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XrayChump

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XrayChump Newbie

XrayChump

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Hello all devoted dream chasers!

 

I am curious to hear any success stories of the long journeys for those who have been striving to catch their dream and have finally been able to achieve their quest.

 

To add structure to the replies I have added some specific questions but please do not feel restrained by these guidelines! Therefore please indulge and elaborate us with your experiences so we may learn and keep ourselves motivated!

 

a) What was your initial plan and how did you alter it to achieve your entry into medicine.

 

B) How long did it take specifically taking into account the investment.(ie worked for X number of years, re-entered university for x number of years)

 

c) What obstacles did you face in the long journey?

 

d) advice you could give to another person who has a long journey ahead of them. More in detail perhaps one thing you wish you could have changed or improved in your own journey. Perhaps a mistake or an alternative path you may have chosen

 

f) Finally.... Was it worth it all in the end?

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  • 3 weeks later...
Minderbinder Newbie

Minderbinder

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Actually, if you look at the beginning of the non-trad forum, you'll find lots of success stories.

 

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13217

 

If you read the threads chronologically, you'll find something like 60% of everyone who introduced themselves on that first thread got accepted within a few years.

 

Pretty impressive stories, people wrote the MCAT three times, did second degrees, went to the States for pre-req courses, etc.

 

Usually makes me want to quit my self-pity and get back to work.

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trustwomen Newbie

trustwomen

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a) What was your initial plan and how did you alter it to achieve your entry into medicine.

 

Didn't know I wanted medicine until I was 25. Went back to school to do prereqs, turned out I had to be in a bio program to take the bio classes I needed, then turned out I had to do another degree in order to wash away the stain of the low GPA from my prior undergrad degrees in the humanities. Even then, applied to ten schools and only got interviewed at one - which fortunately took me. (This is with a 3.74 GPA and 35S MCAT.) Canadian schools are brutal to non-trads.

 

B) How long did it take specifically taking into account the investment.(ie worked for X number of years, re-entered university for x number of years)

 

Again, some of the investment had nothing to do with med school. Graduated, worked for 4 years, then decided to go back to school and pursue med. Then 3.5 years for another degree (while working full-time), then med school. Was 30 years old in Med1.

 

c) What obstacles did you face in the long journey?

 

Self-doubt, lots of work, a mom that vacillated between supportive and undermining, living like a broke-ass student again, putting off childbearing. I didn't know at the beginning that I would have to put in all that time, or that it would be so hard. I'm glad I didn't know, because if I had known I might have gotten discouraged and not done it, and that would have been the biggest mistake of my life.

 

d) advice you could give to another person who has a long journey ahead of them. More in detail perhaps one thing you wish you could have changed or improved in your own journey. Perhaps a mistake or an alternative path you may have chosen

 

In Canada, don't do your qualifying undergrad years part-time, no matter what else you are doing. I got turned down by lots of schools because of my first year and a half of undergrad, taking three science classes and working 40 hours a week - they simply didn't care and didn't count any of those grades toward my GPA. Even my next-to-last year, four courses and 32 hours/week of paid work, was looked at doubtfully by adcoms. They are not set up for non-trads. They don't care if you are working to support yourself. Better to live on student loans and take a full course load, like your average 19-year-old. I suspect it's also a way of weeding out the non-rich.

 

f) Finally.... Was it worth it all in the end?

 

HELL yes. I'm a med-3 and loving my life, even though it's stressful. I found my purpose (family med with extra training in obs/gyn and palliative care) and the future is so bright, I gotta wear shades. :) And yes, I'm looking forward to having a baby in residency, at 34 or 35 years old.

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Halcyon Newbie

Halcyon

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Yeah, I have the same issue. The time I did at uni part-time and worked full time will be overlooked by most schools. I understand that they want to standardize the GPAs as best they can by only looking at full credit loads. Yet, as you noted trustwomen, that does have the tendency to weed out students that have no financial supports. Too bad, as we run the risk of creating physicians non-reflective of the population they serve.

