Career-change (CPA to MD): Post-Bacc Advice

[ralphcifaretto13]

Hi All,

I know there are many threads on this very topic but I wanted to try and gain some insight as it applies to my particular situation (although not entirely unique).

I am a 26-year-old accountant that graduated with a Bachelors and Masters in Accounting concurrently in 2015, as well as a Business Law minor. Upon graduating, I obtained my CPA license (still active) and worked at a Big 4 accounting firm for 2 years. This past summer, I left public accounting to work for a prominent investment management company. My cumulative uGPA was a 3.55, and my cumulative graduate GPA (reflective of Master's classes) was 3.37. I am heavily interested in applying to Post-Bacc programs in the Philadelphia area as they are plentiful. As of now, I have no volunteer/shadowing experience but have reached out to several hospitals in the area and hope to hear back regarding these opportunities soon. My overall goal as I see it now would be to leave my job and enroll in a rigorous one-year Post-Bacc program and then subsequently take the MCAT. Given my background, and assuming undertaking as many volunteering hours as I may be able to find, is this transition feasible?

My main question surrounds how a Post-Bacc program will view my uGPA as well as having achieved both a Masters and CPA license. I know that work experience, regardless of field, is viewed favorably in the admissions process. I'm fairly new to exploring this path and would appreciate any advice or resources that could be provided.

Thanks!

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[2017MU2017]

I’m in a very similar situation (23 y/o with a job in Big 4) and I’ve asked for advice from a lot of people, so I’ll do my best to relay the info onto you:

Your GPA is fine for certain programs, but idk about any in Philadelphia besides Temple. If you’d be willing to explore more programs out east, think about UVM or Harvard Extension (maybe Bennington too). You won’t be a shoo-in, but if you construct good enough essays and own your story, then you definitely have a chance. Once you start looking into med schools, you should apply to some DO schools as well as MD. Average MCAT and GPA for DO schools is a bit lower and have a reputation as being more accommodating for non traditional students.

I think your work experience is a plus for your app and, if anything, your CPA certification might show that you can handle rigorous course work. However, it’s possible that some programs won’t care about that at all. If I were you, I would focus on getting as much shadowing and volunteering in as possible once busy season is over. I’ve been shadowing a lot lately and it’s really helpful and I enjoy it a lot. I hope this helps! Out of curiosity, what prompted your desire to transition into medicine?

 

[goldenphoenix]

My finance was a CPA for a few years before quitting to become of Doctor of Physical Therapy. Definitely possible, just going to be really difficult without a strong science background. She took night classes and prerequisites at a major university on her own time.

My suggestion is to take a couple of the prerequisites while you're still working to get them out of the way. Start getting experience where you can and you'll more better figure out what path is for you. Every physician you shadow has been through the process and will be able to give you advise. There's a night orgo class at every major university with plenty of "older" students wanting to go back for something like MD/ DDS/ Vet/ Pharm.

You'll get into most post bacc programs with that GPA and professional experience, but you might need to take more courses on top of or even before starting; depending on what credits you have and what type of program you decide on (grad or undergrad lvl). Many people from non tradition routes do programs that complete the science prerequisites. They can be helpful but also more expensive than just registering as a non-degree seeking student and taking the same classes. There are some perks though, the people who did the undergrad level post bacc at my undergrad univ did cadaver dissection along with those of us doing independent study.

 

[dochan213]

Hi, Current Medical Student and past CPA

Worked in Big 4 and Management Consulting firm and left when I was 28 to do my Post Bac. I did a one year Post bac and worked/volunteered in nonprofit for 2 years. It was a three year process, but I'm now MS-1. I thought about it at 24, wasn't ready to leave the income and work possibilities. At 28, got tired of PowerPoint decks, business development, Project management meetings, risk assessments and finally decided. You can definitely do it, there's not a lot of people who I've met that gave up their a totally different (well paying) career to do so. It's a struggle everyday, but I'm glad I did it and I am thankful to be in medical school. If you can do it, I would suggest enrolling in a program that caters to just nontraditional students. Some of the advantages is time, faculty support, recommendations, and I went to a small liberal arts school for my Post Bac, there was 13 students, we didn't have to compete with undergrads and got professors full attention.

