Starting from the beginning...need advice

[LoriP]

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Hi, thank you all in advance for any help you can give me!
I am 35 years old and would like to pursue medicine. My background is hospitality and I have no science background whatsoever. I am taking an evening biology class this semester at the University of MD, but need some thoughts on the whole structured post-bacc vs. unstructured program thing (although I know it has been covered...) Also, I have heard that night classes are not thought of as highly as day classes, even from a regular university program. Moreover, I have heard that only doing one class per semester is not looked upon well either. I work full-time and do not have the financial means to quit and just go to school.

Any ideas/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Pemulis]

My advice to you would be to consider the true costs of each of your options. It's true that a formal post-bac program will cost you upwards of 20K, and a year out of the workforce. But the best of these programs have excellent placement results and advising, and get you in and out in one year. Many of them have linkages to med school that let you start directly the year after you finish postbac work. That means that if you started at one next fall, you could be in med school by the following fall (2007). At the rate you're going now, you won't even have finished your pre-reqs by then. If you consider that the formal route might mean a few more years working as a physician later down the road (presumably at a higher salary than you earn now), you could actually save tens of thousands in the long run by going for full time post-bac work. There are loans available, so unless your credit history is poor, it's not a question of not being able to do a full time postbac, but rather of whether or not you are prepared to take that plunge.

As for some of your other questions: I have not heard that med schools look down on night classes per se, but it is a good idea to take your pre-reqs at a school with some name recognition (i.e. not community college or a second tier state school). U of MD should be fine. Taking one class per semester can be more of a problem; med schools want to see that you are capable of carrying a heavy course load--as you'll have to do in med school itself. Taking (and doing well in) a few science courses at once is the way to prove yourself in this area.

In the end there's no one right path to med school. But just remember that at some point, you'll have to quit your job and commit to studying medicine full time. If you are absolutely sure this is what you want to do (and have done some volunteer work, shadowing, etc. to verify this), then it might pay for you to make that commitment sooner rather than later.

I wish you the best of luck.

 

[remo]

You can go informal but you have to be careful that you are doing everything correctly because you will get minimal support from the school. However, it is easier to make it work with your work schedule. My advice would be to take all the pre-reqs in order. Don't bother with any "intro to..." type classes or online classes either. Those are a waste of time and don't really count towards your pre-reqs. I would also suggest taking the hard and boring classes like Calculus and Physics first and getting those out of the way. You have a minimum of 10 classes to take (Calculus, GChem, Physics, OChem and Bio - 2 semesters each). Some places don't require calculus but most do. 1 class at a time will just take too long. You should try for 2 per semester if possible and also summer school. There is no distinction between night/day classes as long as they are the same class. "Extension" type classes don't count. They have to be the same classes that the undergrads at the school take. Oh yea, make sure you get all A's or very close to it! It's a long road but you can make it happen in about 2 years if you commit to it. Good luck!

 

[PossiblePreMed]

Hi, thank you all in advance for any help you can give me!
I am 35 years old and would like to pursue medicine. My background is hospitality and I have no science background whatsoever. I am taking an evening biology class this semester at the University of MD, but need some thoughts on the whole structured post-bacc vs. unstructured program thing (although I know it has been covered...) Also, I have heard that night classes are not thought of as highly as day classes, even from a regular university program. Moreover, I have heard that only doing one class per semester is not looked upon well either. I work full-time and do not have the financial means to quit and just go to school.

Any ideas/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

There are also some post-bac programs that have an evening schedule for those who work. I am about to apply to one in my area.

And I think that schools have more respect for people who have changed their major and actively chose medical school over those who were priveledged enough to be able to go right into it without working first. More power to you, good luck, and don't give up!!

 

[Pemulis]

To follow up on one thing Remo said: most schools do not require calculus any longer, and most of the ones that do only require one semester of it. You should check MSAR (guidebook of med school admission requirements that's put out every year) or the websites of school's you might be interested in. It certainly won't hurt you to take calc (if you do well in it), but if you want the most direct route to med school, I wouldn't recommend taking it unless you know that the med schools you're interested in require it.

 

[NapeSpikes]

And I think that schools have more respect for people who have changed their major and actively chose medical school over those who were priveledged enough to be able to go right into it without working first.

"More respect" over those "privileged enough" to be a trad?? I don't know about that.