RN to MD transition process [2 year old RN transition to Medschool], please help

[Lokesh170816]

Thanks all,
I am a 25-year-old Registered Nurse who completed nursing school two years ago. Although I have no premedical background beyond the fundamentals of biology and anatomy for nursing school, I am now interested in pursuing more education (med school). I am applying for Canadian Schools and there is a few that have a criterion to accepts students without Premed prerequisites. I'm at a loss on how to begin and am stuck.

Since the university I'm applying to has a September 2024 deadline, I intend to schedule my exam for June 2024.

I have arranged the books from Kaplan, the Anki (milesdown and ortho528), the Khan Academy, the AAMC FL and Sections, and Reddit resources.

I completed the intro chem, intro biochem, and intro bio courses in high school (in a different context in India), but it has been six or seven years since then.

Please share your knowledge to help me in formulating a strategy to achieve my desired score of 518–523.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[KaiBuzz]

Your strategy should include taking college level, medical school prerequisite science and psychology/sociology courses BEFORE you take the MCAT.

 

[Med Ed]

The most likely outcome of this gambit is that come summer 2024 you will have no prerequisites and a bad MCAT score. At that point you can look forward to a long and fruitful career as a RN.

If you're going to do this, do it right. Complete the appropriate prerequisite courses, then take the MCAT (an exam based on material you learn in the prerequisite courses). In the meantime you will also need to think about your ECs, but that's for another thread.

 

[Lilobby]

I'm also an BSN hopefully transitioning to MD/DO. I've been an RN for 7 years (will be 28 in a few weeks). My goal is a mix of GPA reinvention and proving that I can pass upper level courses of biology through a DIY potbacc with at least a 3.8 GPA. Certain school have pre-req expiration dates in the US unsure about CA but the ones that have expiry dates range from 5-10 years. My advisor doesn't even want me to attempt the MCAT until I've (re)taken all of the pre-reqs. Best of luck!

 

[Lokesh170816]

Your strategy should include taking college level, medical school prerequisite science and psychology/sociology courses BEFORE you take the MCAT.

Sounds like a good plan, i have discussed same with my classmate who was biomedical in undergrad and did fairly on mcat (518).

 

[Lokesh170816]

I'm also an BSN hopefully transitioning to MD/DO. I've been an RN for 7 years (will be 28 in a few weeks). My goal is a mix of GPA reinvention and proving that I can pass upper level courses of biology through a DIY potbacc with at least a 3.8 GPA. Certain school have pre-req expiration dates in the US unsure about CA but the ones that have expiry dates range from 5-10 years. My advisor doesn't even want me to attempt the MCAT until I've (re)taken all of the pre-reqs. Best of luck!

I think I am going to do that and still review the mcat kaplan books the same time. I will check how many semester it will take me to do the sciences not so much the humanities and will practice FL from AAMC to find if I am making any progress or not. Thanks a lot.

 

[Lokesh170816]

The most likely outcome of this gambit is that come summer 2024 you will have no prerequisites and a bad MCAT score. At that point you can look forward to a long and fruitful career as a RN.

If you're going to do this, do it right. Complete the appropriate prerequisite courses, then take the MCAT (an exam based on material you learn in the prerequisite courses). In the meantime you will also need to think about your ECs, but that's for another thread.

Thanks and I am thinking it will just make sense to do the science prereqs and review the content from kaplan and full lengths and check my progress from there.

 

[VelmaBoots]

Thanks and I am thinking it will just make sense to do the science prereqs and review the content from kaplan and full lengths and check my progress from there.

I’ve been in your place so I’ll offer some advice based on my experience.

My history —-> I started college as a chem major x1 year. I quit & then eventually (years later) went back to college and got my ADN, BSN, MSN. I’m an NP now. I have had YEARS of patient experience and have held many leadership roles over the past ~15 years of my nursing career.

My advice:
First, you need to figure out where you want to go to medical school and what the admission requirements are. Some schools have pre-req requirements and some schools just say “students do best when they’ve shown proficiency in these classes”.
Consider the MSAR or make your own list by browsing SOM websites to see what colleges have specific classes requirements and what stats will and wont get you into the schools you’re interested in. Then aim for that.
There are 2 MD classes and 1 DO in my state. One MD school has class requirements. My mcat/gpa exceeded their average admission stats but they wouldn’t consider me because I didn’t have the required pre-recs - I even called adcom and they said congrats you’ve worked hard, but still, no we can’t wave the class requirements.

Second, Your nursing classes and 2 years of experience probably isn’t going to cut it. Neither will the high school classes. The MCAT is hard and the questions are application based passages plus stand alone questions. You’re going to have to plan to go back to college for another 2-3 years and get the pre-req classes and study, study, study for MCAT. I think you’ll be surprised at your (low) score if you take a practice exam now based on your current knowledge. 6 months of self studying everything you need to know for mcat while working probably won’t be enough.
I already had psych/sociology and 2 semesters of chemistry from prior to nursing school. Before applying to med school, I went back to college for 4 semesters and took 1 semester each of biology, biochemistry, and physics, audited chemistry, took trig and applied calculus, and some upper level psych classes. I bought college textbooks & self studied OChem (it’s hard) and the info I missed from not taking the 2nd semesters of bio & physics. I bought the Kaplan books and the BluePrint review course and studied on/off for a year for MCAT (while working full time).

Third: You need “experiences” (Google what counts or sign up and look over the med school application). You will need hours of volunteering, leadership, teaching, shadowing, etcetera. Your work hours only count as 1 experience, you will need up to 15 total.

I have a 3.99 GPA and got a 504 MCAT (that first chem/physical foundations section killed me because I didn’t have the college classes). I applied to 2 in-state schools this year - my first cycle. The one school wouldn’t review my app because of the pre-reqs I was still missing. I got an A from the other - I researched the school and I knew I fit their mission. My MCAT was a little low for this particular school but the interviewers commented on my past leadership and years of patient care experiences - it mattered.

ETA - I’m US. I see you’re Canada so I’m not sure what difference that makes in the application process.

 

[VelmaBoots]

Khan academy is great, especially for filling in holes in your knowledge. Also look at the BluePrint review courses - they might be helpful especially if you choose not go back to college or choose to take mcat prior to completing the typical pre-req classes.

 

[bio-Psych-social]

I’m an RN that is graduating med school in one month. It took me 3 years working full time as an RN taking the requirements. You need to take all of the pre-requisites to do well on the MCAT. You definitely need to take biochem 1 prior to sitting for the exam which will require gen chem I/II and orgo I/II. Going from RN to MD/DO is a difficult transition but well worth it and will make you a very well rounded Doctor. Ivy League and high tier residency programs love RN’s from my own experience. Can message me if you need to.