Nontrad Engineer to Medicine, am I on the right track?

[YetAnotherNontrad]

Hey y'all, I'm new here and a little intimidated by the application process and am hoping for advice/guidance/reassurance.

I'm an aerospace engineer and have worked in this field ever since graduating in 2019. I currently work on human spaceflight projects. I started pursuing medicine in April of last year while continuing to work full time.

I'm currently volunteering with hospice two hours per week (have been since April 2024) and really enjoy it. I'm up to about 100 hours. I just visit patients and talk/listen which I've heard counts as clinical volunteering? I'm not 100% clear on that.

I'm taking my prerequisites (non degree seeking) at a 4 year university in my city. I've only been taking one course and its corresponding lab per semester which is about as much as my schedule can handle. I have all the physics, math, english and psych/sociology credits from my undergrad. My GPA for my aerospace degree was 3.90 so from what I understand I should just need the remaining pretequisites (orgo, biochem and biology) and won't need to boost my GPA.

I'm aiming for a state school and want to do primary care (family medicine or internal medicine), but I'm also kind of interested in endocrinology. I expect to be done with prerequisites by Spring of 2026. I plan to take the MCAT in September 2026 (or January 2027 if I'm not prepared) and then apply in 2027.

I'm struggling to find shadowing opportunities and have been trying to shadow my GP, but she works for a healthcare group that isn't friendly to premed shadowing. She's been trying to work her network to get me an opportunity and gave me a few names (which I really appreciate), but so far no luck. Is it just a matter of calling a ton of different practices and hoping someone takes me in?

If there are any glaring issues with my approach/things you think I should watch out for, please let me know.

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[Meridian32]

For shadowing - do you live in a city with a medical school? If so, you could try cold e-mailing doctors in a specialty that seems interesting to ask if you can shadow. I had a premed student do that to me a few months ago (it's pretty easy to look up faculty and their e-mail addresses at our med school) and I was happy to let her shadow.

 

[YetAnotherNontrad]

For shadowing - do you live in a city with a medical school? If so, you could try cold e-mailing doctors in a specialty that seems interesting to ask if you can shadow. I had a premed student do that to me a few months ago (it's pretty easy to look up faculty and their e-mail addresses at our med school) and I was happy to let her shadow.

There unfortunately isn't a medical school here, but there is one in a city about 90 minutes away. I'd definitely use some vacation time for the opportunity to shadow so the commute isn't out of the question. I'll see how easily I can look up faculty. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

There unfortunately isn't a medical school here, but there is one in a city about 90 minutes away. I'd definitely use some vacation time for the opportunity to shadow so the commute isn't out of the question. I'll see how easily I can look up faculty. Thanks for the suggestion!

Try reaching out to all the private practices of any kind in your area. I cold called like 30 and got opportunities at 2-3.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

There unfortunately isn't a medical school here, but there is one in a city about 90 minutes away. I'd definitely use some vacation time for the opportunity to shadow so the commute isn't out of the question. I'll see how easily I can look up faculty. Thanks for the suggestion!

Is there a community health center near you? Also, many medical schools have connections to these health centers. I suggest seeing if an Area Health Education Center is near you.

AHECs Provide Students Opportunities to Help the Underserved - SDN

The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.

www.studentdoctor.net

 

[LindaAccepted]

Hey y'all, I'm new here and a little intimidated by the application process and am hoping for advice/guidance/reassurance.

I'm an aerospace engineer and have worked in this field ever since graduating in 2019. I currently work on human spaceflight projects. I started pursuing medicine in April of last year while continuing to work full time.

I'm currently volunteering with hospice two hours per week (have been since April 2024) and really enjoy it. I'm up to about 100 hours. I just visit patients and talk/listen which I've heard counts as clinical volunteering? I'm not 100% clear on that.

I'm taking my prerequisites (non degree seeking) at a 4 year university in my city. I've only been taking one course and its corresponding lab per semester which is about as much as my schedule can handle. I have all the physics, math, english and psych/sociology credits from my undergrad. My GPA for my aerospace degree was 3.90 so from what I understand I should just need the remaining pretequisites (orgo, biochem and biology) and won't need to boost my GPA.

I'm aiming for a state school and want to do primary care (family medicine or internal medicine), but I'm also kind of interested in endocrinology. I expect to be done with prerequisites by Spring of 2026. I plan to take the MCAT in September 2026 (or January 2027 if I'm not prepared) and then apply in 2027.

I'm struggling to find shadowing opportunities and have been trying to shadow my GP, but she works for a healthcare group that isn't friendly to premed shadowing. She's been trying to work her network to get me an opportunity and gave me a few names (which I really appreciate), but so far no luck. Is it just a matter of calling a ton of different practices and hoping someone takes me in?

If there are any glaring issues with my approach/things you think I should watch out for, please let me know.

