Seeking advice on how to approach a change from finance to medicine.

[fixedincometomed]

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Hello everyone!

I'm seeking advice on how to approach a transition from finance to medicine. I knew that finance wasn't for me by the end of my undergraduate degree, but I had landed a well-paying job that gave me a clear career and compensation path if I ended up enjoying it. Simply put, I don't see myself in this industry at all, and my entire life I've been interested in pursuing medicine. At 18 I wasn't sure I was up to the challenge, but I'm confident in my ability and work ethic to pursue medicine now.

I'm currently doing an EMT certification course on the weekends, and plan to take a shift on the weekends to gauge if I can perform in the environments that being a doctor entail. In the meantime though, I'd like to get a second opinion on where I stand at the moment, and how I can best position myself going forward. My undergraduate GPA was a 3.75 from a state school, but when calculating my sGPA it stands at 3.0 due to only taking a couple stats and calc classes and getting Bs. I'm thinking about doing a formal post-bacc through the state school in my hometown (University of Arizona), and maybe retaking those few math classes before so when I start the post-bacc my sGPA is sitting at a 3.5. I would apply this coming June for the post-bacc and start in August/September.

The main questions I have at this point are:

Given this information should I be targeting applying in 2028 or 2029?

Would it be feasible to get clincal and shadowing hours while completing the post-bacc?

Is there any glaring issues with this approach, or anything I'm missing?

 

[nobadwaves]

How far removed are you from your undergrad?

In terms of which application cycle, it depends on which route you take in terms of postbacc (formal or DIY) and if you do it as a FT or PT student. In addition to this, you'll need to take your MCAT, which studying for that can be a full time job for some.

It would be beneficial to get clinical hours, shadowing hours (if you are not working with physicians in your clinical hours), and try to get volunteer hours with folks who are in need (soup kitchens, homeless shelters, free clinics, etc).

Keep in mind, retaking those classes does not take out the prior grades from the AMCAS GPA calculation.

 

[vm26]

Is there any glaring issues with this approach, or anything I'm missing?

1. Yes you are missing the economics of the current US HC system...Compared to 2003 or so, CMS cuts for physician reimbursement (factoring inflation) are about 35% down. This means you are working more and/or harder to maintain the integrity of your practice while trying to make the numbers make sense (in general this means your are an employee typically to a large HC system or large PE practice. You have no say about how many patients you see per day, support staff, time off etc (in other words, private practice is on comfort care). To be fair, at least the cost of medical education, medical malpractice insurance, and just about everything else has also decreased at the same rate so all is good. Interest rates also are trending down.

2. Unless you are looking at higher end medicine (surgery etc), your most reasonable path is PA or NP/CRNA. Good luck.

 

[karaya]

To be fair, at least the cost of medical education, medical malpractice insurance, and just about everything else has also decreased at the same rate so all is good. Interest rates also are trending down.

Off topic but I couldn't help looking this up. I'm paying 50k yearly tuition IS, and OOS is 60k. Back in 2003, my school was charging 5k/15k for the same. And Grad PLUS loans were at 6% interest when they came out in 2005. Now it's 9%. On top of everything else in this house fire *gesturing broadly*

And after looking at old Step questions, it's unreal how good we had it in the past. These days everything is third order and every third question stem is a full H&P + labs (not joking). All I do is dream about the 90s.

 

[nobadwaves]

Off topic but I couldn't help looking this up. I'm paying 50k yearly tuition IS, and OOS is 60k. Back in 2003, my school was charging 5k/15k for the same. And Grad PLUS loans were at 6% interest when they came out in 2005. Now it's 9%. On top of everything else in this house fire *gesturing broadly*

And after looking at old Step questions, it's unreal how good we had it in the past. These days everything is third order and every third question stem is a full H&P + labs (not joking). All I do is dream about the 90s.

View attachment 422604View attachment 422605

While not the STEP exam, I took the MCAT in 2003 and now again 2 weeks ago…. The new test is a bit ridiculous.

