Should I abandon my dream of going to medical school

[Jackielake 0]

Hello, i work currently as a lawyer. Il graduated from law school in 2014 from Université of Montreal. I had sadly very poor grades in law school since I had to work 50 hours a week to be able to help my family. I wish to go to medical school but I don’t know if it’s possible for me since I had bad grades in law school. Also I want to do my prerequisite science classes before applying as an independent student. Should I think of doing a second degree to get better grades before trying for med school ? Also is thirty to old to start school again and do the prerequisites and maybe another undergrad? 
 

thank you in advance.

JL

[frenchpress 344]

4 minutes ago, Jackielake said:

Hello, i work currently as a lawyer. Il graduated from law school in 2014 from Université of Montreal. I had sadly very poor grades in law school since I had to work 50 hours a week to be able to help my family. I wish to go to medical school but I don’t know if it’s possible for me since I had bad grades in law school. Also I want to do my prerequisite science classes before applying as an independent student. Should I think of doing a second degree to get better grades before trying for med school ? Also is thirty to old to start school again and do the prerequisites and maybe another undergrad? 
 

thank you in advance.

JL

Thirty is not too old to start the process. But if you are going to go back to school for potentially another degree, and then medical school, and then residency, I think you need to think carefully about the benefits of doing so and whether it’s worth it to you. For example, Why do you want to be a doctor - What aren’t you getting from your current career? It sounds like in the past finances were an issue that led to difficulty with doing as well in school as you wanted - is that still an issue, can you realistically afford to not work for the next 4-8 years? 

[Bambi 1,762]

Do you really know that your grades are so bad? Law is given a high score, so your grades are not necessarily the kiss of death. Look into this aspect. If you choose a 2nd undergraduate degree, I recommend you consider the Exercise Science Specialty Program at Concordia, it will give you a good grounding, you will have 2 internships with the elderly chronically ill where you get to not only work with patients but to apply the theoretical knowledge you learn. I will send you a PM. Welcome to the Forum. 

[Jackielake 0]

Thank you very much for your fast reply. I’m currently in a much better financial state. I put a lot of money aside and my family’s situation is also a lot better. So I don’t mind studying another 10 years.

i had under 3 of GPA in law school which I know is awful. But at the time my objectif was to finish school as fast as possible and enter the work field. I was able to pass the bar exam and I’ve been working as a lawyer since 2016. 

i always wanted to become a doctor and I feel I can contribute to society much more in the medical field.

Thank you again. It’s very appreciated.

 

[powdermonkey13 15]

I am 39, just started first year and planning on doing a 5 year residency. I have a family and minimal money coming in. Couldn't be happier.

DM me and we can set up a time to chat.

[MDee2B 51]

On 1/8/2021 at 3:35 PM, Jackielake said:

Hello, i work currently as a lawyer. Il graduated from law school in 2014 from Université of Montreal. I had sadly very poor grades in law school since I had to work 50 hours a week to be able to help my family. I wish to go to medical school but I don’t know if it’s possible for me since I had bad grades in law school. Also I want to do my prerequisite science classes before applying as an independent student. Should I think of doing a second degree to get better grades before trying for med school ? Also is thirty to old to start school again and do the prerequisites and maybe another undergrad? 
 

thank you in advance.

JL

Correct me if I’m wrong but many schools (ex McGill) consider the undergraduate degree for the basis of admission - not graduate/doctoral studies. The latter is considered for academic context and could actually boost your profile in a sense for merely having undertaken and completed law studies, but won’t be detrimental for the calculation of your gpa for the purpose of med school admissions. For the calculation of your gpa for the purpose of med school admissions, it is often only the quality of your undergraduate degree gpa which is paramount.

Did you do an undergrad before law? If so, is it competitive (3.8ish/+)? Depending on the answers to those questions, it might be beneficial to simply do the remaining science prereqs as an independent student - as opposed to doing a second undergrad degree - so as to preserve the integrity of an already competitive undergrad gpa. If your existing undergrad gpa is low, however, then it would likely be wise to do a 2nd undergrad degree to boost your undergrad gpa.

[smalltowncelery 25]

11 minutes ago, MDee2B said:

Correct me if I’m wrong but many schools (ex McGill) consider the undergraduate degree for the basis of admission - not graduate/doctoral studies.

I think law counts as an undergraduate degree (same as pharm).

[MDee2B 51]

5 hours ago, smalltowncelery said:

I think law counts as an undergraduate degree (same as pharm).

Ah I see. Still most people (in Quebec anyway) pursue an undergrad first, and then do law school afterward. So even if law school is considered to be an undergraduate program, one could still choose the previous undergraduate degree as the basis of admission degree (assuming OP has actually done an initial undergraduate degree prior to law school).

If no other undergrad was done prior and OP took some kind of accelerated route to law school similar med-p (not so familiar with the alternative routes to get to law school), then as I said, doing a 2nd undergrad would probably be beneficial.

