I want your opinion...

[shattob]

Hello,

I am looking for some opinions outside of my normal advice givers. I am 24 years old. I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Occupational Safety and Health (weird degree, I know) in 2015 with a 3.55 overall GPA and a 3.92 GPA in my last 68 hours of my major/minor courses. I have been working at a hospital in employee/patient safety (non-clinical) since 2016 and have grown tired of the 9 to 5 Monday through Friday business/administration atmosphere. I work very closely with clinical staff on a day to day basis and this, along with a few family experiences, has driven me to want to pursue a career on the clinical side of healthcare. My girlfriend is a Registered Nurse and has advised me not to go back an retrieve another bachelors degree to become a nurse.

With that in mind, I've done quite a bit of research on PA and MD/DO professions. I have a shadowing opportunity in January with an ortho PA and plan on finding an MD/DO shortly after. Now to the bad news, the only science class I completed in college was Biology 1 and some industrial hygiene classes for my major. I recently started taking classes at my local CC to test the science "waters". I ended up with an A in Gen Chem 1 and Spanish while working 40 hours full time at my current job. This definitely upped my confidence so I am planning on moving forward to the spring semester with Gen Chem 2 and A&P 1. My plan is to complete most of the lower level science classes at the CC and transfer to the closest University to complete my upper-level classes or to a post-bacc program. I currently am making pretty decent money and do not want to quit my job but, I don't know that it will help me in this transition. Does anyone have any advice or think this isn't a good idea or just any feedback on my situation?

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SpartanDOnoharm]

The first thing I would say is there is nothing wrong with being a nurse. It is a tough job, you can do a lot with the degree, it can be well paying, and I always hate when people say "just" a nurse. That being said, what do you want to do? My recommendation if you're not sure if you want to go the PA, RN, MD/DO route is to shadow each one of them a few times. See what they do, see if you could picture yourself doing that. There are advantages and disadvantages to each one of those degrees. All can be clinical, some offer more mobility than others, and PA/RN have less schooling the MD/DO route. Best of luck to you!

 

[TNtraumajunkie]

.

 

[AnotherLawyer]

Hello,

I am looking for some opinions outside of my normal advice givers. I am 24 years old. I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Occupational Safety and Health (weird degree, I know) in 2015 with a 3.55 overall GPA and a 3.92 GPA in my last 68 hours of my major/minor courses. I have been working at a hospital in employee/patient safety (non-clinical) since 2016 and have grown tired of the 9 to 5 Monday through Friday business/administration atmosphere. I work very closely with clinical staff on a day to day basis and this, along with a few family experiences, has driven me to want to pursue a career on the clinical side of healthcare. My gf is an RN and has advised me not to go back an retrieve another bachelors degree just to become a nurse.

With that in mind, I've done quite a bit of research on PA and MD/DO professions. I have a shadowing opportunity in January with an ortho PA and plan on finding an MD/DO shortly after. Now to the bad news, the only science class I completed in college was Biology 1 and some industrial hygiene classes for my major. I recently started taking classes at my local CC to test the science "waters". I ended up with an A in Gen Chem 1 and Spanish while working 40 hours full time at my current job. This definitely upped my confidence so I am planning on moving forward to the spring semester with Gen Chem 2 and A&P 1. My plan is to complete most of the lower level science classes at the CC and transfer to the closest University to complete my upper-level classes or to a post-bacc program. I currently am making pretty decent money and do not want to quit my job but, I don't know that it will help me in this transition. Does anyone have any advice or think this isn't a good idea or just any feedback on my situation?

Thanks!

Congrats on the recent good grades. You're off to a good start. Just double check what is and isn't a pre-req at the schools you're interested in. I know A&P generally is not a substitute for general bio 1 and 2.

Beyond that, keep shadowing, volunteer, get clinical exposure, do well on the MCAT.

