Post bac vs. Masters (not taken any pre-requisite)

[Kb1234]

I will be finishing up my undergrad in a year and I have just decide to pursue an MD/PHD program recently. My original plan was simply a Ph.D program, so I've only been prepping my experience for grad school. Therefore, I've not taken any of the pre-requisite classes for medical school at all. Med school was my original plan even back in high school, but I switch between Ph.D and Med school all throughout college. I love research and I love hands-on clinical interactions with patients.

I'm wondering if I should consider doing a post-bacc program or a master's program. Are there master's program that are specifically for people who wish to go to med school but have not yet taken any of the pre-requisites & you can take them while on that master's program?

It seems risky to me to just do post-bacc and then hope to get in to med school after (since post-bacc don't guarantee you med school acceptance), since if I don't get in, I can't do anything with a post-bacc education since it has no title. If there is a master's program that is also essentially a post-bacc, then I have something to fall back on just in case. But if no master's program exist, then I'm still fine with doing a post-bacc. I've looked into the tuition and other aspects and I don't mind it.

There is an SMP threat, but most of the schools listed on there seem to be for GPA enhancement for people who already took the pre-requisite courses. None of those school are applicable to me.

A little background on me:
Psychology Major (3.7 or above cumulative GPA by graduation, 3.5 or above major GPA by graduation)
English Minor
Doing Honors
Will have at least 1 undergraduate research completed
Will have at least 1 poster
Will have 2 years experience working as a Research Assistant in 2 labs
Might have a publication in an academic journal by graduation

I've prepped myself for grad school, it's just the medical school pre-requisite that I don't know how to address.

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[ZedsDed]

SMP's are specifically for people who have taken the pre-reqs and done less than stellar. You need to do a postbac, and ace it. Spend some time on the postbac forum and find a program that is a fit for you.

 

[Blunt Dissection]

On top of what ZedsDed said, do you have any experience in the medical field at all? It is likely that if you have no or little shadowing experience, committees will look at you saying "well, he's a smart guy, but I don't think he knows what he's getting himself into."

Also, consider that you will be needing to take the MCAT. Some postbacs will offer assistance with MCAT prep by offering a Kaplan/Princeton course as part of the program, so I would recommend those over a Masters.

 

[Kb1234]

On top of what ZedsDed said, do you have any experience in the medical field at all? It is likely that if you have no or little shadowing experience, committees will look at you saying "well, he's a smart guy, but I don't think he knows what he's getting himself into."

Also, consider that you will be needing to take the MCAT. Some postbacs will offer assistance with MCAT prep by offering a Kaplan/Princeton course as part of the program, so I would recommend those over a Masters.

How would I go about getting shadowing? Should I just contact doctors in the field that I'm interested in and ask them if I could shadow them?

Also, most of my experience such as undergraduate research, research assistant position are psychology related topics. Would med school look at this and not care about it much since they're not medicine related or say that I very little background in the medical field? Or would it still be good, since I do want to apply for a dual Ph.D. program as well?

 

[Blunt Dissection]

How would I go about getting shadowing? Should I just contact doctors in the field that I'm interested in and ask them if I could shadow them?

Also, most of my experience such as undergraduate research, research assistant position are psychology related topics. Would med school look at this and not care about it much since they're not medicine related or say that I very little background in the medical field? Or would it still be good, since I do want to apply for a dual Ph.D. program as well?

If your university has an affiliated hospital, you can take advantage of this by looking into special programs that they may have for pre-medical students. If it doesn't, local hospitals usually have some sort of volunteering program. I should mention that unless you get into a special program created for pre-medical students to shadow, these hospital volunteering programs are slow going - you'll likely need to become a familiar face in the hospital before you can start shadowing anyone.

Reaching out to doctors is an option, but don't count on being able to shadow in a hospital setting this way since there are often a lot of protocols involved for simply being in the hospital and the physicians as nice as they are won't be able to help you. Your best bet would be to contact private offices, or if you happen to be close to your family doctor, ask if they can help you out.

Your last option, albeit an expensive one and one that I wouldn't recommend unless you have no other choice is to look for special programs that you could possibly do during the summer that is not close to home. UC Davis for example has a pre-medical surgery internship that lasts for a summer and it's been known to get applicants from across the country.

