Looking for Career-Change Post Bacc Programs in the Houston, Harris County area

[FutEmbellishedTSurg]

Hello everyone, I am new to SDN. However; I am a non-trad student, with a B.S in Public Health from the University of Houston. Other than the Post Bacc program at UST, can anyone recommend any other Houston area, career-change Post Bacc programs?

SN: I had horrible grades in the few science courses that I took several years ago. This along with other life disparities, discouraged me away from science/medicine. I never declared any of the sciences nor the pre-Med track as a major. Hence, why I opted for the Public Health degree instead (easier).

Now, I am working as a Public Health advisor -which isn’t my passion at all-. I am re-interested in medicine, -specifically- general/ trauma surgery.

I am looking to matriculate to medical school by 2023. I am 29 now, wiser, focused, financially stable, seasoned, substantial amount of clinical/ work experience, better work ethic, disciplined and lastly, very mature.

All of your comments and assistance is greatly appreciated.


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[bassoongirl95]

Hello everyone, I am new to SDN. However; I am a non-trad student, with a B.S in Public Health from the University of Houston. Other than the Post Bacc program at UST, can anyone recommend any other Houston area, career-change Post Bacc programs?

SN: I had horrible grades in the few science courses that I took several years ago. This along with other life disparities, discouraged me away from science/medicine. I never declared any of the sciences nor the pre-Med track as a major. Hence, why I opted for the Public Health degree instead (easier).

Now, I am working as a Public Health advisor -which isn’t my passion at all-. I am re-interested in medicine, -specifically- general/ trauma surgery.

I am looking to matriculate to medical school by 2023. I am 29 now, wiser, focused, financially stable, seasoned, substantial amount of clinical/ work experience, better work ethic, disciplined and lastly, very mature.

All of your comments and assistance is greatly appreciated.


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Hi!!

I actually am finishing up my last semester as a post bacc student at UST. I don’t think there’s any other post Bacc programs in the area unless you do a DIY post bacc. Any reason why you aren’t considering UST? I could answer any questions you may have.
I came to UST with no science credits so I started from the beginning. Well I attempted to take a few science classes in my first few years of schooling but they didn’t go so well so I switched my major. It took me 2 years being a full time student with one summer taking physics 2. How many science classes do you have left?

 

[FutEmbellishedTSurg]

Hi!!

I actually am finishing up my last semester as a post bacc student at UST. I don’t think there’s any other post Bacc programs in the area unless you do a DIY post bacc. Any reason why you aren’t considering UST? I could answer any questions you may have.
I came to UST with no science credits so I started from the beginning. Well I attempted to take a few science classes in my first few years of schooling but they didn’t go so well so I switched my major. It took me 2 years being a full time student with one summer taking physics 2. How many science classes do you have left?

Hi,
Thank you for replying. Wow, that’s amazing, Congrats on finishing the program! How intense is the program, cultural-wise, classes, productivity and faculty support? Was admission at UST pretty straight forward when you applied? Where did you attend undergrad, if you don’t mind me asking. I have to take most of the science courses and the ones that I didn’t do well in, I want to retake and refresh.


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[bassoongirl95]

Hi,
Thank you for replying. Wow, that’s amazing, Congrats on finishing the program! How intense is the program, cultural-wise, classes, productivity and faculty support? Was admission at UST pretty straight forward when you applied? Where did you attend undergrad, if you don’t mind me asking. I have to take most of the science courses and the ones that I didn’t do well in, I want to retake and refresh.


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The program is not bad! I did it full time so at times it was tough with all the science classes I was taking but the students and professors are extremely helpful and always available through email or office hours. So I graduated from the university of Kentucky and when I was there I tried to take gen chem 1. The class size there was at least 200 got gen chem and the labs were taught by TAs who barely spoke English. At UST it’s completely different! I’ve never had a class size bigger than 30 and labs are taught by the professors too which is great. Some professors are better than others but the good news is with being a post Bacc student you have first pick when you register for classes so you can always make sure to get the good professors. I don’t really remember the application process, but I don’t think I had to write an essay and didn’t need any standardized test scores. Applying was pretty easy! The post Bacc advisor is nice and helpful, BUT take what he says with a grain of salt. As post Bacc students we are way different from the undergrads around us and tend to not need as much mentoring as they do but we are still looped in with the undergrads. For example since I’m applying this cycle there was a meeting with all the students applying this cycle including post Bacc and undergrads.. during the meeting it almost seemed as though he was trying to scare us and he even had a slide that talked about other opportunities like masters if we decided we weren’t competitive or something. But he’s still great! Just remember you know yourself better than they do!

overall I’ve enjoyed my experience! I’ve made good friends and I do recommend the program! If you have any other questions let me know.

