Working in IT Field (Foreign Degree) Wanting To Apply for Medical School

[That.IT.Guy]

Hi Guys!

I'm new to the forums and I just want to consult with you guys regarding my situation.

I am currently working in the IT Field as a Systems/Database Administrator. I finished my Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology back in 2011 in a school in the Philippines before I migrated to the US in 2013. I have always thought that I wanted to pursue a career in the Medical Field but never really gave it serious thought until recently. Now I have been employed in the IT field for over 5 years and applying for MedSchool just really started to creep back out from the very back of my mind.

I talked to an Admissions Officer over at UCSD (I live in California but might move later on to Nevada) and the Admissions Officer was kind enough to direct me to this website. My questions are:

1. Being a graduate of B.S. Information Technology from another country, what are my chances of being able to successfully apply for a Medical School here in the US?

2. What pre-requisite (are there any?) science courses should I take prior to applying?

3. Are there special requirements for cases like mine before applying to take the MCAT? I plan on taking science courses on my local schools here before applying for the MCAT.

4. And the most important question I really need help on is: Where do I start?


Thanks so much guys!

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[esob]

Hi Guys!

I'm new to the forums and I just want to consult with you guys regarding my situation.

I am currently working in the IT Field as a Systems/Database Administrator. I finished my Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology back in 2011 in a school in the Philippines before I migrated to the US in 2013. I have always thought that I wanted to pursue a career in the Medical Field but never really gave it serious thought until recently. Now I have been employed in the IT field for over 5 years and applying for MedSchool just really started to creep back out from the very back of my mind.

I talked to an Admissions Officer over at UCSD (I live in California but might move later on to Nevada) and the Admissions Officer was kind enough to direct me to this website. My questions are:

1. Being a graduate of B.S. Information Technology from another country, what are my chances of being able to successfully apply for a Medical School here in the US?

2. What pre-requisite (are there any?) science courses should I take prior to applying?

3. Are there special requirements for cases like mine before applying to take the MCAT? I plan on taking science courses on my local schools here before applying for the MCAT.

4. And the most important question I really need help on is: Where do I start?


Thanks so much guys!

1. I'll leave this to someone more experienced to answer
2. Most schools will require you to have a lot of prereq's (and you'll need them before taking the MCAT anyway) including but not limited to: Bio I+II, Chem I+II, Organic Chem I+II, Stats, Physics I + II plus a few other classes that will be either mandatory or highly recommended such as biochem, genetics and cell bio.
3. Nothing special about your case other than that you need to take the same classes all of the other entrants are required to take. The fact that your degree is in IT likely means you have few if any of the required prereqs
4. Where to start? Right here on the forums, lol. The first thing you should do is get some clinical hours and/or shadowing to see if you really like the idea of healthcare.

 

[That.IT.Guy]

1. I'll leave this to someone more experienced to answer
2. Most schools will require you to have a lot of prereq's (and you'll need them before taking the MCAT anyway) including but not limited to: Bio I+II, Chem I+II, Organic Chem I+II, Stats, Physics I + II plus a few other classes that will be either mandatory or highly recommended such as biochem, genetics and cell bio.
3. Nothing special about your case other than that you need to take the same classes all of the other entrants are required to take. The fact that your degree is in IT likely means you have few if any of the required prereqs
4. Where to start? Right here on the forums, lol. The first thing you should do is get some clinical hours and/or shadowing to see if you really like the idea of healthcare.

Thanks so much for your response. I appreciate it.

2. Is there a good resource where I can get a list of what prereq science courses I need to take prior to taking the MCAT and applying to MedSchools?

3. Does this apply even when my degree was earned from a foreign country? I was thinking (and hoping) it wouldn't be an issue since like you said, I will need to take a bunch of prereqs anyway.

4. Haha. I figured this post is already a start. But your suggestion on Shadowing interests me. I already messaged my sister (who is a nurse) to try and ask some of her colleagues and doctor friends about the protocols and how to apply. I am most interested in Pediatric, Internal, and Cardio in that order.

Again, I really appreciate your response! Thanks so much!

 

[esob]

Thanks so much for your response. I appreciate it.

2. Is there a good resource where I can get a list of what prereq science courses I need to take prior to taking the MCAT and applying to MedSchools?

3. Does this apply even when my degree was earned from a foreign country? I was thinking (and hoping) it wouldn't be an issue since like you said, I will need to take a bunch of prereqs anyway.

4. Haha. I figured this post is already a start. But your suggestion on Shadowing interests me. I already messaged my sister (who is a nurse) to try and ask some of her colleagues and doctor friends about the protocols and how to apply. I am most interested in Pediatric, Internal, and Cardio in that order.

Again, I really appreciate your response! Thanks so much!

2. You can look on individual school's website's, because each of them will have some variation. Here is an example of education requirements for the majority of Texas schools as an example: http://www.tmdsas.com/medical/education_Requirements.html

3. Ironically, at least in Texas, you don't actually need a degree at all to attend medical school as long as you have fulfilled the required courses, so the fact that your degree is foreign would be moot. My guess is that this again will be a school by school requirement and you will have to inquire at each school individually.

4. Shadowing, for a lot of premeds turns out to the hardest box to check; I've found that getting straight A's has been less frustrating than trying to get a doc to give me the time of day to shadow them, and I have medical professionals in my social circles so I'm not just cold calling. My point is, take whatever shadowing hours you can get, even if you don't think you are interested in that specialty.

 

[That.IT.Guy]

2. You can look on individual school's website's, because each of them will have some variation. Here is an example of education requirements for the majority of Texas schools as an example: http://www.tmdsas.com/medical/education_Requirements.html

3. Ironically, at least in Texas, you don't actually need a degree at all to attend medical school as long as you have fulfilled the required courses, so the fact that your degree is foreign would be moot. My guess is that this again will be a school by school requirement and you will have to inquire at each school individually.

4. Shadowing, for a lot of premeds turns out to the hardest box to check; I've found that getting straight A's has been less frustrating than trying to get a doc to give me the time of day to shadow them, and I have medical professionals in my social circles so I'm not just cold calling. My point is, take whatever shadowing hours you can get, even if you don't think you are interested in that specialty.

Thanks so much. I'm researching different requirements from different Universities and Colleges around me so I at least would have ideas on which to take.
But I think I'll put my focus first on getting some shadowing/clinical hours. It will at least give me more idea if Medical School is really for me. I've been doing some reading and some says it's indeed difficult to get. Unfortunately, I don't know any doctor in the country (aside from my Primary Care who I might actually ask if shadowing is possible) but I do know a few nurses so I think i'll try my luck there. I'll make sure not to be picky. I'll pretty much take whatever I can get.

 

[mavric1298]

So most places are starting to move away from strict requirements and towards "comptencies"...but,
1 year bio
1 year physics (algebra or calc is fine)
1 year chemistry
1 year organic chem
Is the basic list - then there will be additions at each school; biochem, stats, genomics, cell bio, physiology are some of the ones I've seen


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[That.IT.Guy]

So most places are starting to move away from strict requirements and towards "comptencies"...but,
1 year bio
1 year physics (algebra or calc is fine)
1 year chemistry
1 year organic chem
Is the basic list - then there will be additions at each school; biochem, stats, genomics, cell bio, physiology are some of the ones I've seen


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile

Thanks for the response! I plan on taking Bio and Chem together then BioChem and Psych the next term. These subjects seems to be in every site I go to for resource (I'm leaning towards enrolling to UNLV). One question though, if i'm enrolling for these classes, is the fee already eligible for student loan?