I will be getting my bachelor’s in nursing after next semester. Should I get into a post-bac program or will just taking the required courses for med school suffice?
Usually the benefit is getting all of the classes you need in a relatively compressed time because you are a career changer, your pre-reqs are too old or you decided too late you want to be a physician to take the classes in undergrad. Other benefits can be a committee letter (which is not exclusive to a post-bac) and dedicated MCAT prep, if the post-bac offers it.
Drawbacks - $$, usually. Working while going to school with fairly demanding classes.
If you’re in school already and can take the required courses, even if it means extending your graduation date by a bit, I’d look into it. It’s generally easier to get loans for undergrad than a post-bac. Depending on your school, it might be less expensive. You also may already have some of the required courses now, which shuts you out of some post-bacs that are for career changers only (as opposed to grade enhancer programs.)
Just a reminder, the basic courses usually required for med school are 2 semesters each with lab of bio, chem, organic chem and physics. I’d look at how many you have, and how long it would take to extend your program and the financial ramifications of each course.
If you stay at your current school to get those classes, do look into what it takes to get a committee letter, if it’s offered. That will be key.
I will, thank you!
There is another issue with students planning to go from a specialized health field degree such as nursing into medicine. Some adcoms will question the commitment that a student has to program/career if he she jumps directly from nursing degree. It has been advised from several admissions sources that these students should work in the field for a few years in the field prior to applying to medical school.
This may work well if you work and take 1 or 2 post bacc classes while working. You may consider a graduate level post bacc as masters in biomedical science, while not directly related to nursing may still be a useful resume building and accomplishment for employee review. A job may also reimburse tuition for a masters in a medical field.