Post-Bach at Meharry?

[fater1983]

Hey Everyone! I'm one of the many who finds himself in a position where it has been a life long dream to be a physician and after getting into the working world and feeling a sense of dissatisfaction in everything I do, I want to go back. I lack the required pre-reqs to take the MCAT so I've got a lot to do, but I'm wondering if Meharry Medical College has a post-bach program to allow me to get these pre-reqs done? What I'm lacking is both orgo's, both physics, and I'd like to take biochem, as well as taking gen chems again (even though I've already passed, I'd like to audit these and just get a refresher). Thanks for any advice.


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[Meatwad]

Well, as far as I know, Meharry is not an undergraduate institution, so I don't think they'd offer undergrad courses that you need.

They have a post-bacc program, but not in the traditional sense; you may be offerred the program after you apply to Meharry and get rejected. From the website:

Can you apply to the Post Bac Program?

No, Meharry's Post Bac Program for the Medical and Dental Schools is by invitation only. To be considered, you must have applied through the application services of the respective schools (AMCAS or AADSAS).

So basically you have to have already taken all your pre-reqs, the MCAT, applied, and have been rejected before you could potentially be invited to their post-bacc.

What about Howard (assuming you are interested in Meharry because of their committment to serving minority and underserved communities)? Howard is a proper university which would be a good place to do a post-bacc.

 

[fater1983]

Thank you for your help. Actually I'll spell out my issue in a bit more detail. I have a BS as a Pathologists' Assistant from Wayne State University. I worked in medical research for almost a year in Arizona before realizing it wasn't what I wanted to do for a living. I then decided to take a job as a medical device sales rep. Academically, I've got my BS, but lack both organic chem courses, biochem, both physics, and I'd actually like to refresh on the gen chem since its been so long. I live in Tennessee right now and really cannot afford to relocate. So I'd be looking for a post-bac program in state. And I'd really like it to be close to Nashville. My undergrad gpa was roughly a 3.1 so it's not great, but not horrible either.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...thank you.

 

[Meatwad]

True, a 3.1 is not horrible; unfortunately, it's very low in the med school admissions game, since the average for matriculants is around a 3.6-3.7 these days. With that said, thankfully it's not so low that you can't raise it up to a decent number with some time.

Since you have to take organic chem, physics, and might want to retake chem 1 and 2, I suppose you are hoping to start this spring? To do this with the least amount of time, I'd retake Chem 1 in the spring (if you received a C or lower, otherwise I would just study from a book and not bother retaking it) and take Physics 1. You could then get rid of Chem 2 or Physics 2 in the summer, your choice. Then, you could take Organic Chem 1 and biochem in the fall, organic chem 2 in the spring, and take care of physics 2 sometime in one of those two semesters.

Since your GPA is low, it'd be best if you could take a full load of courses (~15 credits per semester). Take upper-division bio courses that you've never taken in undergrad. Still, if this is not an option because you absolutely have to work and can't see yourself living on loans (i.e. have a family to support), part-time will have to do. Still, assuming you took 15 credits for 3 semesters, and your current bachelor's affords you 128 credits @ a 3.1, with 3 semesters at a 4.0 (this is pretty important! An upward trend, fro ma 3.1--> 4.0, looks very good):

(3.1 * 128) + (45 * 4.0) = 576.8/173 = 3.33

Now, sure, a 3.33 is still very low, BUT not that bad. You could apply to an SMP and apply during that year. So, you'd hope to finish all undergrad classes by Spring 2009, take the MCAT as soon as you finish Organic 2, and hopefully get into an SMP in Fall 2009. This will be difficult, since by the time you'll finish Organic 2 and the MCAT, most SMPs will be full, I believe. However, if you took the GRE earlier in the year (January 2009 or maybe in 2008) and explained a strong interest to get into an SMP, some programs will probably let you in. Some of them will accept the GRE or DAT in place of the MCAT.

That's what I'd do, but this is obviously not the only route. I'm not sure how many med schools there are in Tennessee, but I think there's at least a few (meharry, ETSU, any more?)