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  • 3 months later...
ToHellInAHandbasket Newbie

ToHellInAHandbasket

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Yeah, I have the same issue. The time I did at uni part-time and worked full time will be overlooked by most schools. I understand that they want to standardize the GPAs as best they can by only looking at full credit loads. Yet, as you noted trustwomen, that does have the tendency to weed out students that have no financial supports. Too bad, as we run the risk of creating physicians non-reflective of the population they serve.

 

I think the main reason why you must carry a full courseload (5 courses per semester) is to ensure that you can handle the workload that you would experience in med school. Similar to how they would rather see a 3.97 GPA in a Biochem degree as opposed to Basketweaving. Most would agree that the latter would be less academically challenging. ;) I would think that the main purpose is to weed out people who aren't very strong students. The problem is, some people may be able to pull off a decent GPA taking classes part time, but they may fall apart with a full med school curriculum.

 

I HAVE heard of schools (I.e. U of Sask) that will *consider* 'Special Applicants', and they list that "an example would be a single parent who can only attend part time". It's not a given by any means, but at least they *may*consider/acknowledge your case.

 

All of that said, I do agree that more needs to be done to make medical school more accessible to those with the ability but without the means. There are programs in place for Aboriginal students, but not so much for others who are 'educationally challenged' due to finances.

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  • 7 months later...
Coach Newbie

Coach

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I think the main reason why you must carry a full courseload (5 courses per semester) is to ensure that you can handle the workload that you would experience in med school......... I would think that the main purpose is to weed out people who aren't very strong students. The problem is, some people may be able to pull off a decent GPA taking classes part time, but they may fall apart with a full med school curriculum.

 

 

I can't agree with the above if you are talking about a part-time student doing a full-time 40+ hour per week job plus running a home & raising a family. Doing a full course load as a full-time student is no more demanding on time and mental strain than the mature parent with little kids doing a full-time job and still studying part-time (doing maybe a 50% course load).

 

I have a stressful job (divisional director at a large bank managing sales), I work 50 hours a week and we have 4 kids (including a little baby). The fact that I can still pull off part-time studies and get good grades should demonstrate time management and ability to juggle.

 

Besides... shouldn't we get a seniors discount on admission? :D

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AndreaM Newbie

AndreaM

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I can't agree with the above if you are talking about a part-time student doing a full-time 40+ hour per week job plus running a home & raising a family. Doing a full course load as a full-time student is no more demanding on time and mental strain than the mature parent with little kids doing a full-time job and still studying part-time (doing maybe a 50% course load).

 

I have a stressful job (divisional director at a large bank managing sales), I work 50 hours a week and we have 4 kids (including a little baby). The fact that I can still pull off part-time studies and get good grades should demonstrate time management and ability to juggle.

 

Besides... shouldn't we get a seniors discount on admission? :D

 

I totally agree Coach. As a mom of 3 kids working 40 hours a week, I have way more work now than when I was doing full-time school. Even taking into account the fact that I worked part-time, while doing my undergrad.

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Tara21 Newbie

Tara21

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I totally agree Coach. As a mom of 3 kids working 40 hours a week, I have way more work now than when I was doing full-time school. Even taking into account the fact that I worked part-time, while doing my undergrad.

 

Congrats to you both, Andrea and Coach. Hopefully, your hard work will result in acceptances!

 

In comparison, I feel like such a slacker as I only take six courses and work (plus all my crazy ECs)! ;)

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Coach Newbie

Coach

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I totally agree Coach. As a mom of 3 kids working 40 hours a week, I have way more work now than when I was doing full-time school. Even taking into account the fact that I worked part-time, while doing my undergrad.

 

In your example you have it even tougher because more often than not, the mother does more of the parenting / running the house than the man. I'm a guy and just being honest here for once [gulp].

 

My wife and I have 4 kids but she is a stay at home mom so that helps me a million percent. I truly admire any of the moms that manage to succeed at parenting, working and studying. I am biased toward the non-trad mature applicant, but I actually think that the adcoms should be ashamed of themselves for failing to recognise the merits of many older applicants. The full courseload debate is a classic example. It's not the same reality as a 20-year-old fulltime student.