 

[shattob]

The first thing I would say is there is nothing wrong with being a nurse. It is a tough job, you can do a lot with the degree, it can be well paying, and I always hate when people say "just" a nurse. That being said, what do you want to do? My recommendation if you're not sure if you want to go the PA, RN, MD/DO route is to shadow each one of them a few times. See what they do, see if you could picture yourself doing that. There are advantages and disadvantages to each one of those degrees. All can be clinical, some offer more mobility than others, and PA/RN have less schooling the MD/DO route. Best of luck to you!

Thank you for the feedback! I'm definitely not saying becoming a nurse is a bad thing. I work with nurses every day in my current job and they are the only reason the hospital operates the way it does. I was expressing what my girlfriends perspective was towards me going to nursing school and essentially be on the same level I am now (with a BS degree) since she is already a registered nurse and knows me on a personal level.

 

[shattob]

Congrats on the recent good grades. You're off to a good start. Just double check what is and isn't a pre-req at the schools you're interested in. I know A&P generally is not a substitute for general bio 1 and 2.

Beyond that, keep shadowing, volunteer, get clinical exposure, do well on the MCAT.

I am working off TMDSAS (Texas) and this is straight from their site:

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

14 semester hours (12 semester hours of lecture & 2 semester hours of formal lab) or 21 quarter hours (18 quarter lecture hours & 3 quarter lab hours) of Biological Science.

Includes all Biological Science courses applied toward Baccalaureate degree in traditional science fields, such as General Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Ecology, Immunology, Parasitology and Anatomy & Physiology.

To me it just seems that 14 hours are required from any of the listed classes? I have Bio 1 but I took it during my freshman year roughly 5 years ago so wasn't sure how well I would do in Bio 2.

 

[RNthenDoc]

Sounds like you’re on a good path, just take your time with shadowing/keep those awesome grades up and discern where you want to be long before you sign on the dotted line.

PA is a great career, but you should figure out if you would be satisfied there or would end up wishing you had done a doctorate. Everyone is different!

 

[AnotherLawyer]

I am working off TMDSAS (Texas) and this is straight from their site:

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

14 semester hours (12 semester hours of lecture & 2 semester hours of formal lab) or 21 quarter hours (18 quarter lecture hours & 3 quarter lab hours) of Biological Science.

Includes all Biological Science courses applied toward Baccalaureate degree in traditional science fields, such as General Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Ecology, Immunology, Parasitology and Anatomy & Physiology.

To me it just seems that 14 hours are required from any of the listed classes? I have Bio 1 but I took it during my freshman year roughly 5 years ago so wasn't sure how well I would do in Bio 2.

Most schools require general bio 1 and 2. If the schools you're interested in require something different/additional, that's fine. All I was suggesting is that you check, which it appears you've done. I will say, however, that probably >99% of applicants, including in TX, take bio 1 and bio 2, so if you don't have bio 2 your app may stand out.

Also, in my experience, bio 2 was in no way a continuation of bio 1 so don't feel like being rusty in bio 1 topics is going to prevent you from doing well in bio 2.

Finally, consider what will help you for the MCAT. The A&P on the MCAT is pretty superficial. If I had to take an upper level class, I would take a genetics course heavy in experimental techniques/design. Anecdotally, I never took A&P and my bio 2 class didn't cover any A&P. I had zero problems getting up to speed on MCAT level A&P on my own.

 

[shattob]

Most schools require general bio 1 and 2. If the schools you're interested in require something different/additional, that's fine. All I was suggesting is that you check, which it appears you've done. I will say, however, that probably >99% of applicants, including in TX, take bio 1 and bio 2, so if you don't have bio 2 your app may stand out.

Also, in my experience, bio 2 was in no way a continuation of bio 1 so don't feel like being rusty in bio 1 topics is going to prevent you from doing well in bio 2.

