Success Stories- Non Trad Style!

[Mars_Bound]

Sure, you apply to med school as soon as possible and work as a nurse if you dont make it right away. Age is just a number and I would not worry about how old you are when you get in, you will have many years of being a physician.

 

thanks for the reply.

 

If I dont get in, will the schools tell me why I got rejected so I can make the adjustments and then re-apply again while still working as a nurse if i dont get in?

 

I guess worse case scenario: I get into nursing for the fall 2011 (too late to apply for med schools now), i commit 4 yrs and finish. In the 4th yr I apply for med school, if I get accepted then good. if not I will still graduate with and work as an RN. keep applying till I get in up till 2 yrs. Then in the second year from graduating I would apply for both the Masters in Nursing/Nurse practitioner program and also apply for med school.

 

If I get in, then good. If I dont , then I commit and finish the Masters program and then re-apply again for med schools.

 

How does that sound to you?

[Mars_Bound]

I guess I would be a non-trad prospective. I finished in the arts, got a general BA. Went out into the world, got bruised and beat up pretty badly..lol...

 

anyways, I am applying to do nursing (4 yrs). Now after that 4 yrs, should I then apply right away for med schools or should i work a year or two in nursing and in the hospital setting?

 

If I get in to nursing (still waiting on acceptance [is that a bad sign?]), I would be 34 when i finish. So i would enter med school at 34 or worst case at 36 years old. Is that too old to apply for med school?

 

any non-trads got into Ottawa U med school? Are they looking at stellar marks or more?

 

Also, should I do nursing (4yrs) , work the required 2yrs then apply and do MScn/NP , complete that and then apply for med school? some of the posts I have read seems to suggest, with the exception of a very good first degree, a graduate degree rather than a second degree betters one's chances of being accepted into med. I would then be at best 40 years old when I apply to enter med school. Is that too old to enter med school? doesnt it get hardr for med schools to accept you at that point because then you would not have enough years to practice. (read: enough years to be alive before retiring)

 

My first degree was in arts, not stellar. It never occured to me to apply for med school. I have applied for nursing. Should I do that, then go onto MsCN/NP (masters with nurse practitioner) then apply for med school under that, while practicing/working as an NP.

 

Would that work?

 

Thanks for your answers

[aaronjw]

I sure hope its not too old to apply given that i'll be 39 when i'm able to apply

 

Is Mac = McMaster University Med school?

What age were you when you finally got into med school?

 

I guess I would be a non-trad prospective. I finished in the arts, got a general BA. Went out into the world, got bruised and beat up pretty badly..lol...

 

anyways, I am applying to do nursing (4 yrs). Now after that 4 yrs, should I then apply right away for med schools or should i work a year or two in nursing and in the hospital setting?

 

If I get in to nursing (still waiting on acceptance [is that a bad sign?]), I would be 34 when i finish. So i would enter med school at 34 or worst case at 36 years old. Is that too old to apply for med school?

 

any non-trads got into Ottawa U med school? Are they looking at stellar marks or more?

 

Also, should I do nursing (4yrs) , work the required 2yrs then apply and do MScn/NP , complete that and then apply for med school? some of the posts I have read seems to suggest, with the exception of a very good first degree, a graduate degree rather than a second degree betters one's chances of being accepted into med. I would then be at best 40 years old when I apply to enter med school. Is that too old to enter med school? doesnt it get hardr for med schools to accept you at that point because then you would not have enough years to practice. (read: enough years to be alive before retiring)

 

My first degree was in arts, not stellar. It never occured to me to apply for med school. I have applied for nursing. Should I do that, then go onto MsCN/NP (masters with nurse practitioner) then apply for med school under that, while practicing/working as an NP.

 

Would that work?

 

Thanks for your answers

[MD2015]

thanks for the reply.

 

If I dont get in, will the schools tell me why I got rejected so I can make the adjustments and then re-apply again while still working as a nurse if i dont get in?

 

I guess worse case scenario: I get into nursing for the fall 2011 (too late to apply for med schools now), i commit 4 yrs and finish. In the 4th yr I apply for med school, if I get accepted then good. if not I will still graduate with and work as an RN. keep applying till I get in up till 2 yrs. Then in the second year from graduating I would apply for both the Masters in Nursing/Nurse practitioner program and also apply for med school.

 

If I get in, then good. If I dont , then I commit and finish the Masters program and then re-apply again for med schools.

