Nurse to Doc?

[ArmyMurse]

Hey everyone,
I am currently an Army ICU nurse deployed in Afghanistan. Uppon discussion about my career goals and overall desires with several of the docs out here I have decided to leave the Army later this year and pursue my dream of becoming a physician. I have read up alot about the reqirements and feel well versed about the general requirements and process of becoming a doc.
I Will likely be able to leave the Army either this summer or early fall and plan on returning home to my home state to attend university where I will complete my med school prerequisites.
The reason I am posting is for some general adivce. Hopefully there are some non-traditional acceptees or pre-meds who can lend a hand.

I feel I have a few strengths:
I earned a 3.8 undergrad GPA.
I am currently deployed in Afghanistan and work at one of the busiest trauma hospitals in Afghansitan if not the world. I work with a joint forces staff as the hospital I work at is British and American.
I have earned the rank of Captain in the Army.
I was honor graduate of the Army's Critical care/Emergency nursing course
I was the Committee Chair person for a large metropolitan level 1 trauma center's documentation committee--I presided over 35 staff members from all specialties of the hospital including nurses and physicians regarding inpatient documentation for an entire year.
I have served on several other committees, teams, etc.
I have 6 years medical experience in varying specailties from cardiothoracic, CCU, MICU, medical and truama.
I already have 2 great letters of reccomendation from the Intensiveists I work with here in Afghanistan.
I was nominated for the Army's Douglas MacCarthur's leadership award.

Weaknesses:
I have yet to begin ANY of my pre-med courses.
As I didn't know what I wanted to do for quite a while as an UG I spent nearly 6 years getting my batchelors degreee.
I am 29
I have few volunteer experiences
I have few research experiences
I am worried about the rigor of my undergrad and quality of the institution I attended.

How do my strengths vs my weaknesses seem? I feel confident I would stand out against a general application pool at most med schools given that I have significant service, leadership and relevant medical experience.

That being said, how do med schools generally feel about RNs applying to thier programs. Is that seen as a strength or a weakness?

I feel confident about getting good grades and a decent MCAT score. I am fully dedicated to this as I am leaving a guaranteed $75,000.00 yearly after taxes paycheck to pursue this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

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[Blue Spoon]

ArmyMurse as someone who was a captain and left to pursue medical school with a worse GPA and a year older than you are now. I think you have a lot of strengths and will make a really competitive applicant.

If I may offer a little advice:
1. Ensure you get A's in all your pre-reqs
2. Take a full two years for pre-reqs and application - don't try to rush this process
3. Look for research opportunities at your school after you arrive
4. Even though you have a great deal of service ensure you maintain that after you leave the Army (volunteer at VAs etc...)

I left the Army in 2010, had multiple MD acceptances in Oct 2012 and now am 1/2 through my first year at a great school. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

 

[ArmyMurse]

ArmyMurse as someone who was a captain and left to pursue medical school with a worse GPA and a year older than you are now. I think you have a lot of strengths and will make a really competitive applicant.

If I may offer a little advice:
1. Ensure you get A's in all your pre-reqs
2. Take a full two years for pre-reqs and application - don't try to rush this process
3. Look for research opportunities at your school after you arrive
4. Even though you have a great deal of service ensure you maintain that after you leave the Army (volunteer at VAs etc...)

I left the Army in 2010, had multiple MD acceptances in Oct 2012 and now am 1/2 through my first year at a great school. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks Blue Spoon!

That's some good advice.
There's a VA in the city i'm going home to and also a free cliic or two where I can use my RN experience.
Did you take your bost Bac pre-meds part time or full time?

Thanks again for your post and good luck with the rest of first year!

 

[Blue Spoon]

I used my GI Bill and went full time. I think it is important for those of us that have been out of school for awhile to demonstrate that we can handle a full course load.

 

[alpinism]

Your GPA is great. Definitely try to do the best you can in the pre-req's, however its not the end of the world if you get a couple of Bs (esp in o-chem). You'll still be fine for MD.

Take full time courses (12+ credits/semester) to prove to yourself and adcoms that you can handle the courseload. If you haven't taken any upper division bio classes, you can take a few along w the pre-req's. It often helps as a good intro to med school and will strengthen your application. Stuff like biochem, cell bio, neuroscience, immunology etc... (whatever interests you)

The exception to this will be the semester before the MCAT, most people take a lighter course load to give themselves more time to study.

