I am currently enrolled in a Surgical Technology program. However, after taking Anatomy and Physiology and Microbiology, as well as learning more about surgery, I am interested in becoming a physician. I am 34 years old. I have a 3.9 GPA. Would it be advisable for me to stop the Surgical Tech program after this semester and get started on a Bachelor’s in Biology? I’m not sure how to proceed. Any advice would be helpful.
goz77:
A quick reply as I’m off to classes ASAP but here’s my 2 cents-
Your GPA is awesome.
Your age doesn’t matter (I’m 35 and there are MANY people on here older than me that have applied and gotten in to medical school).
You need a bacc of some sort and all your pre-reqs done to apply to medical school (i.e., you can have a bacc in comparative world religion - as long as you taken the required number of particular credits according to the schools you will apply to, it doesn’t matter what your bacc is). If you don’t have a bacc you will need to complete one.
In addition to finishing a bacc/finishing the required courses to apply to med school you will have to take the MCAT.
To get started: why not start checking out local colleges/universities and see what they offer as far as bacc degrees and how many of your credits that you have done would already apply. Also you can go to particular med school websites and get a list of their credit requirements. I started my process by simply do this and calling my local university to see what I needed to do/to whom I could talk to in order to get the ball rolling.
Warning: if your local schools are anything like mine were it was as if I was calling to ask if they had participated in any alien abductions lately, i.e., they were like “huh?!” when I told them I was a 30+ year old nurse who wanted to go to medical school. You may be pleasantly surprised and find this is not the case - but if it is and you are really interested keep asking around until you find the help you need.
Hope that helps!
Thank you so much. This is very helpful to me.
- coquelicot Said:
goz77:
A quick reply as I'm off to classes ASAP but here's my 2 cents-
Your GPA is awesome.
Your age doesn't matter (I'm 35 and there are MANY people on here older than me that have applied and gotten in to medical school).
You need a bacc of some sort and all your pre-reqs done to apply to medical school (i.e., you can have a bacc in comparative world religion - as long as you taken the required number of particular credits according to the schools you will apply to, it doesn't matter what your bacc is). If you don't have a bacc you will need to complete one.
In addition to finishing a bacc/finishing the required courses to apply to med school you will have to take the MCAT.
To get started: why not start checking out local colleges/universities and see what they offer as far as bacc degrees and how many of your credits that you have done would already apply. Also you can go to particular med school websites and get a list of their credit requirements. I started my process by simply do this and calling my local university to see what I needed to do/to whom I could talk to in order to get the ball rolling.
Warning: if your local schools are anything like mine were it was as if I was calling to ask if they had participated in any alien abductions lately, i.e., they were like "huh?!" when I told them I was a 30+ year old nurse who wanted to go to medical school. You may be pleasantly surprised and find this is not the case - but if it is and you are really interested keep asking around until you find the help you need.
Hope that helps!
A quick reply as I'm off to classes ASAP but here's my 2 cents-
Your GPA is awesome.
Your age doesn't matter (I'm 35 and there are MANY people on here older than me that have applied and gotten in to medical school).
You need a bacc of some sort and all your pre-reqs done to apply to medical school (i.e., you can have a bacc in comparative world religion - as long as you taken the required number of particular credits according to the schools you will apply to, it doesn't matter what your bacc is). If you don't have a bacc you will need to complete one.
In addition to finishing a bacc/finishing the required courses to apply to med school you will have to take the MCAT.
To get started: why not start checking out local colleges/universities and see what they offer as far as bacc degrees and how many of your credits that you have done would already apply. Also you can go to particular med school websites and get a list of their credit requirements. I started my process by simply do this and calling my local university to see what I needed to do/to whom I could talk to in order to get the ball rolling.
Warning: if your local schools are anything like mine were it was as if I was calling to ask if they had participated in any alien abductions lately, i.e., they were like "huh?!" when I told them I was a 30+ year old nurse who wanted to go to medical school. You may be pleasantly surprised and find this is not the case - but if it is and you are really interested keep asking around until you find the help you need.
Hope that helps!
As coquelicot has pointed out, it is certainly possible to achieve your goals. I do have a few questions.
1) Do you have a previous bachelors (in any major)?
2) is the surgical tech program towards a degree such as an AA?
3) Are the microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology, and other courses, "shortened" versions or were they full length courses that bio majors would take?
4) FYI: you do not need to be a bio major to be a premed
- I do not have a bachelor’s degree yet.
- After being certified as a Surgical Tech, and working in the field for a few months, I can then go back and take two more classes which will give me an Associate’s Degree.
- The classes will transfer to a local university, so I am assuming they are the same classes I would take at a four year school.
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