The Under M1 Club: Come on in! part 01

[katetlo]

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I've read several different forums on this site and several different threads. The information has been GREAT. The discussions on age and making life adjustments have been so helpful. I'm 28 soon to be 29 and seriously considering med school. (I need to take about 1-2 years of prereqs.) I have yet to admit this out loud to anyone because it kind of freaks me out.

The thought of quitting my fulltime job, in marketing, to go back to school scares and thrills me all at the same time. Hearing how people do this with families and full time jobs gives me so much hope, courage and motivation.

For those of you who have been out of school for a little while and pursued a completely different career path, what is your interest in going back to be a doctor?

The one class I can remember that I liked and inspired me was biology. I can always remember enjoying my science classes. However my undergrad is in communication. Then, recently, after working in an office behind a desk for over 5 years, I decided I wanted a job that allowed me to work more closesly with people and make a difference. I was taking graduate business classes and getting ready to apply to a new MBA program (because I moved) and the thought of applying and taking these business classes was so unappealling to me. So I started to explore what interested me. I took a Human Biology class at the local community college and loved it. It was the most fascinating class. We covered all the organ systems and I loved learning about it. I enjoyed studying and knowing the information. So I started to look into careers based on the fact that I loved this class.

I looked into PT, PA, and Nursing. I kept going back to PT until I found these sites for nontraditional med students and thought, I can do this. Now instread of being stuck on PT I'm stuck on MD. I know the commitment of time and money is huge plus that fact that though I'm not married I don't want to have my first child at 40 when ultimately I'd be done with my residency.

I'm just trying to make sure that if I do this, I'm doing it for the right reasons and I've heard that the best reason is that you love medicine. Well I know the body fascinates me, how it all works together,the reasons for things to go wrong or when it works right. I've volunteered some time in a hospital and liked what I saw.

Please share with me your reasons for taking this road later than sooner in life...

Thanks,
Kate

Sorry this was so long.

 

[agent]

Skaterbabe.. great post.

I guess I got inspired from my first BIO class. It just struck me at that point that this is what I was supposed to do.

I'm going to graduate my CC and move onto Roosevelt U.

Family issues have been really deterring me lately. Ive even reconsidered teaching and pharm.

 

[RoseLee]

Hi Kate.

I, too, am in marketing and will be quitting my job in December to go back to school full-time to re-complete my pre-reqs (mine are 12 years old...). I'm 32 now so it looks like I'll be 35 when I enter medical school (if all goes according to plan). I wanted to be an MD when I was younger, but just didn't have it in me at 21. Now, that I'm older and wiser, I now know that it is definitely what I want! I'm pleased that I've been in high tech at a desk job as it's help me appreciate and find out what I really want to do 🙂.

I'm scared of giving up my salary😱 ! I'm currently paying off my bills so I will enter school debt free 🙂 (to then compile loads of new debt...😡 ) But, after reading all of these posts, I know I will survive!

It's been said many times on these types of boards - REgardless you will turn 35,36,37...40 with or without an MD. I want to turn 40 with one 🙂.

Good luck!

Roselee

 

[agent]

I have another big math test tommorrow. Tonight I have a psych test.

I think I actually said that statement before.

I'll be 40 years old some day whether I am a doctor or not.. I might as well be a doctor...

 

[2badr]

So true agent.I am glad to see that you're back on track with your dream.
It's not going to be easy but people have done it before so obviously it can be done.I myself need to decide whether I will be taking the DAT or the MCAT. I certainly do not want to make the wrong decision.I actually was interested in oral surgery and had heavily considered it until I became discouraged by the acceptance rates into the program.(hence my earlier posts in the pre-dent forum)It is very competitive.I then decided that the fields I was interested in dentistry I could also do in medicine.And I was unsure about some of the aspects of dentistry anyway.
Medicine just seemed like more of a fit for me.There have been so many threads on "what if you do not get in?" I want to go into er or infectious disease but I also want to be able to traet patients as well..diagnose,prescribe etc. So I will probably follow that route if med school does not work out-but uhm I'm keeping my hopes up for med school!
🙂

 

[Biodude]

Hey everyone, I'm back!

Wow, there are quite a bit of posts here. I just came back from the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew medical center, and here are my impressions:

The outside wasn't impressive...could use a few changes to make it look nicer.

Dr. Meade told us to bring in white coats so that we would look like any other doctor, resident, or medical student at the hospital. After entering through the automatic doors, there is a metal detector...for some reason the security guards told me that I could go and not wait in line to be checked by the metal detector. I wondered, "Why?" Then my friend pointed out that we were carrying white lab coats 😀

Later on when I went to get lunch, I got a discount...because I was wearing a white lab coat 😀

Well, with that particular aspect of security, I wonder what would happen if a psycho with concealed weapons comes in wearing a white lab coat? 😱

Well, the experience was interesting. I got to go to a conference in which the surgical residents discussed their patients to the attendings and the attendings "pimped" them. Those of you who have looked at med student esoteric language know what I'm talking about. It was quite funny to see the residents challenge the attendings whenever they were questioned, and also to see several different attendings arguing over proper diagnosis and/or treatment.

After the 2 and 1/2 hour conference, I got to do rounds with Dr. Meade and two medical students, though I guess they don't know about SDN. Basically, we went around from patient to patient, the students would present the patients and Dr. Meade would educate us about the illnesses and treatments for the patients. Rounds didn't last long. Despite what I've heard about doing rounds (lots of walking), these were more standing than walking.

