What should I be doing right now?

[Tvcker]

Hey guys! Thanks for taking the time to read. Just for a little background, I am currently active duty Air Force and my enlistment is complete in September. I will be starting my pre-professional degree in Biology in the fall from the University of Tennesee at Chattanooga. I joined the air force because I couldn't afford to go back to college after my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer (he's doing great now!), and that was almost 6 years ago. I am 25 now, with a VERY supportive wife and son with a baby girl on the way, due in June (super excited). I am currently an E-5 working as a cybersecurity and data analyst.

All that just to give you an idea of where I am at in life in hopes that you can give me some advice on what I should be doing now. I am currently waiting on this COVID situation to ease up and hopefully make it home to see my baby girl be born. I have a lot of time on my hands, and I need to be more productive, but I am just not sure what I could be doing. All of the hospitals that I have called in the area aren't allowing shadowing at the moment, and as I said I havent started college yet.

Any tips from the pros? Any and all advice is appreciated! Thank you <3

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Damson]

Hey guys! Thanks for taking the time to read. Just for a little background, I am currently active duty Air Force and my enlistment is complete in September. I will be starting my pre-professional degree in Biology in the fall from the University of Tennesee at Chattanooga. I joined the air force because I couldn't afford to go back to college after my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer (he's doing great now!), and that was almost 6 years ago. I am 25 now, with a VERY supportive wife and son with a baby girl on the way, due in June (super excited). I am currently an E-5 working as a cybersecurity and data analyst.

All that just to give you an idea of where I am at in life in hopes that you can give me some advice on what I should be doing now. I am currently waiting on this COVID situation to ease up and hopefully make it home to see my baby girl be born. I have a lot of time on my hands, and I need to be more productive, but I am just not sure what I could be doing. All of the hospitals that I have called in the area aren't allowing shadowing at the moment, and as I said I havent started college yet.

Any tips from the pros? Any and all advice is appreciated! Thank you <3

@Goro says "thank you for your service"

Putting myself in your shoes, this is what I would do. Research University of New England online science pre-req courses. Take all/most of them while you're on duty. Get A's in all of them. When the time is right, transfer your credits to a 4-year institution and take other liberal arts / upper-level science classes.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Advice:
1. Pick a major that you A. enjoy B. can earn high grades in and C. will either fulfill prerequisite classes OR enable you to complete prerequisite classes outside of your major.
2. Get involved on and off campus. Pick some activities that you enjoy. Volunteer both in clinical and non clinical settings. Remember, not everything you do has to be geared towards a medical school application.
3. When you study for the MCAT, treat it like a full time job. Minimize other requirements on your time. The MCAT is a very challenging but very learnable exam with practice and dedication.
4. Develop relationships with faculty members. You will need letters of recommendation. It is never a bad thing to go to office hours the first week and ask a faculty member what you need to do in order for them to be willing to write a LoR for you (it may be a certain grade, research, or visiting office hours throughout the semester).

As for now, enjoy the time that you have. You can read books by physicians to learn more about the history of medicine, state of the field, etc. You can get a jump on some of the more challenging subjects you will encounter but it isn't necessary to do so.

 

[Tvcker]

@Goro says "thank you for your service"

Putting myself in your shoes, this is what I would do. Research University of New England online science pre-req courses. Take all/most of them while you're on duty. Get A's in all of them. When the time is right, transfer your credits to a 4-year institution and take other liberal arts / upper-level science classes.

I will for sure look into this, thank you!

Advice:
1. Pick a major that you A. enjoy B. can earn high grades in and C. will either fulfill prerequisite classes OR enable you to complete prerequisite classes outside of your major.
2. Get involved on and off campus. Pick some activities that you enjoy. Volunteer both in clinical and non clinical settings. Remember, not everything you do has to be geared towards a medical school application.
3. When you study for the MCAT, treat it like a full time job. Minimize other requirements on your time. The MCAT is a very challenging but very learnable exam with practice and dedication.
4. Develop relationships with faculty members. You will need letters of recommendation. It is never a bad thing to go to office hours the first week and ask a faculty member what you need to do in order for them to be willing to write a LoR for you (it may be a certain grade, research, or visiting office hours throughout the semester).

As for now, enjoy the time that you have. You can read books by physicians to learn more about the history of medicine, state of the field, etc. You can get a jump on some of the more challenging subjects you will encounter but it isn't necessary to do so.

Thank you for all of the advice. I wrote this down in my notebook. Do you have any book recommendations?