 

How does that sound to you?

 

If you don't get in, that is usually all you know. At least one med school will meet with you (even if rejected pre-interview) to discuss how you may become a better applicant.

 

Your plan sounds good to me. Also, you can look into PA.

[Dino]

I can't believe I got in (U of Ottawa)!

Will be 42 by the time I start. Married with a kid and a mortgage.

For the last 18 years, I have been repeatedly frustrated, as a series of events kept pulling me back to square one (these started happening shortly after I thought I was in complete control of my destiny - silly, arrogant me). I seriously considered changing my name to Sisyphus, but here I am - still in disbelief and scared $h!tless!

[sp1nz]

I can't believe I got in (U of Ottawa)!

Will be 42 by the time I start. Married with a kid and a mortgage.

For the last 18 years, I have been repeatedly frustrated, as a series of events kept pulling me back to square one (these started happening shortly after I thought I was in complete control of my destiny - silly, arrogant me). I seriously considered changing my name to Sisyphus, but here I am - still in disbelief and scared $h!tless!

 

congrats Dino! I think we're all still in disbelief and nervous \ excited about what the future holds. Look forward to meeting you in September!

[psychoswim]

I can't believe I got in (U of Ottawa)!

Will be 42 by the time I start. Married with a kid and a mortgage.

For the last 18 years, I have been repeatedly frustrated, as a series of events kept pulling me back to square one (these started happening shortly after I thought I was in complete control of my destiny - silly, arrogant me). I seriously considered changing my name to Sisyphus, but here I am - still in disbelief and scared $h!tless!

 

Woohoo congrats!!

[aaronjw]

I can't believe I got in (U of Ottawa)!

Will be 42 by the time I start. Married with a kid and a mortgage.

For the last 18 years, I have been repeatedly frustrated, as a series of events kept pulling me back to square one (these started happening shortly after I thought I was in complete control of my destiny - silly, arrogant me). I seriously considered changing my name to Sisyphus, but here I am - still in disbelief and scared $h!tless!

 

Thats awesome! Comgrats! U give me hope lol

[Dino]

Thanks everyone!

I can't wait!

[Slashsev]

congrats dino

 

all the best!

[phosgenic]

I finally got the acceptance letter from one of the med school yesterday. For me, it has been a long and ardous journey, 10 yrs to be exact since the first time that I applied to a med school. Along the way, I am blessed with encouragements from friends, colleagues, people from this forum, for that, I can't thank them enough. I want to take this opportunity to share my story and to encourage those who has been trying for the past several years to not giving up your dream.

 

First time I applied to med school was back in 2000, when most of the "traditional" applicants were still in either elementary school / Juniour high. I didn't get any interview invites from any of the schools that I applied to; however, it wasn't much a surprise, given my marks weren't competitive enough. I applied once again in 2001 with similar result. Then I decided to do a MSc. degree, hoping that this would help to strenghten my application in the future. After 2 yrs hiatus from the application cycle, I applied to both med and dent in 2003. I only got as far as receiving interviews from UWO and UT dentistry that year. I went back to Taiwan to work as a research assistant for a while. At that time, I started to really worry about my future.

I was lucky enough to be accepted into UBC Dent the next year. At that time, I was just happy to land a career with good income and a rather prestigeous title, irregardless whether it would be a career that I would truly enjoy in doing. Naive at that point, it took me 2 years to come to realization that something is not right. At 2007, I found that dentistry and I were just not compatible. The combined curriculum offered at UBC further strengthened my desire in wanting to pursue medicine.

 

Dropping out from dentistry wasn't an easy choice, especially when your asian parents considered to disown you and wanted to choke you to death for exchanging a great career with more uncertainty. Or when some of your friends started doubting you and think you are being unrealistic about the whole medical school thing. Strains on the relationship with the love one was also significant. At that point, life seems to spiralling downward out of control faster than I can handle. However, thanks for the support from my dentistry friends and other long-time friends, I was able to gather myself up and focus on what I have to do.