 

[vm26]

Off topic but I couldn't help looking this up. I'm paying 50k yearly tuition IS, and OOS is 60k. Back in 2003, my school was charging 5k/15k for the same. And Grad PLUS loans were at 6% interest when they came out in 2005. Now it's 9%. On top of everything else in this house fire *gesturing broadly*

And after looking at old Step questions, it's unreal how good we had it in the past. These days everything is third order and every third question stem is a full H&P + labs (not joking). All I do is dream about the 90s.

View attachment 422604View attachment 422605

I know things are bad but had to check my own in-state med-school: currently annual in-state cost to attend is 84K. Graduated 2007, back then it was around 39K/year, and this was after 4 years of consecutive tuition hikes.

My 160K in subsidized loans varied from 3.4-6.8%-subsidized loans were available to everyone back then. Think I consolidated all the loans in the 4% range. Paid them off within 10 years after finishing residency.

 

[Dral]

Off topic but I couldn't help looking this up. I'm paying 50k yearly tuition IS, and OOS is 60k. Back in 2003, my school was charging 5k/15k for the same. And Grad PLUS loans were at 6% interest when they came out in 2005. Now it's 9%. On top of everything else in this house fire *gesturing broadly*

And after looking at old Step questions, it's unreal how good we had it in the past. These days everything is third order and every third question stem is a full H&P + labs (not joking). All I do is dream about the 90s.

View attachment 422604View attachment 422605

I took derm boards in the mid teens. They tested all kinds of minutia. It changed and now it's geared toward practice type questions. I think I'd rather have it the way I did it. I think I'd rather answer about what collagen type is affected in what disease opposed to trying to figure out the intricacies of why a question writer is asking about the next step in workup being an ultrasound, but an MRI might also be acceptable.

 

[NontradICUdoc]

Given this information should I be targeting applying in 2028 or 2029?

Would it be feasible to get clincal and shadowing hours while completing the post-bacc?

Is there any glaring issues with this approach, or anything I'm missing?

1. do not set a target if you do not have your pre-requisits. Focus on them first. A target will be useless if your grades are not up to snuff. Start with one step
2. If you have the time, it would not hurt
3. You are putting the cart before the horse. As mentioned, do your research as medicine is an every changing environment. Especially now with AI. See #1

 

[russian.bluecat95]

Hello everyone!

I'm seeking advice on how to approach a transition from finance to medicine. I knew that finance wasn't for me by the end of my undergraduate degree, but I had landed a well-paying job that gave me a clear career and compensation path if I ended up enjoying it. Simply put, I don't see myself in this industry at all, and my entire life I've been interested in pursuing medicine. At 18 I wasn't sure I was up to the challenge, but I'm confident in my ability and work ethic to pursue medicine now.

I'm currently doing an EMT certification course on the weekends, and plan to take a shift on the weekends to gauge if I can perform in the environments that being a doctor entail. In the meantime though, I'd like to get a second opinion on where I stand at the moment, and how I can best position myself going forward. My undergraduate GPA was a 3.75 from a state school, but when calculating my sGPA it stands at 3.0 due to only taking a couple stats and calc classes and getting Bs. I'm thinking about doing a formal post-bacc through the state school in my hometown (University of Arizona), and maybe retaking those few math classes before so when I start the post-bacc my sGPA is sitting at a 3.5. I would apply this coming June for the post-bacc and start in August/September.

The main questions I have at this point are:

Given this information should I be targeting applying in 2028 or 2029?

Would it be feasible to get clincal and shadowing hours while completing the post-bacc?

Is there any glaring issues with this approach, or anything I'm missing?