I also got to observe a hernia surgery. I put on some scrubs and dressed up a bit but I didn't participate except as an observer. My friend had some stomach trouble and had to go to the restroom and take a rest during the course of the surgery but managed to come back for the finishing parts. It was interesting to observe surgery and the interaction of the surgical team. They acted as team, as there were no squabbles of any sort, which was great, considering the stereotypes people seem to have implanted into my head about it.

Well, that's about it.

Now, as for everybody else...

Valinor: Wow, now I am wondering what university do you go to? Spring break in 3 weeks? My brother in high school has Spring Break in 2...when is the last day of school for you? For me it's May 31st (day of my last final)

2badr: Glad to see that you've come to that realization. Better to choose an area with many of your interests instead of one with few.

manna: Open-book tests do not help if a person does not study. You end up spending too much time looking for the page with the answer to your question and sometimes find it too late. I find my grading system more odd after having an enormous amount of experience in doing open-book tests. Oh yeah, and this website might be of interest to you:

http://www2.musc.edu/MED/PC-Student_folder/~andy/docs/medschool.html

katetlo: welcome! I notice that this is your first post on SDN and I am happy to hear that we're great for providing advice to our fellow undergrads.

 

[Valinor]

I go to a community college right now, just out of curiostiy how many labs do u university folk do per week?

 

[2badr]

Biodude seems like you had a pretty interesting day,But I think I missed something..was this part of shawdowing that you were doing or volunteering or are you secretly an undercover MS II student??? 😀
Either way it sure sounds like it was fun nonetheless.I bet things like this just cements your career plans doesn't it? 🙂

 

[agent]

MY Psych test got bumped to next week. I was a little pissed about that.

Sounds like a good time Biodude.

 

[manna]

Originally posted by Skaterbabe74
I soooooo don't get how people can just not do anything in a class -- they must have rich parents who don't care that they are wasting money like that lol.

Yep - this is where I think being a non-trad comes in handy. Seems like us older folks have a lot more appreciation for the educational process than those whiners living on daddy's dime. Oops, sorry. Can you tell I'm a little bitter?

To answer your question about a job counting as an EC of course it does....especially if it's related in any way to medicine or science. Even if it's not tho it still counts as something that takes up a lot of your time. I would advise maybe looking into volunteering at a hospital in one of the patient contact areas one Sat or Sun a month for like 4 hours as a way to start building up those ECs without having to sacrifice a ton of time with the kids.

Yeah, what I wouldn't give now to have my old job back at the doctor's clinic (even though I was only a lowly file clerk). Right now I work in the engineering department of a company that manufactures heavy equipment and am bored to tears. I'm going to try to get my foot in the door somewhere locally to volunteer - I live in a VERY small town so I'm worried that it's not going to be a simple process. I think I saw a flyer for the local free clinic (open at night) needed volunteers, or maybe a hospice....

Did you get registered okay? 🙂

 

[swoop]

I am a freshman at Emory and I am in O chem. Wow.......test next week. Gotta love enols.

 

[manna]

Originally posted by samenewme
It varies so wildly by university system that I strongly urge you to talk to a counselor at your college and/or an admissions rep at the university you're transferring to.

Thanks... I'm pretty sure all my classe are transfer-worthy, I'm just worried about taking too many CC hours and then being able to use them all....

I don't have the slightest idea what U I'll be transferring to, guess I need to start giving that some consideration

 

[manna]

Originally posted by katetlo
For those of you who have been out of school for a little while and pursued a completely different career path, what is your interest in going back to be a doctor?

Sorry this was so long.

I think we're used to some long posts around here - no worries. 🙂

For me - it's hard to explain, and probably sounds a bit canned. I've just always felt drawn to medicine, science.

My first exposure to medicine was when I worked in a doctor's office after I dropped out of college (the first time). I absolutely loved being in that enviroment and spent as much time as I possibly could get away with (at work) reading medical literature, lab reports, etc. (although that may have been a bit unethical)..

Fast forward to the birth of my two children: an absolutely amazing, empowering experience. Yet again I'm dumbfounded at the power of the human body ... and at that point I start to consider nursing school ... since I feel "old" to be starting over, and I have a TON of W's on my transcripts.

Nursing - though a great profession in its own right, never really appealed that much to me... as much as the fact that I was just considering it to get a foot in the door any way possible to a health care field....

Then, my biggest inspiration to re-devote myself to the pre-med path was my brother. He graduated as an MD in 2000. He's now an FP chief resident at age 38. He had a pathetic GPA, an undergrad degree in forestry, and took the MCAT numerous times... he was also married and had 3 kids by his MS-3 year... I figured if he can do it, so can I... what's holding me back? Just my own fears and insecurities, really.

I think I got totally off the point there, sorry. Hope that sort-of answers your Q...

 

[dtclark]

Hi all

I'm a newbie here, so let me give a little background. I have a BA in Music and an MLIS (library science). Currently, I'm a library director at a Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Now, at age 31, I've decided to pursue the calling of medicine. Of course, I must take ALL pre-reqs.

Vanderbilt requires Calculus as a coreq for General Chem. I've never taken advanced algebra, much less pre-calculus. Has anyone out ever taken college-level calc w/o pre-calc?

Thanks. It's nice to be here.

 

[manna]

Originally posted by Biodude
manna: Open-book tests do not help if a person does not study. You end up spending too much time looking for the page with the answer to your question and sometimes find it too late. I find my grading system more odd after having an enormous amount of experience in doing open-book tests. Oh yeah, and this website might be of interest to you:

http://www2.musc.edu/MED/PC-Student_folder/~andy/docs/medschool.html

Sounds like an awesome experience, Biodude. How'd you happen to get involved with that?