[Jackielake 0]

Hi, thank you all for your responses.

yes I did law as an undergraduate. I went directly from cegep (Quebec) to law school. 
 

i did my research this week and talked to many schools and it’s seems like my only chance to go to medical school is by doing a second undergrad and applying to McGill or UOttawa, since they will only consider my GPA of my second degree.

what do you guys think about the schools in the Caribbean. 20k + of tuition a semester is a hard pill to swallow. 
 

thank you. 

[hopefulpremed98 21]

Yeah I just read your post and as you went directly from cegep to law and don't have high grades in that the only option is to do a second degree and apply to places like McGill. I will say tho that its a big risk as you don't know if you'll get the grades you'll need but you clearly would have a good Cv and would do well on the casper. You should try if you really don't want to continue in law. Please don't go Carribean tho that's an awful choice and there's a reason everyone says not to do it. The only way its mildly ok is if you have US citizenship and plan on doing residency in the US. And even then its not something anyone would recommend. There are more residencies there and its incredibly difficult for a Canadian to match back to Canada as an IMG even with Canadian citizenship, matching is based on where you did school. For Americans tho, matching also takes into account citizenship so they have an easier time at least matching back to the US as an IMG. As a Canadian you don't get that benefit. 20k a semester isn't the problem. 20k a semester with no job prospects is the problem.

[Bambi 1,762]

My advice is not to even consider the Caribbean, the likelihood of ever returning to Canada to practice is extremely low. Better stay in law than going this route.

[MDee2B 51]

9 hours ago, Jackielake said:

Hi, thank you all for your responses.

yes I did law as an undergraduate. I went directly from cegep (Quebec) to law school. 
 

i did my research this week and talked to many schools and it’s seems like my only chance to go to medical school is by doing a second undergrad and applying to McGill or UOttawa, since they will only consider my GPA of my second degree.

what do you guys think about the schools in the Caribbean. 20k + of tuition a semester is a hard pill to swallow. 
 

thank you. 

A word of caution regarding Ottawa: if your residency is in QC then you will count as an out of province applicant for UOttawa. This means that you are subject to a considerably higher GPA cutoff (ca 3.87), depending on whether you apply to the anglo or french stream.

D’ailleurs si tu es bilingue/francophone il y a aussi d’autres options internationales à considérer, tels que les facultés de médecine en Bélgique. Là bas la formation dure 6 ans je crois et iirc tout le monde est admis au début, mais il y a un processus de triage/filtration pendant les 1-2 premières années pour éliminer bcoup d’étudiants (=environnement très cut throat/difficile). Cependant, l’avantage c’est que tu peux commencer tout de suite (c’est à dire sans gaspiller du temps avec un 2me bac) et en plus, à la fin tu auras pas mal de chance pour retourner au QC, car il y a plein d’ententes entre le QC et les pays francophone pour promouvoir le déplacement des professionnels qualifiés (dans ce sens > carribean imo).

youd have to look into it for specific details but it’s an option. I know of someone who went this route and successfully returned to qc to practice. McGill is also a good option after a 2nd undergrad. I wish you good luck!

[Jackielake 0]

Thank you all for your responses. 
 

Oui je suis francophone, d’ailleurs plus francophone qu’anglophone. Je n’ai pas du tout pensé à l’option européenne. Je vais faire mes recherches. Merci milles fois! 

[MDee2B 51]

1 hour ago, Jackielake said:

Thank you all for your responses. 
 

Oui je suis francophone, d’ailleurs plus francophone qu’anglophone. Je n’ai pas du tout pensé à l’option européenne. Je vais faire mes recherches. Merci milles fois! 

De rien!

[Jackielake 0]

If I do a second degree in montreal. Do you suggest I do something in science or i can do it in psychology or sociology?

thank you. 

[Bambi 1,762]

So long as you have any required prerequisites, do your 2nd degree in a program where you are likely to attain the highest GPA. 

[MDee2B 51]

Certain medical faculties do not discriminate based on the discipline of your undergrad.

Other medical faculties (ex ULaval) do discriminate and deem a 4.0 gpa in one discipline unequal to a 4.0 gpa in another discipline. For example, they might place more value on certain science degrees than an arts degree.

I would advise you to carefully consider where you would ultimately like to apply for med and to consult the table des étalons de ces universités avec les différentes indices de force pour chaque discipline. Là tu vas voir quels programmes ont de la valeur selon chaque université  et quels programmes ne l’ont pas.

[Deferred 1]

On 1/9/2021 at 11:30 PM, powdermonkey13 said:

I am 39, just started first year and planning on doing a 5 year residency. I have a family and minimal money coming in. Couldn't be happier.

DM me and we can set up a time to chat.

Would you mind if I DM you as well? I’m older than you are and have two young kids, planning on FM. I’m worried about the stress on my family and setting us back financially so I’m trying to learn as much as possible about the experience if you don’t mind me messaging you!??

[m3ddr3am 0]

On 2/15/2021 at 7:34 PM, Deferred said:

Would you mind if I DM you as well? I’m older than you are and have two young kids, planning on FM. I’m worried about the stress on my family and setting us back financially so I’m trying to learn as much as possible about the experience if you don’t mind me messaging you!??

Same here for me. I would really like to connect with non-traditional applicants. Just thinking about the stress on my family and not being able to support them is overwhelming for me.