 

I applied to med again in 2007 while working as a research assistant, that year, I received my first ever medical school interview. Having high hope for myself that year, I was devastated when I was rejected post-interview. However, since I have always wanted to work in healthcare-related field, that same year, I also applied to pharmacy, and was fortunate enough to be accepted into the pharmacy program in Toronto. I came to acceptance at that point, if I can never get accepted into medicine, at least, I would be happy to work as a pharmacist as a career. I continued to apply to med while studying in pharmacy; however, I kept receiving the same rejections letters year after year. It just seemed that I am not the right fit for any of the medical school that I interviewed with. This past year was supposedly my very last year in applying for medical school admission. It just comes to the point that I lost all the hope of ever getting into medicine, and getting tired from the whole application process. The whole motivation and desire are just not here anymore. But fortunately, I am finally able to accomplish what I set out to do 10 years ago.

 

I know it is never easy in getting rejection letters, I have all sorts from different medical schools across Canada. However, you just cant lose hope and lose sight on what you want to accomplish when you first started on this journey. If you think medicine is right for you and you will be a great physician, then you just have to work hard and make yourself a better candidate for people to see. Most importantly, you have to believe in yourself. There will always be naysayers out there who try to sway your confidence; however, be grateful for the comments they make, and use those as the motivations to reach your goal. Best of luck to those who are in the same boat as I once was. Dont ever lose hope. Keep the faith.

 

f*cking boss!!!!!!!! thats what you call never giving up. mad respect

 

oh and astrogirl as well, just fantastic. love reading these stories

[jp.mylittlepwny]

I can't believe I got in (U of Ottawa)!

Will be 42 by the time I start. Married with a kid and a mortgage.

For the last 18 years, I have been repeatedly frustrated, as a series of events kept pulling me back to square one (these started happening shortly after I thought I was in complete control of my destiny - silly, arrogant me). I seriously considered changing my name to Sisyphus, but here I am - still in disbelief and scared $h!tless!

Congrats dude

[crisco7676]

Hi all,

 

I just keep reading those success stories and I have to say some are very inspiring, thanks to all. I know mine is not a success story (at least not yet), but I think I have more chances of having someone with a similar story/background to mine to read my post in this thread. So here's the short version...

 

I started university taking classes towards the completion of a premedical undergraduate degree. By the end of it, like many of my classmates, I was determined to get into a medical program. Turns out things didn't happen that way. Even though I wasn't a party animal and I did try my best, school was tough and my first two years weren't up to my expectations. I ended up with a B average, not bad now that I think about it... but not great enough for medical school, obviously. I kept trying and on top of my science degree, I chose to complete a minor in social sciences. My grades gradually got better. I remember biochemistry being a pain, cell bio was good and chemistry was starting to make more and more sense. I ended up succeeding quite well in organic chemistry and started enjoying pushing those arrows. I would literally eat my textbooks. Finally I finished my premed degree with a minor in social studies, did a fifth year that got me a second degree in med chem, completed a honor's project, got my name as second author in a high impact journal and insured myself a spot in an awesome research group.

 

So what about med school? Well it was still there but at that point I didn't think I had the GPA to get an interview (B+). I decided to take the long road and started grad school. I'm currently ending my second year as a Ph.D. candidate to which I successfully transfered and just received a graduate scholarship. Turns out my insignificant honor's project bloomed into something quite significant and we are now five students developing this new technology for which a patent and papers are lining up. I also have a great relationship with my supervisor and the pharmaceutical industry has showed interest in my potential employability. Everything's great! Except one thing: I'm still thinking about med school, now more than ever. Don't get me wrong, I'm not quitting my Ph.D. and I'm very fond of the research I do. However I do not pursue a career in the field of chemistry or rather not directly. I definitely have something for medicine...

 

Now that I've told a bit about myself, here's a few questions:

 

Is there any of you who thinks that there is relevancy for a chemist in the medical field? (...and I'm very aware that not everyone likes org chem...hehe)

 

Other than writting the MCATs, what should I do to better my application? Should I retake those first year prerequisites to increase my GPA?

 

Anyone who went through the difficulty of saying to a supervisor that likes you the news that you're applying to medical school?

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

Good luck to all future applicants.

[EoE]

crisco7676: Yes, hells yes!!! You and I have very similar backgrounds. I think you will have a very good shot at meds when you finish.

 

I tried for medicine after a pre-med undergrad and didn't get in. So I did a masters and decided to stick it out to do a PhD because of the fun I was having in the lab and the excellent lifestyle.

 

I defended last month and am starting meds in the fall. My grades also weren't so hot. They were all over the place (ie my average looked a lot better than my GPA)... So don't fret too much about GPA, I got into more than one school with my GPA and I am too ashamed to even post it here! A lot of Ontario schools like grad students/mature students with life experience.