I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

[2017MU2017]

Hi, Current Medical Student and past CPA

Worked in Big 4 and Management Consulting firm and left when I was 28 to do my Post Bac. I did a one year Post bac and worked/volunteered in nonprofit for 2 years. It was a three year process, but I'm now MS-1. I thought about it at 24, wasn't ready to leave the income and work possibilities. At 28, got tired of PowerPoint decks, business development, Project management meetings, risk assessments and finally decided. You can definitely do it, there's not a lot of people who I've met that gave up their a totally different (well paying) career to do so. It's a struggle everyday, but I'm glad I did it and I am thankful to be in medical school. If you can do it, I would suggest enrolling in a program that caters to just nontraditional students. Some of the advantages is time, faculty support, recommendations, and I went to a small liberal arts school for my Post Bac, there was 13 students, we didn't have to compete with undergrads and got professors full attention.

I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Glad to see another person come from Big 4! I feel a little behind going in with no research or clinical volunteering at 23. In hindsight, are you glad you waited until 28 to do a post back or do you wish you hopped on it sooner? Any advice on handling friendships and relationships through the process? Congrats on your success.

 

[workaholic181]

You should apply to the Temple BCMS program. It's made for people like yourself who are career changers and dont have any of the prereqs or MCAT. It is a one year program where you take all the prereqs and an MCAT prep class. If you keep a certain GPA and get a certain MCAT score you start at Temple med school immediately the next fall; you basically get a conditional acceptance and you just need to meet that criteria. There is no gap year required. A friend of mine did it and loved it.

Postbac Program | Lewis Katz School of Medicine

Truthfully the Temple post bac programs are crazy competitive given the conditional acceptance, so you should apply to other programs (Cooper med has a good one too, Bryn Mawr also) in the area. Apps for these programs often don't open until the fall, I know temple isn't until oOtober, so you should start garnering clinical experiences now to add that to your app.

Good luck OP.

 

[dochan213]

Glad to see another person come from Big 4! I feel a little behind going in with no research or clinical volunteering at 23. In hindsight, are you glad you waited until 28 to do a post back or do you wish you hopped on it sooner? Any advice on handling friendships and relationships through the process? Congrats on your success.

Hi MU,
I actually left the big 4 at around your age to pursue this, but $$ drew me back and I ended going into more management consulting vs. advisory. In hind sight 23 is not late at all. I did have the impression then that I could go hard at 4 classes a semester and get all my pre reqs at a DIY local city college in one year while doing research. (I left after a semester). The reality is that it'll take time (2 years), students who get into med school have probably been working towards it for 3 years. I do wish I did it earlier, maybe your age, because now that I'm in my 30s I'm thinking about family and stuff, but I have to juggle boards and class. You're also not as removed from school and hopefully the way you learn wont change as much. On the other perspective, I saved as much money into retirement while working and got to enjoy my 20s which I definitely dont regret. It's only your 20s, living in the city where you can be carefree, have lazy weekends and hang out with friends on a whim.

Your circle of friends will change, you'll have less time to meet up, and you will be living frugally on a student budget. That said, it's critical to maintain a social network to provide you the necessary support. Though my friends will never really understand the medical school processes, they have been supportive and was there for me. Whether its essay review or helping me figure out my story, it's important to maintain a circle of friends outside of Pre Med to give you perspective of why you decided to do this. People will recognize your struggles, try to understand and root for you. It definitely helps when you're struggling.