Thanks for the link, I'll definately check it out when I have a moment.

Yeah, my A&P class is full of non-trads and people who work days. None of us probably have as much time to study as we need to, but her tests really aren't that difficult. There were at least two pages of questions that were things like "where does gas exchange take place?" (can't get much simpler than that, now can you)
🙄

 

[2badr]

welcome dtclark!!
You know it is good to see everybody staying as positive as possible on this thread.When SDN was down I surfed the web for related sites and came across a few..man one of them was just sooo negative.It was as if everyone who posted was angry,bitter,unhappy or dissatisfied.Very few people seemed to post too many positive things.Anyway I do not think I will frequent that site at all.If that is the only way for some people to become encouraged,they may never get the encouragement they so desire.
But this is just one person's opinion....

 

[manna]

Originally posted by dtclark
Vanderbilt requires Calculus as a coreq for General Chem. I've never taken advanced algebra, much less pre-calculus. Has anyone out ever taken college-level calc w/o pre-calc?

Welcome Dtclark - I think I've seen your posts at OPM?

I began taking Cal I a few years back at the big U here... the class was moving too swiftly for me (especially at 8am!) to keep up with after being out of school for many years + working full-time and commuting.

I'm sure it could be done, maybe buy one of those Cliffs notes style "crash courses" review in Cal/pre-cal to get yourself up to speed before the class begins, or to have on hand in case you get confused?

From what I understand, the pre-maths don't really have so much in common with Cal, anyway...

(I'm sure someone else here can add a little more insightful commentary to this issue than I)

 

[agent]

Originally posted by manna
Thanks... I'm pretty sure all my classe are transfer-worthy, I'm just worried about taking too many CC hours and then being able to use them all....

I don't have the slightest idea what U I'll be transferring to, guess I need to start giving that some consideration

That happened to me. I have 82 CC credits and can only transfer 66.

edit>> I'm in pre-calc now and I hear that you dont need it to do calc really. But it may help you to get in the Math thinking frame of mind.

 

[Valinor]

Looks like im going to go past my limit as well byt the end of my freshamn year ill alreday have 53 units, which leaves me with 17 units to work with for the next 2 semesters...

 

[marthpodi]

it would be a mistake to take calculus without having taken pre-calc unless you've taken another class with trigonometry and are really good at math, you're much better off taking pre-calc

 

[agent]

Originally posted by Valinor
Looks like im going to go past my limit as well byt the end of my freshamn year ill alreday have 53 units, which leaves me with 17 units to work with for the next 2 semesters...

Thats how it was for me.. i had to take a bunch of computer courses for my work so they didnt count towards my degree. I'm so happy to be done with my CC though. I really need to get on the ball and apply to my 4 yr school. I have an open house on sunday.

 

[Biodude]

Hey dudes and dudettes, I thought that I'd drop by to answer some questions and ask a few more:

First off, my experience came from Dr. Meade allowing students from my university to follow him around. All the attendings, residents, and med students that I was introduced to knew that I was just a freshman pre-med student because Dr. Meade introduced me as such.

It's definitely cemented my plans and motivation...though my experience in the hosptial was somewhat on the negative side. Being around Surgical ICU patients all day certainly wasn't fun. It was depressing 🙁

I'm thinking about going into an outpatient specialty like family practice instead of inpatient (critical care/pulmonary disease) now, thanks to that experience. But I am glad to have had that experience, because I would probably still be harping about my interest in working with inpatients.

I would also definitely not fit in the OR, because of all the focus required of a surgeon to actually get to the root of the problem before fixing it up. The surgery I saw took a good hour and a half to actually get to the hernia, but it only took maybe 5 minutes at most to fix it up and about an additional 30 minutes to close it. Also, I wasn't all that impressed with what I saw the anesthesiologist do...fix up the IV with potassium-something (darn it, forgot the name!! I'm glad that I took chemistry though 😀 ) after the patient was unconcious and intubated. Then he just checked the monitors for heart rate/blood pressure/etc. When there was an anamoly he would take a syringe, pull out some fluid from a bottle (I couldn't see what it was specifically), and inject it into the IV line. He also had quite an amount of paperwork to fill out over the course of the surgery.

Now then...

For Calculus - at my university, it depends upon which calculus course you take. For example, Calculus for math, chemistry, physics, and engineering majors requires a semester of pre-calculus preparation (Calculus I for those who are wondering)

Then there is a Short Course in Calculus for non-math people like me. It requires one semester of College Algebra, but no trig or pre-cal, so I assume that it is more algebra-based versus Calculus I which is more trigonometry-based (though I did take trig in high school).

Most of the people who I've talked to regarding calculus (including a calculus teacher at my high school) say that it is ALWAYS the TRIGONOMETRY that kills them. So, my advice to you people out there who plan on taking the hardcore calculus class is, CONCENTRATE ON TRIGONOMETRY while taking pre-cal. I know some people who've taken pre-cal and failed Cal I because they figured that Trig wasn't needed!

dtclark - technically I am going to take "college-level calculus w/out pre-cal" since my cal class doesn't require pre-cal 😀

manna - I did a lot of open-book tests in junior high and high school for my science classes. My science teachers then told the classes that they should still study for them. Well, I didn't for one open-book test and I spent too much time looking for the answers to the questions...my thoughts were basically like this: "Hmm...let's see here, is it on page 221? Nope. Hey wait, this other question relates to dilutions in solutions, it's gotta be in Chapter 6! Hmm...nope. Uh-oh, only 5 minutes left and I only have one of these stupid questions done!" 🙄

So, I'm not trying to belittle your experience, but I'm just trying to bring in my own opinion from my experience. It's just an opinion.

