What is your fall schedule looking like?

[uoka]

How is everyone doing so far? How are the school + work fulltimers managing?

As for me, I'm late to the party and won't be starting my post bacc until January. I'm considering taking bio I, chem I or II and phys I while working full time depending on available courses. It's more bang for my buck if I'm full time, but I haven't been in school for 4 years now and dont know if I'll be able to handle 3 labs with work. A huge worry of mine is the commute... school is 30 min away and work is 45 min (or more) away... in the opposite direction.

How far does everyone commute, and is it causing any issues for you? I am probably going to try public transit; drive up to school, take the bus down to work and back up to school, go to class, drive home, die... It makes my commute a little longer but gives me 1.5 hours a day of mandatory study time (and takes my fellow rush hour commuters out of some significant danger...)

I hope everyone is killing their classes, gap year activities, uh... work + family time and whatever else you're doing this fall. Unlike me, who is on sdn at work and totally slacking off.

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[LegendaryPunk]

I'm considering taking bio I, chem I or II and phys I while working full time depending on available courses. It's more bang for my buck if I'm full time, but I haven't been in school for 4 years now and dont know if I'll be able to handle 3 labs with work.

That sounds...dangerous. You haven't told us your story so we don't know how much of a buffer you have in terms of GPA, but regardless, you need to be aiming for A's. The general consensus is take as much as you can while still maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Unless you were an awesome student previously, and are familiar with how science + lab classes work, I personally would not start with that schedule.

Pre-reqs taken over 3 years w/ 4.0 GPA > pre-reqs over 2 years with 3.5 GPA.

 

[QofQuimica]

On my community medicine rotation right now. It's not bad; I can see the appeal that community practice has for a lot of people, not the least of which is that things get done relatively efficiently in comparison to an academic center.

uoka, welcome to SDN. Do *not* attempt that schedule you proposed. You've been out of school for a while, and you're working full-time. Start with one class in January, just one. That will be enough to ease you back into things. If you find that the semester goes well and you are managing everything, you can take two classes at a time in the fall. But start slow, and do things right the first time rather than digging yourself into a GPA hole that you might never get yourself out of. As LP said, it's far more important that you make straight As (or as close to it as possible) than it is for you to get done a year earlier. Med school ain't going anywhere.

Also, if you don't have any clinical experience, you need to fit in some shadowing/volunteering time in a clinical setting. Don't neglect this essential part of your app in your rush to get done faster, because you won't be a competitive applicant without it.

to you.

 

[Bluesun]

On my community medicine rotation right now. It's not bad; I can see the appeal that community practice has for a lot of people, not the least of which is that things get done relatively efficiently in comparison to an academic center.

uoka, welcome to SDN. Do *not* attempt that schedule you proposed. You've been out of school for a while, and you're working full-time. Start with one class in January, just one. That will be enough to ease you back into things. If you find that the semester goes well and you are managing everything, you can take two classes at a time in the fall. But start slow, and do things right the first time rather than digging yourself into a GPA hole that you might never get yourself out of. As LP said, it's far more important that you make straight As (or as close to it as possible) than it is for you to get done a year earlier. Med school ain't going anywhere.

Also, if you don't have any clinical experience, you need to fit in some shadowing/volunteering time in a clinical setting. Don't neglect this essential part of your app in your rush to get done faster, because you won't be a competitive applicant without it.

to you.

Q, totally on subject: Was it less exciting for you to be called "Dr." once you were an MD, since you have already been Dr. Q as in PhD for some time? I'm jelly, regardless. If you were at all smug, it was deserved.

My fall semester is consisting of lots of jiu jitsu, and an online MIT Open Courseware Chemistry class (5.111) to ease myself back into the college learning mentality, and to teach myself how to study. I've been accepted to my local state university for Spring 2012, and am planning on taking one chemistry class and going from there.

 

[QofQuimica]

Q, totally on subject: Was it less exciting for you to be called "Dr." once you were an MD, since you have already been Dr. Q as in PhD for some time? I'm jelly, regardless. If you were at all smug, it was deserved.

I don't know. It's not like I can do an experiment to compare how excited I would have been to be called "doctor" if I hadn't done a PhD first compared to how excited I was in reality seeing as I had earned one. Which wasn't especially excited. I actually don't like it when the nurses and other staff call me Dr. Quimica, and I always introduce myself to them as Q. I do introduce myself to patients as Dr. Quimica, mainly because I think figuring out who is who in the hospital is confusing enough for patients as it is. When they hear me say "Dr," that way at least they have an inkling of what my role in their care is, even if they don't understand the whole resident/fellow/attending hierarchy. Which quite a few of them don't.

