and some type of medical science that includes A&P, immunology, biochem, etc.

Thanks! 🙂 I will have to find out what options I have in schools around me 🙂

 

[Aneczka]

tbh fam med school would be 4 yrs undergrad + potentially a gap year + 4 years med school + 3 years residency minimum. PA schools would be good consideration. get involved in healthcare volunteering now to make your application look good, PA schools need a lot of healthcare experience

Thank you. So I can volunteer even if i'm not in school yet?

 

[CremasterOfScience]

To answer a couple of your later questions down the line:

Yes, you can begin volunteering at any time. All the hours count and they are very helpful for any medical program.

With a bachelor's degree in biology (I have one), I considered basically two other options: teaching or laboratory research assistant. I'm sure there are other options, but like you, I don't know many haha.

If you did get a biology degree and didn't get accepted to medical school or decided it wasn't for you, with that degree you could apply to some of the other health-field related jobs. Such as: PA, Podiatry, Dental, Vet (although that may be even harder than medicine), Physical Therapy, and so on. Many of these graduate programs require a bachelor's degree and have similar requirements, but are slightly easier to get into.

 

[Theafoni]

Community college would be a good place to start. Then transfer to a college/university. Obtain bachelor's in about 3-4 years. It's imperative that you obtain a high GPA through this process. That allied health degree sounds interesting as the poster mentioned above.

Make sure to build a strong application too as others have said for instance obtaining clinical experience, volunteering, shadowing, research experience, work experience etc.

 

[Theafoni]

Thank you. So I can volunteer even if i'm not in school yet?

Yeah that's fine. Do you know any local hospitals that allow for volunteering?

When do you plan to start school?

 

[Lawpy]

Thank you for your help 🙂 from all that classes I guess biology will be the best fit. But i'm nor sure if i find good paying job with that degree if i don't get accepted to med school 🙁
I'm not worrying about med school to be long and hard 😉 for me it will be interesting. I'm only scared of looking at dead bodies...

The job prospects with a biology degree in itself are poor because biology isn't a marketable degree and the skills are pretty useless. However, if you make the most of your degree by taking practical, non-biology electives (say in business for example) as well as focusing on enhancing your skill sets in these areas, you can acquire a solid job after graduation. This is why it is very strongly recommended even for medical school to focus on things outside of biology/medicine (provided you also acquire good clinical/shadowing experience, volunteerism, and optionally research, teaching and leadership).

 

[Aneczka]

To answer a couple of your later questions down the line:

Yes, you can begin volunteering at any time. All the hours count and they are very helpful for any medical program.

With a bachelor's degree in biology (I have one), I considered basically two other options: teaching or laboratory research assistant. I'm sure there are other options, but like you, I don't know many haha.

If you did get a biology degree and didn't get accepted to medical school or decided it wasn't for you, with that degree you could apply to some of the other health-field related jobs. Such as: PA, Podiatry, Dental, Vet (although that may be even harder than medicine), Physical Therapy, and so on. Many of these graduate programs require a bachelor's degree and have similar requirements, but are slightly easier to get into.

I'm scared to go with the biology. As much as I don't want to be a nurse maybe that would be a good idea. Pay is not bad, they do almost as much as doctors and I can always try CRNA. But i'm not sure if nursing got all that classes I need...

 

[Aneczka]

Yeah that's fine. Do you know any local hospitals that allow for volunteering?

When do you plan to start school?

Yes, my favorite hospital is like 2 miles away from my home 😉 I said favorite because I just love to be there. Sounds crazy but I just love hospitals to that point. I wish I can go to school as soon as possible but I can't. I still don't have my green card. And without green card I cant do nothing. I hope to get everything straight next year and start school. I checked my local hospital and i can volunteer there but once again I don't wanna do nothing that requires criminal background check or other closer looks at me without my legal papers. So let's hope everything works out for me this coming year and i can get to school. I'm getting old and there is no time to wait 😉

 

[Aneczka]

The job prospects with a biology degree in itself are poor because biology isn't a marketable degree and the skills are pretty useless. However, if you make the most of your degree by taking practical, non-biology electives (say in business for example) as well as focusing on enhancing your skill sets in these areas, you can acquire a solid job after graduation. This is why it is very strongly recommended even for medical school to focus on things outside of biology/medicine (provided you also acquire good clinical/shadowing experience, volunteerism, and optionally research, teaching and leadership).

I really don't know what else I could do. All im interested about is humans body and beside biology or nursing I don't know what else could make me happy. I don't see myself studying something for 4 years that is not my hobby....

 

[Lawpy]

I really don't know what else I could do. All im interested about is humans body and beside biology or nursing I don't know what else could make me happy. I don't see myself studying something for 4 years that is not my hobby....

Then focus on medicine and use nursing/physician assistant as a backup.

 

[Aneczka]

Then focus on medicine and use nursing/physician assistant as a backup.

For physician assistant I need to have some other school done first?

 

[Lawpy]

For physician assistant I need to have some other school done first?

Not really. The prerequisites are essentially the same. Focus on that right now.