2badr - Oh yeah, I've been to a Carribean medical schools message board, and those people sounded really really really bitter and depressed. I could detect anger in their posts for not being accepted to U.S. med schools and also for having a difficult time trying to get into U.S. residencies. I'm not going back there again. Lesson learned: Carib U.S. med students are very bitter! I won't even consider Caribbean even as a last resort if I do not get in here.

Valinor - I am really interested in what CC you go to. I'll send ya a PM soon regarding it. If you end up transferring to a UC, congrats! If not, well, you could come on over to my school (Cal State Fullerton). The pre-med advisor here is extremely knowledgable, as he has served on the admissions committees of Harvard Med, Texas Tech Med, and UCI med.

That's all for now. I gotta go. Laters everyone!

 

[manna]

Originally posted by Biodude
So, I'm not trying to belittle your experience, but I'm just trying to bring in my own opinion from my experience. It's just an opinion.

No problem. I wasn't offended at all. Just realizing that most of my classmates probably have some other academic issues they need to deal with if they can't pass a test that they studied for AND was open book (we didn't know it was an open book exam until we got to class that evening, so no excuses on their part)..

Anyway. Is it Friday yet?

I'm going for an interview for a rad tech program here today... I'm anticipating it and discouraged by it at the same time. 🙁

 

[CJLaw]

Hey guys--its been a while--I was a bit down about my Gen Chem grade so I've stayed in the Everyone forum. But I'm back.. .... .

The take home test I posted about before was a screw. It was so f-ing hard! It was 25 questions and it took me 4 hours! Needless to say, I should have spent 6-8 hours on it cause I got a C!! How in the hell does someone get a C on a take home test? My brainiac prof decided to give me back the test right before the final--so I was depressed going into the biggest test of the year. Anyway, the final went OK, I got a B. So in my first pre-req, in a class I studied more for in 11 weeks than I did my entire time in undergrad, I received a C+. Great start, huh.

Anyway, I was feeling sorry for myself during my week off--but now I've jumped head first into Orgo--so the depression has passed. Luckily, this prof is an EXCELLENT teacher, a total contrast to the buttmunch in Gen Chem. So I know, I'll bounce right back.

Just wanted to share.

 

[manna]

Originally posted by CJ2Doc
How in the hell does someone get a C on a take home test?

I received a C+. Great start, huh.

Don't give yourself too hard a time - you did your best, and it's over now so no use worrying about it.

Seems "take home" and "open book" (ones that are planned that way, unlike the one I mentioned that we had last week) exams are usually a bit more taxing than normal ones often are - guess the profs think they need to make them extra excruciating to compensate for the so-called "advantage" of being able to use your book/having more time to complete it in. *shrug*

 

[agent]

LOL@buttmunch

I had my big trig test last night that I really, really studied for. I thought I would finally get my A.

On the 4th page of the test was a rediculous graphing section of which I dont feel anyone was prepared for..

I'm sure that f*cked my grade for that test. After all of that work boy I was pissed. If she curved I'm sure I'd get a high grade, but she doesnt.. so its going to be another B or C.. AARGH!

 

[2badr]

Sorry about the grade,agent.I hope you have a chance to get it all together soon.
Biodude you just asked to be a part of the program?? And unfortunately the site I was referring to that I felt was so negative was an American website.I am not sure how the group members support each other with so much negativity going around on that site.
CJ2doc-I agree with Manna,don't give yourself a hard time.a lot of take home tests are difficult.Especially the ones that are science or math.If you don't undertand the concepts you have to "reteach" yourself before you casn answer the question.Then it depends as well on what answer the teacher is looking for.
And I think I have my schedule for this year and '04 figured out at last.I was waiting until my work schedule was settled before registering.I just did not want to take out a loan..I am so scared that I will have undergrad loans combined withmed school loans....But at this point a loan might be my only option.
OH well....

 

[agent]

Well I havent gotten the grade yet...

I may have done better than I thought.

 

[Skaterbabe74]

I hate not having computer access at home!!! lol....I never realized how much I depended on having a few minutes of playing minesweeper (or reading SDN) for study breaks. I can't even take my puter in until next Wed so I'll be fitting time in on the puter's at school or my bf's for the next couple weeks.🙁

Welcome Katetlo!

For those of you who have been out of school for a little while and pursued a completely different career path, what is your interest in going back to be a doctor?

For me, I always wanted to be a doctor but I also wanted to be a figure skater, dancer, actress, etc too lol. I pursued those things until I realized I wouldn't make a living at any of them, all the while taking classes here and there with the intention of eventually getting a degree in something. When I finally gave up my figure skating/dance due to money issues I just worked full time in retail for a few years, thought about going into management, and realized that I'd absolutely hate it so I went back to school to pursue my first dream -- to be a doctor. I kept working (while going to school full time) up until I got laid off at the end of December --best thing that ever happened to me. Now I'll be eligible for the entire financial package rather than just loans and I'll actually have time to study! lol. I also have ideas about possibly doing PT if the med school thing doesn't work out, but that's a very back burner idea for me 🙂

I also can empathize with your thoughts about children at 40, I will most likely be in the same boat. I'm single, although I do have a bf of almost 5 years, and will most likely not be marrying him anytime soon. We'll most likely be doing the long distance thing while I'm in med school, but that's still 3.5 years away so who knows... If I wait until I'm all done with school I'll be having a child when I'm at least 36, but the truth is that if I don't do the med school thing I'll always regret it and feel like I gave up something of myself to have children. I don't want to do that. (I'm one of those people who has to have her cake and eat it too lol). Anyway I figure if I decide to have children at that age and can't do it physically I'll adopt. I don't really have any strong desire to experience the whole pregnancy thing so that's not that big a deal to me...I just want to raise a child and give it my love someday.