I'd also suggest that you make a non-clinical service commitment. Think homeless shelter, soup kitchen, drug clinic.

 

[YetAnotherNontrad]

Is there a community health center near you? Also, many medical schools have connections to these health centers. I suggest seeing if an Area Health Education Center is near you.

AHECs Provide Students Opportunities to Help the Underserved - SDN

The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.

www.studentdoctor.net

I'm in Huntsville, AL and it looks like there's an AHEC near me.

North – Alabama AHEC Program

www.alahec.org

I didn't even know this was a thing, this looks like a great resource.

 

[YetAnotherNontrad]

I'd also suggest that you make a non-clinical service commitment. Think homeless shelter, soup kitchen, drug clinic.

Does political activism count at all? I've spent hundreds of hours helping organize efforts to get members of the LGBT community to contact their legislators (including in person meetings, public comment, call campaigns, etc). I'm also a significant contributor to our press contact/writing room and have a few op-eds that got picked up and published in an Alabama state newspaper. We've stalled and defeated legislation in the Alabama state house over the years since our formation.

I'm also deeply involved in the local trans community and have helped people figure out how to change their legal name/gender marker, get access to HRT, and stuff like resume prep. I've talked people down from suicide and gotten them to see a psychiatrist, bought groceries and helped pay bills for people who got fired after coming out (the engineering salary is helpful here), and helped find housing for people kicked out of their home. None of it is really affiliated with an institution, though. Even the political activism is a grassroots org with no legal/tax exemption status (we see these things as unnecessary constraints).

I don't plan to stop any of these activities and expect that a medical degree will make me an even better advocate (although this is not why I am pursuing medicine).

My primary motivation for medical school is that I'm a trans woman and I want to be a place where LGBT patients can feel comfortable interacting with the healthcare system. My primary care doctor is trans and it made the process much more approachable, especially in a state like Alabama. Secondary to that is that learning about medical transition got me very interested in learning how the human body works. My dream is to work in an LGBT focused practice that serves low income and disadvantaged patients, there are significant outcome disparities between the LGBT population and the general population.

Most of my story revolves around reinventing myself and my trans identity is core to pursuing medicine.

I'm definitely not above any of the activities you suggested, though, and can make whatever sacrifices I need to to make it happen. It's just difficult for me to juggle everything and if any of the above is partially or wholly sufficient, it would make my journey easier.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Does political activism count at all? I've spent hundreds of hours helping organize efforts to get members of the LGBT community to contact their legislators (including in person meetings, public comment, call campaigns, etc). I'm also a significant contributor to our press contact/writing room and have a few op-eds that got picked up and published in an Alabama state newspaper. We've stalled and defeated legislation in the Alabama state house over the years since our formation.

I'm also deeply involved in the local trans community and have helped people figure out how to change their legal name/gender marker, get access to HRT, and stuff like resume prep. I've talked people down from suicide and gotten them to see a psychiatrist, bought groceries and helped pay bills for people who got fired after coming out (the engineering salary is helpful here), and helped find housing for people kicked out of their home. None of it is really affiliated with an institution, though. Even the political activism is a grassroots org with no legal/tax exemption status (we see these things as unnecessary constraints).

I don't plan to stop any of these activities and expect that a medical degree will make me an even better advocate (although this is not why I am pursuing medicine).

My primary motivation for medical school is that I'm a trans woman and I want to be a place where LGBT patients can feel comfortable interacting with the healthcare system. My primary care doctor is trans and it made the process much more approachable, especially in a state like Alabama. Secondary to that is that learning about medical transition got me very interested in learning how the human body works. My dream is to work in an LGBT focused practice that serves low income and disadvantaged patients, there are significant outcome disparities between the LGBT population and the general population.

Most of my story revolves around reinventing myself and my trans identity is core to pursuing medicine.

I'm definitely not above any of the activities you suggested, though, and can make whatever sacrifices I need to to make it happen. It's just difficult for me to juggle everything and if any of the above is partially or wholly sufficient, it would make my journey easier.

Very similar background, though I'm a trans man from Florida and was a software engineer.

I think my transness and activity in the community (mine was more crisis line and youth services than activism though) was a big draw for my school. I was ultimately accepted to UVM with pretty mid hard stats because I had to keep working full time while doing premed stuff.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

If Vermont sounds interesting at all, apply for the Look at Larner program. It's for disadvantaged or underrepresented minorities looking to matriculate. You come to campus and do a home stay with a student and basically do some activities and shadow a student for 2-3 days sometime in the fall. I did the program the year of my app and made great connections including with the director of admissions and other faculty/staff.

