Where do I start?

[baron.thompson]

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Hello everyone,

I happened to stumble onto this site last night and got to reading some posts. You guys seem to have a lot of information that I've been looking for but haven't had any luck in finding. Enough about that, let me tell you a lil' about myself.

I'm currently looking to get into postbac programs preferrably somewhere in California (but I'll go anywhere really) sometime next fall (if it's not too late) or next spring. I work at a hospital right now as a Physical Therapy Aide and I absolutlely love it. I have found myself loving working in a hospital and have become fascinated with medicine. I know becoming a doctor is what I want to do, but I'm really lost at this time.

Here's the delema. I have a Bachelor's in Business and Psychology graduating with a 2.89 gpa. I really didn't join any organizations and my only leadership skills that I have shown were in Boy Scouts over 12 yrs. ago. I really don't know where to look for post bacc programs, or how the process works. I just started taking chemistry at a community college just to get my mind back into school, but I know that I have to take my real science classes at a university (chem 101 etc.). Anyway, I'm not sure if I really need a post bacc program or if I can take these classes at my local university. I need to find some organizations that focused toward medicine or others in my situation. I have a vague idea what I'm doing, but I still feel lost.

I'm also looking for a mentor. The doctors I asked at my hospital all say that with my credentials, it'll be next to impossible to get into med school. So I guess the reason why I'm here is to see if I can get some advice and some direction. I'm hoping that some of you were (or are) in my situation and I can learn from all of you.

I look forward to meeting all of you.

pt2md

 

[LoneCoyote]

Hey,

Well it sounds like you're getting a good start working a job where you get some clinical exposure working with patients and starting to get back into the school groove at the JC. You will need to bring up your GPA to be a more competitive candidate for med schools, esp. in California. So I would look to do very well in your post-bac science classes to show that you can handle a tough workload. You might look into taking the classes at one of the CSU campuses. I am not too familiar with SoCal, but from reading other threads it sounds like some campuses are overcrowded and not taking post-bacs and some are. So you would have to contact them and see where you could get in. Here up north both San Francisco State and Hayward State usually take post-bacs and both seem to have strong post-bac programs. San Jose State has also been mentioned.

Are you interested in becoming an MD or a DO? Since you already work in PT, the DO path might be appealing to you as well. I know very little about DO so I can't tell you much, but there are forums on here that you could explore for that. You can also try to arrange to shadow some different types of doctors in different specialties to explore your interests a bit. This is also a common thing pre-meds to to get clinical exposure. Hospital or hospice volunteering is another. Is there a pre-health club at your JC that you might be able to get involved in? These groups sometimes offer opportunities for clinical volunteering and other activities. I think you are on the right track and keep investigating for options to explore and try to figure out where you can do your post-bac coursework. Good luck