Need some encouragement

[WeAreOne213]

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Hello to everyone on SDN reading this thread! I'm kind of reaching out at this point in life with some hope for encouragement, from someone I don't know lol. Here's a little bit about my background so you guys can get an idea as to where i'm coming from.I'm 24, I grew up in Florida, came from a pretty dysfunctional background as far as a home life, but, I had a decent childhood, nothing terrible. In my teens I was pretty much every statistic as far as a potential drop out. I never went to school, never had someone to guide me as far as getting an education, had to start working from an early age (Didn't come from a wealthy background), and was a huge party animal. I labeled myself as "stupid" due to being labeled in school as having a "special learning disability". I was in your typical mainstream classes, but, when I was younger, I was diagnosed with ADD (along with every other kid in school these days) and had that label throughout high school from teachers. It never helped that I was horrendous at math, and never really tried in school.

Fast forward about three years after high school, I got accepted into a local LPN program. I have always wanted to be a doctor, but never had the courage to vocalize those dreams to anyone. So, I became a nurse. Fast forward another year and a half and here I am today soon to graduate as an RN with my associates. I really thought that I would forget about becoming a doctor, but, just working as a nurse reminds me of how badly I still want to become a doctor. I have dreamed since I was 15 years old watching " Trauma Life In The ER" that that's what I wanted to be. I never had the courage to pursue that dream. I felt like people would just laugh that idea right out the window.

Anyways, I never thought in a million years that I would ever become an RN. My co-workers tell me i'm good at what I do and I consider myself pretty smart when it comes to reacting to a critical situation, or communicating with family members, assessing patients. I loved Anatomy, I did well in it, but I studied my ass off. College Algebra was hell for me, I barley got by in that class. My main concern is that I won't cut it for the math and science prerequisites. What i'm looking for from this website is for someone to tell me that they themselves have been there. They were at one time the one who didn't think they were smart enough, they were the one that was horrible in math, they were the one that didn't come from a strong financial background and still made it to medical school, Sorry for the novel everyone!!!!

 

[Oogieboogie]

Hello to everyone on SDN reading this thread! I'm kind of reaching out at this point in life with some hope for encouragement, from someone I don't know lol. Here's a little bit about my background so you guys can get an idea as to where i'm coming from.I'm 24, I grew up in Florida, came from a pretty dysfunctional background as far as a home life, but, I had a decent childhood, nothing terrible. In my teens I was pretty much every statistic as far as a potential drop out. I never went to school, never had someone to guide me as far as getting an education, had to start working from an early age (Didn't come from a wealthy background), and was a huge party animal. I labeled myself as "stupid" due to being labeled in school as having a "special learning disability". I was in your typical mainstream classes, but, when I was younger, I was diagnosed with ADD (along with every other kid in school these days) and had that label throughout high school from teachers. It never helped that I was horrendous at math, and never really tried in school.

Fast forward about three years after high school, I got accepted into a local LPN program. I have always wanted to be a doctor, but never had the courage to vocalize those dreams to anyone. So, I became a nurse. Fast forward another year and a half and here I am today soon to graduate as an RN with my associates. I really thought that I would forget about becoming a doctor, but, just working as a nurse reminds me of how badly I still want to become a doctor. I have dreamed since I was 15 years old watching " Trauma Life In The ER" that that's what I wanted to be. I never had the courage to pursue that dream. I felt like people would just laugh that idea right out the window.

Anyways, I never thought in a million years that I would ever become an RN. My co-workers tell me i'm good at what I do and I consider myself pretty smart when it comes to reacting to a critical situation, or communicating with family members, assessing patients. I loved Anatomy, I did well in it, but I studied my ass off. College Algebra was hell for me, I barley got by in that class. My main concern is that I won't cut it for the math and science prerequisites. What i'm looking for from this website is for someone to tell me that they themselves have been there. They were at one time the one who didn't think they were smart enough, they were the one that was horrible in math, they were the one that didn't come from a strong financial background and still made it to medical school, Sorry for the novel everyone!!!!

No one will discourage you from pursuing your dreams, or working hard. Just analyze carefully what you'd be getting into. If you do all the pre-reqs, then that will be 2 to 4 years (you need your bachelors for most medical schools. Marshall is the only medical school I know to be the exception.) Medical school is an additional 4 years. Residency can be 3-9 years working 80 hours a week and getting paid a salaried rate. If you're 24 now, you'll be well into your 30s before you will be starting to chip away at the debt you're incurring in medical school (200K in student loans minimum not including undergraduate or the amount of money it takes to apply to medical school.)

Why not become an NP? You already have experience as a nurse, so it would not take that much more to get your BSN and then your NP. Most hospitals make it easy nowadays to get your BSN and then your NP. You'd need about 6 more years with NP school, I think.

Just something to consider. If you have your heart set on an MD/DO then go for it.

 

[WeAreOne213]

No one will discourage you from pursuing your dreams, or working hard. Just analyze carefully what you'd be getting into. If you do all the pre-reqs, then that will be 2 to 4 years (you need your bachelors for most medical schools. Marshall is the only medical school I know to be the exception.) Medical school is an additional 4 years. Residency can be 3-9 years working 80 hours a week and getting paid a salaried rate. If you're 24 now, you'll be well into your 30s before you will be starting to chip away at the debt you're incurring in medical school (200K in student loans minimum not including undergraduate or the amount of money it takes to apply to medical school.)

Why not become an NP? You already have experience as a nurse, so it would not take that much more to get your BSN and then your NP. Most hospitals make it easy nowadays to get your BSN and then your NP. You'd need about 6 more years with NP school, I think.

Just something to consider. If you have your heart set on an MD/DO then go for it.

Because of the simple fact that an NP is not what I want. This isn't really a matter of me not knowing what I want. I just need to know that there have been people out there that have been in my situation and have made it 🙂.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

Physics and general chemistry will be extremely difficult if you aren't able to do the math needed in these classes. You will need to know:

How to set up algebraic equations
How to pull information from word problems and use it in formulas
How to use sine, cosine and tangent
How to use the quadratic equation
How to use exponents and scientific notation, including adding and multiplying exponential numbers
How to use logarithms and natural logs
How to do unit conversions, such as miles per hour to feet per second
How to do a bunch of other stuff that I've already forgotten since I finished physics II.

You don't need to be naturally good at math to get through physics and chemistry, but you will need to use a good deal of the algebra class you struggled with. If you don't feel like you're able to do most of the things on the list I just gave you, you may want to consider repeating that algebra course before taking the prereqs.