Bad undergrad, second degree or paramedicine?

[pay1000]

hi, i am about to finish my first undergraduate degree at UTSC with a HBSc in neuro and psych major. i have truly bad undergraduate marks, thogh i started out well, i m had anxiety and parental marriage problems during my 4 years. Not an excuse, but have no idea what to do with my degree right now, and where to go next. CGPA (2.5-2.9 range).

 

- i am currently 22, hoping to at least get into medical school by 27-29 if i decide to go that way.

- parents are not supportive

- in april will have a HSBC (bad gpa), and pool manager qualifications. as employable qualities.

- willing, hoping to move out, somewhere close to family BUT NOT LIVING WITH FAMILY

 

best objective: get into medical school in canada, best in ontario, toronto (toronto or york).

 

2nd objective: go to med school in the states, or internationally.

 

3rd objective: become a paramedic, or get into research, or work in some way in the sciences for the university.

 

after looking at posts in the website, possible solutions that i have come up with:

 

1: after i graduate in april, with my bsc, go straight to a second undergraduate degree, try for med school.

 

Q1: feasible?

q2: osap qualified?

q3: where and what program?

q4: can i use stuff from my first degree?

q5: will this worth it, how will med schools in ontario look at this.

q6: age? money, and time? is it worth it?

q7: also like business, should i do a business degree, with the right prerequisites, and then try for med school?

 

2: after i graduate, apply for the paramedicine program at centennial (2 years), and do a full time second undergrad while i am working as a paramedic.

 

q0: what do i need to get in

q1: for toronto, will there be jobs out there when i graduate (is it like the police force right now, with a lot of cops retiring) - will there be openings

q2: possible to do undergraduate degree and work at the same time?

q3: hows the pay and the hours for the job

q4: can i use some of my bsc credits for college credits

q5: will i be able to with work and all, to do a second undergraduate degree

 

 

3: go into the work force, look for work. maybe teaching, and try for a second degree, or try to find work with the university. any advice will be appreciated.

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

desperate in need of help, feel free to ask for other information about the questions.

[Leon]

^ wtf?

 

10c

[future_doc]

Newbies will be newbies, haha. (There is a learning curve here on protocol, I guess.

 

For the record, I am online too.

[mrnursing]

To OP:

 

If you're going to be gambling/risk taking to get into a med school through 2nd degree, at least do one that has a better job potential

 

Some options available:

 

Physical therapist

Occupational therapist

Radiation therapist

Radiation/x-ray technologist

Nuclear medicine technologist

Optometrist

Registered Dietician

Registered Nurse

Licensed Practical Nurse

Nurse Practitioner

Physician Assistant

Dental Hygienist

Dental Technologist

Denturist

Pharmacist

UltraSound Technologist

Medical Laboratory Technologist

Chiropodist/Podiatrist

Diabetes Educator

Genetics Technologist

Chiropractor

Naturopathic Doctor

Midwife

Speech and Language Pathologist

Massage Therapist

Audiologist

Hearing Instrument Specialist

Sleep medicine technologist

Cytology Technologist

Respiratory Therapist

Anesthesia Assistant

Cardiovascular Perfusionist

[pay1000]

is it better to do a 2 year paramedicine program after i graduate and work as a paramedic in 2 years (and then go do my second degree, hoping to reach the two year requirements for queens, or western) - an option im seriously considering.

 

or is it better to start a second degree right away, and try with the two year marks of a second undergraduate degree.

 

pros and cons:

 

option 1: job security as a paramedic, pays quiet well in toronto and around toronto. good work hours, with lots of off time (hope for some advice/and more information on this if anyone knows), possibility of pursuing a second degree at the same time, with some of the credits from my first degree transferrable to my second degree. disadvantages, are the fact that it takes longer, and if i go eventually get into med school, be 28-29, career wise, is that a little two late.

 

option 2: no job security, relying all on doing well in the second degree, further going into debt in terms of osap. if applying to med school, bound to be asked what happened with the first degree (and i m assuming might present a bad image of me). on the other hand, if it works out, the time lapse will be a lot shorter.

 

i live in toronto, so the pay for paramedicine is quiet good from what i was able to research and people i met who work for toronto ems or for the file department (and its not unheard of for paramedics to pursue a second degree or med school at the same time that they are working, in the states at least - more confirmation on this would be appreciated.)

