Non-trad pre-med

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Good afternoon folks,
I just stumbled upon this site yesterday, and I know there's a lot of great information in the stickies, but I wanted to introduce myself and ask a few questions. I'm be 23 in a few months, am married, and am currently an active duty Marine living in Fallujah, Iraq. I am considering a career in medicine.</p>

<p>Aside from credits I'll rate from my SMART transcript, I have no college credit yet. I will begin my undergrad education in fall 2009. I will probably have about 2 semesters worth of credits. Being that I will be getting my B.S. or B.A. at the age of 27, is there any possibility of me finishing my med school pre-reqs in time to enroll in med school without a gap year? Essentially, that would give me two years for all my pre-reqs, assuming the school I'm attending allows me to do it.</p>

<p>I would take inorganic chemistry my first ("Sophomore") year, and organic chemistry my second year, with all the other pre-reqs in the first few years too. Is this realistic?</p>

<p>Are there any other military vets who frequent this forum who may be able to give me some overall advice? </p>

<p>Thank you all for your time.</p>

2

<p>Depends a lot on what you think you're capable of. Some people have no problem with taking multiple science courses with labs in semester. Other people do it but don't get the grades they need. </p>

<p>As a non-trad applicant, you'll get a little leeway in not having the completeness to your application and extracurriculars that would be expected from a typical college applicant, but you still need the basics (clinical experience, some volunteering). Certainly if you're applying to a school that is heavily research oriented, you'll need that as well.</p>

<p>I know that returning vets often have highly divergent thoughts about a return to military life, but the armed forces do have the Uniformed Services University which has a College of Medicine. Obviously there's a service commitment when you're finished but it's a nice option for some people. </p>

<p>Uniformed</a> Services University of the Health Sciences</p>