Please explain as if I'm 5 years old

[futurelawyer]

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Hi all. Great website here! But yeah... Sadly, I don't understand a majority of the discussion here because I do not even have an elementary understanding of what it takes to go into medicine - the research that I have done so far has only managed to confuse me more. As you can see by my username, my goal has always been to become a lawyer - I never intended on pursuing a career in medicine, but a few things have happened over the past several months that are now making me seriously consider it.

I am two years out of undergrad. I double-majored, one of my majors is in a social science and the other in a humanities. I definitely do not have a traditional pre-med background and have not fulfilled those requirements (although I did take a couple of classes in neuroscience, which I'm sure means nothing). I have been working at a law firm since graduation - I did this in order to gain insight into the legal field and to make sure it was the right path for me. Somehow my responsibilities are almost exclusively science/math oriented despite my objective lack of qualifications for this role. (I say "objective lack" because in a law firm, my scienctific and mathematical ability is well above average but it's probably fairly unremarkable in other contexts - I do enjoy it though.) I think that law school could definitely still work out for me but I am really drawn to medicine lately and want to know if it's even worth any consideration.

So my question is: What would it take for me to get into a respectable medical school? Is it even possible or would it take another two years for me to even be qualified?

And I am REALLY sorry. I know I could figure it out with more research but I'd love it if someone could just break it down for me as if I were a child!

Thanks so much.

 

[DrMidlife]

would it take another two years for me to even be qualified?

Yes, you would need at least a year to complete the prereqs for med school and take the MCAT, after which you could apply, after which another year goes by before you start med school.

If you want to see if med school would make sense for you, get into a clinical setting and start racking up volunteer hours.

Best of luck to you.

 

[help2]

So my question is: What would it take for me to get into a respectable medical school?

REQUIRED
Class requirements: 8 semester hours of physics (including lab)
8 semester hours of general chemistry (including lab)
8 semester hours of organic chemistry (including lab)
8 semester hours of biology (with lab)
6 semester hours of english
6 semester hours of math
- some schools may require an additional class or two in other areas like behavioral sciences, anatomy/phys, but this is less common and varies by school

- Completed a minimum of 90 semester units from a regionally accredited U.S. institution

- take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) - this is done AFTER you take your prerequisite coursework because that material is on the test. (Scores cannot be older than three 2-3 years)...FYI you need to have above a 30 to be competitive for MD, and above a 25-26 to be competitive for DO

- Two to three letters of recommendation (differs by school)
most require at least 2 letters from science faculty and one from non-science, many schools will accept more than the minimum

NOT REQUIRED (but you really need to have at least a few of these days to have a chance)
- shadow a doctor/have worked in clinical setting
- volunteer experience
- research
- things that make you well rounded (this is where your interest in law related things plays in)

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

I would say that shadowing experience and volunteering ARE required. Most people who do not have at least some shadowing (20hrs) and a decent amount of clinical and non-clinical volunteering (100+hrs) are at an incredible disadvantage.

 

[futurelawyer]

Thank you help2 for breaking it down for me and Dr Midlife and SBB2016 for the advice. Really appreciate it! I just realize that I haven't taken chemistry or physics since high school. I'll talk to some doctors I know and ask for advice.

 

[Law2Doc]

I would say that shadowing experience and volunteering ARE required. Most people who do not have at least some shadowing (20hrs) and a decent amount of clinical and non-clinical volunteering (100+hrs) are at an incredible disadvantage.

Agreed, some clinical exposure is an unwritten prereq for med school.
OP you need to figure out why you are interested in medicine. You have not stated a useful reason. Being disenchanted with law firm is not n adequate reason. Having scientific and mathematic abilities is not a good reason. You need to find ways to work alongside and talk with young doctors, and see what they actually do each day before making this kind of decision. It's really truly not a good field for everyone.

 

[Veritas86]

It's been said, but the experience of doing at least something in a clinical setting is invaluable, especially if you want to see what it's like. There's no substitute for experience.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I would add

Biochemistry (highly recommended)
Statistics is recommended by some schools

 

[darmalee]

I would add

Biochemistry (highly recommended)
Statistics is recommended by some schools

Statistics is actually required at some schools.

 

[cabinbuilder]

Statistics is actually required at some schools.

I wasn't sure if it was still required as I applied over 10yrs ago.

 

[darmalee]

I wasn't sure if it was still required as I applied over 10yrs ago.

It's hit or miss. I think most schools don't require it but recommend it. I just know for sure that some require it because mine does 🙂

 

[IsaacYankem]

Quick tangent, does medical school cut-off your pre-reqs after a few years? Completed undergrad with a 3.8 cGPA, a 3.6 science GPA in 2006 and knocked off all those pre-reqs + Genetics (4 credits) and Neurology (4 credits) off the list. Also have 2 years of academic lab experience. Never wrote the MCAT, strongly considering it this summer.

 

[DrMidlife]

Except for a couple of schools, prereqs don't expire. Get a strong MCAT score (31+) and take one or two fresh non-fluff classes to show you can still thrive in the classroom.

There's lots more to do to get ready to apply though - clinical experience, physician shadowing, letters of recommendation, community volunteering etc. I recommend looking at the reapplicant forum to see what the common mistakes are. (Such as taking the MCAT in August & applying in October.)

Best of luck to you,

 

[Law2Doc]

Except for a couple of schools, prereqs don't expire...,

sort of. There's the official rule and the real rule. Officially there's no expiration date on prereqs at all but a handful of schools. Unofficially most schools want to see success in the sciences of recent vintage, and some people with old prereqs have been advised to retake everything, while others have been advised to take a slate of upper level courses or even do an SMP. A few years back someone on here called adcoms from a bunch of schools and was surprised to report that while everyone he called said there was no official timetable, all suggested they wanted to more science courses taken over the last few years. Also to some extent it's foolish to run and take the MCAT without having had some of the prereqs for a decade or more.