After completing a bachlor degree.....?

Question

What do you have to do to get into medical school? I was thinking of trying to be an ob/gyn doc. How long is medical school? Do you think I would have a good chance b/c I am female and African-American? I'm sure there is fin aid right? My undergrad is in sociology, will this work against me since I have no strong bio background? I ask b/c in my area female african am are becoming ob docs at a fast rate and they are very popular. Are there any pros/cons of medical school or going into ob? Do you know of anyone who is an ob? Are you currently in medical school? What is the average earning of an ob in the Illinois area? Thanks!

Answer 1

Man you ask a lot of questions! :)

To get into medical school you need to first fulfill some prerequisite coursework which includes things like a year of freshman bio, chem, physics, a year of organic chem, a course in genetics, biochem, some math, etc. After this, you take an admissions test called the MCAT, which tests all these topics.

The med school admissions process is highly competitive. Each year there are significantly more applicants than available slots. The fact that you're a minority and a woman will add interest to your application package, but if your grades are poor and your test scores are low, it won't make up for that. Med school admission officers like to obtain a breadth of applicant types in each class. There are more than a few ways to be interesting to an admissions committee! When you fill out an application, you'll have to write a one page essay called a "personal statement." Sweat the details on this. Make it perfect. If you screw up on spelling or grammer, it doesn't matter how interesting you are, you look like a dolt. You have all the time in the world to make this essay perfect. Errors are unforgiveable.

There are a variety of ways to pay for medical school. The good news is that once you are accepted into a medical school, you are instantly a great person to give loans to, because your future earning potential is superb. There are multipe financial aid packages including low interest loans, grants, and other tricks. The military will try to recruit you by offering you lots of money so that afterward you will have an obligation to active or reserve duty. My friend signed with the Air Force as a reserve officer, and right after we finished training, the previous President Bush decided to liberate Kuwait! Poor Steve got called to active duty right out of the starting gate.

Ob/Gyn is a very interesting field. There are a lot of ways you can go inside it, in terms of subspecialization. I have a high degree of respect for my Ob/Gyn colleagues. They're "good people." There will never be too many people practicing in this field, so you won't have any trouble getting a job. However, just like medical school, residency training programs are competitive and if you do a mediocre job in med school, you won't be able to compete for the training program of your choice afterward.

I came to medical school after a double major in mathematics and philosphy. There were lots of bio and chem majors in my med school class, but there were lots of other types as well. One woman had a degree in music, one was a former baptist minister, two had been lawyers for a short time before they discovered the error of their ways.

As to your choice of majors, an interesting background will never work against you. Med school admissions committees love mature thinking people who have experiences that will enrich the way they deal with aspects of being a physician. Sociology is all about people and the things that they do, and the committee officers know it.

What can you expect to earn? That's a big "It depends!" If you are a money hungry shark and go directly into a lucrative private practice and you work your *** off, you can make a lot of money. On the other hand, if you accept a financial aid package that includes assistance from some federal agencies, you may have to agree to work for a modest salary in an underserved area for a specific period of time before you are contractually free to move on to a better job. A guess would be that without additional training beyond residency, working in a large metropolitan area (where there is some competition) you'd probably be worth about $200K a year at the start, more or less.

Answer 2

If you don't have a strong background in science and math, which is basically what med schools look at, you need to enroll either at a community college or university and take those necessary math and science courses for med school. A good score on the MCAT will be highly recommended. I think an OBGYN is an excellent path and some schools offer (you will have to do your research) you some scholarships because you are a minority. It takes about 6-8 years to complete a MD program. So you better get started, but also take your time. Have u looked at becoming a Midwife, they do just as good, but at little bit less than OBGYN's? But of course that would involve going into nursing. But good luck and start your research. The longer you inquire, the quicker time will fly by.

Answer 3

Once you graduate college you have to take the MCAT to get inot med school. So you should be taking some science classes. Once you get in med school it is expensive. you can fin aid and scholarships. There is alot of work and studying in med schol so it will be very hard to work your way through it if not impossible.