I have 62 credits toward a BA and I am 32. I was wondering about how long it would take, if I went fulltime, before I would be practicing general medicine? I keep getting back to this idea of practing medicine but then get really scared. I have a very good job but I am not that happy. SCARED.
Thanks
32 Ugrad hours, assuming you’re on a semester system, would just barely make you a sophomore - usually starts at 30hrs. So, to make the calculation more simple, starting now, at least 3 more Ugrad years, although more & more folks are taking 5 years to complete a Ugrad degree.
Med school = 4 years
Gen Int Med or Fam Practice residency = 3 years
So, a minimum of 10 years & more than likely 11.
But some schools don’t require a bachelor’s degree, only 90 u/g credits. So in theory you could get it done in a couple of years or even in one year if you take crazy numbers of courses. Of course, that’s not the recommended approach if you want good grades and a solid education.
While this is technically true, in practice schools admit very few students who don’t have a degree. Some of them have that policy in place only because they have BS/MD programs where students are granted conditional admittance to medical school out of high school, assuming they successfully complete the program requirements. These students then start medical school after their junior year of ugrad.
Point being, it’s not very likely that you will get admitted after only 90 hour. You would be applying with only around 60 hours completed, so you would have had to do all of the prereqs in your first two year and take the MCAT. It’s not impossible, but its generally reserved for truly outstanding students.
One of my former students applied to veterinary school during her sophomore year just for the experience and hoping that she might get some interviews. Much to everyone’s surprise, she got accepted. Her small liberal arts college was so happy that they made arrangements to count her first year of vet school towards her undergrad and award her a degree.
So, not impossible, but I would imagine that most med schools could count on one hand the number of people they’ve admitted without degrees in the past 10 years (not including early admission pathway students).
- ttraub Said:
But some schools don't require a bachelor's degree, only 90 u/g credits. So in theory you could get it done in a couple of years or even in one year if you take crazy numbers of courses. Of course, that's not the recommended approach if you want good grades and a solid education.
In fact, most schools do not have an explicit BS/BA requirement; however, last time I saw the stats - been several/many years - less than 5% of those admitted to med school did not have either a BA or BS.