Post-Bac, pre-medical courses

[doctor_deebee]

Hello! This is my first post. Please bear with me because I wasn't able to find any topics close enough to my situation. I'm currently finishing my bachelor of science in Family, Youth, & Community Sciences at the University of Florida. My goal is to finish my medical pre-req courses and apply to medical school by 2022. Since I will be working full time, my options are limited for evening/night classes. My dream is to attend a DO school (WVSOM is my #1)... What are my options to complete my pre-med courses?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bears1992]

I was in your shoes 2 years ago. I decided to pursue medicine a year before I graduated. I finished up the classes I needed for my B.S. degree and then worked on the prereqs afterwards. I've also been working full time since 2010 so I've been taking classes to fit around my work schedule. Below is what my schedule looked like:

Spring 2016
Finished B.S. degree

Summer I 2016
Biology I Lab - Day
Chemistry II - Day
Chemistry II Lab - Night

Summer II 2016
Biology I - Day

Fall 2016
Biology II - Night
Biology II Lab - Night
Organic Chemistry I - Night
Organic Chemistry I Lab - Day

Spring 2017
Organic Chemistry II - Day
Organic Chemistry II Lab - Night
Psychology - Night
Sociology - Night

Summer 2017
Biochemistry

My job was flexible so I was able to take day classes if there was no night classes offered. I did these courses at a local state college. If you are looking at only DO, you might want to look into UNEs online courses. They are expensive (roughly $1300 per class) but they are accepted at all DO. I'm not sure why you are planning to wait until 2022 to apply as it shouldn't take 5+ years to complete the prereqs even if you are working full time. Matriculate GPAs and MCAT scores are rising steadily for DO schools so its only going to get more competitive with each passing year so unless you have a great GPA and are confident that you will do well on the MCAT, I would not wait 5 years to apply.

 

[doctor_deebee]

Thank you so much for responding!
I see what you mean by the five year goal. That is really my "worst case scenario" outcome. I'm hoping to apply in 2019! *fingers crossed*
Plus I'll be looking for jobs that works with my course schedule. I'm almost a certified CNA and they have great work hours (Fri, Sat, Sun: 36 hours, but paid for 40 hrs plus all benefits.
I'll be graduating in August, so I revised your schedule to fit better... What do you think of this?


Summer 2017
Finished B.S. degree

Fall 2017
Biology I
Trigonometry/Pre-calc

Spring 2018
Biology II
Calculus I

Summer I 2018
Biology I Lab

Summer II 2018
Biology II Lab

Fall 2018
P-Chemistry I
P-Chemistry I Lab

Spring 2019
P-Chemistry II
P-Chemistry II Lab

Summer 2019
Organic Chemistry
Organic Chemistry Lab

Fall 2019
Biochemistry

 

[123456ers]

Thank you so much for responding!
I see what you mean by the five year goal. That is really my "worst case scenario" outcome. I'm hoping to apply in 2019! *fingers crossed*
Plus I'll be looking for jobs that works with my course schedule. I'm almost a certified CNA and they have great work hours (Fri, Sat, Sun: 36 hours, but paid for 40 hrs plus all benefits.
I'll be graduating in August, so I revised your schedule to fit better... What do you think of this?


Summer 2017
Finished B.S. degree

Fall 2017
Biology I
Trigonometry/Pre-calc

Spring 2018
Biology II
Calculus I

Summer I 2018
Biology I Lab

Summer II 2018
Biology II Lab

Fall 2018
P-Chemistry I
P-Chemistry I Lab

Spring 2019
P-Chemistry II
P-Chemistry II Lab

Summer 2019
Organic Chemistry
Organic Chemistry Lab

Fall 2019
Biochemistry

Working as a CNA while taking these classes is a great plan and will kill two birds with one stone. I had more of the pre reqs done than you but basically finished via a DIY post bacc this past year and really enjoyed it. Im applying this summer so I've kind of been through what you're thinking of doing.

I would highly reccomend NOT taking calculus unless you love/are great at math. DO schools do not include math courses (right now at least, that could change due to the merger) in their sGPA calculations. Some require stat, some reccomend it, a lot don't even specify that. If I were you, I would take the courses that directly correlate to the MCAT and the requirements of each med program. Don't waste your time, energy and money on something superflous like calc.

