Music composition major... wants to become a surgeon?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I just typed up the longest post, but it got deleted before I could post it.</p>

<p>So basically, here’s my story:</p>

<p>I graduated high school at 16. I had around a 3.0 GPA at graduation. </p>

<p>I didn’t take a single AP class in high school, although I excelled in English and was put into honors classes for that. I also took a college level French course my senior year. I skipped on the advanced level sciences and maths. Despite my mediocre grades, I was pretty active at school - I was president and vice-president of many clubs. I was socially inclined, but not academically inclined.</p>

<p>I managed to earn a full-ride scholarship to a small private university, as a communications major. Within the first 3 weeks, I withdrew from the university because I felt really young - some of the students in my graduating class were at least 4 years older than I was!</p>

<p>The following semester, I started community college. I was miserable because all of my high school friends were having a phenomenal time at college, while I had to stay home because I wasn’t mature enough to handle going away yet. I failed all of my community college classes.</p>

<p>At that point, my parents and I decided it would be beneficial to take some time off from school. I spent 2 years working, traveling, and volunteering.</p>

<p>Finally at 19, I felt ready to go back to school. I decided to switch from a communications major to a music composition major with a double-major in music business. It is difficult at times, but it is finally something I feel entirely passionate about, so it makes putting in the effort a lot easier. I have developed a drive for success, which is the “something” I lacked back in high school, and at the beginning of my college career.</p>

<p>I am a senior in college with a 3.7 GPA. Lately, I have felt the need to go to medical school. I have a lot of pre-med friends, or friends just starting medical school, and their work fascinates me. However, I don’t have a background in science. What should I do from here?</p>

<p>I will graduate with my BA this spring, but then where do I go? I need to develop a solid foundation in sciences first, before I even attempt to take the MCAT. Where do I go for that?</p>

<p>Will my checkered past really make that big of an impact on my future? I am not the same person I was when I was 16.</p>

<p>From reading, seeing films, and general research - I am quite interested in ophthalmology, or pediatric surgery. I will be 23 at graduation and I am located in Chicago, but can move anywhere in the country.</p>

2

<p>First things first, I would totally do some substantial shadowing and hospital volunteering to really know you want to do medicine as a career (it is unclear whether or not you have done this). Based on your description, just being fascinated by your friends experiences in the field, and feeling a “need” to get into medicine sounds like a vague reason to suddenly decide to be a doctor and go through 10+ years more of schooling. </p>

<p>Next, you can enroll into a 1-2 year post-bachelors program that entails the premedical sciences (gen chem I+II, orgo I+II, physics I+II, biology I+II, 2 semesters of calc or statistics, and 2 semesters english). The MCAT requires a knowledge base from the sciences above (except math), so you should start studying for that only after completing the above classes. Here is a good thread for lots of info on the different programs. Perhaps even consider making on account on that forum and posting your story in the non-traditional section, since there are more “career-changers” on there.
[Postbaccalaureate</a> Programs - Student Doctor Network Forums](<a href=“Postbaccalaureate Programs | Student Doctor Network”>Postbaccalaureate Programs | Student Doctor Network)</p>

<p>Good luck…your failed community college classes will unfortunately all be calculated in your GPA, but some schools tend to be more forgiving of earlier grades, and the 3.7 upward trend looks good. Plus most schools will focus on your post-bac grades. I think if you decide to go through with it all, and do well in the post-bac and MCAT, your musical major/background will be a huge asset in the admissions process.</p>

3

<p>All advice in post 2 I think is spot on especially the last paragraph. I think most Admissions committees would just be in 7th Heaven with a candidate with that unique of a background IF:</p>

<p>1) you can complete the prereqs in adequate fashion and learn enough to do well on MCAT. I’m assuming you likely have the English already and I’m not sure of your math courses, but it sounds like you haven’t had any background in sciences in 7-8 years so you might even start with a even a couple Basic remedial courses (maybe at a good Community Coll) before progressing to the more meaty courses.</p>