Travel Status, Drinks, and Dinners were definitely scaled back. Relationships are hard, most of my classmates who were your age were largely single, or 1 was about to get married. Not gonna lie, my grades are definitely better when I became single during post back. I was never super into research, but you need to demonstrate a interest in at least clinical research. My post bac program gave us opportunities to do that. As a non traditional it'll be a interesting note that you had a previous career, but if you dont have a stats or a compelling story of relating it to why medicine, it wont help much. Those one year Post Bac Programs I think are the way to go regarding having it all scheduled, especially if they have linkage. They're competitive and if you can get in, you're probably going to make it anyway. Other than having the grades, getting medical school isn't intellectually hard, you just have to be disciplined and organized enough to jump through all the well defined hoops.

It's been a satisfying and fulfilling struggle,

Good Luck!

 

[LawToMed88]

Hi All,

I know there are many threads on this very topic but I wanted to try and gain some insight as it applies to my particular situation (although not entirely unique).

I am a 26-year-old accountant that graduated with a Bachelors and Masters in Accounting concurrently in 2015, as well as a Business Law minor. Upon graduating, I obtained my CPA license (still active) and worked at a Big 4 accounting firm for 2 years. This past summer, I left public accounting to work for a prominent investment management company. My cumulative uGPA was a 3.55, and my cumulative graduate GPA (reflective of Master's classes) was 3.37. I am heavily interested in applying to Post-Bacc programs in the Philadelphia area as they are plentiful. As of now, I have no volunteer/shadowing experience but have reached out to several hospitals in the area and hope to hear back regarding these opportunities soon. My overall goal as I see it now would be to leave my job and enroll in a rigorous one-year Post-Bacc program and then subsequently take the MCAT. Given my background, and assuming undertaking as many volunteering hours as I may be able to find, is this transition feasible?

My main question surrounds how a Post-Bacc program will view my uGPA as well as having achieved both a Masters and CPA license. I know that work experience, regardless of field, is viewed favorably in the admissions process. I'm fairly new to exploring this path and would appreciate any advice or resources that could be provided.

Thanks!

28-year-old former lawyer with a JD and MS. Just completed the Jefferson 1 year accelerated post-bacc in April. Excellent program, highly recommended.

 

[GenSurgONLY]

Glad to see another person come from Big 4! I feel a little behind going in with no research or clinical volunteering at 23. In hindsight, are you glad you waited until 28 to do a post back or do you wish you hopped on it sooner? Any advice on handling friendships and relationships through the process? Congrats on your success.

Me too! I didn’t realize how many Accountants switch into MD! I’m 29, currently not working to help 3yo son with Autism while pursuing my Post Bacc at University of Maryland in the evening. Was tired of the tax dept and quite frankly hated my job. I always wanted to pursue medicine but was being a wuss because so many doctors are negative like they regret their decision yet continue to practice.

 

[2017MU2017]

Me too! I didn’t realize how many Accountants switch into MD! I’m 29, currently not working to help 3yo son with Autism while pursuing my Post Bacc at University of Maryland in the evening. Was tired of the tax dept and quite frankly hated my job. I always wanted to pursue medicine but was being a wuss because so many doctors are negative like they regret their decision yet continue to practice.

There are certainly more than I anticipated! Hearing all of the complaints about medical school, residency, and the current status of healthcare in the US definitely deterred me, but I'm currently working to make money to afford a postbacc. How have your courses been so far? Did you find it hard to adapt to science courses after years of studying/working in accounting?

 

[GenSurgONLY]

There are certainly more than I anticipated! Hearing all of the complaints about medical school, residency, and the current status of healthcare in the US definitely deterred me, but I'm currently working to make money to afford a postbacc. How have your courses been so far? Did you find it hard to adapt to science courses after years of studying/working in accounting?

I missed Fall registration so plan to start in Spring. I am reviewing some basics of Bio and Chem on Khan Academy and YouTube. I will say I feel a little sad that after taking all my Calc classes, I can barely explain the importance of asymptotes. I have not taken all my sciences since 2009 so in a sense I am not that upset about having to retake some of them(I didn’t go beyond Gen Chem 1).

I do feel like my Accounting background will help me (as I am sure with you) navigate the process better because of some of the skills attained.