Anyway, good luck whatever you decide and welcome again!😀



Ok - this is going to be really long so sorry in advance but I don't have enough puter access to add in multiple posts hehe...


Agent - what CC do u go to? I grew up in IL and went to Coll of DuPage for many of my credits....you'll love Roosevelt tho, many of my hs friends went there...

I know whatcha mean about having a test bumped when you don't know it's being bumped. They did that to my abnormal psych test this week too. I spent all of the plane rides, plus a lot of the weekend studying for that while I should have been studying for my chem quiz tomorrow and calc test tomorrow and now we're not even having it til next Wed....sigh...at least I can still concentrate on my a&p lab stuff this weekend...there are soooooo many arteries and veins on this one - I have no idea yet how I'm going to keep them straight.

Biodude - sounds like you had a great time at the hospital, and an educational one too...while your experience from the hernia operation may make you think you're not interested in those fields I'd still keep an open mind tho...you never know...once you get into M3 experiences you may change your mind...

Manna -- Yeah I'm a little bitter too...although mine stems more from the fact that my father got to take the easy way out and didn't "have" to help me at all. When my folks got divorced I had a trust fund from a great aunt to pay for post-secondary/career educational things so I used it to pay for my figure skating and dancing cuz those were to be my careers. Anyway, as a result of the trust my folks never laid out what was supposed to be his responsibility toward my education and so when the money ran out and I went back to school I got to take care of all of it myself. Which I can do of course, thanks to loans, but it would be soooo much easier if I had his help.

Yup, I got registered fine. I ended up coming to the puter lab after calc class Mon nite to do it before catching my bus home....so the summer's set, now they just have to assign my fall registration date lol.

No fair on your a&p class!! lol...Ours is set up to weed out the nursing students at our school (we have a very highly ranked nursing program) so it's a major bear of a class! Hopefully it'll make my biopsych class this summer a bit easier tho 🙂

Welcome dtclark! Glad to have ya....since it's been sooo long since you've had any math, and you've never had advanced algebra and trig I wouldn't recommend starting out with calculus. While the algebra part isn't completely necessary for calc the trig is. Also, I'd consider picking up one of the computer programs like MathAdvantage and just working through it. Then take the math prep test at your school and see where it recommends you start out. I hadn't taken a math class in about 5 years and took the diagnostic test at my CC and was put into pre-pre algebra. I knew I didn't need to go all the way back that far so I boned up through the MathAdvantage program, retook the test and got into Coll Alg. I took that and Trig at the CC, and am now in Calc 1 at my school (which is not only required for my state's med school but is required for my major). Don't try to jump ahead at this stage...it's too hard and you'll pay for it later...also the algebra classes will come in handy for chemistry and physics too.

CJ2Doc -- I know how frustrating your chem grade experience can be. I had a similar experience with A&P (while not a prereq still something I considered to be an important class and thought I'd do well in). I had gotten an A in my hs A&P class and loved it. Then I got to this one, and ended up with a C mostly due to the fact that the book isn't easy to read and our professor loves to trick us on tests (too many partially correct answers or confusing questions). I'm doing better so far in the second half, but I'm not feeling very confident about the lab test next week since it's over the heart, the endocrine system, and all the arteries and veins, and lab is what is used to bring up our lecture grades. Anyhoo - just stay positive and keep plugging away. One "bad" grade isn't going to ruin you, I promise 🙂

Valinor -- This semester I have an A&P lab Wed morning from 9:25 - 12:00 (although we usually get out early), and a G. Chem II lab Tues morning from 10:50 - 1:35 (again we usually get out early). In the fall I'll end up with an O Chem lab that meets twice/week (once for like an hour, and the other for 2.5 hrs), and a physics lab once/week for like 2.5 hrs (I think). Luckily I usually only have to put a couple of hours into pre/post labs for Chem and memorize stuff for A&P so most of the work is done in class...
It mostly depends on what you end up majoring in...for example at our school the O Chem labs are divided into two different labs - one for bio majors and one for chem majors...the chem majors have two full 2.5 hr labs/ week while our first day will be spent on a short lecture explaining what we're doing in lab that week. Most semesters I'll end up having at least one lab class, and I think there's a couple more semesters besides next fall that I have 2, but I never have more than 2 scheduled.

2badr -- Congrats on figuring our your schedule. I figured mine out for the most part before I even registered for the first semester lol. Don't worry too much about the loan thing tho. You do whatcha gotta do, and in the grand scheme of things adding another $10,000 or so to your med schools loans for your ugrad isn't that big a difference lol. The only way I could attend school at all this year was thru loans since I earned too much money selling shoes to get any grants. Next year tho I'll be set....thanks to be laid off from my retail job I no longer had any income at all (except unemployment of course) so they totally redid my package. Instead of an EFC of like $5000 it's now $400 something 😀


Anyway, now that I've made my longest post to date I think, I'm gonna go finish studying for my Chem quiz (it'll be pretty easy - it's over thermodynamics so it's a lot of plug and chug problems), and my Calc test (who knows, maybe she'll put that one off til Mon too because of our snow day - not that I have a lot of hope on that but my fingers are crossed
😀 ).

