new non-traditional student here, needs help!

[jcb]

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Hi!
I'm new here, I have been reading these posts for a few days and you guys seem really helpful!

I need a little bit of advice, and I think this is the right place to ask.

I just graduated (undergrad) in May, and am currently living abroad, and plan to do so for 2-3 years. (I am marrying a man from the country I'm living in now, and we need to stay here until he finishes school). During the past year or two, I have pretty much decided that I want to be a doctor. I studied Neuroscience in college, so I have taken some of the prereqs (bio but not lab, chem + lab, and several advanced bio classes), but not all of them. What I'm trying to figure out now is whether I should go to a postbac program when I return to the states, or whether I should just take the courses that I need separately. I tried calling around a little bit, but the programs I called said that they decide whether you can be admitted as a postbac based on a case-by-case basis, but that I may have too many credits.

I think I have a decent chance at getting into med school - my undergrad gpa was 3.85, higher for science (don't know what it is, but i didn't get below an A- in any of my science courses) at a selective liberal arts school. While abroad, I am currently working in the healthcare field but cannot stay at my job (summer employment only), and am hoping to get another job in healthcare, do reserach, or teach. Since the native language here is not English, it's a little difficult. Is med school an unreasonable goal for me?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[MollyMalone]

Hello and welcome!

I don't know all that much about postbacc classes but it doesn't sound to me like you'd need to do your coursework that way with your GPA... I'm sure someone else will jump in with more info.

You're already getting some healthcare experience, which is great.

Come back and slay the MCAT and I think your chances will be very good.

Good luck!

 

[tr]

Where are you planning to live in the future? In your home country, or in your husband's?

Keep in mind that it becomes progressively more difficult to switch countries the farther along you go in your medical education. It is slightly harder to enter med school from a foreign country; quite difficult to enter residency training in a country other than where you went to med school; and almost impossible to get a job as an attending/practicing physician in another country without repeating some or all of your residency training.

The degree of difficulty varies from country to country (obviously), but the prinicple holds to some degree almost universally.

The exception would be if you are moving from medical education in a developed nation to practice in a severely underserved area, in which case they probably won't examine your credentials too closely.

You should check out the appropriate International Forum if you are at all unsure of where you plan to settle.