<p>2) While doing your coursework and maybe some hands on work/shadow/volunteer you still decide that being in Medicine is actually something you are still interested in. </p>

<p>Bottom line, bubble bursting, or Reality slaps you in the face time: I’m guessing this will take an minimum of 2 years so if all goes perfectly you would be entering for Med School at 25-26yo (now 4 years older than a lot of your classmates – a bit of symmetry there I guess). Ophthalmology has a 4 year residency (or 1 year general/transition surgery and 3 years Ophth residency) and is really competitive. Pediatric Surgery is 7 year process (5 year general surgery + 2 more years of Fellowship for Ped Surgery). This puts you somewhere in the vicinity of 33-38yo by the time you finish and this assumes everything goes perfectly.</p>

4

<p>Hey stonecold23, thank you for the response!</p>

<p>My older sister is a surgeon, actually. I also have quite a few aunts and an uncle that are doctors. Plus I was quite ill when I was younger, so I’ve been around hospitals a bit because of that too. I’ve also done volunteer work at hospitals and ambulance corps since then. My fascination with my friends work is more their actual pre-med schooling. I love looking at and trying their course material, on my own, which is weird because I was never really interested in maths and sciences before. I guess I never liked it when I was younger because it wasn’t totally easy for me. Life experience and change of habits can really change the way a person views schoolwork, huh?</p>

<p>Being behind-the-scenes in various medical fields has always made me think, “Hm. I want to do this.” I think the most rewarding thing in life is the ability to help somebody else. Although I realize lives are lost on a regular basis at a hospital, I feel that the lives I could possibly save outweighs the sadness. Plus, like I said, I have a sudden interest in sciences.</p>

<p>I think my problem was that my mediocre grades made me feel unworthy, so I felt as though I was not “smart enough” to become a surgeon. Now that I have demonstrated to myself that I have the ability to do well, I feel like I can do well at anything with enough dedication.</p>

<p>So, yes. I think I am ready for a post-bac education, then hopefully medical school.</p>

<p>Thanks again for all the info! I was hoping my musical background would help. Oh, and I will be sure to check out the forum!</p>

5

<p>Another thing to consider is that the average age of people entering medical school these days is close to 24, or even greater at some schools, meaning the majority of people do not matriculate directly after undergrad, so you’d only be one or two yrs older than your average classmate.</p>

6

<p>duncanidaho, </p>

<p>Yes to the English, unsure about the math. I did take stats, but did not take calculus. Does the importance of each class vary between schools?</p>

<p>Remedial courses sound like a great idea, so I will definitely look into that. As well as some more shadow work!</p>

<p>Also, thank you for the timeline.</p>

<p>Would you say ophthalmology is more competitive than ped surgery? For some reason, I figured it would be the other way around. Heh!</p>

7

<p>opth and ped surgery are both very competitive. But to be honest, you are getting a little ahead of yourself. While it’s not wrong to have “interests” at this point, the goal now should be fighting for your spot at a US med school, which in and of itself is a brutally competitive process and you have a long road ahead of you. Plus, you won’t really know what specialty you want until 3rd year rotations of med schools. Most med students who go in with an interest in one field, end up changing their mind 2-3 times in med school as they see and do different things.</p>

8

<p>Interesting coincidence, my D. is pre-med senior, Music Composition Minor. She loves her music classes, very easy for her and a great relaxation, has her keyboard with her at school (she is not in dorm any more), has learned another musical instrument on her own last summer. She is currently applying to Med. Schools.
All you need is to have Med. School prereqs finished (math, English, Bio, Chem,. Orgo, Physics, some require BioChem - this one is easy), take MCAT, some Meidcally related EC’s and you can apply. They most likely will like your Music Composition Major (it is usually one of major points in my D’s interview discussions). My estimate - 2 years. Med. Schools do not like to see summer classes for prereqs. Best wishes.</p>

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<p>Thinking about ophthalmology is way pre-mature. Get to Med. School first.</p>

