One on One Help

[jtownsend1130]

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Hello, I have just joined this network is it has caught my attention and there seem to be many of you offering support that some may pay for.

I am looking for some one on one help.

I am not a Med School student or even a Community College student I am however in a bind and I need help out but no one within a 50 mile radius seems to be able to help me or give me an acceptable answer. Below the question(s) will be long and some you may need to re-read to get the point or understand the underlying question.

I am wanting to become an MD preferably a diagnostician in diseases I know this sounds like a long shot, maybe to some not so much. Here is a little background on why and my life. The first time I had ever become interested in any form of science was when I was around 6-7 years of age, I had a dog that I really liked and I was told it had several lesions that may be cancerous tumors in its head, I was told by my father it would be put down instead of under. I was furious, scared, and upset; all different types of emotions, what made a difference was that it had three days till it would be put down so in the panic instead of spending the remaining hours missing it I took a route that I see now not many children would even think to turn to, I started using Google search and calling the library, I used the 72 hours to study what a tumor is and the differences between cancerous and non-cancerous and if they can be treated or cured, the list goes on etc...
In the end the dog got put to sleep and there was nothing I could do however I looked at my notebook at my notes and had written 132 pages of notes some including theories and possible treatments, of course I never thought to use the term dog or animal in all of this so it was the biology of human I was studying and interesting enough it was the most I had been able to focus on a single subject my whole life as I had/have severe ADHD I used to be a textbook classic example however over time I learned how to control it so now I carry burst of energy but in the wrong ways and my mind is all over the place but I am able to focus on up to four subjects of study at once without loosing train of thought or moving at a slow pace. After the dog had died I had put my notebook aside and moved on, I had made it to Junior High when I first started studying computer science and web design, thanks to a teacher that found hope in me. This spiraled into more studies and more, until I was heading into high school where I joined a web programming class and aced it without thinking.
That same year another incident had happened my grandfather explained to me the for the first time he has had to triple bi-pass surgeries and is in danger of needing a third however he is not and will not be stable enough to operate on with his heart conditions if they would have found the complications at an earlier time there would have been alternatives instead of an ultimatum, once again I removed that notebook from the shelf and started studying this time on blood cells, types, cardiology, etc... and like clockwork same outcome as last time tons of notes and no results other than knowledge, as time went on he had his ups and downs and going to school I lost interest and went back to studying computer science, we now fast forward I am 20 years of age coming up to 21, have a kid and one on the way, a 1200 sq. foot, three bedroom house w/ study and large yard, a job as an it consultant and manager at a resort and work five days a week full time and on call 24/5. If it was not for the my grandfathers health or if my dog would not have died in a medical relation, I would have never got to have the dream or want to live now that I have time to breath in life I want to continue to chase my dreams and goals.

Now that you have a really well background on my personal life maybe you can help me answer some questions and I will slowly add more about my life.

How can I attend school? With the kid(s), the job, and home (rented) without ruining anyone's life what makes it harder than hell is I live 45 mi. away from the nearest community college which in turn would cost around $20-$25 a day of school in gas. If you answer loans, please note I am in collections for old doctor bills from the ER I could not pay off and they won't discuss anything with me so I am waiting for it to leave collections as there is a maximum time. I don't know if this will stop me from getting loans and if so will there be enough out there to get me through Community College and then later travel 175 mi. and around $60-$70 a day to Med School (Yes I can work this into my work schedule and its a about a 4-5 hour round trip. )

Before I start and take a leap I want to get a head start, I have attended ITT-Tech for Computer Forensics and held a 3.8 GPA but the classes where easy as I have self taught myself almost everything I know about computers in my past classes there was hardly anything that I didn't already study on my own, I want to apply this to med school as well, right now I am studying the fun 1,430 drug classes and the 1901 edition grays anatomy and readying other materials such as "Symptoms: Their Causes & Curse" and "Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide"as well as an occasional lecture videos from Standford and MIT, but I feel lost, I can't find to much on the web and am desperate to find out where should I start, did I start in the right places, if so what subjects come after this and in what order, and if not, where should I restart at and once finished what subjects should follow and in what order?

