Hi, I’m 31 non traditional student my Bach is in Management and I’ll take undergraduate clases to improve my GPA and I’ll start prerequisites next august. I have 0 clinical experience 0 shadowing I have nothing. I have a full time job (mortgage and expenses to pay) so my free time is limited. With my schedule I’ll be able to complete around 70-90 hours at the end of my pre med is that ok? I’ll do everything to have more
Can you explain more about how you came up with 70-90 hrs? If you’re starting from scratch (like I was), it will take at least 2 yrs to complete – especially if you’re working a full-time job. If you took on a hospital volunteer position and served 4 hours each weekend, you’ll get ~200 hrs. Let’s say you’re not able to commit every weekend; you’d still get >100 hrs a year.
To be honest, having <100 hrs of clinical hours doesn’t show to med schools that you’ve explored the career and are committed enough. This is especially true as a career change (Note: I am also a career changer). They want to know that you’re not doing this on a whim or will possibly drop out later. Telling them you want to do this isn’t enough. You have to prove it with your time commitments. A greater amount of experience will show them that. Also, remember that you’re competing against other applicants who will have way more clinical experience and have a similar background.
If you’re dedicated to this path, here are some tips:
- Start volunteering NOW. The onboarding process takes a while. It’ll also show you whether or not you like working in healthcare. Slowly, but surely you’ll get there.
- E-shadowing is a 1 hr commitment. Start NOW. Later, they’ll expect you have in-person shadowing.
- Consider paid clinical work experience. In med school, you won’t have the stable income you have now. Consider this a transition process to that step to see if it is financially feasible. Med school is going to be like another mortgage.
First, thank you thank you thank you for your advice and tips I really appreciate it.
I work full time and I’ll study hybrid with 30 credits for the next 6 months, my schedule is really busy that’s why I planned 70-90hours but definitely I’ll adjust that as you recommended. Yes, I’ll complete classes and prereq in 2 years. If I have the chance I quit my job right now, I really want to do all about med prep. I’m learning on the road, as a 1gen is really “hard” to catch up with everything, YouTube and few online websites are my instructors 
70-90 hrs seems like a lot to accomplish in 2 years while working full time. I’m also doing a DIY post bac while working full time but I’m anticipating 107 credits over 4 years.
If this is partly for GPA repair, have you done the calculation of what your GPA would be if you do well on the post bac? What was your original GPA?
@skaran I think @Cristi.M was talking about clinical/shadowing hours and not credit hours i.e. class credits. Correct me if I’m wrong. However, 107 credits sounds like overkill!!! I did 69 credit hours and that was way more than what’s needed for prerequisites.
Ohhh that makes more sense, I think you’re right. And yeah lol I have way too many credits with a crappy GPA from my undergrad, so even that 107 will barely get me to a 3.4 if I make straight As. Only 72 out of it is for prereqs, the rest is for an LVN certification I’m trying to get for clinical experience!
@skaran @randomusername Yea, 70-90 hours are shadowing hours. I have to retake my last semester (undergrad) to improve my GPA (is really bad right now) and pre reqst, that will be equal to almost 90 credits, will be ok with that If I make straight As.
After your recommendation I visited the hospital where my brother was treated for his cancer and they are happy to have me as a volunteer, and will contact me with the oncology area for shadowing.
Great! It sounds like you’re off to a good start then. Note that shadowing (following around the physicians) is separate from clinical experience which I’m assuming is what you’ll be doing. You’ll need both with clinical hours >> shadowing. I just wanted to clarify that.
Also, don’t worry too much about your undergrad GPA. Mine wasn’t the best either and taking a lot of math classes killed my BCPM (bio/chem/physics/math) GPA. On the application, they will have separate lines for post-bacc so they can see your upward trend. Just be prepared to kill it during your post-bacc. Don’t be afraid to ask for help in your courses.
Thank you! Yes I’ll need both, clinical and shadowing, also I’m looking for a research but in a specific area not just to fill that part but yea I’m working to figure it out.
With my GPA… we’ll I have to complete my last semester… was around 2.00 (shame) I just can’t, there is no way… my mentor guide me and at the end I’ll have around 3.30 plus my science/ prerqst (have to be stellar) I’m working for not less than a 3.80 in science, I’ll be ok to apply in PR. I really struggled in my Bach but that was more than 10 years a go and I’m ready to do everything and my very best. Im taking the Kahn academy courses (bio and chemistry for now) getting familiar with the concepts, language etc.
P.S.
The YouTube channel Medical School HQ, helps me a lot to understand the process 100% recommended.