An introduction and some questions..

Hi folks! I happened upon this site while searching for non-traditional medical students in Google. I’ve been reading through some of the posts and figured I could use some of the other members’ sage advice. But before I get to the questions, a brief introduction of myself seems in order.


So without further ado, my name is Dustin and I am 28. I am married and my wife and I have a beautiful 11 month old girl. I graduated from the University of Hawaii last year with a BA in Psychology (cumulative GPA of 3.36) I’ve been working as a workers compensation claims adjuster since graduation and with each passing day, the urge to go back to school to fulfill the pre-med prerequisites grows. I think this has partly to do with the fact that I get to read hundreds upon hundreds of medical reports, SOAP notes, and the like and I think to myself, this is what I really want to do. Recently, I’ve contemplated going back to school even though I just recently graduated (It took me 9 years to get my BA, by the way.)


So I guess my first question is, is it really the kiss of death for getting in to med school if I took most, if not all of the pre-med classes at a local community college? If so, why would this be? To me this seems somewhat backward as I’ve spent half of my academic career at a community college and IMHO, the quality of education was a lot better. Add to that the fact that most CC teachers did not grade on a curve, while most of my uni teachers did.


Secondly, for those of you non-trads who worked full time while completing your pre-med coursework, how have you folks gone about working and taking classes? Right now, Hawaii is not in the best of economic situations and so the public university along with its affiliated community colleges are cutting back on the availability of classes. In other words, this means that both the 4-year uni and its affiliated CCs no longer offer night courses. So unfortunately for me I don’t foresee going back to school unless I quit my job.


Now if I could have things my way, I’d continue working while taking classes but this does not really seem feasible to me mainly due to no class availability. Add to that, if I do attend a 4 year uni to complete the pre-med coursework I will have to pay the graduate tuition rate. To make matters worse, I haven’t been working very long and so if I do quit my job to pursue a career in medicine I have to worry about the very real possibility of it not panning out.


Sooooo… here I am, begging for words of wisdom and sage advice.


Thanks for reading, and I apologize for the lengthy rambling

Welcome Dustin! I have not had difficulty finding evening classes that fit around my work schedule. I hope you can find some that fit your schedule, as well.



Hey Dustin, welcome to OPM!


If you are still in Hawaii I know there’s a medical school there that is very focused on training doctors to stay in the islands. Perhaps you could call that school and find out their specific view of the courses you took?


If not, I think where you’re living now will definitely alter the advice OPMers have to offer on this situation.


Good luck!


Pixie

Hey Dustin, basically yes taking your pre-req’s at a CC is the kiss of death bc many med school adcoms view these courses as not as challenging.


Check w/ some med schools there and see what they say. If they say what i said, then unfortunately u’ll have to make some sacrifices/ hard choices like giving up your day job/ finding a night job. That means u’ll have to make sure you give school ur 110% so ur dream of going to med school pans out, seeing as how u won’t have ur day job to return to. (I myself am making a sacrifice for my dream of becoming a Dr - I’m starting pre med next month and decided to move back in w/ my folks at the age of 32 so I could pay tuition instead of high NYC rent, lol).


Another option is going to a carribean med school - I’m not sure but they make accept CC credit.


Keep us updated!

  • meditateonthis Said:
Hey Dustin, basically yes taking your pre-req's at a CC is the kiss of death bc many med school adcoms view these courses as not as challenging.

Check w/ some med schools there and see what they say. If they say what i said, then unfortunately u'll have to make some sacrifices/ hard choices like giving up your day job/ finding a night job. That means u'll have to make sure you give school ur 110% so ur dream of going to med school pans out, seeing as how u won't have ur day job to return to. (I myself am making a sacrifice for my dream of becoming a Dr - I'm starting pre med next month and decided to move back in w/ my folks at the age of 32 so I could pay tuition instead of high NYC rent, lol).

Another option is going to a carribean med school - I'm not sure but they make accept CC credit.

Keep us updated!



Phew! I almost forgot about this place.

Okay, I figured that unless I move somewhere that offers a better selection of night classes my only option would be to quit my day job. :-

Thanks all for your advice!
  • meditateonthis Said:
Hey Dustin, basically yes taking your pre-req's at a CC is the kiss of death bc many med school adcoms view these courses as not as challenging.



With a lot of the MD schools I've talked to, I wouldn't be surprised if that's true. On the other hand, if you look into DO schools, they tend to be more willing to look in your application as a whole, so that may not be an issue if you take that route.

Just a thought.
  • meditateonthis Said:
Hey Dustin, basically yes taking your pre-req's at a CC is the kiss of death bc many med school adcoms view these courses as not as challenging.



"The kiss of death" is a little to strong and absolute, particularly for OPM. Unlike other sites, we try to keep this nuanced, accurate and verifiable. Most advisors and admissions officers would agree that having pre-reqs from a CC will make you less competitive. However, how much of negative impact this would be is quite variable.

1) Remember that nontraditional implies atypical. OPM members have varied backgrounds, unusual educational paths and much life experience. Trying to fit that into the cookie-cutter premed checklist that traditional "high school to college to med school" students is not the best approach for many nontrad students.

2) With costs, schedule, jobs, family and life logistics, many nontrads seek CC as perhaps the only viable path in order to take the pre-reqs. I suggest students look at not view this as a CC vs. a state school question but rather a CC vs not taking any courses.

3) You can supplement CC by taking some courses at a 4 year school, especially additional advanced bio courses

4) A competitive applicant needs to show a pattern of motivation, commitment and achievement. So if you take prereqs at a CC, and do well, do well in additional courses at a 4 year school, and do well on the MCAT, it will go a long way in mitigating any potential negative impact.

5) There are 137 (?) MD schools in the country and some 27 (?) DO. The admissions policies and admissions committees are not monolithic. It seems s few schools specifically state on their websites that CC's courses cannot be used for prereqs. However, many schools that are perceived to be uninterested in nontrads, have reached out to us in the past few years (University of Chicago/Pritzker and University of Pittsburgh to a name a few).

In sum, a blanket statement that CC courses are not going to be acceptable is too strong. When preparing for medical school, student can successfully use CC courses but should consider ways to supplement that path.