M.S. vs DIY?

[MarshMedic]

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I'll be graduating this semester from UMBC with a B.S. in Emergency Health Services. I have a 3.46 and tons of clinical experience from my paramedic clinicals. Me and a classmate are set on medical school, the only problem is that we dont have any pre-reqs yet. We have Bio1 as well as AP 1&2, but they are from CC's.

We are trying to decide whether we should DIY, formal postbac, or enter into our departments M.S. in Epidemiology and Prevenative Medicine program and complete pre-reqs at a slower rate but with the added bonus of graduate work. We have been turned down by Goucher and are awaiting word from Hopkins post-bac.

We are currently applying to the M.S. as well as several PA and VA post-bacs. If we DIY'ed we would be taking our classes either at UMBC or Towson U both reputable 4 year institutions.

We have done our homework on the institutions and programs. We are just looking for some outside opinions as to what is the best means of getting accepted to medical school, and which has the best balance of speed vs assurity. Obviously we understand this is a highly personal choice, we are just looking for some input.

Thanks,
kafratta

 

[sazerac]

I'll be graduating this semester from UMBC with a B.S. in Emergency Health Services. I have a 3.46 and tons of clinical experience from my paramedic clinicals. Me and a classmate are set on medical school, the only problem is that we dont have any pre-reqs yet. We have Bio1 as well as AP 1&2, but they are from CC's.

We are trying to decide whether we should DIY, formal postbac, or enter into our departments M.S. in Epidemiology and Prevenative Medicine program and complete pre-reqs at a slower rate but with the added bonus of graduate work. We have been turned down by Goucher and are awaiting word from Hopkins post-bac.

We are currently applying to the M.S. as well as several PA and VA post-bacs. If we DIY'ed we would be taking our classes either at UMBC or Towson U both reputable 4 year institutions.

We have done our homework on the institutions and programs. We are just looking for some outside opinions as to what is the best means of getting accepted to medical school, and which has the best balance of speed vs assurity. Obviously we understand this is a highly personal choice, we are just looking for some input.

Thanks,
kafratta

Nobody in medicine is going to care about a master's degree. Get one if you want, but don't get one to boost your chances at medical school. Medical schools only care about basic science performance in undergrad.

If you're in a hurry, the general plan is to take chemistry over the summer, and then do Bio, OChem, Physics during the regular school year. Take the MCAT the following spring/summer and apply. If you hustle now you could enter with the class of 2019.

You get more support on your path if you do a formal post-bacc, but you sound awfully motivated and you're already on SDN so I'm sure you can figure it all out yourself and would also find success DIY at a generic 4-year university. I went DIY and it worked fine.

 

[MarshMedic]

Thank you for the reply. It is very much appreciated.

 

[ErrantWhatever]

Nobody in medicine is going to care about a master's degree. Get one if you want, but don't get one to boost your chances at medical school. Medical schools only care about basic science performance in undergrad.

If you're in a hurry, the general plan is to take chemistry over the summer, and then do Bio, OChem, Physics during the regular school year. Take the MCAT the following spring/summer and apply. If you hustle now you could enter with the class of 2019.

You get more support on your path if you do a formal post-bacc, but you sound awfully motivated and you're already on SDN so I'm sure you can figure it all out yourself and would also find success DIY at a generic 4-year university. I went DIY and it worked fine.

+1 on every point. Sazerac, you should be a doctor. 😛

 

[Goro]

Not true. A Master's program that incorporastes withsome rigor to them, such as what you'd see in medical school, convince us that you can handle medical school.

Your best bet would be the "backdoor" type SMPs that are offered by many medical schools, such as, say, Drexel, Rosy Franklin, BU, PCOM etc, do exactly that. I'm a little mroe leery of what I perceive as softer MS or MPH programs, because your doing well in, say, Epidemiology or Women's Issues in Global Health is not the same as anatomy, physiology or histology.

Where you do the pre-reqs are pretty much irrelevant. It's their intensity that will be more impressive. I suggest taking anatomy, physiology and either genetics, cellular or molecular biology, or biochemistry.

Nobody in medicine is going to care about a master's degree. Get one if you want, but don't get one to boost your chances at medical school. Medical schools only care about basic science performance in undergrad.

If you're in a hurry, the general plan is to take chemistry over the summer, and then do Bio, OChem, Physics during the regular school year. Take the MCAT the following spring/summer and apply. If you hustle now you could enter with the class of 2019.

You get more support on your path if you do a formal post-bacc, but you sound awfully motivated and you're already on SDN so I'm sure you can figure it all out yourself and would also find success DIY at a generic 4-year university. I went DIY and it worked fine.

 

[sazerac]

Not true. A Master's program that incorporastes withsome rigor to them, such as what you'd see in medical school, convince us that you can handle medical school.

Your best bet would be the "backdoor" type SMPs that are offered by many medical schools, such as, say, Drexel, Rosy Franklin, BU, PCOM etc, do exactly that. I'm a little mroe leery of what I perceive as softer MS or MPH programs, because your doing well in, say, Epidemiology or Women's Issues in Global Health is not the same as anatomy, physiology or histology.

Where you do the pre-reqs are pretty much irrelevant. It's their intensity that will be more impressive. I suggest taking anatomy, physiology and either genetics, cellular or molecular biology, or biochemistry.

Good lord, the OP hasn't even taken Gen Chem 101 yet. SMP's are typically a finishing school, not a starting school. Organic chemistry is usually a prerequisite to biochemistry, so the OP is at least four semesters away from taking that class. Organic chemistry is also a prerequisite to some if not all of the SMP programs you mentioned.

The OP already has a bachelors degree. Already has a respectable GPA. Just dominate the required science classes (summer 2013 - spring 2014), dominate the MCAT (spring 2014 - summer 2014), and apply (summer 2014). That fall while you are flying around to interviews you can take some advanced science classes like biochemistry and molecular biology, but if you get an acceptance before Christmas drop the hell out of undergrad and have some fun.

I know that strategy works, because that's exactly what I did.