Chemical Engineer

[chemewat]

Hey guys I have been reading these forums for quite a while now and I have been slowly gaining interest in medicine, my question to you guys is that I am in 3rd Year of my ChemE degree at Waterloo and I was thinking of applying to med school, btw my gpa is 3.9

 

so I needed to know was that is it usual for medical schools to accept people of different degrees and also if hopefully if I do ever get accepted would I be able to survive Med school compared to all the kids who took life science or biomed in their undergrad. So basically do they teach you all the required stuff in your first year so that you know what is basically going on.

 

Second I was wondering in which year could you apply for Med School, 3rd Year or 4th Year becasue i have seen a lot of people appy in their 3rd year how exactly does that work; do you skip your 4th year of uni or what.

 

So it would be real helpful if you guys could help.

[fourtytwo]

You can apply to med schools with any type of degree.

 

Regarding which year you can apply, it varies between schools. Figure out which schools you'd like to go to, and then check their websites. It'll say there whether you can apply with 3 years or if you need the 4 year. Just from anecdotes on this board, though, even for programs that accept 3 year degrees, people have far greater success in being accepted with a four year degree.

 

As for how you'd fair, there are people in medicine right now who have English degrees. They teach you the science you need to know.

[a41]

I highly recommend you finish your degree, because it's valuable...plus you get a cool ring.

 

Medical school is designed so that you really don't need any certain background. That being said, med school is a lot of memorize and regurgitate, unlike engineering.

 

You can definitely survive, but I find you have to work harder than people who were in life sci (who still have to work really hard).

[cary_fan]

Hey guys I have been reading these forums for quite a while now and I have been slowly gaining interest in medicine, my question to you guys is that I am in 3rd Year of my ChemE degree at Waterloo and I was thinking of applying to med school, btw my gpa is 3.9

 

so I needed to know was that is it usual for medical schools to accept people of different degrees and also if hopefully if I do ever get accepted would I be able to survive Med school compared to all the kids who took life science or biomed in their undergrad. So basically do they teach you all the required stuff in your first year so that you know what is basically going on.

 

Second I was wondering in which year could you apply for Med School, 3rd Year or 4th Year becasue i have seen a lot of people appy in their 3rd year how exactly does that work; do you skip your 4th year of uni or what.

 

So it would be real helpful if you guys could help.

 

I graduated from Waterloo in SYDE back in 2005. I'm at Queen's now.

Your gpa is quite nice, way to go! Your first hurdle is the MCAT. You could either write this on your own by studying during a workterm, or taking a prep class. Or ... take some science courses to satisfy pre-requisites and/or prep for the MCAT.

 

Certain schools require that you finish your undergrad degree before you are accepted. Last time I checked, Western required a 4 year degree (in anything). That means you apply in the fall of your final year. The trend I have seen over the last few years is *fewer* course-related pre-reqs from every school ... except Ottawa. Take a look at the OMSAS application booklet to ensure that you've taken the courses you need. My UW roommate was in Comp Eng and got into medicine at UofT the summer before 4A (if I recall correctly), so there's that avenue as well.

 

As for surviving once you get in, each school teaches the curriculum a little differently. At Queen's, our "Phase I" was structured in such a way that they assumed you knew very little and started from there. Some people, such as those that had strong life-science backgrounds (genetics, anatomy, histology, etc) breezed through most of the term. Engineers and other non-life science folk had a harder time. I often found myself looking up every word just to figure out what they were talking about. But after the initial struggle, once you are looking at more clinical things, I'd say you're on more or less equal footing.

 

The engineering background may give you different things to talk about in your interviews, essays, etc. The analytical approach starts to become helpful after you manage to memorize enough facts and start solving clinical problems. Engineering was probably a harder way to get to medical school, but then again, every path is different and has it's own unique challenges. In the end, who can say if it wasn't the best path for you?

 

The application process for UW co-op students was a little frustrating because our "four year degree" gets stretched out to five, and the academic years don't line up with calendar year applications. Just try your best to wade through it and follow instructions. I hope this answered your questions! PM me if you need any more help.

[Tolentinium]

Still keep in mind that you may have to have a great deal of extra curriculars/volunteers/experiences that will make your application stand out from the other applicants. Good luck!