Med Device Sales Rep looking into Med School

[furyhockey]

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking on the forums here for a few weeks now as I recently have finally made up my mind to start pursuing what I need to do in order to take the MCAT and hopefully be accepted into med school one day. However, I'm having anxiety over the fact that I'm 27 and married with our first little one on the way in October. I currently sell Med Devices and it's a great job. However, I have always been fascinated with Anesthesia and now I'm starting to rethink my career and want to do it 100%. I have my undergrad in Marketing. Any suggestions on how/where to take my required pre-req science classes? Am I able to just apply to a local University and finish those before taking the MCAT?

Does this sound unrealistic by going after it? I've read it doesn't really matter what you majored in for undergrad as long as you have the required pre-req courses but I feel so far off still. Any suggestions/help would be MUCH appreciated.

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[DrMidlife]

it's a mistake to fixate on a specialty before med school. you can have a favorite, but you'd better be able to imagine yourself in primary care. if med school doesn't go as planned, you still need a job.

encourage your spouse to independently research for herself what it means if you go to med school. don't be the sole provider of opinions on what it means - you won't have a good idea what it means for another decade. ask the docs you work with about their divorces. this nontrad forum has a lot of threads about the impact of medical training on marriages and families.

if your GPA from your marketing degree is over ~3.5, then you can just do prereqs. you should take one medium-hard math or science class as a warmup. if you can get an A without misery, great, that's a good sign, because there are years of just taking endless classes and endless hours-long exams in med school. you can take the prereqs anywhere you want, but i strongly suggest that it's a mistake to choose a community college and it's a disaster to choose online.

don't be sold on medicine based on your exposure to docs in the OR and in the lounge. get substantial time around sick patients who are awake and have clothes on. a first step is to get one of the surgeons to take you on rounds, and to let you shadow in clinic. the second step is to see the non-surgical universe.

best of luck to you.

 

[DrMikeP]

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking on the forums here for a few weeks now as I recently have finally made up my mind to start pursuing what I need to do in order to take the MCAT and hopefully be accepted into med school one day. However, I'm having anxiety over the fact that I'm 27 and married with our first little one on the way in October. I currently sell Med Devices

You may not want to mention who you work for (since you mention age and other identifying info) for numerous reasons staying anonymous on SDN can be extremely helpful!

Do a lot of reading on SDN and among others listen to Dr Midwife!

Best of Luck

 

[furyhockey]

it's a mistake to fixate on a specialty before med school. you can have a favorite, but you'd better be able to imagine yourself in primary care. if med school doesn't go as planned, you still need a job.

encourage your spouse to independently research for herself what it means if you go to med school. don't be the sole provider of opinions on what it means - you won't have a good idea what it means for another decade. ask the docs you work with about their divorces. this nontrad forum has a lot of threads about the impact of medical training on marriages and families.

if your GPA from your marketing degree is over ~3.5, then you can just do prereqs. you should take one medium-hard math or science class as a warmup. if you can get an A without misery, great, that's a good sign, because there are years of just taking endless classes and endless hours-long exams in med school. you can take the prereqs anywhere you want, but i strongly suggest that it's a mistake to choose a community college and it's a disaster to choose online.

don't be sold on medicine based on your exposure to docs in the OR and in the lounge. get substantial time around sick patients who are awake and have clothes on. a first step is to get one of the surgeons to take you on rounds, and to let you shadow in clinic. the second step is to see the non-surgical universe.

best of luck to you.

Thanks for all the insight and advice. I'm going to try and shadow a few physicians that I work with that's a great idea. Do you know where I may find those links to the threads regarding med school/divorce? That's pretty scary but I've got a great support system so I may be one of the lucky ones