Trying to figure this all out...

[JSavvy]

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Long post... looking for some guidance... any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

I'm finishing my last year of military service, and I'll have completed my bachelor's requirements for a degree in business administration. Business bores the living hell out of me, and I've taken a big interest in the possibility of practicing medicine. I took a class before my deployment called Combat Lifesavers Course, which touched on a bunch of emergency procedures for treating injuries and was just fascinated by the material not covered by the instructors. I've never taken an interest in anything before, so I take this as a pretty significant indicator.

I went through college at a 4 year institution (Keene State in NH) for a year (musical composition major) and dropped out at the beginning of the third semester due to a severe ear issue that later developed into a cholesteatoma (sp?) requiring surgery. After recovering, I joined the army and plodded through my courses in business administration using online classes. I've completed about 90 credit hours and will complete the degree within the next 13 months on active duty. My GPA is currently a 3.51, but my Keene State GPA is a 3.0. My sGPA is a 3.2, but I've only taken 2 biology classes, so I know I can get this a bit higher by rocking through my pre-med requirements.

I really just figured out what I want to do, and I've read about how to do it, but I want a more focused gameplan for when I get out of the military. I'm a Washington resident and have taken two classes at UW before, so I'm planning on knocking out pre-med in a year (including a summer semester) there. Great school! My aptitude has always been very high (720 GMAT, and 1440 on SATs without a calculator), but I've never been interested in anything. I just never really put the effort into anything because I didn't want anything bad enough. I want to be a doctor. I started classes again during this deployment and have been getting perfect scores on everything. It feels good to know what you want and work towards it!

DO or MD is always an option, but I don't want to go to a Carribean school. I have a great GI Bill that'll pay a good chunk of my schooling, and if I could get into the Udub (dream school!), the entire MD tuition would be paid for. If my grades will give me trouble getting into a good school, then I would certainly entertain a one year SMP or post-grad work. I'm not really interested in research. I've been working with our unit's PA out here, learning things and shadowing him. Primary Care is definitely a huge interest!

Anyone have any ideas of a proper gameplan to take me to med school? Does enlisted military service and the application of combat lifesaving experience add anything to my resume?

Lastly:

A year of Freshman Chemistry along with the appropriate laboratory courses
A year of Organic Chemistry along with laboratory courses
A year of Biology along with laboratory courses
A year of Physics along with laboratory courses
A year of English
A year of Calculus or other advanced math classes, including Statistics

I've taken business stats and Bio 101, as well as an environmental biology class. My english is done, and I'll have pre-calc done by the time I'm ready to leave the military. Are there specific classes I should look at? Stuff that'll make the MCAT easier to manage. University of Washington does everything in quarters, does that mean I need two quarters of chemistry with the two labs, two quarters of organic chem with two labs, two bios with two labs, two physics with two labs, and another quarter of calculus? Or are we talking three quarters of each? Is it possible to do in a year with a strong work ethic and great aptitude?

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Good luck to you. More schools are requiring biochem now so that might be one worth taking. I am not sure exactly how the quarter system works but you need to have a years worth of chem, years worth of bio, etc. Depending on how the classes are offered and including summers you MIGHT be able to do it in a year. Where you are going to run into trouble is gen chem being a prereq for ochem. I also don't know what your schedule will be like outside of school, but labs will suck up a good chunk of time.

 

[JSavvy]

Good luck to you. More schools are requiring biochem now so that might be one worth taking. I am not sure exactly how the quarter system works but you need to have a years worth of chem, years worth of bio, etc. Depending on how the classes are offered and including summers you MIGHT be able to do it in a year. Where you are going to run into trouble is gen chem being a prereq for ochem. I also don't know what your schedule will be like outside of school, but labs will suck up a good chunk of time.

I don't need a job while I'm going to school. The new GI Bill gives an allowance to live off of, as well as a good amount of tuition coverage. I can take General Chem at CC before I get out of the army to save time. I don't know if it looks bad to take one CC course just so I can jump into the pre-reqs.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Then I think you'll be fine. Without having to work it is totally doable. People say CC classes are fine, I personally think they are descriminated against but regardless, taking gen chem at a CC should be completely fine. Taking everything else at a uni will show you can handle science.

 

[Melicopter]

I took a lot of courses at cc, and did fine, but I've heard that it's a red flag for some med schools. Since you have a particular school in mind you might contact their admissions office and see how they feel.

I didn't need that much math. I just did one term of calculus and one term of stats.

Quarter system means three terms: fall, winter, spring. So a year of chemistry is three terms, typically with a lab simultaneously.

It would be nearly impossible to do all your prereqs in a year because general chemistry is almost always a prerequisite to organic chemistry. Honestly, it would be hard to do in less than three, from start of college to enrollment in medical school. You could do the schooling in two years pretty easily, but you take the MCAT a year before matriculation. If you took it after one year, you probably would not have all the classes done. You can always do school in two years and take the last year off, or stretch other interesting classes into the third year that are not tested on the MCAT.

If you end up with extra time in your schedule, there are a few interesting and possibly useful classes you could take. Genetics and biochemistry are recommended by several schools. Biochem is very hard, so plan your courseload accordingly (you might be a genius/it might come easily to you - but fair warning just in case). Physiology might help a bit on the MCAT, as I found that my general bio did not prepare me for some of those questions, but physiology did. Cell & molecular biology, microbiology, endocrinology, and immunology might be interesting and give you a better understanding of the science fields, but only if you have time.

I hope this makes some sense and is a little bit of help. I think the military experience should count as a significant feather in your cap, so hopefully admissions committees feel likewise.

Good luck!! 🙂