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ok so i’m 24 years old and i know i have to take 4 years of pre-med, 4 years medical school and 3 year residency. now i have a full time job, i was reading online that i could “MAYBE” take pre-med classes online. that would be great for now, so i can do work online at around my schedule. Only for a lil while to get myself situated with money for when i have to go full time Medical. then later i’m planning to join the military when i have enough credits and get really great training BUT i’m not sure if they offer pedatrics. i haven’t called a recruiter yet. Does anybody know about doing some online pre med classes? I will major in Biology. ANY advice on how i can succesfully get the career that i want? i accept that its going to be long, HARD, pracatically impossiable. BUT i just want to know if i can take online classes in the mean time, i want to starts doing somthing right now and not waste any time. i will of course go full time. i just needs this lil while to work and save for the future bills when i’m going to school full time and focusing on my studies. i have two kids and a supporting husband whos in the military. He’s finishing up his degree and he’s almost finished and will start to get a good job and put me through the school. again. 11 years, i kind of want to get started now, any ideas or recommendations for anybody that knows. probably most medical schools won’t accept online premed courses????? its all confusing at this point. i’ve called some schools who can’t don’t understand what i want and tell me i got the wrong place. i e-mailed some advisors who haven’t got back to me. i’m getting no answers
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I’m 24 years old and want to become a pediatrician. Yes i know its going to roughly take 11 years.?
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I would very strongly recommend not taking any of your required pre-med courses online. Frankly, I don’t even see how it’s going to be possible for the lab sciences. And if you decide to fill any of your gen ed requirements that way, then be very sure you do it through the online branch of a reputable brick-and-mortar school, not a for-profit college like the University of Phoenix. The latter will kill your chances at an advanced degree anywhere else.
Really, though, if you’re looking into avenues like the military, I’d just wait and see what they recommend. You’ll only end up wasting more time in the long run if it turns out you can’t use any of the classes or there’s a better/cheaper way to get them taken care of.
Im 23 in a couple of days and this sept im going to be doing GSCE english and Maths along with my A-level psychology. (<- I want to be a part time teacher in psychology and use the rest of the time helping kids ) I will take about the same time as yours. Im also doing mine online, with ics.
As your over 21 too you may not need med classes once you have you alevel(s) you maybe about to get onto the right course.
I know this is all I need as Im over 21. I would talk to your advisers and see what they want you to have. It maybe easier to go to normal uni
Good luck with which ever way you go!
Hi Janette. Like you have presumed, there will be a long road ahead of you, but if it’s what you want, I say go for it.
As far as taking pre-med courses online, I have to ask… what kind of courses are you talking about? Some courses can’t be taken online simply because there are hands on things you need to do. For example, a Chemistry or Biology course with a lab. As far as I’m concerned, labs mostly take place in class and require face to face instruction. There’s no way around this as these labs are required for your degree. Also.. be wary of which school you take your courses at… some schools may not be accredited so it’s important that you check the school before getting into it.
For gen ed courses, which is also required for your undergraduate degree, you can probably take most online. It really just depend on which institution your attending because each school offer different kind of courses. Some may be hybrid (half in class, half online), face to face (in class only), or only online.
I’m a Biology major myself, and try to take as many online courses as I can since I find myself doing better in them. But I can tell you this- for my freshman year in college, I haven’t taken a single Science class online simply because they weren’t offered at my college. So it really depends on where you attend.
Good luck with everything!
Go for it bro & good luck
Everything about your Question indicates you have practically zero chance of ever getting selected for Medical School.
To start with, most Schools of Medicine require that pre-med courses (especially the science courses) be taken in a four-year university.
Your second dubious decision is to take Biology as a Major. If you don’t make it to Medical School, you’ll be left with a degree that qualifies you only for cleaning lab rat cages. Better you take something with decent fallback career prospects, such as Bioprocess Engineering.
Lastly, even if you do somehow complete a degree and pre-med courses, you’re competing for Medical School with students who have been efficient and proficient learners their entire academic careers. They get very high GPAs and they get high MCAT scores. Is that you?
I would not recommend taking pre-med courses online. You need to learn the material VERY well in order to get the high grades and MCAT scores required for admission. You will need to be able to interact with the professors, face-to-face, to be able to get great letters of recommendation. You might be able to take some general education courses online, but be SURE that they will transfer to the bricks-and-mortar school you want to attend. Sometimes one part of a university will not accept online courses from the same university unless you’ve gotten permission to take those courses in advance. I would encourage you to talk, in person, with a health professions adviser at the bricks-and-mortar school(s) you want to attend. See last link to find an adviser.
When you talk to a recruiter, ask about availability of ROTC scholarships. The military may be willing to pay your way through college. However, if you do not get into medical school on the first try, you could be called to active duty when you’d rather be doing a post-baccalaureate program and applying again, and you might not be able to apply again for years. You might also consider the National Health Service Corps., which would require you to provide primary care (pediatrics is good) in an area of the USA where medical care is not currently readily available.
Realize that you will be paid during your residency but you will have to work long hours. If the military pays for your medical education, you may have to do a residency at a base or military hospital. There are pediatrics residencies available.
The web sites below may have useful information for you.