Also remember that some med schools require biochem, stats, calculus, or anatomy as well as the traditional pre-reqs.

You can still work part-time during school (many of us did), just make sure you develop good time management skills and don't bite off more than you can chew.

At your university, try to get involved with 1 or 2 clubs/service organizations to get some volunteer experience. There should be lots of opportunities.

I would also try out research for a semester. It doesn't have to be anything big and its certainly not necessary, but it looks good on your application/resume.

If you have any more specific questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Stay safe and good luck!

~ex. USAF flight medic (OEF 07')

 

[ArmyMurse]

Thanks guys,
Sadly due to the fact I took an ROTC scholarship I won't have my post 911 GI bill but I will have a lot of savings to pay for my classes.
I will go full time thaks for the advice.
I'm planning on attempting Fall 2013 for starting pre-meds so hopefully I could take the MCAT between spring-fall 2015 to apply for 2016.

Thanks for the help guys. I'm sure you're busy with school.

It's good to see some prior service guys.

Either of you doing HPSP or going back into the military?

 

[sstespri]

ArmyMurse as someone who was a captain and left to pursue medical school with a worse GPA and a year older than you are now. I think you have a lot of strengths and will make a really competitive applicant.

If I may offer a little advice:
1. Ensure you get A's in all your pre-reqs
2. Take a full two years for pre-reqs and application - don't try to rush this process
3. Look for research opportunities at your school after you arrive
4. Even though you have a great deal of service ensure you maintain that after you leave the Army (volunteer at VAs etc...)

I left the Army in 2010, had multiple MD acceptances in Oct 2012 and now am 1/2 through my first year at a great school. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Let me begin by saying that I haven't served in the armed forces, so I thank you and everyone for your service. The information you posted for the OP was extremely insightful and as I begin my medical school journey this summer I will make sure to take all your points into consideration. I'll be graduating with my masters in speech-language pathology this spring (May) and will begin the rest of the pre-reqs I have to take this summer. Thanks for the good information and good luck in the rest of your MS1 year!

 

[ArmyMurse]

Guys,

So I just found out I may be benefits eligable for the post 9/11 GI bill if I stay in until 1 December (this would only be 4 months after I had origionally planned on ETSing). I had originally planned on starting in January 2014 anyway so no problem here.

This, in addition to my savings, should allow me to get out in January and start full time pre-meds and work only part-time (10-20 hrs/week) to support myself.

When I get home this spring I could start volunteering, possibly some research if I could find some, and I could take the first of my gen-chem series this fall.

Thoughts?

 

[Blue Spoon]

ArmyMurse,

I graduated from an Academy in 2001, then stayed in for 10 years so was eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The Post-9/11 GI Bill is incredibly generous and since this is an expensive process it has helped a great deal. If you can stay a few months and receive eligibility for it I would do that.

As for the jumping in to classes and research that is up to you. My opinion would be to focus on the 25 meter target. Ensure that you have a smooth ETS and transition without complications. Are you going to be moving? If so I would finish your time in the Army, move to your next location, start school and then focus on getting the classes you need and doing well on them. Once that is going well start looking for research and volunteer opportunities.

Doing some minor volunteering for a few hours a week, a couple of weeks until you move (I do not believe) is going to hold much weight with an adcom. And it takes time to do anything productive in research. Most basic science labs are going to want you to be there for at least a year (and more likely 2 for it to be worth it for them to train you).

As much as it is important to get these things done it is MOST important to do them well. So I would say the best thing you can do now is make your plan, decide on where you will go to school for pre-reqs (don't forget to think about residency issues and how they can help you).

Tactical patience. We were all very excited to start but this is a long process and ensure that you have your planning done first.

Just my opinion, take it for what it's worth.

 

[alpinism]

Thanks guys,
Sadly due to the fact I took an ROTC scholarship I won't have my post 911 GI bill but I will have a lot of savings to pay for my classes.
I will go full time thaks for the advice.
I'm planning on attempting Fall 2013 for starting pre-meds so hopefully I could take the MCAT between spring-fall 2015 to apply for 2016.

Thanks for the help guys. I'm sure you're busy with school.

It's good to see some prior service guys.

Either of you doing HPSP or going back into the military?

Might go back and do guard/reserves someday after residency. I'm going into academic medicine/research and honestly I want more freedom to practice medicine than being AD military allows. Plus, there are a lot of problems with military residencies right now (you can search the mil med forum for more details).

