JD to MD?

[goyankees]

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Does anyone out there have any advice for a corporate lawyer who wants to switch gears and go to med school? I started off college pre-med and so have half of my pre-req's. Is it possible to re-do them? Or do I have to leap back and suddenly do Orgo II? After having gone through law school I can't really remember anything I learned in bio or physics or orgo - it was about 7 years ago!
How do adcom's view lawyers who want to go to med school? Is my JD a 'negative'? I went to a top 15 law school and did pretty well. Do they factor my law school GPA into things or is it just sort of an addendum? I just haven't been able to find any sort of passion for corporate litigation and I've sincerely regretted my decision to quit the pre-med track. I woke up with the realization that life's short and I really don't want to spend it locked in an office writing memos and going through documents for a gazillion hours a week. I'm looking to start back up with either a formal post-bacc program or putting together some sort of program myself and finding some sort of less demanding part time job while I go back to school.
Is there anyone who's gone from being a lawyer to a doctor? Is it even possible??? Am I crazy for wanting to do this?

 

[Law2Doc]

Does anyone out there have any advice for a corporate lawyer who wants to switch gears and go to med school? I started off college pre-med and so have half of my pre-req's. Is it possible to re-do them? Or do I have to leap back and suddenly do Orgo II? After having gone through law school I can't really remember anything I learned in bio or physics or orgo - it was about 7 years ago!
How do adcom's view lawyers who want to go to med school? Is my JD a 'negative'? I went to a top 15 law school and did pretty well. Do they factor my law school GPA into things or is it just sort of an addendum? I just haven't been able to find any sort of passion for corporate litigation and I've sincerely regretted my decision to quit the pre-med track. I woke up with the realization that life's short and I really don't want to spend it locked in an office writing memos and going through documents for a gazillion hours a week. I'm looking to start back up with either a formal post-bacc program or putting together some sort of program myself and finding some sort of less demanding part time job while I go back to school.
Is there anyone who's gone from being a lawyer to a doctor? Is it even possible??? Am I crazy for wanting to do this?

Am happy to answer all your questions, having come from a remarkably similar background myself. First, yes, you can usually retake courses you too a very long time ago. For most schools there is no specific requirement that you do, but some schools and postbac advisors strongly suggest it (and thus I did). Both set of grades will end up in your AMCAS (so in effect they will be a double weighted average). While I came across no overt hostility toward lawyers in med school, you will want to play up your legal skillsets as a plus for working in medicine, and will want to find a way to assure everyone you deal with that you aren't planning on going back to law after the MD to sue doctors. Your law school GPA and credentials will be seen, but will tend to be secondary to undergrad and postbac (or SMP, etc.) grades -- basically just a fancy EC that sets you apart. Getting good exposure to clinical medical practice is key -- as a true career changer from one profession to another you are going to be expected to have a decent knowledge of what you are getting into, why you are making the change, why now, and what you hope to do after you have both degrees. It's certainly possible, but as for whether it's crazy -- I would be the wrong one to ask (i.e. if it's crazy, then I'm off the deep end too). Good luck.

 

[goyankees]

Am happy to answer all your questions, having come from a remarkably similar background myself. First, yes, you can usually retake courses you too a very long time ago. For most schools there is no specific requirement that you do, but some schools and postbac advisors strongly suggest it (and thus I did). Both set of grades will end up in your AMCAS (so in effect they will be a double weighted average). While I came across no overt hostility toward lawyers in med school, you will want to play up your legal skillsets as a plus for working in medicine, and will want to find a way to assure everyone you deal with that you aren't planning on going back to law after the MD to sue doctors. Your law school GPA and credentials will be seen, but will tend to be secondary to undergrad and postbac (or SMP, etc.) grades -- basically just a fancy EC that sets you apart. Getting good exposure to clinical medical practice is key -- as a true career changer from one profession to another you are going to be expected to have a decent knowledge of what you are getting into, why you are making the change, why now, and what you hope to do after you have both degrees. It's certainly possible, but as for whether it's crazy -- I would be the wrong one to ask (i.e. if it's crazy, then I'm off the deep end too). Good luck.

Thanks so much for your advice. I'm just now getting started trying to figure out how I can make this happen. It's good to hear that you've managed to succeed at it. I definitely need to get some recent exposure to the medical world - I volunteered a lot in college and directly after - but now I only do legal pro bono and none of it has been health related unfortunately. Did you volunteer on the side while still working at a firm? Did you do a formal post-bacc program? Right now they are the most attractive, but I'm worried about taking on even more debt. The other option is to keep working and take the classes at night, but I can't even imagine the reaction I would get at my firm when I announce I have to leave for chemistry class. And I wonder what kind of part time job I would even be qualified for that would be health related. How did you make it work??
I really regret having gone to law school in the first place... Oh well. It's never too late to go back to my original dream of being a doctor, right?