 

[uoka]

@ Q and LP @ logic and reason. What you both say makes sense and it's something I've really been thinking about for the past couple months. On the one hand, I don't want to burden my family by taking longer than I have to, and quitting my job is a risk that I'm ready for, but am being discouraged from. I've been so worried about commutes and schedules that I lost focus on the fact that I need 40 hours of science As to haul both GPAs above a 3.0. My job is a contract that ends in March, so chances are, I won't be employed for summer and fall; me and my ambiguous liberal arts degree are having trouble finding permanent work. I just didn't want March to roll around and I'm just taking one class.

My ECs are getting there. I am applying to volunteer with a center for the visually impaired and have some clinical volunteering already. I really need to get some shadowing done but I'm having trouble finding willing doctors outside of business hours.

Thanks for the advice and welcome. I've been lurking for a few months now, trying to read everything before I posted... and look, first post and I've already put my foot in my mouth.

I'll at least take bio because there's an opportunity at the school I'm going to for a bio class that's abroad and between the spring and summer semesters. Extra potential A outside of the semester? Yes, please!

Sorry for the hijack!

 

[n3xa]

I actually don't like it when the nurses and other staff call me Dr. Quimica, and I always introduce myself to them as Q.

Wait is Q male or female? I can't remember!

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/01/opinion/la-oe-morrison-hinojosa-20111001

 

[QofQuimica]

@ Q and LP @ logic and reason. What you both say makes sense and it's something I've really been thinking about for the past couple months. On the one hand, I don't want to burden my family by taking longer than I have to, and quitting my job is a risk that I'm ready for, but am being discouraged from. I've been so worried about commutes and schedules that I lost focus on the fact that I need 40 hours of science As to haul both GPAs above a 3.0. My job is a contract that ends in March, so chances are, I won't be employed for summer and fall; me and my ambiguous liberal arts degree are having trouble finding permanent work. I just didn't want March to roll around and I'm just taking one class.

Nothing wrong with that. In fact, if you can afford not working for a while, you could actually get some shadowing in during March/April, then start school full-time in May.

Thanks for the advice and welcome. I've been lurking for a few months now, trying to read everything before I posted... and look, first post and I've already put my foot in my mouth.

No, you haven't. That's why SDN is here: to give all of us the benefits of the wisdom of impartial crowds. I couldn't even tell you how many mistakes I've avoided over the past seven years because of SDN, but it's a lot.

 

[mommy2three]

i am rolling along

i love love love OMM, i am seriously debating whether or not to apply for the fellowship. i keep going back and forth. one second i am all over it and the next i am right back to the no way side. i honestly feel like i am on the fence and have no clue what to do. *sigh*

i have to say though i am loving second year. i know some of my classmates are having a challenging time adjusting but i think it is because they expect us to think more clinically than the straight out memorization of first year.

maybe it is the real world work or maybe it is just the way my mind works but i find that clinical thinking and applications suit me quite well.

i have a micro exam coming up strictly on pneumonias...so that is what i am working on now...how to differentiate pneumonias based on patient presentation. for now i am loving it, we will see how i feel about it after the test on tuesday

i also love pathology

back to the world or pneumonia

 

[VackAttack]

Fall 2011:

O Chem 1 with Lab
Physics 1 with Lab
Sociological Theory
Urban Sociology

Launching a kid's clothing line with my wife.
Also starting a wood working business on the side.
And most importantly, caring for my 5 month old and 2 and a half year old while not in class while my wife brings in the dough.

Spring 2012 (GRADUATING!! )

O Chem 2 with Lab
Physics 2 with Lab
Sociological Statistics
Statistics
Social Stratification

And of course, studying for that one test we will all take before we can apply... it's called the MCAT, right?

Not looking forward to having to take two different but very similar STATS classes in the spring but from switching majors, I kept putting off the normal stats. I decided against Calculus because when I took my math entrance exam my freshman year, I clicked on random answers because I was a Hotel Management major and didn't need more than college algebra. Therefore, I'd have to take Pre-Calc before Calculus and that would push my graduation back. Anyone else not taking Calc?

 

[dmf2682]

Fall quarter has started and I'm definitely feeling it!

Got organic chemistry 5-10 two days and then aquatic pediatric OT/PT volunteering two other days. Plus work full time.

The good: enjoying the class. The material is fascinating. Also loving the volunteering. I got to coach a nonverbal autistic child to take his first couple swim strokes. Extremely rewarding.

The bad: I'm tired! But I suppose it's what I signed up for. No point in ever feeling awake if you're never tired others have it worse, may as well get used to it!

The ugly: I'm running the Chicago marathon this Sunday, but I've had to curtail my training significantly. If you see news reports of a twenty- something from Ohio who died during the race it was probably me :/

 

[mommy2three]

oh yeah i forgot to mention the elephant in the room

yes ladies and gentlemen i am talking about the "b" word....that which dare not be uttered or mentioned to a second year med student, the one that very much makes us tremble with fear.......

BOARDS!!!!!!

what...did you think i was talking about something else???