Need help from DO students/docs...

[Imgtnold]

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I need some advice...I am struggling with my future career choice. I have been in banking for several years since graduating from college and hate it!!! Lay-offs, etc... I have a BA in psychology and recently did a post bacc for my pre-med classes. I have an overall gpa of 3.15 and a post bacc science gpa of 3.26. I took the MCAT in January and got a 19K which really sucks!!! I am 34 y/o and have had my heart set on med school for some time. I got my EMT-B license as an undergrad and also worked as a renal tech at a local hospital. Should I take the MCAT again or get my RN and move on from there towards PA, NP or CRNA??? Am I a lost cause for med school??? Any advice???😕 🙁

 

[acrunchyfrog]

Welcome to the forums. While I don't know the answer to your question, the nontraditional forum (located in the pre-med forum section) is frequented by people in similar circumstances. Try asking there. And yes, the current med students and Docs do surf there.

Best of luck to ya.

 

[Buckeye4life]

How bad do you want to be a physician? If the answer is I can't see myself doing anything else, then I would say, take the Kaplan or Princeton MCAT course, and retake the test. Get at least 8's on all the sections and apply to as many D.O. schools you can or apply to the Caribbean. I am 29 and will begin school this fall at LECOM-Erie. I hadn't had the basic sciences for about 8 years, so I took Kaplan to get me somewhat up to speed. I do have experience as a physical therapist, so that I think helped push me over the edge with an acceptance. I would also shadow a few physicians to see if this is truly what you want to do. You're gonna need their letters of recommendations anyways if you apply. Oh yeah, there's a lot of geriatric people who go back to med school, so you won't be all alone 😉

 

[LovelyRita]

I need some advice...I am struggling with my future career choice. I have been in banking for several years since graduating from college and hate it!!! Lay-offs, etc... I have a BA in psychology and recently did a post bacc for my pre-med classes. I have an overall gpa of 3.15 and a post bacc science gpa of 3.26. I took the MCAT in January and got a 19K which really sucks!!! I am 34 y/o and have had my heart set on med school for some time. I got my EMT-B license as an undergrad and also worked as a renal tech at a local hospital. Should I take the MCAT again or get my RN and move on from there towards PA, NP or CRNA??? Am I a lost cause for med school??? Any advice???😕 🙁

You can/should take the MCAT again and make it an all-or-nothing effort. It's all about the MCAT score, so put as much of your life aside as you can and prepare the best you can, Kaplan, etc. If, then, you still do not get a 25 or so, then you can make other plans. At least you'll know you gave it your all....that's what I did and the 2nd time I took the MCAT did well enough to bring me right to where I am now. An exhausted intern. 😉 Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have it any other way. Just realize that this is a long-ass marathon and it DOES NOT end with the MCAT!!! (read: Step 1, Step 2, applying to residency, moving around the country, Step 3, working 80 hours a week.....)

 

[mitawa]

I agree with the above that if you are really set on medicine then you should retake the MCAT at some point, but also talk to the adcom and student affairs offices at some of the schools in which you are interested. Make sure that they do not have requirements on the amount of time that has elapsed since when you took the prereqs for med school. Good luck on your journey, its never too late to try!🙂

 

[HawkeyeDoc]

There is no magic formula for med school admissions. You are the only one who can decide what is right for you. Yeah, you're MCAT is low. If you want to be a physician then you need to retake it. I will caution you about the Kaplan classes. It was a waste of my time. I didn't need to be "re-taught" material, I needed to concentrate on my weak areas and take practice tests. I ended up skipping class to go study. Sit down and figure out what went wrong and go fix it. Don't get caught up in what other peoples stats are. I know some people with an MCAT of 30 who are going to be terrible physicans. Who cares that your a little older. Med schools like that. Think of it this way, if you went to med school 10 years ago, half of what you learned would be out of date thanks to molecular biology. Hope it helps. Good luck.

