Hello Everyone,
A Pre PostBac PreMed student here looking to connect. First it’s comforting to see so many people taking the leap into medicine after years in other careers, and doing it with families. I merely skimmed the forum recently and haven’t had much time to respond to posts, but I hope to soon.
Here’s a quick intro about me: I am currently in graduate school pursuing an MA in Psychology, and hold 2 Bachelors from San Francisco State University; one in Music Production & Engineering, and the other in Psychology. I am 33, and just a few months ago had what feels like a career “aha” moment, which led to a shift in my focus toward Medicine. Since then it has been an intense process of researching what my nexts step(s) will be for fulfilling prerequisites, and looking at schools that I feel would be a good fit for me. At present, I am trying to determine whether a formal post bac program or community college is the best route for that. The issues right now are cost and location. The formal postboc programs cost about as much as my graduate degree now, so I’m not sure how I feel about adding more to the mound. That said, I am single with no kids so I currently have no real obligations other than my current student debt, so I really am not worried about money–that is not what is motivating me, i am just not keen on wasting it.
What is bothering me most at the moment is the requirement for courses which seem like they will simply waste time. I have completed some of them, but it has been over 10 years since doing them so taking them again appears to be the most advantageous thing to do. A year of calculus, however, is one that I have reservations about, and a lot postbac programs have it in their curriculums. I appreciate it for what it is, and I have taken calculus, but I am hoping that I can just take a higher level statistics course instead as I feel it would likely be more relevant to clinical practice. I’ve also realize that some medical school don’t even require calculus as a prerequisite, so taking a year of it just feels superfluous.
Is anyone in, or completed a formal postbac premed program that could give their insight?
Any thoughts or advice on that?
On another note, I am considering a job as a Medical Scribe to get my feet wet and become familiar with being around doctors in action. That actually feels like the most practical move as it actually pays, even if not all that well.
So, that’s pretty much where I am at right now. Still in a haze about the radical shift in professional goals, but also extremely excited and grateful.
I look forward to moving forward.
Cheers
Welcome to the forums. I’m mid-30s and a career-changer as well.
Unless your existing GPA is poor, my suggestion would be to consider doing an informal post-bacch to pick up the courses you need to complete the prereqs. I would definitely not go through calculus again unless you have a real thing for pain. Also, you may want to get in contact with some of the schools you’re interested in and see if they have any requirements regarding recency for pre-reqs. I used some of the courses from my undergrad when applying, and some of those were 15 or more years old.
Best of luck on your path.
Hey thanks!
My GPA is good: Undergrad= 3.6, Graduate=4.0
Yeah it would be great if I could just substitute those lower division science courses with ones like genetics, physics of human body, and biochemistry. I dont want to go back to general bio and physics. What seems to be in favor of the formal programs is their MCAT prep, the fact that they are like pre med bootcamps, and possible linkage into schools directly after completing the programs. This would eliminate a year of standby. That part I do like.
Anyway, thanks for your advice!
Would it be cheaper to just take what you need and then take a separate MCAT prep course? I don’t think any undergrad type class that they expect people to do well in can really compare to med school, the expectation (at least in my experience) is too different. Different post bacc programs have different requirements to get in as well, especially for ones that include getting a graduate degree. I’ve seen it run from take anyone, to take people who haven’t taken a majority of the classes in the program, to take people who got low grades in the classes that are part of he program, to no joke must have failed to get into med school to be considered.
Linkage would be nice, but I believe you still fall into application process in some sense. Either way, you would be starting with the same class unless you plan on taking the MCAT too late for the upcoming cycle. Not sure how dependable linkages are. My school did away with its grad school (post bacc) to med school linkage. I know a guy who went to a linked post bacc that includes minimum cut offs to actually be accepted to the med school (actually seemed low to me). I haven’t talked to him since he started though.
I was just thinking about that yesterday. Everything separate would be much cheaper, and I agree; none of it really compares to actual med school. Yes, I saw some even want high school transcripts for admission…which I find a bit asinine. But, there are 2 different paths on the post bac programs: career changers and “academic enhancers”. I would be in a former category, but still think they are slightly over-hyping the value of what they offer since they are basic science courses. Plus, the more I look at the requirements, the more I see that not all schools are the same with that.
In terms of MCAT, i dont plan on taking that until next year. I was going to try for this April, but decided to hold off.
This is obviously a decision that will take a little time to figure out. I am just eager to get the process started!
@LeftRightBrain wrote:
Hello Everyone,
A Pre PostBac PreMed student here looking to connect. First it’s comforting to see so many people taking the leap into medicine after years in other careers, and doing it with families. I merely skimmed the forum recently and haven’t had much time to respond to posts, but I hope to soon.
