Pre-req planning help to keep options open

[Johnrawlsneuro]

Hey all,

Going back to school to finish my BA. Already have 3 years (~90 units + 9 APs from high school) complete as a Philosophy major. As long as I’m finishing undergrad, SDN had good advice to just do pre-reqs now instead of a post bacc after. Ideally, I want my pre-reqs to qualify me for MD/DO or NP/PA to keep my options open since I’m tied down geographically.

So, I’ve been snooping around to see what I need and it seems like these are standard:

1 year biology
1 year General chem
1 year Organic chem
Some humanities (psych/soc?)
Some English
Math: calc and stat
Physics?
Biochem?

Does this look right? Any specifics within these? Is it feasible to squeeze these and my remaining 30 units into 2 years of work?

Thanks all.

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[bocc54]

If you want to apply to PA school you will also need A&P I&II and psychology.

 

[WhitecatBlackcat]

Some PA schools and a few med schools are also adding genetics as a requirement

 

[pamac]

Psychology seems to be a common class schools like to see.

You are close to the mark for what med school and PA school like to see. PAs school won’t care about physics, but it is on the mcat, so it’s one to have if you want to be a doc. Microbiology is probably a common one for PA school too. Anat and phys.

The more biology you have, the easier life will be overall. It doesn’t pay to show up underprepared. You will see that the folks who get in and then go on to do well seem to have taken a breadth of biology coursework. Anat and phys 1,2, genetics, cell biology, pharmacology, microbiology, general biology, biochemistry, zoology, to name a few. I’ve known a handful of folks that got into professional schools with the bare bones coursework, or close to the bare bones the my literally buckled down and landed A’s in everything they took, even their business degree coursework. They weren’t the kind of folks that medical and dental school admissions committees were concerned wouldn’t be poor bets for doing well because of the high quality and uncompromising performance they showed in undergrad.

You could probably walk into nursing schools with pre med coursework behind you and many would be happy to have you. However, you’d be in a different realm than what you might be used to or expecting. I’d just pick a pathway and stick to it, because then you can be more focused and motivated than casting a broad net and hoping for a catch. The requirements are so different even among PA schools, I’d cut something out so you could maintain focus. You can’t ever completely control your destiny if the plan is too complicated.