 

[FutEmbellishedTSurg]

Wow, thank you for the information. I truly appreciate you. I just applied and the application was pretty subtle and free (that’s a first lol). One of the advisors has already left me a voicemail and emailed me, we will see how it goes. Did this program bring you to Houston? I haven’t been to Kentucky, however; I have a few colleagues from there. Also, what schools have you applied to (if you don’t mind me asking)?


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[bassoongirl95]

Wow, thank you for the information. I truly appreciate you. I just applied and the application was pretty subtle and free (that’s a first lol). One of the advisors has already left me a voicemail and emailed me, we will see how it goes. Did this program bring you to Houston? I haven’t been to Kentucky, however; I have a few colleagues from there. Also, what schools have you applied to (if you don’t mind me asking)?


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So I went to undergrad in Kentucky, but my family lives in Georgia (I have residency there). The program did bring me to Houston. I was originally wanting to stay closer to home but I applied to another post Bacc in North Carolina and never heard back for about 3 months of trying to call. Finally my parents told me to find somewhere else to apply. I have an aunt who lives in Houston so I could stay with her for a bit before getting an apartment to help save some money. So I literally googled post bacc premedical programs in Houston and UST came up. I applied and was accepted! I was thinking that since I moved to Houston I could gain residency here, but TMDAS is very specific about how to gain residency. If I would have worked during my time here I could have probably gained residency but I really wanted to focus on my grades so I chose not too. Oh well! No big deal. I’m apply very broadly to a lot of southern states like Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, NC, and SC along with some northern states (I was born in Michigan and currently have a cousin who practices there too)! Also a few of the medical schools in Texas but I know that my chance of acceptance is very low.

do you know the name is the advisor who reached out to you?

 

[FutEmbellishedTSurg]

That’s awesome! Im sure you’ll be a great applicant, your journey shows true ambition and determination. Although, you are away from home, would you say attending UST was worthwhile? I believe the Texas schools will likely consider you based on your UST stats, I think the Texas pride will kick in lol. The advisor is William Winfield, he advised me of his new role as advisor due to COVID-19. He usually works as the admissions counselor, does his name ring a bell?


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[bassoongirl95]

That’s awesome! Im sure you’ll be a great applicant, your journey shows true ambition and determination. Although, you are away from home, would you say attending UST was worthwhile? I believe the Texas schools will likely consider you based on your UST stats, I think the Texas pride will kick in lol. The advisor is William Winfield, he advised me of his new role as advisor due to COVID-19. He usually works as the admissions counselor, does his name ring a bell?


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Yeah I would definitely say that UST was worthwhile! Not only did it offer me the smaller class sizes and accessibility to professors when needed, it was also in a great area! I probably would have never considered moving to Houston if it wasn’t for the program and now that I’ve been here for a few years I love it and would love to hopefully practice in the medical center one day and even come back for residency! Also I feel like whenever you move away from a place where you’re super comfortable (for me that was Georgia) it forces you to grow and helps you learn more about yourself!

side note: make sure to get some shadowing and some volunteer hours too to help your application. Apply for those early! I waited until my last 2 semesters to apply for volunteering position in the medical center and definitely regretted it and wish I would have started sooner so I could of had more hours. I didn’t do much shadowing in Houston because I didn’t know any doctors and when I asked my advisor he justsaid ask you PCP butttt my primary care physician was in Georgia haha so not much help on that front either, but I don’t expect schools to find physicians for their students to shadow.

 

[bassoongirl95]

Yeah I would definitely say that UST was worthwhile! Not only did it offer me the smaller class sizes and accessibility to professors when needed, it was also in a great area! I probably would have never considered moving to Houston if it wasn’t for the program and now that I’ve been here for a few years I love it and would love to hopefully practice in the medical center one day and even come back for residency! Also I feel like whenever you move away from a place where you’re super comfortable (for me that was Georgia) it forces you to grow and helps you learn more about yourself!

side note: make sure to get some shadowing and some volunteer hours too to help your application. Apply for those early! I waited until my last 2 semesters to apply for volunteering position in the medical center and definitely regretted it and wish I would have started sooner so I could of had more hours. I didn’t do much shadowing in Houston because I didn’t know any doctors and when I asked my advisor he justsaid ask you PCP butttt my primary care physician was in Georgia haha so not much help on that front either, but I don’t expect schools to find physicians for their students to shadow.

Also the name of that advisor does not sound familiar to me!! They do change around advisors a lot but the good news is once you have started at UST I heard you can switch your advisor to a science professor if they agree. My friend (another post Bacc) really liked her biology professor and asked for her to be her advisor and the professor was fine with that. I didn’t do that but it’s definitely an option! And will help you get acquainted with more science professors