I am not looking for people to tell me this is a wrong way to do this, that is why I posted in nontraditional students everyone has their way to study or prep for classes/school/test/exams/etc.. this is mine. I really just need some guidance. I refuse to give up and I will not except that my situation is impossible, help in anyway you can if you can help with everything, the more detail the better.

Thank you all so much for taking your time to help or at least read, it means a lot.

 

[EdLongshanks]

You give both too much information and too little. Your personality is unimportant and it sounds a little self-indulgent to make people who would like to help you slog through a description of it. Almost everyone who goes to medical school has ADD. It goes with the territory. But you don't mention why you are living so far from a college and if it is possible for you to move. You don't mention your current job. You don't say whether you are married or not. You don't mention whether you did well in high school.

Let's start with the bad news. This is a long slog and you won't get into medical school quickly. The good news is that you have plenty of time, since you are very young. Don't make the mistake of taking college classes that you won't get an A in. Bad grades will at least delay an opportunity to get into medical school by several years and might doom it.

About the long slog. You need to understand that there is no way to become a doctor before you are at least 30. There are many professions that will make money for you quicker. If you choose to follow the medical profession, you will continue to be poor for the next dozen years.

Also, sorry about the money problems, but the only way to do this is with some part of loans. You don't mention if you are married, that also makes a huge difference. If your income is low, then there is some training benefits available that may help you. Check at the unemployment office for "WIA" benefits. Also, ask at a college financial aid office --- STAY AWAY FROM FOR-PROFIT COLLEGES. Take a day off and make an appointment to go to your state college to talk to their financial aid office. Before you get into medical school you have to first finish a 4 year degree at an undergrad institution. This is your first goal.

You may not be aware that going to medical school will be a total commitment. Even getting into medical school is a huge commitment. You will not be living the same place during your education. You are likely to move around quite a bit.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

You will need to graduate from a 4 year college before you can (realistically) apply for medical school. That may mean packing up and moving to a different town. You will have to move at least once more to attend med school, so you might as well get used to the idea. At the college, major in whatever you like, but you will need a year each of general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics and biology, each with a lab. Some medical schools also require biochemistry, calculus, psychology or additional biology. Take the MCAT after you've had these classes and do really well on it. Sorry, but there are no other ways to get into medical schools, at least schools worth getting into. I recommend you go to a few medical schools' websites and look at what they expect and require of applicants, and at the percentage of applicants who are actually accepted. Remember, the schools can afford to be choosy. If you don't meet their requirements or have subpar grades, they will have no trouble finding someone better.

Obviously this will be a major commitment that will cost you a great deal of time, work and money. Whether it is worth it or not is a decision you will have to make for yourself. Doing well in your classes will pretty much become your life, and from what I hear, it only gets worse once you actually get into medical school. It sounds like you are motivated and willing to study, which will be a great advantage in your studies.

If you do decide to go to college, I recommend that you start applying now for next summer or fall. I missed some good scholarships because I applied much too late.

 

[jtownsend1130]

@EdLongshanks:
Personality I believe plays a huge role in the medical field you have 1 of 2 types of doctors and educated person that has motivation, or an educated person that follows this just as another job (maybe someone that was forced, or that had already gone to deep in debt), also the reason I live so far away is because the counties Community College is in a different city than I am in and I work in the city I live in.

You don't mention your current job

If you would have read then you would have noticed I did in fact state both of them. As for high school overall bad, first two years I didn't give a damn, then finally I grew up so from 11th till 12th got A's and B's and held a decently high GPA and then at the mid 12th moved and got GED (not by choice, school board of new state said that WAS my ONLY option.)

