Is this doable

[amby_1986]

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Hi All,

My apologies this is my first post so in case i have asked something which has already been asked i am sorry.
Have gone through the FAQ's as well : http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...qs-and-helpful-links-updated-10-19-12.532079/
It looks like a mountain to climb, probably the toughest thing to do on earth.
First i will start off with my background,
I had done bachelors of technology in Electrical and electronics.
Right now i am working in information technology for the past eight years.
I want to pursue medicine.
Ethinicity is asian.
To be honest i dont know if there is a concept called non traditional doctors🙂. When i had to take college i had to choose either engineering or medicine. I thought i wouldnt be able to study medicine ever after getting into engineering. But thanks to america there is hope.
Now i wanted to know what should be the road ahead.
Pre med --> MCAT --> Med school right?
Now is pre med mandatory, is there no way since i already have a bachelors degree but not in biology.
Whats the best approach suggested or way forward? Have many questions, would love to hear back from you folks.
Thanks so much in advance for helping me.

 

[DrMidlife]

US citizenship or permanent residency?
Foreign or US bachelors degree?

 

[amby_1986]

That was quick.
Thanks so much for the quick response.
I dont have a green card. I am on work visa at the moment.
Mine is a degree from india. What do you suggest ?

 

[SpicyFalafel]

Some medical school would accept international students if you can prove you can pay tuition. As far as pre-reqs/pre med, you would have to take tehm at US institution. Bachelor in any major is acceptable.

 

[amby_1986]

I am ready to get pre med. I had seen there is a pre med at cornell for 2 years.
Any options like that would it feasible.
I can completely understand when you say they discourage international students. To be honest i dont have the money, if i have to pay 4 years fees then i should be getting federal loan for which i am not eligible since i am not a GC/Citizen.
Guys/Gals please help me what can i do now. I dont mind doing pre med, but the problem is that i cannot do for 4 years since it would affect my finances. So what do you suggest.
Is part time or online feasible while i am working? Will the med schools consider this ?
I am from charlotte north carolina, full time would mean i should resign from my job. I am ready to do it, but i need six more months. I have to pay off lots of loans back in my home country.
I am ok with whatever approach you suggest.

 

[amby_1986]

Anything i am willing to hear. I want to study for my passion.

 

[amby_1986]

If pre med is unavoidable what do you suggest any cheap colleges, where the fees is not high. Which can be completed in a short period of time. I am not married so i would be having single point agenda if i go for pre med. I am looking at all options at this point of time. Is there something like if you do it from good pre med schools then only we can get admission into med school. If we dont get into med school then medicine career is over right.

 

[DrMidlife]

Without US permanent residency or citizenship you are wasting your time.

The non-Canadian non-US-citizens-or-greencard-holders who get accepted at US medical schools are generally (a) very wealthy, (b) in the top 1% of applicants and (c) very well connected.

If medicine is your dream, you may find there are more opportunities back home, as many countries have begun offering "masters entry" med school programs. Without the ability to borrow money for school from your country of citizenship, I don't see this working out.

Sorry the news isn't better.

 

[amby_1986]

Money i will try to work out something, first i need to get started on pre med right. First i want to complete pre med what would you suggest. I can take a student loan back from india for the pre med. But first i would need to know what and where to study right. What do you think.
I dont want to give up so soon 🙂. I understand the problems what you have suggested. Green card my office might sponsor and i might get in a few years down the line. But first i need to complete pre med right.

 

[amby_1986]

Until i get a green card i have to be with my company for a few years. But first i wanted to complete pre med is part time realistic option. Can we do something online as well?

 

[DrMidlife]

You can take all the classes you like.

Back in my day it took 6-10 years to get employer support for a greencard in an engineering discipline. If you get laid off, you start over. If your employer makes mistakes (which happens 100% of the time) then more time gets added. Congress confuses migrant workers with engineers all the time and is currently dominated by an anti-immigrant party. Your employer wants your labor, and may be just as happy with you working offshore or from a new office in your home country, because getting you a greencard is a pain in the ass and it's easy to make you think your greencard is a priority when they're actually prioritizing labor prospects who won't demand a greencard (cheaper labor). My point is that it's not predictable when you'll get a greencard, and a plan to go to med school in the US absolutely depends on this. (Also: it's not a level playing field. Your fresh greencard doesn't make you an equivalent to a citizen in a huge pile of med school apps.)