Other than that your plan is definitely do able.. I would reccomend taking the MCAT shortly after taking biochem. In my experience, it helped me prep for the MCAT SO much.

Just be sure you're working significant hours in healthcare while you do this so adcoms are shown you can handle a busy schedule. Good luck!

 

[bears1992]

Thank you so much for responding!
I see what you mean by the five year goal. That is really my "worst case scenario" outcome. I'm hoping to apply in 2019! *fingers crossed*
Plus I'll be looking for jobs that works with my course schedule. I'm almost a certified CNA and they have great work hours (Fri, Sat, Sun: 36 hours, but paid for 40 hrs plus all benefits.
I'll be graduating in August, so I revised your schedule to fit better... What do you think of this?


Summer 2017
Finished B.S. degree

Fall 2017
Biology I
Trigonometry/Pre-calc

Spring 2018
Biology II
Calculus I

Summer I 2018
Biology I Lab

Summer II 2018
Biology II Lab

Fall 2018
P-Chemistry I
P-Chemistry I Lab

Spring 2019
P-Chemistry II
P-Chemistry II Lab

Summer 2019
Organic Chemistry
Organic Chemistry Lab

Fall 2019
Biochemistry

I agree with the above poster that working as a CNA will give you a flexible work schedule for your prereqs and will give you valuable clinical exposure that med schools almost require. The only comment I would have on your schedule is your labs (bio I & II) will probably need to be taken with the class. At least that's what my state school and University required. You might want to throw Organic II in there as many schools require Orgo I, Orgo II and Biochem. Some school just require either biochem or Orgo II.

Have you already taken physics I and II? Almost every school I've looked at requires two semesters of physics with a lab.

 

[doctor_deebee]

I agree with the above poster that working as a CNA will give you a flexible work schedule for your prereqs and will give you valuable clinical exposure that med schools almost require. The only comment I would have on your schedule is your labs (bio I & II) will probably need to be taken with the class. At least that's what my state school and University required. You might want to throw Organic II in there as many schools require Orgo I, Orgo II and Biochem. Some school just require either biochem or Orgo II.

Have you already taken physics I and II? Almost every school I've looked at requires two semesters of physics with a lab.

I totally forgot to add Physics into the plan... -.-
I'll probably end up taking Orgo II as well. I just need to take it a semester at-a-time for now.

 

[Doctor or bust]

Why are you taking physical chemistry? Also, O-chem II certainly helps with biochem

 

[bears1992]

Why are you taking physical chemistry? Also, O-chem II certainly helps with biochem

I think she meant general chemistry. I've seen alot of people refer to Gen-Chem as P-Chem.

 

[Doctor or bust]

I think she meant general chemistry. I've seen alot of people refer to Gen-Chem as P-Chem.

If gen chem is being called p-chem, then what does the P stand for then out of curiosity?

 

[bears1992]

If gen chem is being called p-chem, then what does the P stand for then out of curiosity?

Physical chemistry. I've also heard gen Chem referred to as non organic.

 

[Doctor or bust]

Physical chemistry. I've also heard gen Chem referred to as non organic.

I thought physical chemistry and general chemistry are two different courses (or at least where I'm from) with physical chemistry being multitudes more difficult. I've heard of gen chem being called inorganic but never physical.

 

[bears1992]

I thought physical chemistry and general chemistry are two different courses (or at least where I'm from) with physical chemistry being multitudes more difficult. I've heard of gen chem being called inorganic but never physical.

I think you are correct. I'm just talking about how I've seen people use those terms interchangeably for the gen chem prereq. I think OP was referring to gen chem and not the Pchem that chem majors complain about.

 

[Ollivander]

non-organic ~ general chemistry

Physical chemistry is a whole separate subject and is not a requirement for any medical school, MD or DO. Unless you're pursuing a degree in chemistry I'd advise against taking it as it's not going to help you.

 

[doctor_deebee]

Why are you taking physical chemistry? Also, O-chem II certainly helps with biochem

Yes, it was meant as general chemistry & thanks for the tip!

 

[doctor_deebee]

non-organic ~ general chemistry

Physical chemistry is a whole separate subject and is not a requirement for any medical school, MD or DO. Unless you're pursuing a degree in chemistry I'd advise against taking it as it's not going to help you.

Thank you!