I have a BA in Cinema Production from SFSU and am wanting to shift to becoming a Psychiatrist. I am starting with nothing, with 55k maxed undergrad loans, and around a 3.4 GPA. I have taken about 1/3 of the prereqs for med school and need to go back to college to take the rest. I’m also a single parent and have been living off government assistance, without which we literally would not eat. Advice on affording tuition for prereqs and coming up with a smart plan to appeal to med schools would be very appreciated. I thought about simply going back to become a counselor, but even then the income would put be in the struggling category. I don’t see a point unless I eventually come out with six figures. My goal is to help people heal their psychological state while making a comfortable salary. Any suggestions?
It sounds like you are ineligible for additional student loans because you’ve maxed out your eligibility.
I’d suggest enlisting in the military (salary + education benefits), but single parents are disqualified from enlisting.
Unfortunately there are no scholarships or special programs that provide $$ for post-bacc coursework. Your only option is to pay-as-you go and take your coursework piecemeal as you can afford it. Take as many as you can at your local community college, but you will eventually have to take coursework at a 4 year college. You don’t need to be enrolled as a matriculated student or attend full time, but there are some pre-reqs are simply not offered at a CC.
I will also mention that if your undergrad loans are not current or have ever been in default, you will not be eligible for med school loans. No federal loans mean you won’t be able to attend because the only need based aid for med school is loans, loans and more loans. Getting more than $40K/year in unsub fed loans requires that you have an excellent credit score OR a co-signer for your loans to get a Grad Plus loan.
Besides the funding issue, you have a second issue–your GPA is not really competitive for med school. Even osteopathic med schools have mean GPA of 3.6 for accepted students. Allopathic med schools have an even higher average GPA. Beside your pre-reqs, you will need to take a couple of semesters (at least 5-6 courses total) of upper level bio electives–with A grades-- to demonstrate you have the ability to perform well in the difficult material med school covers.
Med school + residency is a long haul. For psychiatry, at least 7 years and over $250K in additional unsub loans. Make sure you really want to do this.
There are other routes to becoming a mental healthcare provider that cost less and are quicker to achieve.
- Licensed clinical social worker (MSW)
- psychiatric nurse (You can start with AA/LPN degree and your employer may pay for your RN and BSN)
- psychiatric nurse practitioner (DNP/APRN/PMHN-- requires a BS + MS or DNP)
- psychiatric physican’s assistant (MS–requires 2 years vs 7 to be MD/DO psychiatrist)
- clinical psychologist (PhD or PsyD–though you’ll have the same funding issues as med school. Clinical programs generally offer little or no need based aid. But PsyD/PhD is 4-5 years total instead of the 7+ it’ll take for med school + residency)
As for your narrative for med school admission–come back after you have your pre-reqs done and have taken your MCAT. Med school admission officers love a good comeback story.
Psych residency is 4 years so it’s at least 8 years.
Depending on where you live, I’d also look into Art and/or Drama Therapy. Might fit nicely with your interests (given the cinema production major)
Personally speaking I actually think psychiatry is one of the least effective pathways for this relative to the others mentioned.
I’d strongly recommend psychiatric nurse, with an ultimate goal of completing np in psychiatry. It’s faster, gets you to a good salary and stable job soon, and you get to do what you want to do.
Do you live in California? What’s the nearest community college? How old is your child?
If you and your child are receiving means-tested government assistance, you may be eligible for a Workforce Training grant. Your eligibility will depend on your state’s rules, the type of assistance you are receiving, if you’re currently unemployed and why you’re unemployed.
Workforce grants won’t get you to med school, but they may pay for an associated degree in nursing–which will get you at least into the healthcare field. Once you’re employed as a vocational nurse, many employers will reimburse the cost of coursework that leads to additional credentials–like a BSN and APRNs.
SFSU is in San Francisco. Not sure how you can survive the living standard in one of the most expensive city in the country. But if you want to advance your work skill, there are a lot of organizations can help. For example:
https://www.ccsf.edu/en/our-campuses/evans/vocational_educationalgrants.html
You should contact them asap. Right now, the degree you have has little value in the job market, you need a speedy upgrade so you can be employed. The med school idea is a pie in the sky right now for you.
Based on the links to CCSF above, the fastest way to become involved in Healthcare is to take a Grant from CCSF and take the Emergency Paramedic Technician classes. In that program, you could make up all the medical school prerequisites and if you do well, you may qualify for DO school admission or work as an Emergency Paramedic for few years then apply for med school. Make sure to try for As in all the med school prerequisites, they will help you if you want to be a DO, PA or NP.
Its never too late to become a physician. My neighbor did not go to med school until he was 40 years old, he had a great practice of over 30 years until retirement.