So go ahead and dream and take classes, with the understanding that a plan to go from visa'd engineer to greencarded premed is very delicate and there are no guarantees. 6-10 years from now you might feel very differently about all this.

And, fundamentally, of course you want to go to med school in the US, because it's still got the shiny prestige and salary and social status and peer respect. But you should read up on how the business of US medicine is changing. 6-10 years from now when you can start med school you'll still be a minimum of 7 years away from practice. You have no income during at least 4 of those years. So you're 13-17 years from being a physician, and that job may no longer be what it is now.

By the way, for US citizens trying to get into med school, the recent trend is 60% rejection. About 50,000 applicants for about 20,000 seats, each year.

 

[amby_1986]

Thanks so much, this is what i want your support. Thanks so much for the encouragement.
I have second that, i understand that green card is so important. I am hopefull on that. To be honest relocating me back to india is more difficult. Probably laying me off is easier 🙂. So you think even green card wont help ?
Thanks so much , i am very happy that you support my dream. Yeah true.
I am ok with not earning, i want to pursue my dream. I dont want to die with regrets. I know i am being foolish and not realistic but thats i want to do. If it was for the money i would have been in the current job and continued 🙂. Hopefully they dont replace doctors with robots 🙂.
So its incredibly tough to get into the medical school.
What should i be doing next ?
I have no idea about the part time or online, i cant leave the job. But want to know if its not going to be a waste if i dont do full time.

 

[amby_1986]

One question so even green card wont help since medical school looks for citizens first ?

 

[DrMidlife]

Green card gets you in the door. It doesn't get you on equal ground.

Let go of yes/no black/white answers. There aren't any.

 

[amby_1986]

Thanks so much for the info, oh ok understood.
Done, point noted. Will not ask them. I am very new sorry if i had offended.
What do you suggest, should i try for any part time stuff out here for the pre med ?

 

[DrMidlife]

My suggestion: prioritize and balance your goals. One goal is to practice medicine. One goal (apparently) is to live in the US long term. One goal (apparently) is to have a stable, well-paying, prestigious, socially respectable job. One goal (apparently) is to have more job satisfaction than you have as an engineer working for a US company. One goal must be to have an enjoyable supportive social network and/or home life.

You seem to be very focused on taking some classes, which is fine, and this is probably motivated by the need to DO SOMETHING. I suggest that taking classes is one of many options for DOING SOMETHING. I suggest taking maybe six months to study and understand what's happening in the US healthcare industry, and to understand many of the roles influencing healthcare, and to understand what exactly you need to be happy and to have work satisfaction without locking onto being a doctor. The 13-17 year path for you to practice medicine is about the most expensive, excruciating, complicated and frustrating path you could choose to eventually find greater happiness and work satisfaction. Before you take yourself seriously in this ambition, fill out a top 5 list of careers that you would enjoy. (I hope, for your sake, that one of those is engineering.) It is intellectually and ethically lazy to decide that you'll only be happy as a doctor without rigorously looking for other careers in which you'd be happy. Doubly so with the barriers to entry that you face.

There are a lot of miserable doctors in the US. Learn why, as part of responsible research.

You may be able to find a volunteer position in a clinical setting, which costs you nothing and is part of the required US premed path. Be grateful if you are allowed to push stretchers and escort visitors.

Best of luck to you.

 

[amby_1986]

Very true, have to prioritize goals for sure. Yes very true home has to support me.
Its not that i want to jump on classes, i wanted to know the best possible approach for me at this point of time. You speak very practical point of view i really admire that. Its not that i want to jump on to the classes immediately. I will go to the university and speak to people and get to know about the pre med stuff how can i manage stuff. Yes definitely the odds are against me, its a not even a mountain to climb much greater than that. I will not give up on being doctor no matter how long it takes. Please dont get me wrong for not agreeing on that. You know any colleges which i should be targetting related to pre med 2 years ones ?
Any advise for any specific 2 year colleges for pre meds ?
Yes would research on that topic for sure. Thats a lovely starting point.
I have been associated with volunteering a lot, but not clinical i will go and try. I would be so thankful if they allow me to do it. I would definitely first go and enquire about stuff.
I will start off with volunteering and then enquire about colleges what do you think?
Does pre med has to be from an extremely good college?

 

[amby_1986]

Also i had a doubt, MD and DO.
Does it have a big difference in what we choose?