Have a good weekend everyone! Go Horns!
--Jessica, UCCS

 

[agent]

Skaterbabe, I go to McHenry County College. Its about a hour north of dupage.

I got an email from RU yesterday. It does sound like a good fit for me while I still work during the day. Plus I think i'll get good aid

 

[manna]

Agent - When do you find out what you made on your exam? In my A&P we use scantrons and the prof (if we're on campus) will normally go grade them right away. Nice not having to "wait" to find out, I think. Otherwise I'd be worrying myself sick. 🙂

Skater - I've actually been secretly wishing I'd get laid off myself. I could sure use that unemployment for a while... (impossible to feed/shelter kids on financial aid, obviously).

And speaking of bitter, don't even get me started on how everyone was all gung-ho about my bro applying to med school, but I should just pursue some "tech" field (I'm in about the same position he was when he began to think about applying/taking pre-reqs, two kids, spouse, etc)

My first A&P II lab prac was last night and it was horrific. I made the worst grade of my college career on that... but she curved/gave extra credit and I ended up with a high B. My lab partner made a 54! 🙁 It was mostly on the heart/cardiovascular system.

 

[agent]

I should find out on monday. They're written exams so no scantron.

Roosevelt told me that I should wait till I'm done with my classes to apply. I guess if I apply by the end of may, ill be fine.

edit>> that reminds me of how I hate to work in groups because if they f*ck up then it hurts your grade... I end up just doing it or going to the professor and requesting another lab partner.

I know.. im a grade grubbbing b*tch

 

[Biodude]

Hey agent, I know how ya feel about working in groups. That's why I used to be hesitant about it. But, you gotta realize that as a healthcare provider, you will have to rely on and work with others...doctors need nurses in order to look after and monitor a patient's progress when the doctors aren't there...

I realize that it sucks when you are graded on your entire group's work, but maybe you've got to try and look at it from each person's perspective in the group. There are several different types of people in a group, and each brings his/her own strengths and weaknesses...like the natural leader, the analyzer/manager, the caring person that makes sure to communicate with everyone to make everybody feel involved, the person that has the most ideas, etc.

Well, you've just got to figure out everybody's strengths and weaknesses before deciding on who does what. Simple enough, right? I think that I work pretty well in groups now, because I try to view the world from others' viewpoints in order to understand why they do what they do.

manna, I know how ya feel, too, though to a lesser extent. Don't listen to those people, just do what makes you happy. I mean, they aren't your masters, are they?

You see, when I decided on going into medicine...well you might have read my mom's "lectures" to me about volunteering for hospice (earlier in the thread). Not only that, but when my uncle visited, he thought I was going to go into computer science! "Oh, yeah, Biodude, that's definitely for you. You like computers, don't you?" Yes I do, uncle, but not to the extent of wanting to make a career out of it. Then afterwards, he told me that I should go into pharmacy, because it's "easier".

I forgot to mention that all this time, my cousin, who ended up at a more prestigious university than me, was also studying as a pre-med, and she had the support of all of my aunts and uncles.

Well, my cousin couldn't finish pre-med, and now my relatives are surprised that I'm trying very hard. My mom keeps badgering me about how "easy" and "comfortable" working in a pharmacy is (she is still uneducated about the opportunities that a PharmD confers to its graduates). On one visit to the dentist, my mom pointed out how "easy" and "comfortable" it is to be a dentist when you have dental hygienists to do the cleanings for you.

Firstly, I've wanted to be a doctor for a long time. The idea of Pharmacy never entered my mind until my mom brought it up and ranted about how "easy" and "comfortable" it is. My mom doesn't like the idea of my taking care of sick people, as evidenced by her opposition to my volunteering in hospice. Now she wants me to go follow the nurses when they visit a patient, to make sure that I "get the neccessary experience before visiting the patient yourself." None of the other volunteers had to do this. Sometimes I feel like my mom babies me too much. I'm 18. I can see why people want to move AWAY from home when they go to college.

My mom worries about me too much, but she says that "all moms are like this." 🙁

I just don't want her to worry her hairs white.

 

[Skaterbabe74]

Originally posted by manna
In my A&P we use scantrons and the prof (if we're on campus) will normally go grade them right away. Nice not having to "wait" to find out, I think. Otherwise I'd be worrying myself sick. 🙂

Skater - I've actually been secretly wishing I'd get laid off myself. I could sure use that unemployment for a while... (impossible to feed/shelter kids on financial aid, obviously).

My first A&P II lab prac was last night and it was horrific. I made the worst grade of my college career on that... but she curved/gave extra credit and I ended up with a high B. My lab partner made a 54! 🙁 It was mostly on the heart/cardiovascular system.

No fair lol....we use scantrons for lecture exams but we have a class of almost 200...we're lucky if we get grades within a week!

I definitely know the feeling, but at least for me between grants and loans I should be fine from here on out without having to work (fingers crossed), but I don't have any kids or significant others to take care of either...