 

[LindaAccepted]

Does political activism count at all? I've spent hundreds of hours helping organize efforts to get members of the LGBT community to contact their legislators (including in person meetings, public comment, call campaigns, etc). I'm also a significant contributor to our press contact/writing room and have a few op-eds that got picked up and published in an Alabama state newspaper. We've stalled and defeated legislation in the Alabama state house over the years since our formation.

I'm also deeply involved in the local trans community and have helped people figure out how to change their legal name/gender marker, get access to HRT, and stuff like resume prep. I've talked people down from suicide and gotten them to see a psychiatrist, bought groceries and helped pay bills for people who got fired after coming out (the engineering salary is helpful here), and helped find housing for people kicked out of their home. None of it is really affiliated with an institution, though. Even the political activism is a grassroots org with no legal/tax exemption status (we see these things as unnecessary constraints).

I don't plan to stop any of these activities and expect that a medical degree will make me an even better advocate (although this is not why I am pursuing medicine).

My primary motivation for medical school is that I'm a trans woman and I want to be a place where LGBT patients can feel comfortable interacting with the healthcare system. My primary care doctor is trans and it made the process much more approachable, especially in a state like Alabama. Secondary to that is that learning about medical transition got me very interested in learning how the human body works. My dream is to work in an LGBT focused practice that serves low income and disadvantaged patients, there are significant outcome disparities between the LGBT population and the general population.

Most of my story revolves around reinventing myself and my trans identity is core to pursuing medicine.

I'm definitely not above any of the activities you suggested, though, and can make whatever sacrifices I need to to make it happen. It's just difficult for me to juggle everything and if any of the above is partially or wholly sufficient, it would make my journey easier.

Political activism and advocacy count a lot! And are very much admired. Is it "sufficient"? probably because you also indicated some of the people you assisted were having housing, emotional, and financial problems. But you are still serving with people like you. I think it would strengthen your application to volunteer or work with some NOT like you. However, what you described probably is sufficient.

 

[YetAnotherNontrad]

Very similar background, though I'm a trans man from Florida and was a software engineer.

I think my transness and activity in the community (mine was more crisis line and youth services than activism though) was a big draw for my school. I was ultimately accepted to UVM with pretty mid hard stats because I had to keep working full time while doing premed stuff.

Hell yeah, there are dozens of us!

Florida to Vermont seems like quite a culture shock. Do you plan to return to Florida after medical school/residency? I talk a lot about wanting to stay in Alabama but I feel like if I went to school somewhere more progressive I'd be reluctant to come back.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Hell yeah, there are dozens of us!

Florida to Vermont seems like quite a culture shock. Do you plan to return to Florida after medical school/residency? I talk a lot about wanting to stay in Alabama but I feel like if I went to school somewhere more progressive I'd be reluctant to come back.

I have zero plans on returning. My husband and I don't want to live in a state that actively persecutes us as queer trans people, but I'd never fault someone with the bravery to go back and care for the peeps who need it most.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Does political activism count at all? I've spent hundreds of hours helping organize efforts to get members of the LGBT community to contact their legislators (including in person meetings, public comment, call campaigns, etc). I'm also a significant contributor to our press contact/writing room and have a few op-eds that got picked up and published in an Alabama state newspaper. We've stalled and defeated legislation in the Alabama state house over the years since our formation.

It counts for civic engagement and advocacy, which is very underrated as a category of activities. I'm unsure that in the current political climate whether this is something to worry about in the future ("shut up and prescribe").

I'm also deeply involved in the local trans community and have helped people figure out how to change their legal name/gender marker, get access to HRT, and stuff like resume prep. I've talked people down from suicide and gotten them to see a psychiatrist, bought groceries and helped pay bills for people who got fired after coming out (the engineering salary is helpful here), and helped find housing for people kicked out of their home. None of it is really affiliated with an institution, though. Even the political activism is a grassroots org with no legal/tax exemption status (we see these things as unnecessary constraints).

I don't plan to stop any of these activities and expect that a medical degree will make me an even better advocate (although this is not why I am pursuing medicine).

Make sure you find schools that would let you continue within reason, but remember that once you are a medical student, your first priority is to pass your classes.

My primary motivation for medical school is that I'm a trans woman and I want to be a place where LGBT patients can feel comfortable interacting with the healthcare system. My primary care doctor is trans and it made the process much more approachable, especially in a state like Alabama. Secondary to that is that learning about medical transition got me very interested in learning how the human body works. My dream is to work in an LGBT focused practice that serves low income and disadvantaged patients, there are significant outcome disparities between the LGBT population and the general population.

Most of my story revolves around reinventing myself and my trans identity is core to pursuing medicine.

I'm definitely not above any of the activities you suggested, though, and can make whatever sacrifices I need to to make it happen. It's just difficult for me to juggle everything and if any of the above is partially or wholly sufficient, it would make my journey easier.

If I haven't done so, make sure you connect with the Medical Student Pride Alliance and the GLMA.