I’ve spoken to a current resident who completed a post-bacc while getting clinical and shadowing hours, so I think that would be possible but it can be difficult depending on the workload of the program. Since you are training to be an EMT, you may be able to get shadowing and clinical hours that way, but connections make it a lot easier to access these opportunities. I did an internship (it was the Improve Medical Culture internship) that had guest speaker sessions with many doctors from different specialties (including the resident I talked about earlier) and we had the opportunity to reach out to them to connect, which was really helpful.

 

[RadiumGrrrl]

Hello everyone!

I'm seeking advice on how to approach a transition from finance to medicine. I knew that finance wasn't for me by the end of my undergraduate degree, but I had landed a well-paying job that gave me a clear career and compensation path if I ended up enjoying it. Simply put, I don't see myself in this industry at all, and my entire life I've been interested in pursuing medicine. At 18 I wasn't sure I was up to the challenge, but I'm confident in my ability and work ethic to pursue medicine now.

I'm currently doing an EMT certification course on the weekends, and plan to take a shift on the weekends to gauge if I can perform in the environments that being a doctor entail. In the meantime though, I'd like to get a second opinion on where I stand at the moment, and how I can best position myself going forward. My undergraduate GPA was a 3.75 from a state school, but when calculating my sGPA it stands at 3.0 due to only taking a couple stats and calc classes and getting Bs. I'm thinking about doing a formal post-bacc through the state school in my hometown (University of Arizona), and maybe retaking those few math classes before so when I start the post-bacc my sGPA is sitting at a 3.5. I would apply this coming June for the post-bacc and start in August/September.

The main questions I have at this point are:

Given this information should I be targeting applying in 2028 or 2029?

Would it be feasible to get clincal and shadowing hours while completing the post-bacc?

Is there any glaring issues with this approach, or anything I'm missing?

Hi there,

Non trad as heck here, I just wanted to make you aware of options I’ve taken and seen my friends taken to get the premed classes done.

Also your biggest hurdle for application is how fast you can complete chemistry coursework: 2 semester of gen chem with lab , 2 semesters of organic chemistry with lab, and a semester of biochem(some schools have like an either or when it comes to Orgo II or Biochem as a required class).

Ideally for the MCAT you’ve taken all, but you can get away with applying to medical schools if you’re missing some as long as you get them done before you matriculate. Like I’m missing a chem lab but all the schools I reached out to said fine if I finish before graduating.

Keep in mind the premed application cycle is basically a pregnancy. You apply in the summer with primaries, wait until you’re verified in the fall, them you get secondaries, then hopefully interviews, and followed by decision by the spring.

Options for getting premed coursework

• Taking classes at a community college or a university as a non degree student AKA the “DIY postbac” but this can get costly so fast. My friends with bachelors have only done this if their undergraduate GPA needed help. BE WARNED SOME SCHOOLS DO NOT ACCEPT COMMUNITY COLLEGE CREDIT AT ALL.
• Doing a formal postbac program. Non masters but I feel like the mentorship is honestly the best part of these programs. The condensed ones like one’s offered by UVA for examples don’t give you much time to do any ECs so you’re expected to take 1-2 gap years to apply.
• A pre-med targeted masters program, I haven’t done much research on it but my friend the structure of it but it can get costly. Again you get a lot of the mentorship you wouldn’t otherwise have alone. The cost of some of these without scholarship can give you a heart attack because it’s basically graduate school.

Typically you would need at least 2 years of course work to apply, one of which either requires taking organize chemistry with biochem or taking it over the summer which I do not recorded for your sanity. Accelerated programs exists but please do your research on them.

Disclaimer: I am talking about the semester system and have no idea how the quarter system works.

Anyways wish you the best!

Xoxo,
RadiumGrrrl

 

[RadiumGrrrl]

. I did an internship (it was the Improve Medical Culture internship) that had guest speaker sessions with many doctors from different specialties (including the resident I talked about earlier) and we had the opportunity to reach out to them to connect, which was really helpful.

I love summer enrichment programs and I will never shut up about them. It gave so many students like me a chance to learn about medicine and gain experience for med school or research.