Podcasts about mcat you

Session 62 My name is Dr. Ryan Gray and I am the Director of the National Society for Nontraditional Premedical and Medical Students, also known as OldPreMeds. Taken directly from the forums at OldPreMeds.org, our question this week comes from a nontraditional student who took a lot of classes many years ago and is wondering what's the best route to take to get back into the premed game. OldPreMeds Question of the Week: "I’m new here and so glad to have found this site. I graduated with a science degree in 2000 at a competitive school, and while I was interested in medicine and took all the premed required courses and had around a 3.5 GPA, I wasn’t sure about my passion for it, and frankly not mature enough for that commitment. Instead, I got an MPH in Health Management and have been in the field ever since working in health IT, management consulting, and currently working at a hospital managing a department. But after seventeen years of working in healthcare, I want to move from being in the support services and management to being a care provider, and looking to explore getting an MD or a DO. I should also mention that I’m married and have two young kids, so certainly this is a decision that would disrupt all our lives. I know my coursework is outdated but what options should I pursue? I contacted one postbac program near me and they said I would qualify for their two-year-career changer program and would have to retake all my old courses, and that a lot of schools want to see all course requirements done within the last five years. I really don’t want to take two years to retake coursework and have been reading about do-it-yourself postbacs, but I am unclear on how many courses to take and what courses to take for that matter to make me a more attractive candidate. I’m looking at the websites of schools near me, I live in southern California, but it seems unclear. Also would I need to take any extracurriculars? I work in healthcare, and while I’m not a provider, I know a lot of the ins and outs, sacrifices and dedication needed. It’s been a long while but in the past, pre-marriage and pre-kids, I volunteered for hospice and enjoyed it. Extracurriculars would be tough with kids so I’m hoping to avoid it if possible. I’m just starting this process so any advice is welcome." Here are my insights: This is an example of someone who has been having that itch of getting into medical school that has never really gone away, which is common to a lot of nontraditional premed students. [3:40] Taking Postbacs & Working Full-Time or Part-Time Now that you have your wife and kids, the question is, can you afford to stop working to take classes full-time? When I recently attended University of Central Florida's Medical School Admissions Symposium, I had dinner with a bunch of premeds and nontrad premeds and talked with Cain (listen to his journey on The Premed Years Podcast Session 174). Now a first year medical student, Cain was also a nontrad premed who was working full time. At dinner, he mentioned that he wished he would have been more intentional and that he should have pulled that trigger a little bit sooner to stop working full time and jump back into his courses. So this is something you need to think about whether you really want to commit and reduce your workload and go part time (if you can), or quit altogether and rely on your spouse's income (if possible). [05:45] Retaking Coursework The fact that your prereqs are 17 years old, that can and will play a role in many schools accepting you. While I agree that schools like to see coursework done within five years, I don't know if I would say “a lot of schools.” I’d say, there are some schools out there that would want to see newer coursework. Newer coursework is going to help prepare for the MCAT as this is going to be the big hurdle. Hence, retaking the coursework to prepare for the MCAT is something you might want to think about. [06: 25] Extracurriculars If location is an issue and you can only go to a handful medical schools then start to get to know them and reach out to them. Explain to medical schools your situation and ask them. I've talked with the Dean of Admissions at UCF when I was there for the symposium and he mentioned that they love nontraditional students because they add so much to the class. He also said that when they're looking at an application, they do look at what your responsibilities are as you're going through these process. So if you have a family and a job, they're not going to assume you have all extra time to go and do all these crazy extracurriculars. So think about how much time have you got for all of this stuff. Are you able to quit your job? Or call these schools to see what they say. Medical schools have different ways of looking at students so reach out to them and find out. Even if you have healthcare work experience, it doesn't mean you fully understand what it's like to be a physician. So you need to shadow some physicians to get that experience of what it's like to be one. As a healthcare administrator, you're probably not around with patients a lot so you need to put yourself in clinical situations. Try to put yourself around as many patients as you can and get that experience of being around sick people again to make sure you enjoy it. [08:45] Retaking Classes to Prepare for the MCAT You have a couple options to take. You can go to a formal do-it-yourself postbac which can be very costly and can take you a year or two to do it. You can also take a do-it-yourself postbac and pick and choose the classes you want to retake. But do this only after making sure that it's okay with them that you're not retaking all of your prereqs (because maybe they just want to see whether you've still got science under your belt and prove to them that you can handle the load and coursework.) As I’ve already mentioned, the first step is to reach out to the schools you’re interested in applying to and ask them. Tell them your situation and go from there. Links: MedEd Media Network University of Central Florida - Medical School Admissions Symposium The Premed Years Podcast Session 174: Academically Dismissed to Medical Acceptance (My interview with Cain)