 

thank for the advice on more useful undergraduate degrees, i was actually looking into going for a radiological technologist degree as a second degree, thanks for the other options you wrote as well.

 

furthermore, i was wondering what are the limitations for your second degree to apply to some of the second entry programs out there (technologist, pharmacy), and for your second degree, what marks do they use for entrance into the programs (high school, or first degree). as well, for the paramedicine program (centennial especially), what marks do they take for a student who already has a undergraduate degree.

 

any advice would be greatly appreciated, i apologize for the mess up with the posting protocols.

 

 

by the way, is it more likely to get replies if i start a new thread with something i wrote above, or continue the thread i started.

 

p.s. did my mcat (got a discount for princeton review from a friend who worked for them, so why not): verbal reasoning - 12, biological sciences - 12, physical sciences - 11, writing p

[benge88]

As someone with a paramedic in the family, I know that it would be near impossible to complete a second undergrad with 3.8+ grades at the same time as working, unless you are working very very casually - It is true that the medics get time off - but often times whole days off are wasted sleeping while switching from days to nights and vice versa, and on days that you work, you work a minimum of 12 hours, and most often more, as you may not get off on time, it is a stressful but very rewarding career...

[pay1000]

thank you for those who commented.

 

i have already read the policies on med school from this website, posted in this forum. and for queens, if you do a second degree, they give the option of taking your best two years out of all of your undergraduate years, for western, it is the most recent two years. as i really hope to stay in toronto for med school, to stay close to family, and maybe go to the states after, these are what i think are my best choices in my condition explained in the first and third post in this thread.

 

with the paramedic program/job, i find it great that you though you work a minimum of 12 hour shifts, in toronto. but, i understand it might be hard to pursue a second degree at the same time. but i have heard of people taking time off/ or requesting a leave of absence. for this option my questions are the following, do i need a lot of seniority to do this, secondly, since my seniority as a swimming instructor and pool manager transfers over to toronto ems, would it allow me to pick better shifts, that will allow me to do the two years that is necessary for application to western and queens. furthermore, after a leave of absence, would i be able to come back to the same level and position, if things dont work out.

 

to the 8th reply, though i have good mcat scores, my grades have some truly dark spots in the second-4th year that will condemn me, thus why i hope to bank on the option of queens or western as they only require that precious 2 years, though i might be damning to start a second degree right away, right after you have performed so poorly in your first. therefore, i certainly agree that some life experience is valid, which is why i want to go into the paramedicine program (good idea?) and work as a paramedic and maybe expand from there - hoping this would give me both the life experience i need, and the job security in life - to either get a second degree (maybe even part time) that opens up other fields for me.

 

please, for those of you who are new to this thread, any answers to the specifics of post 1, 6, and 9 would be greatly appreciated.

 

p.s. going to paramedicine - work for toronto, or near toronto for one-two years (save up)- take leave of absence to pursue a more useful undergraduate degree (osap) - after two years, apply to queens, western, etc, or states for med school; or second entry programs listed in post #5 (pharmacy, technician, technologists, etc along the same line) - please list pros and cons, if you can of this path (ie. money, time, probability of success, hours of work for each step)

[pay1000]

thanks, i took that into account.

[gnomey]

I don't know if this helps but I have been a paramedic for over twenty years and went back to school to do 2nd degree,(on academic probation when I left university the first time) It was F*&^king hard. I did take leave for last year but if your need money, you need to work. It is not easy to study at a busy station. I worked f/t while going to school f/t. I missed classes, slept in my truck b/n classes. I am in BC. You can work P/t with more flexibility but as I was f/t time i didn't have the luxury of going p/t as I would lose all my seniority and it was a gamble I wasn't willing to take if I didn't get in. I got in on my 5th try this year. Not on my gpa....If you are interested in good pay I would recommend radiation therapist or respiratory therapist as something to look at (I trained as a medical radiation technologist and if I was to do it again i would do one of the above as they pay very well. Just my two cents....BTW I am 42 so don't worry about getting in by 27. If its something you want you have time if you have the desire. Good luck.

[pay1000]

thank you for the reponse. i totally get what you are saying. so im going to find out the details about what you told me with toronto. if anyone can recommend someone i can contact that can provide similar information for toronto, please post.