 

[GreenShirt]

It sounds like your heart is really in health care, and you might be happier in that field. However, when you go to med school, you are pursuing a scientific degree at the doctorate level. If you're not that great in the sciences, or you feel that you want to start practicing medicine sooner, then go for the PA or RNP. Make sure that you can answer why a doctorate degree will meet you needs better than one of these degrees. That being said, your GPA is within the range for DO or Carib. schools (you'll probably need to boost the MCAT).

 

[BMW19]

I agree that the kaplan lecture were a waste of time but that is all teacher dependent. I had some friends that said their Kaplan teacher was awesome. I guess it is luck of the draw. The one nice thing about Kaplan though was the test bank they had like 20 old MCATs and they are really valuable. The Kaplan books are good too. I think these days you can sign up to just use the Kaplan library. Don't give up! This is a second career for me as well.

BMW-

There is no magic formula for med school admissions. You are the only one who can decide what is right for you. Yeah, you're MCAT is low. If you want to be a physician then you need to retake it. I will caution you about the Kaplan classes. It was a waste of my time. I didn't need to be "re-taught" material, I needed to concentrate on my weak areas and take practice tests. I ended up skipping class to go study. Sit down and figure out what went wrong and go fix it. Don't get caught up in what other peoples stats are. I know some people with an MCAT of 30 who are going to be terrible physicans. Who cares that your a little older. Med schools like that. Think of it this way, if you went to med school 10 years ago, half of what you learned would be out of date thanks to molecular biology. Hope it helps. Good luck.

 

[Buckeye4life]

I found one advantage of taking a review class is that it helps you stay on track if time management is an issue. Yeah, most of the learning is done outside the classroom, but besides the guidance, it is great to have a group of people that you know are in the same boat as you are. My class formed study groups and having others as well as the instructors available to answer questions about troublesome areas is very beneficial. I know that working full time and then having to motivate yourself to study can be very hard, but having a class two days a week with reading assignments and corresponding review problems helps to buffer the initiative problems. Also, there are many simulated full length tests that the programs proctor on saturdays. Also, with Kaplan if you do everything they ask and do not get the results you want, you can retake the class again free of charge. Sure the class isn't for everybody, but it definitely helps you learn to pace yourself for the exam, which is a huge problem for a lot of MCATers, and it will definitely cover all the material you need.

 

[Doc 2b]

To OP

You really need to figure out if it would be worth it for you to go at your age. Sorry to make you feel old, but I'm a non trad too, and I'll tell you just being a few years older makes things a lot different. Do you have a family, if so they have to be on board 110%. Your gonna be broke for 7 years from the day you start, remember that. I know someone that did RN to medstudent. He'll tell you, CRNA is probably the way to go or PA, I'd shy away from NP it's really a degree with questionable training. I know he said to me that if he'd stayed and done his CRNA he'd be out this year making 130k, instead he's looking at two more years of school, residency, fellowship, etc. All while being poor. All that said you're going to be doing something in 10 yrs regardless, if you really want to be a physician, then retake the MCAT with a course like Kaplan or Princeton Review. Make at least a 25 with nothing less than an 8 in any of the subjects and you should be able to get in. Goodluck, it's a long hard road.

BTW, look into to dental school, work 4 days a week, average salary is ~180k, not a bad deal.

 

[dobonedoc]

Take a good hard look at what you really want to do. If you decide you REALLY want medicine, reconsider. Then, if you still REALLY, REALLY want it, get counseling.

Instead, focus on what you've done, and what you are good at. Consider additional training in banking or business. Go for the CAREER change, but not the drastic LIFE change.

Life in medicine is just that; LIFE. You have good days, and bad ones. Some people are nice, others are asses. Medicine (not just medical school, internship, and residency) is full of long hours, headaches, disappointment, and challenges. If you were to start now (age 34) you will be looking at 1-2 years before you start. You will graduate at 40. Residency will take 3-6 years, with possible fellowship to follow. You're starting pay will be somewhere around 150-250K. Add up the opportunity cost, actual cost, and interest . . . anyway, seems like a bad idea to me.