Finally, consider what will help you for the MCAT. The A&P on the MCAT is pretty superficial. If I had to take an upper level class, I would take a genetics course heavy in experimental techniques/design. Anecdotally, I never took A&P and my bio 2 class didn't cover any A&P. I had zero problems getting up to speed on MCAT level A&P on my own.

This is the school's statement on their prerequisite requirements:

Biology
Requirements

• Two years of courses for science majors
• One year must include formal laboratory experience
• A minimum of 14 semester credit hours, eight for year one with lab and six for the remainder; or 12 lecture hours and two lab hours
• A grade of C or better in all biology courses applied toward a baccalaureate degree in a traditional science field
• If two semesters of biochemistry are completed, one semester of biochemistry will be accepted toward fulfilling this requirement.

Acceptable Courses / Credit
Includes all biology courses applied toward baccalaureate degree in a traditional science field. Includes courses in general biology, zoology, botany, microbiology, genetics, ecology, immunology, parasitology, ornithology, anatomy and physiology, entomology, pathophysiology, marine biology, and herpetology. Courses for non-science majors or courses taught for health career majors (nursing, pharmacy, or allied health sciences) are not accepted.

The main reason for taking A&P I was to cover my basis for the science requirement for pre-med along with the PA school I was looking in to. Guess I should get with my advisor just to be sure. Do you think the B in Bio 1 will hurt me? It was nearly 5 years ago before I realized I didn't want to "just pass" my classes... Thanks!

 

[star.buck]

Most schools require general bio 1 and 2. If the schools you're interested in require something different/additional, that's fine. All I was suggesting is that you check, which it appears you've done. I will say, however, that probably >99% of applicants, including in TX, take bio 1 and bio 2, so if you don't have bio 2 your app may stand out.

Also, in my experience, bio 2 was in no way a continuation of bio 1 so don't feel like being rusty in bio 1 topics is going to prevent you from doing well in bio 2.

Finally, consider what will help you for the MCAT. The A&P on the MCAT is pretty superficial. If I had to take an upper level class, I would take a genetics course heavy in experimental techniques/design. Anecdotally, I never took A&P and my bio 2 class didn't cover any A&P. I had zero problems getting up to speed on MCAT level A&P on my own.

This is the school's statement on their prerequisite requirements:

Biology
Requirements

• Two years of courses for science majors
• One year must include formal laboratory experience
• A minimum of 14 semester credit hours, eight for year one with lab and six for the remainder; or 12 lecture hours and two lab hours
• A grade of C or better in all biology courses applied toward a baccalaureate degree in a traditional science field
• If two semesters of biochemistry are completed, one semester of biochemistry will be accepted toward fulfilling this requirement.

Acceptable Courses / Credit
Includes all biology courses applied toward baccalaureate degree in a traditional science field. Includes courses in general biology, zoology, botany, microbiology, genetics, ecology, immunology, parasitology, ornithology, anatomy and physiology, entomology, pathophysiology, marine biology, and herpetology. Courses for non-science majors or courses taught for health career majors (nursing, pharmacy, or allied health sciences) are not accepted.

The main reason for taking A&P I was to cover my basis for the science requirement for pre-med along with the PA school I was looking in to. Guess I should get with my advisor just to be sure. Do you think the B in Bio 1 will hurt me? It was nearly 5 years ago before I realized I didn't want to "just pass" my classes... Thanks!

Solid advice from people here! I would suggest however to take classes with the subject material of your future program in mind, not just the MCAT. A medical biochem class would help you with both (MCAT has a lot more biochem in it now, and med school course material refers to basic biochem principles constantly).

I didn’t take a solid A&P course because of the fact that it wasn’t heavy on the MCAT, but dang can I tell you I wish I had now that I’m in med school. The firehose is real, and having a better understanding of physiology and anatomy would have made my first year a lot less stressful. Many of my classmates have said the same thing. If you need the credits, or bump to your GPA, make life a little easier for yourself in your future program and get some physiology under your belt.

Best wishes to you!! It’s a long and tough road sometimes, but very worth it!