Ideas on future plans

[MTtoMD]

Hi All,

 

I'm a nontrad in the sense that I've been out of school for 10+ years and have 3 boys. After many years of saying "I wonder" I now am finally feeling like this is exactly what I want. My husband is pushing, but I'm doing more research to make sure that everything I do now is to get me into med school.

 

Little history first. Decent high school with 3.66 GPA. Did 2 years undergrad before starting family. Not the best scores, but its been awile so would have to check. Switched to pharm tech for 5+ years in hospital setting. Switched to medical transcription to be at home with my family, but still enjoy a job I loved in the medical field.

 

Obviously with being out of school I am looking having to redo all of those courses agian. I am planning on taking refresher courses in the next year. They are cheap and I figure will make my transition easier in first year. What do you think those 2 years from long long ago will do? I read here that UBC is reevaluating their 10 year rule. If I'm redoing all those courses again, those previous scores with either not matter or be averaged, correct?

 

With regards to ECs, my time is genearlly taken up with kids and their sports. I know these aren't really considered, but when should I really start doing EC? Would an annual event count like the "Run for the cure" or are they looking for something more substantial?

 

Any and all suggestions would be greatly helpful!!!

[hking03]

first off- welcome to the forum and good luck on your journey.

 

i'm just going to throw my two cents in on this and i'm sure we will get a few people to give some advice on where to go.

 

with regards to getting into medical school- it is a dilly of a pickle. are you planning on applying to any schools other than UBC? If you are, you'll need to make sure you keep their pre-req's in mind... also, McGill has a non-trad route that you might want to take a look into on their website.

 

EC's are important, and things like the run for the cure are good ones to put on. It's more than just a run, you fundraised, you probably have a personal connection, maybe you organized a team for your work or friends... that is something that you can build up on your application. If you help out with your kids sports teams, schools etc that could also count as an EC. There are tons of options out there and you should start doing them sooner rather than later... but don't overload yourself. Your jobs also count towards the NAQ section of the application so they may help as well. The main point behind EC's is to do things that you enjoy that show your commitment to helping others.

 

With school, UBC is reviewing their 10 year rule... what that means, we don't know. It could be that the rule is removed from the application, or modified. Maybe it becomes limited to a certain number of credits taken more than 10 years ago, or maybe it becomes a rule in line with Manitoba's where you can drop your worst credits if you've completed a degree. Either way, we won't know until they update us on the status of the rule. Having said that, you may want to speak with an actual advisor at UBC... they may be able to give you a heads up on your path and whether or not it is feasible to think med school is an option (i think it is, but i'm not an adcom member).

 

All you can do is put in the time, do the ec's and see where it gets you... take your courses seriously and hopefully you rock them out. Understand that you will need to have at least 90 credits completed by the time you apply, have written the mcat and done some good ec's... it's a long path, but just keep chipping away and you should get there.

 

good luck!

[MTtoMD]

Thanks hking,

 

I am not opposed to applying to different med schools. Obviously if I get that far I'm not going to limit myself.

 

I am planning on rockin out on my courses. I do feel that now I've matured and am more focused. Hopefully this will translate into the scores I know I can achieve.

 

I will definitely take your advice to heart and contact UBC to get some information. Obviously mine is a special case since that is where my first 2 years came from. Will have to see how it all plays out.

[Marty]

Please let us know what they say...

[MTtoMD]

I've now had a chance to speak with UBC and the local CC. Because I've been dormant at UBC for so long, I have to reapply, but unfortunately they consider those 2 years' scores in that application process. Basically, my grades sucked and I probably wouldn't get back into UBC with them.

 

UBC recommended doing refresher courses and then my first year at CC. As long as I do a year of full course load, I can apply as a transfer student and they will take my last 30 credits.

 

So, I'm applying to do those refresher courses starting in Jan. Any thoughts on the best 2 or 3 to take. I'm definitely doing math. I'm just not sure if taking physicis or chem will help in first year.

 

Appreciate the thoughts and comments.

[jdr44]

Hi MT2MD,

 

Sorry whats CC (I am still learning the lingo).

 

Someone from UBC Med actually told you to take a couple of refresher courses to up your grades?

I have always heard that taking an unclassified year is not looked highly upon!

 

I am debating between taking 2 years of nursing. Or doing a year or two of unclassified studies to get good grades.

 

I would be interested into what others thought.

 

Thanks so much

JDR

[MTtoMD]

CC is community college. Not UBC med, just UBC in general. I never finished my degree and the 2 years I did are 13 years old with subpar grades.

 

It is better for me to refresh and start over than to use the 2 years I have. I figure this will only benefit me with the MCAT and make all my knowledge current.

[Scotty]

Hey MTtoMD,

 

Thanks for your note in the previous forum from yesterday. Glad to hear you contacted UBC to determine what you would have to do to complete that degree. I did the same thing at MRC (In Calgary) with bio, chem, math etc and got sucky grades as well.

 

I ended up getting an IT degree from SAIT (same as BCIT) and working overseas. I did some EC by teaching computers / English to the locals and participating in Canada Charity / NGO stuff. A good one that I believe will reflect nicely is the Terry Fox Foundation run. The Canada embassies overseas are a big sponsor of those.

 

Knowing we are in the same age group and family commitments, I am considering Australia as the process will be a lot shorter and they are looking for strong MCAT scores and ca$$$H.

 

The only road block I am researching is the Internship issue during Post Graduation and of course coming back to Canada to be licensed as a GP or ER GP.

 

I don't understand the 10 year rule and I am not sure if the rule applies to alberta schools however I would redo the pre-requisites such as chem, organic chem, bio, math, english, etc...

 

Afterwards, focus on the 60-90 credit with above 3.X GPA.

 

my thoughts today...