Here’s a quick intro about me: I am currently in graduate school pursuing an MA in Psychology, and hold 2 Bachelors from San Francisco State University; one in Music Production & Engineering, and the other in Psychology. I am 33, and just a few months ago had what feels like a career “aha” moment, which led to a shift in my focus toward Medicine. Since then it has been an intense process of researching what my nexts step(s) will be for fulfilling prerequisites, and looking at schools that I feel would be a good fit for me. At present, I am trying to determine whether a formal post bac program or community college is the best route for that. The issues right now are cost and location. The formal postboc programs cost about as much as my graduate degree now, so I’m not sure how I feel about adding more to the mound. That said, I am single with no kids so I currently have no real obligations other than my current student debt, so I really am not worried about money–that is not what is motivating me, i am just not keen on wasting it.
What is bothering me most at the moment is the requirement for courses which seem like they will simply waste time. I have completed some of them, but it has been over 10 years since doing them so taking them again appears to be the most advantageous thing to do. A year of calculus, however, is one that I have reservations about, and a lot postbac programs have it in their curriculums. I appreciate it for what it is, and I have taken calculus, but I am hoping that I can just take a higher level statistics course instead as I feel it would likely be more relevant to clinical practice. I’ve also realize that some medical school don’t even require calculus as a prerequisite, so taking a year of it just feels superfluous.
Is anyone in, or completed a formal postbac premed program that could give their insight?
Any thoughts or advice on that?
On another note, I am considering a job as a Medical Scribe to get my feet wet and become familiar with being around doctors in action. That actually feels like the most practical move as it actually pays, even if not all that well.
So, that’s pretty much where I am at right now. Still in a haze about the radical shift in professional goals, but also extremely excited and grateful.
I look forward to moving forward.
Cheers
This needs to be done and sorted out before you end up in debt for a med-school-specific post-bac, not during or after.
Thanks for your input. I have spoken to a few postbacc premed program advisors about it, and they were encouraging. So it seems like the best route for me.
First things first though-- I need to finish my MA. Then I will focus on my foray into medicine.
Hello LeftRightBrain,
As the former director of two career-changer programs (Goucher and Johns Hopkins), I have in-depth information about post-bac programs, their merits, drawbacks, etc. If you have specific questions about various programs or the post-bac application process feel free to send me an email at liza@thompsonadvising.com.
Liza
I learned the hard way.
- take all of your pre reqs at une online or community college. I took half of my sciences at community college and have had no issues from osteopathic admissions.
*unless you live on a farm or in the woods you can take UNE courses
*community college should have everything up to orgo 2. I took both physics, both bio, and both gen Chem all 100% online and it cost me around $1500. Again some small cities might not offer this. If they don’t maybe get a job in the hospital in a city that does, or enroll in your local university and fit them in.
- take a Princeton review or Kaplan mcat course after pre reqs are finished
*before you go taking another 50k loan for a program spend 2k and prepare for the mcat properly. Then take it. You can’t push this exam off, telling yourself, if I do well in this post bacc I will ace the mcat. That’s just plain irresponsible. This exam is not easy some people just can’t figure it out. It will require ten times more effort than your masters program. I have a masters in neuroscience. After your masters and finishing all the pre reqs, it’s real easy give up. Until you take this test, honestly you have no idea what options are available. I myself pushed it off, wasted two years of my life trying to take it without finishing pre reqs and studying on my own.
- assuming you did well, apply to medical school.
If you did not, retake.
- If you still can’t figure it out try a 1 year post bacc with linkage agreements.
*with your GPA and a low but not terrible low mcat you can get into linkage granting post bacc programs. Don’t waste your time with programs that don’t explicitly state what requirements are needed to matriculate into their medical school. Don’t go to a masters program with linkages. A program that is run by the medical school itself will give you exposure to those who will eventually accept you.
- Taking a post bacc program to finish your pre reqs is absolutely financial suicide. Taking without an MCAT score is just procrastinating. I may sound blunt but I blasted away thousands of dollars to finish my pre reqs before I realized that I would need to pay for a 3k MCAT prep. Then realized I had to blast 60k more on a 1 year post bacc because I never got a great mcat score, and got wait listed everywhere. I did this all while working full time at a level 1 trauma center, diagnosing brain death as an EEG tech. Talk about depressing lol. Follow my tips and you will have more money than me !!! By the way I’m 27 and I think that age is not really a huge issue. My for year career in the hospital was spent with residents, a lot of them older than you would imagine. Good luck