Guys,

So I just found out I may be benefits eligable for the post 9/11 GI bill if I stay in until 1 December (this would only be 4 months after I had origionally planned on ETSing). I had originally planned on starting in January 2014 anyway so no problem here.

This, in addition to my savings, should allow me to get out in January and start full time pre-meds and work only part-time (10-20 hrs/week) to support myself.

When I get home this spring I could start volunteering, possibly some research if I could find some, and I could take the first of my gen-chem series this fall.

Thoughts?

Sounds good. There's nothing wrong with getting a head start on the research/volunteering/classes if you have the time. Unless you're really interested in research, a semester or two of part-time research is more than enough (again its not really necessary unless you're aiming for top ranked research schools).

I'm using the post-9/11 GI bill now for med school. Its awesome.

Basically, I finished my BS while I was still in the AF, then got out and did the pre-reqs and research in 2yrs (incl. a yr of genetics and neuroscience) then went to grad school (plus more research) while applying to med school. I had saved up enough money to cover the pre-reqs and grad school while I was in the AF and worked part-time (20hrs/wk) as well so I could use the GI bill for med school. I was lucky and had done a bunch of volunteering before I got out.

 

[take the shot]

Hey everyone,
I am currently an Army ICU nurse deployed in Afghanistan. Uppon discussion about my career goals and overall desires with several of the docs out here I have decided to leave the Army later this year and pursue my dream of becoming a physician. I have read up alot about the reqirements and feel well versed about the general requirements and process of becoming a doc.
I Will likely be able to leave the Army either this summer or early fall and plan on returning home to my home state to attend university where I will complete my med school prerequisites.
The reason I am posting is for some general adivce. Hopefully there are some non-traditional acceptees or pre-meds who can lend a hand.

I feel I have a few strengths:
I earned a 3.8 undergrad GPA.
I am currently deployed in Afghanistan and work at one of the busiest trauma hospitals in Afghansitan if not the world. I work with a joint forces staff as the hospital I work at is British and American.
I have earned the rank of Captain in the Army.
I was honor graduate of the Army's Critical care/Emergency nursing course
I was the Committee Chair person for a large metropolitan level 1 trauma center's documentation committee--I presided over 35 staff members from all specialties of the hospital including nurses and physicians regarding inpatient documentation for an entire year.
I have served on several other committees, teams, etc.
I have 6 years medical experience in varying specailties from cardiothoracic, CCU, MICU, medical and truama.
I already have 2 great letters of reccomendation from the Intensiveists I work with here in Afghanistan.
I was nominated for the Army's Douglas MacCarthur's leadership award.

Weaknesses:
I have yet to begin ANY of my pre-med courses.
As I didn't know what I wanted to do for quite a while as an UG I spent nearly 6 years getting my batchelors degreee.
I am 29
I have few volunteer experiences
I have few research experiences
I am worried about the rigor of my undergrad and quality of the institution I attended.

How do my strengths vs my weaknesses seem? I feel confident I would stand out against a general application pool at most med schools given that I have significant service, leadership and relevant medical experience.

That being said, how do med schools generally feel about RNs applying to thier programs. Is that seen as a strength or a weakness?

I feel confident about getting good grades and a decent MCAT score. I am fully dedicated to this as I am leaving a guaranteed $75,000.00 yearly after taxes paycheck to pursue this.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

I am a non-traditional student about to graduate from med school. Trust me when I tell you, you are the type of applicant med schools go crazy over.

- As a nurse you already have experience that shows you have exposure to clinical work and that you still want to be a physician...contrast that with the applicant who talks all about how much they love medicine but have never done it for a living (except as a volunteer or some shadowing)

- Being in the military shows them you have the dedication and maturity to stick with something difficult. There is also the aura of honorability that comes with anyone who entered the service. You can write about your experiences in your personal statement for your application.

- I love when people think they are old if they're in their late 20s or 30s...I started med school in my 40s and am at the top of my class

All you need to do to succeed is do well in your pre-med courses. Develop a good rapport with professors...you will need letters of rec documenting your intellectual capablities. I would also encourage you to figure out what interests you and do some type of research in this area. It can be anything at all. So many professors or attendings would love the free labor you can provide by collecting data, interviewing patients, etc...

Best of luck to you...you can do it!

 

[Erakis]

USHUS has been toying around with an active duty Post-bac/degree completion program for a while. I have heard rumor that it may be coming to pass soon.