Working Father - Question about work/school

[danielterrones]

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A little background on me, I'm 26 in august, I have 4 children and I have decided to pursue medicine. I am 50% mexican and 50% mix (irish/german). I have all of my undergrad general ed classes out of the way because I transfered from a different college. The classes I need now are all my pre-reqs for medschool (ie. bio1/2 chem1/2, ochem, physics, etc etc). My college only allows me to take 2 classes (with labs) per semester, and since the classes that I need all have labs - this puts me in a 3 year timeline until I finish.

On top of my schooling, I also work part time (20-25 hours per week - paid) at a Home Health/Hospice Facility. I work in billing/data entry. Specifically, I am the coordinator between our facility and all of our Doctors offices - I call them, and fax them to get signatures on forms, and then I enter that information in. Additionally, I data enter information from our pharmacy into a program that updates our entire staff.

So my question(s)
#1 At what point should I start studying for the MCAT? ie. Which classes do I need to take before I can start to prepare for the MCAT.

#2 And when should I take the MCAT? - Most people take it after their junior year, but because I am only going part time, I'm not sure which classes are NOT needed to take the MCAT.

#3 Does me being 29-30 when I apply to medschool make me a non-traditional student? And does this help or hurt my application?

#4 Additionally, does me being 50% mexican make me an URM? I definitely look "ethnic" but people most of the time don't know what nationality I am unless I tell them.

#5 Does my work contribute towards my application? Ie. I have a lot of contact with physicians, but not patients. I have a lot of knowledge of the "back-end" of how a facility is ran but I am not working in a clinical setting.

I have a 1000 more questions that I really couldn't find specific answers to but we'll start with these.

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[Quik]

1 & 2. I'm working my way through my pre-reqs and am about the half-way point. As I'm going through each course, I scan through MCAT prep books to pick up on what concepts from that subject are emphasized. While I don't really consider this studying, it gives me a pre-view and is part of the preparation. Actual studying should commence anywhere between six to two months prior to your test date, depending on what type of preparation schedule you employ.
You should take the MCAT after completing the courses that are heavily tested on the MCAT. This includes general bio, general chem, physics, organic chem, and as of 2015, biochem and behavioral sciences (psych).

3. Yes, being 30 does make you a non-traditional applicant. Most people would say that it helps your application, as non-traditional applicants add both diversity and maturity to the student pool.

4. Yes, being 50% mexican makes you URM and greatly increases your chances of acceptance. It really doesn't matter how you look, it matters what you identify with and if questioned, could you support it.

5. Not really, your work while in a clinal setting, doesn't have clinical exposure and thus doesn't significantly add to your application.

 

[danielterrones]

Thank you for the quick response (lol). I'll have to pick up some MCAT prep books so that I can cross reference my classes with the prep books like you are.

Regards to my work: if this was "volunteer" and not "paid" - would that contribute better to my application? I don't understand how working in a hospital setting for years wouldn't contribute to my application - maybe you could expound on that? Thank you so much!

 

[Rocketdog]

"I don't understand how working in a hospital setting for years wouldn't contribute to my application"

Daniel, I may be able to shed some light here. Working in a hospital setting for years, as it related to Medical School ADCOMS .....is where the confusion may exist. The admissions committee may ask " how did someone with X experience contribute to his/her understanding of being a Physician?" Data entry in a Home Health Care/Hospice facility does not provide clinical experience, and that's what the adcoms want to see.

They want to see how you operate in a clinical setting...seeing how you would make medical decisions for patient care as a medical provider. It shows them you are mature, well rounded, compassionate, professional, empathetic, and someone who can make well rounded professional decisions....those are SOME of the reasons adcoms want to see plenty of clinical hours as part of your Medical School application.

 

[Vince411]

I would also take anatomy and physiology on top of the bio, I think med schools highly recommend A&P for all incoming students.

 

[theseeker4]

Thank you for the quick response (lol). I'll have to pick up some MCAT prep books so that I can cross reference my classes with the prep books like you are.

Regards to my work: if this was "volunteer" and not "paid" - would that contribute better to my application? I don't understand how working in a hospital setting for years wouldn't contribute to my application - maybe you could expound on that? Thank you so much!

It is not true that non-clinical work doesn't add to your application. What IS true is that you need clinical work/volunteering and shadowing on your application, so while you are working for a clinical site, if you do not have direct patient contact related to patient care, it is not a clinical experience. Work outside the clinical setting definitely is a positive item to include on your application, but the work you describe won't fulfill the clinical "requirement" for admissions purposes.

There is a "requirement" for volunteering in general, and for clinical experience in general. There is nothing that says volunteering doesn't count if it isn't clinical, and there is nothing that says clinical exposure must be volunteer, and not paid employment. Most people have clinical volunteering since it kills both birds with one stone.

 

[danielterrones]

Rocketdog:

The admissions committee may ask " how did someone with X experience contribute to his/her understanding of being a Physician?" Data entry in a Home Health Care/Hospice facility does not provide clinical experience, and that's what the adcoms want to see.

Couldn't I twist this? Because Physicians don't ONLY provide clinical support, a huge part of their job is actually not with the patient but rather doing paperwork. In my current position I have the opportunity to gain insight into some of the mundane tasks that the Physician does. I do see your point though, Clinical > Non-clinical.

theseeker4:

Work outside the clinical setting definitely is a positive item to include on your application, but the work you describe won't fulfill the clinical "requirement" for admissions purposes.

Thank you for your insight, I was under the impression that almost any work (clinical or not clinical) would be a positive item to include in an application. I would think that it shows resilience, hard-work, and the ability to multi-task (all things that physicians need on a daily basis).

I appreciate all of your responses.

 

[deleted480308]

use your physician contacts to get shadowing opportunities....you'll need some. or volunteer at the hospital/free clinic

your age isn't a hindrance (33 yr old dad matriculating this year myself)

nail your grades though...B avg isn't good enough, get those As

you can do this....think about all the opportunities it will provide for your kids/grandkids and get it done

 

[danielterrones]

use your physician contacts to get shadowing opportunities....you'll need some. or volunteer at the hospital/free clinic

your age isn't a hindrance (33 yr old dad matriculating this year myself)

nail your grades though...B avg isn't good enough, get those As

you can do this....think about all the opportunities it will provide for your kids/grandkids and get it done

Thank you for the encouragement (we all need it from time-to-time). My family is a huge motivation for me to not just pass my classes but to excel. Question for you: I transferred from another school (went to that school right out of highschool), about 65 units of electives and some general ed. My gen ed I got B's and A's, but my electives I did not fair well - so my overall GPA was 2.8. I was there for about 2.5 years and then I took a 3 year break from school. Now I've been back in school for 1 year and I've received all A's (approx 30 units of Pre-reqs/gen ed).

Will my application be a red flag because of my poor grades during my time at SCHOOL A - but excellent grades at SCHOOL B? Is there anything that I can do at this point to raise my GPA other than get A's in my classes moving forward?

Thanks a ton!

 

[deleted480308]

Will my application be a red flag because of my poor grades during my time at SCHOOL A - but excellent grades at SCHOOL B? Is there anything that I can do at this point to raise my GPA other than get A's in my classes moving forward?

Thanks a ton!

bad grades are just bad grades...just show that you are getting good ones now

nothing you can do about gpa except get good grades for Md......for DO though, they offer grade replacement so retake a few F/D/C classes and turn them into an A and your gpa skyrockets