Plan to take:
Spring 1
Bio 1/2 (it’s combined at UMD) w lab
Chem 1 w/ lab

And MAYBE statistics (again, urgh....hate this class)
Hated Qualitative Analysis too. Got a B in both but simply studied to pass tests, barey learned anything.

 

[J. Winter]

Hi All,

I know there are many threads on this very topic but I wanted to try and gain some insight as it applies to my particular situation (although not entirely unique).

I am a 26-year-old accountant that graduated with a Bachelors and Masters in Accounting concurrently in 2015, as well as a Business Law minor. Upon graduating, I obtained my CPA license (still active) and worked at a Big 4 accounting firm for 2 years. This past summer, I left public accounting to work for a prominent investment management company. My cumulative uGPA was a 3.55, and my cumulative graduate GPA (reflective of Master's classes) was 3.37. I am heavily interested in applying to Post-Bacc programs in the Philadelphia area as they are plentiful. As of now, I have no volunteer/shadowing experience but have reached out to several hospitals in the area and hope to hear back regarding these opportunities soon. My overall goal as I see it now would be to leave my job and enroll in a rigorous one-year Post-Bacc program and then subsequently take the MCAT. Given my background, and assuming undertaking as many volunteering hours as I may be able to find, is this transition feasible?

My main question surrounds how a Post-Bacc program will view my uGPA as well as having achieved both a Masters and CPA license. I know that work experience, regardless of field, is viewed favorably in the admissions process. I'm fairly new to exploring this path and would appreciate any advice or resources that could be provided.

Thanks!

Have a reasonably similar background to yours, so it is doable. My experience is that medical schools place huge emphasis on volunteering and shadowing experience, which I tended to ignore. Despite having an excellent GPA, I only got admission once I got experience down. And if anything, I have seen people with average GPAs, but exceptional work experience having a considerable edge.

 

[miggis99]

Hi, Current Medical Student and past CPA

Worked in Big 4 and Management Consulting firm and left when I was 28 to do my Post Bac. I did a one year Post bac and worked/volunteered in nonprofit for 2 years. It was a three year process, but I'm now MS-1. I thought about it at 24, wasn't ready to leave the income and work possibilities. At 28, got tired of PowerPoint decks, business development, Project management meetings, risk assessments and finally decided. You can definitely do it, there's not a lot of people who I've met that gave up their a totally different (well paying) career to do so. It's a struggle everyday, but I'm glad I did it and I am thankful to be in medical school. If you can do it, I would suggest enrolling in a program that caters to just nontraditional students. Some of the advantages is time, faculty support, recommendations, and I went to a small liberal arts school for my Post Bac, there was 13 students, we didn't have to compete with undergrads and got professors full attention.

I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Hi:

 

[miggis99]

Hi career changers. I am a CPA, so surprised I did not know there were other CPAs interested in medicine, I thought I was crazy. I do not find joy and fulfillment in my accounting profession no matter how much $$$ this profession can pay.

I studied Business and graduated on may 2005, because of my circumstances at that time. (I had to support my parents and by studying a BS employment possibilities were less, I also had a boyfriend who did not want me to study medicine since he said we would divorce, he said that when I was applying to college and made me decide to choose Business Administration. My family also forced me to study BA since I have a cousin who was a successful CPA living in NY. By the way, my then boyfriend, he cheated on me a year before I graduated from B.A.).

I always wanted to study medicine. (I Love science, the human body, help people in medical need and the underserved. I loved to watch ER, House, and real medical related TV documentaries and all about healthhcare) At 28, I started researching science programs for premed courses so I could attend after work 8-5. I completed my premed courses on 2012 at 32 y/o with outstanding grades and was studying for the MCAT when I diagnosed with an autoinmune disease. (Lupus). I thought I was going to die, and put everything on pause and got married. But then I realized that I should change my diet to a vegetarian and now vegan and here I am. I’ve been relatively stable all these years, even with the stress of my profession working for public accounting firm.