Ouch - we have that practical next Wed. At least your teacher curved it, ours don't 🙁 I haven't quite figured out how in the world to keep all the various veins and arteries straight because our practical is 85% identifications, 15% fill in the blank. In addition to the heart/cardiovascular system, our test is including the endocrine system too. This one is giving me fits already lol...I will definitely be at the open lab Sun trying to make sense of all the veins/arteries on the cadavers 🙂


Despite my oversleeping and having to fudge the reason I was late for my chem quiz I think I did excellent on it. I blanked on the 3rd law of thermodynamics (those darn perfect crystalline structures at O K lol). I think that will be the only point I miss on it tho yay 🙂 I just hope my calc test will go as well....if my teacher this semester finds the same stuff important that the teacher last semester did I'll do fine...if she concentrates more on the last few sections in the chapter I'll be screwed cuz they are very confusing and difficult concepts to get down (I hate word problems!).

Have a good weekend everyone!

--Jessica, UCCS

 

[Valinor]

Originally posted by Skaterbabe74
No fair lol....we use scantrons for lecture exams

--Jessica, UCCS

LOL! be happy youre lecture test are multiple choice at all! I hate the fill in the blank and essay test that my bio teacher gives.

 

[mommyof3]

Hi everyone!

Biodude- Although your mom may seem really annoying sometimes, be glad she cares so much about your personal enjoyment out of a job and not just the financial benefits. She sounds like she loves you a whole lot.

Well my classes are going pretty good here. We are at mid-term and I have a A in two of my classes, but the political science I have a test on Tuesday so I am not sure about that yet. That class is harder than any science class I have ever taken. 90% of our grade is based on 2 tests. I am a little worried about that. He gave us a study guide to look over and I split mine with a friend. Well rewriting it last night I think over half of them are wrong! Serves me right I guess.

Sorry to rant, and agent- I wish you luck on your grade.

 

[lil pook]

Originally posted by sunfire1
I am attending the local CC, but will soon be at the University of South Florida. I am looking forward to getting out of this CC

You will absolutely love USF!!!! The students, teachers, and basically everyone are the nicest, most laid back bunch you will ever meet. 🙂

 

[Biodude]

Originally posted by Valinor
LOL! be happy youre lecture test are multiple choice at all! I hate the fill in the blank and essay test that my bio teacher gives.

Hehe, I know just how ya feel dude. My biology class last semester had ALL ESSAY exams. It was unbelievable how hard they were! I was lucky to get a C in that class. I really thought that I was gonna get a D, with how hard the exams were and also for my performance in labs.

Of course, I actually enjoy essay over scantron now because you at least get partial credit if you get something wrong, assuming that you can explain it correctly enough. I don't like scantron all that much now because of Psychology 101. The professor's a cool guy, but I hate his scantron quizzes and exams! I'm probably gonna get my lowest grade in that class from all of the classes that I am taking this semester! 🙁

 

[Valinor]

hahhaha yea im taking quite a load myself this semester and having a very hard time keeping all my grades up.

 

[katetlo]

Thanks to all of you for your replies about why you are choosing to be a doctor. They help a lot. I just keep reading and asking questions. Hopefully eventually I'll be able to quit my job and go to class full time. The more I read and learn, the more I think I can do this. Good luck to you all. I plan to continue visiting these discussions for more great insight.😍

 

[2badr]

HI guys.
You know there are soooo many threads on the diff types of majors and acceptance rates to med school.I understand that the med schools want a "well-rounded" applicant.I think we all have read that to the point of ad-nauseum...🙄
I actually was starting to feel that the science majors were at a disadvantage!!! Because at any given point there is all this talk about how the history majors -as one example-have such a high acceptance rate.
Does it count that I want to do my major in something I enjoy?? I can only visualize myself majoring in something other than science if it seems as if I cannot complete my core requirements with my present major and apply "on time". if you can believe this my lowest grades in high school were history and government. I just did not enjoy those classes.And so far I have not enjoyed them in college either.😉
And isn't it wise to get an undergraduate degree in something you like so that if at first you are not accepted into med school you can work on improving your app and do a job you enjoy??
Just the crazy thoughts that were beginning to really gnaw at my brain.
What do you guys think about the majors and acceptance rates to med schools? personally I would also like to be a little bit more familiar with the material (covered in med school) than having the basic background that the pre-reqs would require.
Ok-just a thought to my fellow pre-meds...🙂

 

[agent]

Can you believe I'm actually considering finch as an option.. must be the fact its like 20 mins from my house..

I'll find out my math test grade tonight.

 

[Biodude]

2badr - yeah, I've heard plenty of talk about that. It's not that being a science major is a disadvantage, it's just that most pre-meds are science majors. If you love your major, do not change it! The reason why history majors have such high acceptance rates to medical schools is because there are so few...I mean, there are A LOT of bio majors out there, and that's why the low acceptance rate. They only look at the PERCENTAGES, not at the NUMBERS, when they talk about acceptance rates. Come on, how many humanities pre-meds are there in comparison to science pre-meds? Very few.

If you do not look at percentages, but at the numbers of students accepted to medical schools, I believe that you will find a lot of science majors compared to other majors.

So, I say, stick with microbio (um, that is your major right? 😕 ). Don't major in history if it is going to be boring and if you are going to hate it.

agent - is there something wrong with Finch? Just curious.
Oh yeah, and be optimistic, dude. I hope that you get a good score. 🙂

 

[2badr]

Originally posted by Biodude
2badr - yeah, I've heard plenty of talk about that. It's not that being a science major is a disadvantage, it's just that most pre-meds are science majors. If you love your major, do not change it! The reason why history majors have such high acceptance rates to medical schools is because there are so few...I mean, there are A LOT of bio majors out there, and that's why the low acceptance rate. They only look at the PERCENTAGES, not at the NUMBERS, when they talk about acceptance rates. Come on, how many humanities pre-meds are there in comparison to science pre-meds? Very few.

