where do i begin

[excited4lifeahead]

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hello everyone
i have been reading these forums for days there's so much to learn my head is literally running 10mph my question(s) here are i am moving into a career change from electrical engineering i studied my under grad abroad and took masters classes in electrical engineering but i didn't do my masters thesis( i got a job then and truthfully kept putting it on aback burner). now i want go to medical school after working in IT for 5 years cause seriously engineering was never my first choice ..long story.. anyway 1. wont it be used against me doing my application 2) i am just starting my prerequisites how realistic is it that i can even apply for 2016? i am still working full time. 3) i live in CT and there's only 1 post bac program that's at uconn i don't think i will be able to get in cause they take only 6-8 students and i have read some people here did the pre reqs by taking them at a state Uni by themselves..which brings my oter question..is there anyone from CT and where did you do our pre reqs i was looking at st Joseph in west hartford but it doesnt offer many of the pre reqs..can i do them at multiple unis? right now i feel like a fish that just got thrown into a pond and trying to find its fins to swim . if any of the questions above or anything that may seem useful to me has been answered kindly post a link i know some of these have been flogged to death but i have been on threads for days and some i cant seem to find there's so much i feel overwhelmed
thank you so much for your time
overwhelmed

 

[excited4lifeahead]

i have to add i just signed up for a cna class which i begin next week so i can be able to get a part time
job at a hospital... is this going to be good health experience for me ?

 

[Pacna]

Wheww... first things first. You say you are working on your prereqs. Are you currently going to school or are you applying this year? Your timeline will depend on how many prereqs are outstanding and how many you can do in a year. This would be better discussed with your course counselor.

And no, being a nontrad will not work against you so long as your GPA/MCAT don't suffer. In fact, you'll just have more experience which is always good.

i have to add i just signed up for a cna class which i begin next week so i can be able to get a part time
job at a hospital... is this going to be good health experience for me ?

Yes, of course it is.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

1) Nope not one bit, I know english majors who are in med school. Doesnt matter so long as you have the grades and pre-reqs. In fact, it will make your application unique. Being a non-traditional student is "in" right now. You can really use this to boost your app because you can use it as a stepping stone to show your maturity and true dedication for medicine, after trying other things out.

2) So how many classes do you still have to go through? I mean if its the two years worth of intro stuff, then so long as you can handle the school and work load, you are fine for 2016 I would imagine. You have to squeek MCAT studying in there somewhere though, but thats a different conversation.

3) You dont necessarily need to do a post-bacc, but sometimes it can be helpful if you do find a linker program, of which I dont know much about. I know a few people that ended up just doing their thing at CC though and it worked out fine for them. Again you just need to make sure you have all of the pre-reqs done and have solid grades. The only pre-req I can see causing some issue would be biochem. This is increasingly becoming required and at a lot of schools this is a 300 or 400 level course, so not available at CC.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

i have to add i just signed up for a cna class which i begin next week so i can be able to get a part time
job at a hospital... is this going to be good health experience for me ?

The CNA thing is a hit and miss issue. Some people luck out with a solid job (think like 10%). I was roommates with the son of a CFO of my local hospital and even he couldnt get me in there... A good portion of CNA grads end up working in nursing homes. As you may find, most hospitals require at least 6-9+ months of experience before they will hire you. Now where will you get that experience? Nursing homes. It can be rewarding there, but its not the most glorious work. Either one would help your application though.

Personally if I could go back, I wouldve become a scribe. That is a cool gig. You usually get paid more, you have a greater chance of working in a hospital (especially emergency departments which are cool), and you work directly with a physician which 90% of the time as a CNA you will not (again depending on the job you get). Typically as a CNA you report to and follow nurses, not docs (in non-hospital settings). Besides how challenging the scribing thing is, I have only heard good things about it with regards to getting into medical school.

 

[Stoptheclot]

Being an electrical engineer will definitely not hurt your chances of acceptance, med schools are filled with people from many walks of life. As for your next steps: focus on completing your prereqs before considering your timeline. Its great to shoot for 2016 application, giving you two years to complete prereqs; I definitely think it is possible! I strongly agree that you need to connect with a premed advisor, someone who can help you with your class schedules. I can't help you with where to take courses, but I can tell you: as a fish thrown in a pond, take some time to acclimate to the water. Slow down, take a look around at your options, don't panic. You're considering a significant career change, which is exciting, but you've got a lot of steps to get there. Take them one at a time! Good luck!!!

 

[excited4lifeahead]

i havent yet started any of my prereq but i am quitting my job end of this year for now i want to chip at it and take one course in this summer and maybe 2 in the fall then next year go full time student and do as many as i can from spring, summer through fall so that in February 2016 i can take my MCAT

 

[excited4lifeahead]

The CNA thing is a hit and miss issue. Some people luck out with a solid job (think like 10%). I was roommates with the son of a CFO of my local hospital and even he couldnt get me in there... A good portion of CNA grads end up working in nursing homes. As you may find, most hospitals require at least 6-9+ months of experience before they will hire you. Now where will you get that experience? Nursing homes. It can be rewarding there, but its not the most glorious work. Either one would help your application though.

Personally if I could go back, I wouldve become a scribe. That is a cool gig. You usually get paid more, you have a greater chance of working in a hospital (especially emergency departments which are cool), and you work directly with a physician which 90% of the time as a CNA you will not (again depending on the job you get). Typically as a CNA you report to and follow nurses, not docs (in non-hospital settings). Besides how challenging the scribing thing is, I have only heard good things about it with regards to getting into medical school.

i was thinking of using my cna certificate to do volunteer work cause the local hospital here has lost of per diem hrs for cnas especially on the weekend...i dont really know what health care experience medical schools look for cause from the threads i am seeing clinical, some say patient care do i have to get a certificate to be a scribe?

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

i was thinking of using my cna certificate to do volunteer work cause the local hospital here has lost of per diem hrs for cnas especially on the weekend...i dont really know what health care experience medical schools look for cause from the threads i am seeing clinical, some say patient care do i have to get a certificate to be a scribe?

Just be close enough that you can smell the patients. Thats what they say anyways heh... Shadowing is basically the only thing that doesnt necessarily count (or is at least debatable). Depending on the volunteering experience you could be doing really rewarding work, or working in the gift shop, so obviously that varies dramatically.

It is a training course just like the CNA. Probably about the same length in time. The only nice thing is that you will get paid through a portion of it (at least the ones that I looked into). Most scribing is seen as a direct launch point for pre-professional studies, whereas CNA is a career for a lot of people, so its a completely different experience and offers completely different types of job options. Like when I was contacted by a scribing place, it was like a pretty intense interview and stuff. They are specifically recruiting pre-meds. They did not want to take people that were just screwing around and trying to make some money. But I am sure it is different with different scribe agencies.