I am asking myself why I didn’t unpause the break I took 8 years ago. But I am 40 now, just thinking what to do, I could not have children. I think I wasted my life and my intellectual capacity doing something not fullfilling for so many years.

My husband is an MD (internal medicine) and had been so supportive since we met. Although he always knew I didn’t like my profession, but didn’t want to push me, and never suggested me to get back on track. Now I am having my almost midlife existential crisis and I am really considering changing my career. (I can use my accounting profession as a Just in case I need to work) I think med school at this age (40) is really challenging and impossible to be considered or admitted , considering if I can be lucky enough to study and pass the MCAT within a year, and also schools will consider the service I can provide (useful life) if I can make it. I am also considering the PA.
All I know is that I have to review all my premed science courses and see If I can enroll in a PA program.

I feel very sad right now, cause I missed the chance to study medicine. I would have finished even residency have I continued my path as planned. A few of my friends whom I met when I was completing the pre-requisites for med school. Most of them have completed med school and even some of them are on their residency.

So my message to those who read this post, if you are under 30 and want to pursue a career in medicine and love healthcare, improving their quality of life and love to put science to work for improving people’s health, don’t make the same coward mistake I made. DO It!
I have a question, can we share emails on this forum?

 

[medaspire1]

Hi career changers. I am a CPA, so surprised I did not know there were other CPAs interested in medicine, I thought I was crazy. I do not find joy and fulfillment in my accounting profession no matter how much $$$ this profession can pay.

I studied Business and graduated on may 2005, because of my circumstances at that time. (I had to support my parents and by studying a BS employment possibilities were less, I also had a boyfriend who did not want me to study medicine since he said we would divorce, he said that when I was applying to college and made me decide to choose Business Administration. My family also forced me to study BA since I have a cousin who was a successful CPA living in NY. By the way, my then boyfriend, he cheated on me a year before I graduated from B.A.).

I always wanted to study medicine. (I Love science, the human body, help people in medical need and the underserved. I loved to watch ER, House, and real medical related TV documentaries and all about healthhcare) At 28, I started researching science programs for premed courses so I could attend after work 8-5. I completed my premed courses on 2012 at 32 y/o with outstanding grades and was studying for the MCAT when I diagnosed with an autoinmune disease. (Lupus). I thought I was going to die, and put everything on pause and got married. But then I realized that I should change my diet to a vegetarian and now vegan and here I am. I’ve been relatively stable all these years, even with the stress of my profession working for public accounting firm.

I am asking myself why I didn’t unpause the break I took 8 years ago. But I am 40 now, just thinking what to do, I could not have children. I think I wasted my life and my intellectual capacity doing something not fullfilling for so many years.

My husband is an MD (internal medicine) and had been so supportive since we met. Although he always knew I didn’t like my profession, but didn’t want to push me, and never suggested me to get back on track. Now I am having my almost midlife existential crisis and I am really considering changing my career. (I can use my accounting profession as a Just in case I need to work) I think med school at this age (40) is really challenging and impossible to be considered or admitted , considering if I can be lucky enough to study and pass the MCAT within a year, and also schools will consider the service I can provide (useful life) if I can make it. I am also considering the PA.
All I know is that I have to review all my premed science courses and see If I can enroll in a PA program.

I feel very sad right now, cause I missed the chance to study medicine. I would have finished even residency have I continued my path as planned. A few of my friends whom I met when I was completing the pre-requisites for med school. Most of them have completed med school and even some of them are on their residency.

So my message to those who read this post, if you are under 30 and want to pursue a career in medicine and love healthcare, improving their quality of life and love to put science to work for improving people’s health, don’t make the same coward mistake I made. DO It!
I have a question, can we share emails on this forum?

@miggis99 what is stopping you from trying now ...just curious ..... ( am an older non trad doing my pre-reqs )

 

[miggis99]

@miggis99 what is stopping you from trying now ...just curious ..... ( am an older non trad doing my pre-reqs )

i am reviewing the premed materials since I took such a long break. I forgot a lot of thinks, I feel like I have to start all over again. I need to refresh everything.