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<p>Haha I know I’m getting ahead of myself. Med school is the first goal - I just like to envision where I might end up because 10+ years in school is a big decision to make, so I want to weigh the pros and cons of everything. Plus, I already have multiple music related job offers, and I haven’t even graduated yet, so it’s just this entire… which do I want to do more? You know?</p>

<p>I’m glad to hear music comp. might be a good selling point for me though, if I do choose to go down the medical route. Is a 3.7 GPA impressive, or just alright? I’m quite proud of my marks and I’m one of the best in my class, but music and med school are two completely different things, at least from my view point.</p>

<p>Does anyone know of any good post-bac programs in the Chicago or New York area? I’m currently located in the midwest for undergrad, but my family is located on Long Island. I can go anywhere in the country, but it would be nice to study in an area that I’m familiar with already.</p>

<p>Thanks again everyone!</p>

11

<p>NYC is a great choice to do post-bacs, and I’d even recommend doing it in a place where you will be happy and have family around. Try Stony Brook if you want to live in long island specifically. [SPD:</a> Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental](<a href=“http://www.stonybrook.edu/spd/graduate/prehealth.html]SPD:”>http://www.stonybrook.edu/spd/graduate/prehealth.html)</p>

<p>3.7 is a good gpa…the average person accepted has a 3.65 for med school. But tfhe med school application system will factor all the failed courses into your gpa, so your gpa will likely be significantly lower than a 3.7. That being said, at this point if you can dominate the post-bacc courses and MCAT (3.7+ post-bacc and 30+ mcat), I think you’d be a competitive applicant.</p>

<p>Still, sounds like you are ambivalent about this whole thing, because, after all it is a major life decision and commitment to make. That’s why I wouldn’t recommend jumping right into the post-bacc, but doing more shadowing/volunteering etc., while weighing the pros/cons of the music path. Music and medicine aren’t completely different, so it’s not like you would have to give up your interests in music to pursue medicine. Lot’s of doctors are very skilled at some instrument and passionate about music…in a past interview, my friend was asked all about his favorite composers/pianists after mentioning he played the piano his whole life.</p>

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<p>The importance of various classes does vary. Honestly the Math prereq itself isn’t set in stone with some schools wanting 2 courses of Calc, some schools with a lesser math and at least one course in Calculus. I’m not aware of any schools that have done away with the Math requirement yet, but honestly it wouldn’t shock me if there are a few.</p>

<p>There are plenty of MD and current MS students who just didn’t do all that great with the math heavy courses including Physics. Getting OK grades in those and strong A’s in the Bio and Chem parts probably holds more weight than vice versa. Since you are going in from a different direction and with less Science background obviously the more broadly you can show your Learning strengths the better.</p>

<p>I agree that Music and Medicine are a lot more intertwined than most people would think. Dissecting a piece of music to its guts while simultaneously appreciating how things fit together as a whole is really what Medicine boils down to – I think this lack of understanding of how all the intertwined parts fit together can be the downfall of a lot of Medicine wannabes – some people get so lost in the details that they miss the real Picture . I actually find that the whole thought/learning process of a lot of Music people fits very nicely with the detailed studies of sciences. A lot of the study habits actually mesh well.</p>

<p>One of my surgeon friends actually put himself through school being a “Piano Man” on weekends and summers and it made a nice change of pace when things got rough for not only him, but all his classmates. </p>

<p>It sounds like you have a lot more Medical background than I read into your first post. Just your fascination with the subjects rather than fear of them says a lot to me. OTOH, being fascinated with a hobby sometimes changes when it becomes ‘the job’ so if you are really committed, I say more power to you. </p>

<p>The 3.7 GPA is fine particularly in a somewhat difficult field to master and if you do equally as well or better on the prereq I don’t fell that will drag you down at all (unless you have your heart set on HYPS. The original CC courses might hurt you, but since they were at such a young age and so far separated from your eventual college work I don’t think that will hurt you much at all particularly if your Post Bacc stands out – that where Personal Statement and Interviews can make an applicant stand out,</p>