 

I would say there is a huge relevance for a chemist in medicine. Examples: (1) In the lab next to mine the PI is an MD in an internal medicine subspecialty and does straight up chemistry work. At least what I perceive as chem: DNA adducts, HPLC, mass spec. (2) In my lab work (and in other nearby clinician-run labs) we have talked with the chemists a lot when trying to target a receptor to develop a drug. We use their libraries to screen with an assay we developed. IMHO the MDs and chemists have much better connections than the MDs and the life science PhD researchers because of the very unique skills/knowledge sets MDs and chemists can combine when looking to develop drugs (you could have both skill sets in one brain!). (3) Pharma will pay you $$$$$ if you are an MD/PhD with a chemistry background. Had a PhD friend at Merck making >300k (although she had to move to the states when the facility in Montreal closed down). She worked with MDs a lot too. (4) My wife is a life science PhD student and she does a lot of orgo stuff that is over my head... Take a drug, add a functional group here, take one away there, see how many mice get cancer, etc.

 

Oh man, now I'm all hyped up about research. Thanks a lot ! One suggestion might be to take a look at the skills/abilities/character traits that the med schools are looking at and see what you need to round out your background... Last year, I figured I'd need more leadership experience and a nonresearch LOC to go along with it, so I found a good volunteer position I was interested in and spent some time on that.

[astrogirl]

Excellent answer from EoE. And don't worry too much about telling your supervisor, since you're not planning to quit before you finish. Most profs realize that not everyone who gets a phd is going to end up in academia. My supervisor thought it was a bit random, but he's happy I'm doing something I want to do and that I don't have to spend the next decade drifting around in postdoc land.

[bidiboom]

I wonder who is the eldest one.. what do you think about the age limitation btw?

[astrogirl]

I wonder who is the eldest one.. what do you think about the age limitation btw?

 

Well, the medical schools don't have any kind of age limitation. But at some point you have to realistically think about whether you'll have enough time to work after you finish med school and residency to make the time and debt worth it. If you're in your 30s then it's worth it. Even in your 40s it's probably worth it. But if you're 60, then by the time you go back and take pre-reqs and then finish med school and residency, you'll probably be 70 and about $200,000 in debt. That's probably not worth doing. But it really is a personal decision. Med schools don't have an age limit (at least not any that I know of in Canada).

[MarathonRunner]

Well, the medical schools don't have any kind of age limitation. But at some point you have to realistically think about whether you'll have enough time to work after you finish med school and residency to make the time and debt worth it. If you're in your 30s then it's worth it. Even in your 40s it's probably worth it. But if you're 60, then by the time you go back and take pre-reqs and then finish med school and residency, you'll probably be 70 and about $200,000 in debt. That's probably not worth doing. But it really is a personal decision. Med schools don't have an age limit (at least not any that I know of in Canada).

 

*nod* For those schools that actually publish statistics on their entering class, the oldest age I've ever seen for anyone entering into medical school was in their 40s.

[rmorelan]

*nod* For those schools that actually publish statistics on their entering class, the oldest age I've ever seen for anyone entering into medical school was in their 40s.

 

That sounds about right - in the US I have seen older people getting in as well.

[TonesRN]

*nod* For those schools that actually publish statistics on their entering class, the oldest age I've ever seen for anyone entering into medical school was in their 40s.

 

In the year above me at Mac, there was a guy in his early 50's starting med school. What did he do before medicine??...he was the CEO of RadioShack.

[bidiboom]

how about non-US/Canada citizens after 40? what is the % of being admitted?

actually i have 0 hope for a good reply..

[taiga gal]

mid 40's here...gonna go for it!

[Mithril]

how about non-US/Canada citizens after 40? what is the % of being admitted?

actually i have 0 hope for a good reply..

You're neither a citizen nor a permanent resident? Your chances are pretty much non-existent in Canada unless you wanna try for McGill or McMaster.

[bidiboom]

You're neither a citizen nor a permanent resident? Your chances are pretty much non-existent in Canada unless you wanna try for McGill or McMaster.

 

how about US? do you have any idea? or is there an active forum just like this one, but about US?

[Mithril]

http://www.studentdoctor.net

 

Chances are better in the US because there are more schools that accept internationals.