If you do not look at percentages, but at the numbers of students accepted to medical schools, I believe that you will find a lot of science majors compared to other majors.

So, I say, stick with microbio (um, that is your major right? 😕 ). Don't major in history if it is going to be boring and if you are going to hate it.

agent - is there something wrong with Finch? Just curious.
Oh yeah, and be optimistic, dude. I hope that you get a good score. 🙂

thanx for the reply...
Yes micro is my major.I guess for me and my future plans a science major just makes more. I guess I was just wondering out loud.I think you are prolly close on those percentages. I guess I never really looked at that way.
🙂

 

[agent]

I'm sure Finch is fine, excpet for it having a bit of a bad rep, being expensive and not having an on site hospital.

I'd be happy to go anywhere honestly.

 

[Skaterbabe74]

I have mixed feelings about scantrons vs essay tests....in the case of A&P it's really hard to do an essay test because it's soo detailed to start with so in that case I'm happy it's scantron (although I hate how slow our teacher is at getting the grades onto the internet). On the other hand my G. Bio classes were a combo MC/short answer/essay and that was a great set up in my opinion. You could memorize the "few" mechanisms you needed to for the essays and if you forgot a bit of it you still got most of the credit. Yet with the wide variety of types of questions you still had a shot of getting a good grade if you weren't super good at one section.

2Bad - I agree with Biodude on the major thing...you only hear soooo much about the non-science majors because there's relatively few of them to start with so of course a large percentage of the candidates are going to be accepted. I decided to major in science (biology (exercise emphasis) and chemistry) because those are the classes I'm enjoying at this point. Sure I still like "some" Lit classes, "some" history classes, etc, but I couldn't see myself enjoying enough of them to make a major out of it.

Of course if I don't make it past Calc 1 with at least a C this semester I don't know what I'm going to do. (It's required for the science majors here) I can't keep retaking this class! lol. Our exam tonite was obnoxious. The first part was supposed to be easy - just to make sure we knew how to apply the various ways of finding derivatives...course she picked some of the harder examples to test that knowledge! The word problems I blanked on...I couldn't for the life of me remember what the volume equation for a cube was, and then the other one I think gave way too much info so I couldn't figure out which parts to use and which not to...I ended up not finding a derivative of anything for that one so I'm sure I'll lose all 10 points for that 🙁 .


My chem quiz last week went well tho - I got a 26/30 which is an A for us. Yay! Now so long as I do the 5 pts EC we're being offered this week I'll have my A back in that class.

I think I'm screwed on my A&P practical this Wed tho. I had wanted to come in on Sun for the open lab session, but my ride completely forgot (the busses don't run on sundays in this town) and now I have to figure out a way to differentiate between veins and arteries after only having seen them on the cadavers once! Those of you taking A&P any suggestions?? I'll probably end up tracing them as much as I can from their starting/ending points and guessing. Hopefully it'll work. 😱

I think I'm going to be lucky to get away with 2 C's, 1 B, and an A this semester, although I'll keep my fingers crossed that A&P goes better than a C (we have two more lecture exams and one more lab exam after Wed).

I hope you did better on your precalc test Agent then I think I did on my calc test lol.

Have a good week everyone!
--Jessica, UCCS

 

[agent]

Actually Skaterbabe I did crap on my Pre-Calc exam.. the teacher had the audacity to tell me "I could have done better"

I felt like telling her that she could have prepped me better.

I wasnt prepared for the graphing at all. No one was. A lot of ppl got low D's.

I got a 71. Then she scorned us for not doing well on the exam.

She gave us a review sheet, which had only 2 very simple graphing problems. The book didnt emphasize graphing in the chapter either. I really felt cheated. Overall it only lowered my grade 1.7% to 82.35%

 

[Biodude]

Wow, agent, didn't realize that your pre-cal prof was such an a**!

Please forgive my stupidity, but I didn't think that professors were THAT mean. I wonder how she got to be able to teach! At least at my school, they've got instructor evaluations to weed out the bad professors.

She don't know how to teach, and if she were teaching my class, I'd probably try to find a way to get her fired.

 

[agent]

They have teacher evals but by that time its too late.

I hope to get a B, which would be an A since the 5.0 course.

 

[manna]

Biodude - Aren't all mamas the same? As a mom, I think I can safely say that mothers are never going to stop worrying about their children. I read some quote somewhere that said once you give birth, it's like having a piece of your heart walking around outside of your body. Hell, I'm 26 and my mom is still pretty overbearing... so as annoying as she is, it's just because she loves ya. Not that you didn't know that already.

Agent - sorry to hear about you not doing as well as you'd hoped on the math exam. Sounds like your prof is an a$$. A good prof makes or breaks a class for sure.

Skaterbabe - Sorry I'm no help on the veins/arteries thing. I had a much harder time with the veins though, since they anastomose more. My school is way too poor to afford cadavers - so far this semester we've done a cat, rat, sheep brain and cow eye.

We had our second exam last night on the digestive, endocrine, and urinary systems along with a bunch of junk about metabolism, nutrition and body homeostasis. It was ridiculously easy, for which I'm grateful since I ended up watching "The Green Mile" Monday night instead of studying. 🙁 We have one more exam on the respiratory and reproductive systems, then a final. I'm ready for this class to be over - I hate commuting.

Tomorrow AM I have to be at a hospital radiology department early. I'm applying to a radiologic sciences program for the fall (which seems like a fun, unusual thing to end up with a BS in) and part of the application process is observation. I'm really excited about it, but not too thrilled at having to get up at 5am. 🙂