Post baccs turned med students/MDs

[lucky_75]

Hi everyone,
I know this topic has probably been discussed many times over...yetI must extend it a bit further. Can those of you who were a few years out of undergraduate study before deciding to study medicine relate your experiences? The "means to the end" type thing... I just seem to be embarking on a strangely convoluted path and am second-guessing certain options that have been put forth by my advisor. There just seems to be too many "requisites", aside from the courses and the MCATs. Between my almost ful time schedule and part time work I just don't want to spread myself too thin. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

lucky

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[Hallie]

I don't have too much time for a full-blown history (I could just forward you my personal statement - haha), but I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. My personal experience was as follows: I took a few premed classes during college but majored in comp sci. After graduation, I went on to work in business for a few years before deciding that medicine was what I wanted to do more than anything else. I continued my job, and started volunteering at a health clinic to confirm my thoughts. It worked. I quit my job, then took the remainder of my premeds - no more, no less - at local & state schools to save money. Continued volunteering, worked parttime. Then went on to full-time job, studied at night for MCAT (with no biochem, anatomy, etc background). It went fine - not stellar, but post-baccs usually do slightly worse than undergrads since they have less extensive background and often have jobs. I never did even one ounce of research (not a strong point on my application, I am sure!) but continued volunteering throughout. My volunteer experiences were a major motivator for me and also provided good content for med school essays. This year, I applied while working full-time at a job that is flexible and gave me time to interview (as long as I made up the time on weekends). The whole process went well, I'm into school, and I avoided much of the premed stress because I designed my own path, and I do not regularly interact with anyone else going through this process - hence, no competition except with myself. I think my interviewers respected the decisions I made - all rational but not necessarily what a premed advisor would suggest. When in doubt, I called my undergrad institution's med school to ask their adcoms questions, "eg, is it reasonable to take courses at a state school instead of a more prestigious private school to save money?". I think - hope - that I will be able to draw from my experiences over these 4 years while in med school and residency. For example, I worked at a job that had very demanding hours but did not directly help people. I hope I will be able to think about that when bummed out during my intern year. My advice? Try to get real life experiences in the medical field, read about it in the paper, talk to people in the field, and have confidence that you can do it! View your upcoming school work as a "job" - you will be working hard in the upcoming years no matter what. If what you really want is to become a doctor, then you might as well be working toward that goal!!!! You will be thankful for your hard work now when you are 40 and fulfilled by your job. I hope this message helps. Good luck!

 

[Hallie]

So much for not having "too much time for a full-blown history". Just thought I'd make fun of myself before anyone else had the chance!

 

[jewel]

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I hope it helps. I graduated in May 1999 in Dietetics/Nutrition. I had taken a few pre-med prerequisites during those 4 years of college in case I decided later on to go that route. Right after graduation, I decided to go back to complete the rest of the prerequisites. It took me 3 semesters. During that time, I volunteered, worked part-time at 2 research centers, and studied for the MCAT. That was a crazy time! Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that it wasn't an easy decision to make. It was tough watching all of my friends leave to complete their dietetic internships and find jobs while I was still taking undergraduate classes. I know that I made the right decision though. I am relaxing this semester while working full time at a research center before starting medical school in August. Good luck to you.

 

[Suki]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Hallie:
So much for not having "too much time for a full-blown history". Just thought I'd make fun of myself before anyone else had the chance! •

Hallie:

Thanks for your comments and insight. It's always great to hear from someone who has made her own way.

 

[lucky_75]

First I would like to say that I really appreciated your comments. Not only is it affirming because you guys made it, but it helps to know that this unorthodox approach I am taking has some merit. The underlying theme is "get some experience in the field". Wow, I guess I could go into a history too, but I'll try to abbreviate: During high school I did the requisite volunteering and internship. I have been out of practice however, not having had any medically related volunteer exerience during my undergraduate years and subsequent post-bacc ones, with the exception of a brief stint at the medical examiner's office two years ago.

Anyway, as a child my mom used to always caution: "if you can't hear you will feel" and that echos in my mind everytime I think about my undergrad years because if I had been on the straight and narrow, I have no doubt I would be wrappping up the medical school studies right now. Yet nothing ever happens before its time and I believe I had to experience my life without science to truly appreciate its worth and my need to be completely immersed in it someday.

My undergad major was a combined bio-geology--I concentrated on evolutionary and paleontological--it was fun and interesting. There was the prospect of discovery every time I went out into the field (even as an adult, a field trip beats a stuffy classroom anyday. It actually helped me in many many ways including refocusing. Here I was making the grades I knew I was capable of, but it was time to graduate. I knew that the only way I would see the inside of a med school with my cum was via some paranormal phenom. so I decided to venture into the real world. My first job working with foster children was frustrating and my second job working as a laboratory technician provided the impetus for change.I had previously applied and was accepted into a post-bacc/masters in biomedical science program, so after a year I resigned and here I am (as long winded as ever)and:

Stressing over the MCATs and my perceived unpreparedness. Someone wrote and told me not to take it until I was absolutely ready. I have a feeling that that 100% assuredness is light years away, so I might as well go for it. So in about a week I will be making that step to work 3 extra hours per night of studying into my already inflexible schedule...but if I want this I am going to have to sacrifice right? well thanks again...

lucky

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MAGNA EST VERITUS ET PRAEVALEBIT

 

[PuppyLuv]

Hope this help, I am in a postbac program, Barry University's Master of Biomedical Science program. Here's what i want to say, postbac could definitely help to get in to medschool but do your homework on which postbac program could deliver the most benefit. I mean in my program, even after doing well in the program (i'm talking about 3.8-4.0 graduate GPA), it doesn't add that much weight in your application. For example, this year, out of about 60 something students graduating my master programs, almost everybody is applying to med school. As of today (3/16) only 3 students are accepted to U.S. M.D. schools and they are all underrepresented minorities. About 15-20 are accepted to D.O. schools and about 10 are accepted to dental schools. The rest are either waiting or end up at caribean med schools. So I guess check the program's success rate (to US M.D. schools) before you decide where to go. For my self, I have a 4.0 in the program and will graduate this semester, got 28 on my MCAT and applied to 16 M.D.'s (so far 12 rejected and no interview), 3 D.O.'s (1 rejection and 1 interview). Hope it helps in some ways. Good Luck

 

[Stinky T]

I posted this same information on another thread. I know of five people who did Post Baccs at Harvard University. This is where they were accepted for medical school:

1. Northwestern
2. Tufts (2)
3. TUCOM
4. UNECOM

Good luck.