I can't advise you too much on being an MD/Ph.D applicant, but from what I know, your psych research is fine - if you get a publication under your belt its added goodness. The only thing I can stress is if you decide to do a postbac, don't worry about anything else during this time. A postbac for you is a double edged sword - with your high GPA, doing poorly in a postbac will be like shooting yourself in the foot. You should plan to either prep for the MCAT, take it, then begin your postbac, or complete your postbac, begin prep for MCAT, then take it. The shadowing can be done during your application year and should not compromise either your MCAT or postbac.

 

[ZedsDed]

If your university has an affiliated hospital, you can take advantage of this by looking into special programs that they may have for pre-medical students. If it doesn't, local hospitals usually have some sort of volunteering program. I should mention that unless you get into a special program created for pre-medical students to shadow, these hospital volunteering programs are slow going - you'll likely need to become a familiar face in the hospital before you can start shadowing anyone.

Reaching out to doctors is an option, but don't count on being able to shadow in a hospital setting this way since there are often a lot of protocols involved for simply being in the hospital and the physicians as nice as they are won't be able to help you. Your best bet would be to contact private offices, or if you happen to be close to your family doctor, ask if they can help you out.

Your last option, albeit an expensive one and one that I wouldn't recommend unless you have no other choice is to look for special programs that you could possibly do during the summer that is not close to home. UC Davis for example has a pre-medical surgery internship that lasts for a summer and it's been known to get applicants from across the country.

I can't advise you too much on being an MD/Ph.D applicant, but from what I know, your psych research is fine - if you get a publication under your belt its added goodness. The only thing I can stress is if you decide to do a postbac, don't worry about anything else during this time. A postbac for you is a double edged sword - with your high GPA, doing poorly in a postbac will be like shooting yourself in the foot. You should plan to either prep for the MCAT, take it, then begin your postbac, or complete your postbac, begin prep for MCAT, then take it. The shadowing can be done during your application year and should not compromise either your MCAT or postbac.

I wouldn't recommend taking the MCAT without taking the proper perquisites first.

 

[Kb1234]

If your university has an affiliated hospital, you can take advantage of this by looking into special programs that they may have for pre-medical students. If it doesn't, local hospitals usually have some sort of volunteering program. I should mention that unless you get into a special program created for pre-medical students to shadow, these hospital volunteering programs are slow going - you'll likely need to become a familiar face in the hospital before you can start shadowing anyone.

Reaching out to doctors is an option, but don't count on being able to shadow in a hospital setting this way since there are often a lot of protocols involved for simply being in the hospital and the physicians as nice as they are won't be able to help you. Your best bet would be to contact private offices, or if you happen to be close to your family doctor, ask if they can help you out.

Your last option, albeit an expensive one and one that I wouldn't recommend unless you have no other choice is to look for special programs that you could possibly do during the summer that is not close to home. UC Davis for example has a pre-medical surgery internship that lasts for a summer and it's been known to get applicants from across the country.

I can't advise you too much on being an MD/Ph.D applicant, but from what I know, your psych research is fine - if you get a publication under your belt its added goodness. The only thing I can stress is if you decide to do a postbac, don't worry about anything else during this time. A postbac for you is a double edged sword - with your high GPA, doing poorly in a postbac will be like shooting yourself in the foot. You should plan to either prep for the MCAT, take it, then begin your postbac, or complete your postbac, begin prep for MCAT, then take it. The shadowing can be done during your application year and should not compromise either your MCAT or postbac.

I've looked into the volunteering for the hospitals here and all they state on the website is you help with assisting in the gift shop, people who are leaving the hospital on wheelchairs, etc. nothing really like shadowing a doctor.

I'm wondering if I can find someone in community centers or something to shadow this summer.

 

[ZedsDed]

I've looked into the volunteering for the hospitals here and all they state on the website is you help with assisting in the gift shop, people who are leaving the hospital on wheelchairs, etc. nothing really like shadowing a doctor.

I'm wondering if I can find someone in community centers or something to shadow this summer.

That happens to a lot of us. You are going to have to spend time reaching out to different hospitals; this route isn't an easy one, so you might as well get used to it now.

 

[Kb1234]

That happens to a lot of us. You are going to have to spend time reaching out to different hospitals; this route isn't an easy one, so you might as well get used to it now.

Does your post-bacc studies impact your undergrad GPA? I've seen people on here say that doing post-bacc raised their undergrad GPA from 2.5 to a 3.0.

How would medical schools see your GPA in your application? They'll see your undergrad and your post-bacc program GPA?

 

[osu2013]

you would be a good candidate for a formal postbac like bryn mawr, goucher, scripps, uva, etc etc