Don't make the mistake of taking college classes that you won't get an A in

In all honesty unless a teacher/professor has it out for you then there are plenty of study materials, online examples and tests, study buddies, etc... if your taking life serious there shouldn't really be an excuse not to get an A but sometimes its the test so B is the lowest you should be receiving in all classes.

You need to understand that there is no way to become a doctor before you are at least 30

So that would make my current physician a fraud?

Check at the unemployment office for "WIA" benefits. Also, ask at a college financial aid office --- STAY AWAY FROM FOR-PROFIT COLLEGES.

Thanks for the information I will look into that, all though I doubt they will grant me anything seeing as I make in legal view $800 /month

@Chip N Sawbones:

You will need to graduate from a 4 year college before you can (realistically) apply for medical school.

So basically if I took say nursing, once four year degree received for RN would that qualify and how do some people go from just studying and MCAT preps, straight to med school?

. You will have to move at least once more to attend med school, so you might as well get used to the idea

If this is in fact the case, which it probably is, how does a person afford this, do I live off of the loans, or how does this work because once I move my Job(s) and work contract will terminate and I will have no income.

Doing well in your classes will pretty much become your life, and from what I hear, it only gets worse once you actually get into medical school.

This is what I will love and live for and beyond med school, I love a challenge especially without an answer in front of me thats why working in computer science as an IT Consultant is not fun anymore at first it had almost everything being a diagnostician had, first I was told some symptoms, then while repairing a computer I found more symptoms, then had to use process of elimination (nobody to differential with me sadly) then finally fix the problem and keep everything stable. However now I am good at it to the point its all just remembering there's no challenge left and I have no feeling of actually helping anyone, just earned money, which to me means nothing if there is no point.

It sounds like you are motivated and willing to study, which will be a great advantage in your studies.

As mentioned before I more than am and I have already started, one thing both of you repliers failed to put any focus on was helping me learn where to start for self study or if I am on the right track then where do I go now? I want to cram everything I can as I learn extremely fast, figured this out for the first time when I learned PHP (A very extensive object oriented programing language) in just 48 hours and had started building actual apps.

All in all please re-read at least the highlights an help me get on track, respond to my replies of quotes and help me with my studies I need to do for now before I start. I am not trying to sound like an ass but fact of the matter is I am looking for answers and help not retorical statements or statements that lead to re-asking an already asked question. Thank both of you and any future people that care to join in.

P.S.
Feel free to answer to my questions to each others quotes just because it is directed to a person doesn't mean that you can't respond with a good answer I just direct it so you know who I am quoting.

 

[EdLongshanks]

I didn't say that some people couldn't be doctors before they are 30, I said that there is no way for YOU to become a doctor before you are 30. The people are become residents at age 26 did so by beginning their planning very soon in life or, alternatively, have few obstacles placed in their way. You are starting you planning slightly later and have more obstacles.

What you seem to be missing is the amount of commitment involved here. You, apparently, believe that you can self-study your way into medical school. You can't. Studying about the human body, right now, is pretty much a waste of time. You can do it for you own self-interest, but don't think that it is helping you get into medical school. It isn't.

A four year degree is just that, a four year degree. A nursing degree might be fine, but that isn't really what you are looking for, since most of the nursing courses don't cover the pre-med prerequisites. The physician and nursing fields are very different from each other and have very different education requirements.

You have to have a 4 year degree from an accredited university, but it can be a degree in anything - from pie baking to astrophysics - but you have to have taken 8 courses. Chem I & II, Physicis I and II, Organic Chem I and II, and Biology I and Zoology (or Biology II, if that's what your school calls it). This four year degree can't be an "online" or "distance learning" or "self-study" degree. You might as well understand now that any idea that you can do pre-med while keeping your life about the same is impossible.

I won't be replying any more, I've got classes to study for. Buy the book that SDN publishes that explains all of this in detail.

