Medical School

[Old Rusty Pipe]

Guys, I appreciate all the info rolling in. My brother says doctor, and I suppose I'm just trying to be a good older brother at this point.

[perrik]

Just had a thought... there are alternative medical careers which require post-grad schooling but don't involve the loony ultra-competitiveness of med schools (or years of poorly-paid residency!). Your brother could look into a career as a physician assistant or surgical assistant.

American Academy of Physician Assistants: The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA)
Association of Surgical Assistants: Association of Surgical Assistants

Both careers are well suited for someone with military medic experience; the military even has its own PA school (http://www.usarec.army.mil/armypa).

[nj593]

It was my understanding that med schools except for a few do not except credits by exam.
When I applied there were those details and I have to go to regular school for those courses.
What is your encounters with this?

First thing I would do is read this forum (and the website to which it belongs): Student Doctor Network Forums

There are message boards for physicians at all stages, from pre-med to attending, and a board dedicated to military medicine.

There's no fast way to be a competitive pre-med student. An aspiring med school applicant will need a strong MCAT score, high GPA, and really good letters of recommendation. Lots of hardcore biology & chemistry classes with labs, physics, and calculus should appear (with high grades) on your transcript (you don't need a science major, but you do need the science credits). Volunteer or paid work in a medical setting shows that you're serious and that you are likely to have a realistic view of medicine (translation: you know that House and ER are pure fiction).

There are post-baccalaureate programs for those without the science background in their first BS, those who did a pre-med program and wanted to take a year in research or other academic work to strengthen their qualifications, or those who were aiming for med school the whole time but still didn't get accepted.

I guess the fastest way if you're starting from scratch is to amass a truckload of credits via exams, get a degree from the Big 3, and then apply for a one-year or two-year post-bac program to get the heavy science. I'm sure it's been done!

[perrik]

It was my understanding that med schools except for a few do not except credits by exam.
When I applied there were those details and I have to go to regular school for those courses.
What is your encounters with this?

You could test out of general education credits, and presumably math up to calculus. For the core science classes, you absolutely must have classes that involve lab sections. CLEP Biology is not going to be acceptable.

If you didn't take those core science classes the first time around, enroll at a formal post-bac program (see examples at Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins; check the directory at the Association of American Medical Colleges site for more programs). The post-bac programs are designed specifically as compressed pre-med programs, giving students the chance to take the right courses and earn a sparkling GPA in the classes that matter to med schools - and get those all-important letters of recommendation from professors.

IMO, this is a great option for a Big 3 student who is seriously about getting into med school. You'll still need a solid GPA to get into post-bac (figure around 3.0), but the programs do not assume any prior hardcore science study. You'd better be ready for it in the program, though!

[Tasman]

2 years between posts...

[cookderosa]

2 years between posts...

Yeah, I feel a rev up for a spam.
OTOH, it does bring me back to a time when this was a goal of mine. Time to run away before I get any wild ideas.hilarious