 

There's nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequals.

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Tara21 Newbie

Tara21

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I am biased toward the non-trad mature applicant, but I actually think that the adcoms should be ashamed of themselves for failing to recognise the merits of many older applicants. The full courseload debate is a classic example. It's not the same reality as a 20-year-old fulltime student.

 

There's nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequals.

 

I have this non-trad bias as well - hmmm - not sure why though?! ;)

 

Let's pretend it's pre-med ageism, start a riot and, then, see if us non-trads get in - extreme measures for extreme times. Thoughts?!

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future_doc Newbie

future_doc

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The buolt-in bias is completely unfair. The system is rigged against the non-trads! Would not a carefully worded submission to the Ombudsperson at each university having a med school be helpful? In another matter, I recently helped a friend make submissions to the admin, Registrar, senior academics, etc and got absolutely nowhere - bingo, she then went to the Ombudsperson with identical representations and there was an immeidate change of her status - so these people carry weight if you can motivate them to understand and be sympoathetic to your position. Just my 2 cents.

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AndreaM Newbie

AndreaM

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In your example you have it even tougher because more often than not, the mother does more of the parenting / running the house than the man. I'm a guy and just being honest here for once [gulp].

 

My wife and I have 4 kids but she is a stay at home mom so that helps me a million percent. I truly admire any of the moms that manage to succeed at parenting, working and studying. I am biased toward the non-trad mature applicant, but I actually think that the adcoms should be ashamed of themselves for failing to recognise the merits of many older applicants. The full courseload debate is a classic example. It's not the same reality as a 20-year-old fulltime student.

 

There's nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequals.

 

Very true (on all counts). I am very glad that I did a full-time course load previously and that UBC takes all your courses into account. I've never done school without any children though. I had my oldest daughter when I was 17 and was a single mom while doing my BSc.

 

In terms of division of household chores, I love my husband very much, but I definitely have a larger share. When the kids are sick, I'm the one who has to use their sick time to stay home. I'm also the one responsible for most household chores, doctor appointments, dance, library, setting up daycare etc. He works very hard at work, but once he is home the working tends to stop, so study time for me is times like 4 in the morning or 10 at night or trying to read while listening to children's programming and getting up every ten minutes to make sandwiches and change diapers.

 

He understands that it will change when I'm in med school, but I think he's in for a bit of a shock, lol.

 

Congrats to you both, Andrea and Coach. Hopefully, your hard work will result in acceptances!

 

In comparison, I feel like such a slacker as I only take six courses and work (plus all my crazy ECs)! ;)

 

Six courses is certainly not slacking, it's just a very different kind of work :)

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Tara21 Newbie

Tara21

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Very true (on all counts). I am very glad that I did a full-time course load previously and that UBC takes all your courses into account. I've never done school without any children though. I had my oldest daughter when I was 17 and was a single mom while doing my BSc.

 

In terms of division of household chores, I love my husband very much, but I definitely have a larger share. When the kids are sick, I'm the one who has to use their sick time to stay home. I'm also the one responsible for most household chores, doctor appointments, dance, library, setting up daycare etc. He works very hard at work, but once he is home the working tends to stop, so study time for me is times like 4 in the morning or 10 at night or trying to read while listening to children's programming and getting up every ten minutes to make sandwiches and change diapers.

 

He understands that it will change when I'm in med school, but I think he's in for a bit of a shock, lol.

 

 

 

Six courses is certainly not slacking, it's just a very different kind of work :)

 

Six courses, plus actual real-work. Good thing I really love school, plus take enough DE courses to fit in my actual job!

 

Oh, and then, there's my ECs, which I love dearly and keep me balanced.

 

Even though I am busy, I do not have the added responsibility of children/marriage/etc. Non-trad premeds with families: I really commend you on all that you do.

 

Hopefully, it'll all result in your med-school dreams coming true! :)

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