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Stud...8177/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1317042147&sr=8-4

 

[FrkyBgStok]

in addition, your post is kind of hard to understand. are you saying that you are that far from a CC? Other than ITT tech, is there a close university. No offense, but I agree. Anyone should be able to get As in classes from ITT tech. That is why medical schools don't accept those degrees.

Are then planning on working in med school and driving 175 miles per day? Not really following that part. You cannot work in med school.

Long story short, you can't really attend med school without ruining people's life. I use ruin loosely because it is drastically going to change it. You will be in school all the time the first 2 years and the next 2 years will be a 70 hour job a week and studying. you will then match to a residency and you kind of have a choice where to go, but not really. look more into how the match works if you would like. Also, no idea what school is close to you, but what happens if you don't get into that school. and you have to pay your collections because you will need loans and some of which will be grad plus loans which require good credit. you may not need those but with a child, you will likely need extra money.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

@EdLongshanks:
@Chip N Sawbones:

So basically if I took say nursing, once four year degree received for RN would that qualify and how do some people go from just studying and MCAT preps, straight to med school?

If this is in fact the case, which it probably is, how does a person afford this, do I live off of the loans, or how does this work because once I move my Job(s) and work contract will terminate and I will have no income.

1. People don't go straight from studying and MCAT preps to med school, unless it's to some fourth-rate school in the Caribbean that prints its application forms on matchbooks. Go to a few US medical school's websites and look at their admissions requirements. Like Ed and I said, four year college degree plus the prerequisite classes are the bare minimum.

2. College is expensive. You can look for scholarships, work part time while you're in college, spend the summer working 16 hour days commercial fishing in Alaska, take out loans, find someone rich to marry, or do any combination of the five. It all depends on just how much you want to become a doctor. Tens of thousands of dollars for college will be an outrageously high cost if medical school isn't truly what you want to do, but if it is, the cost will seem like just one more obstacle to overcome. You may have to spend this year working as many hours as you possibly can so you can save up some money to go to college next year. While you're looking at medical school requirements, look at what they cost. Almost everyone will have to take out student loans to cover medical school tuition and living expenses.

 

[LingoLaine]

Below the question(s) will be long and some you may need to re-read to get the point or understand the underlying question.

This is a problem... not with our comprehension but rather with your failure to clearly articulate your question. If you ask clear succinct questions you're more likely to get them satisfactorily addressed.

 

[Thales]

@EdLongshanks:
As mentioned before I more than am and I have already started, one thing both of you repliers failed to put any focus on was helping me learn where to start for self study or if I am on the right track then where do I go now? I want to cram everything I can as I learn extremely fast, figured this out for the first time when I learned PHP (A very extensive object oriented programing language) in just 48 hours and had started building actual apps.

I learn extremely fast as well, but I think you are approaching your education a little over-zealously. You seem to be interested in jumping right into learning medicine when you should be focusing on what needs to be done first. Figure out your undergrad school situation; where are you going to attend, how are you going to pay, what you are going to major in, etc. Then you need to do well in your classes for 3-5 years while taking the requisite classes such as organic chemistry, physics, calculus, etc.

Don't take this as condescending but you come across as being someone who needs temperance and patience. You have to build a strong base in science, mathematics, and reasoning before you can realistically apply anything you're reading in Gray's Anatomy (or the other books). It is one thing to be able to memorize what is written in a book and regurgitate it, and another to actually comprehend and apply it. Your undergraduate work will help lay the necessary foundation so that you can do that one day.

For a long time I struggled with the mentality that getting to medical school was a sprint, it's a marathon. Approach everything you do toward your goal of becoming a doctor as training and preparation for running that marathon. Don't get discouraged but realize that becoming a doctor, or even a nurse, requires more dedication and a far more diverse set of skills than you have ever needed before.

Finally, if you want something as a very rough guide check out "Med School Confidential". It is far from comprehensive, but supplementing it with SDN will help.

Good luck.

 

[Thales]

I'm going to hazard a guess that OP burned out after realizing the work involved, or just lost interest.

Ah well...