# paramedic to medical school



## burchsl (Dec 2, 2008)

hey everybody ,

              right now im a freshman in college and im taking my certification from emt-basic to emt-paramedic, after that im moving to houston for a job until my wife finishes college in about 5-6 years, afterwards i want to try and go back to college then on to med. school to become an orthopedic doctor..

  can anyone give me advice as how to go about being able to do this and accomplish want i want out of life... please help me i need answers


----------



## phabib (Dec 2, 2008)

Well you are taking many different paths. Get straight As in paramedic school and transfer as many credits in when you go for your undergrad. Be sure to pick a program that fulfills all your pre-med requirements (or just do pre-med ).

Study hard. Excelling in paramedic school will go a long way towards getting into medical school. You will have to do just as well in whatever pre-med major you go into but having those As from earlier will help. It shows that you can grasp medicine and should look great on your application. While your working, try to impress your superiors and most importantly, your medical director. A great letter of recommendation from a doctor who witnessed your patient care might just get you in.

 Don't get burned out, you have a long path ahead of you but if you're determined you should be fine. Good Luck!


----------



## MMiz (Dec 2, 2008)

First, welcome to EMTLife!

I completed my EMT-Basic during the summer after my freshman year in college.  There are also many Paramedic programs that you could attend along with a light college schedule.

I would suggest earning your degree before stopping college.  I know too many people that are only a few credits away from a college degree.  You can easily get your EMT-Basic cert while going to college, work while in college, and see if you like it.  I was sure that I'd get my paramedic cert, but after working as an EMT-Basic I realized that while I love parts of EMS, I didn't think an EMT-Paramedic cert was worth it.

I hope that helps!


----------



## JPINFV (Dec 2, 2008)

For medical school, you will need an undergraduate degree in any field with at least a year of general chemistry, a year of organic chemistry, a year of biology, a year of math (calculus and/or statistics) and a year of physics with labs as available (medical schools understand that not all schools will have labs for all courses, but complete as many as you can) for most schools. That will cover most schools, but some will require biochemisty, psychology, and/or writing in addition to the big three. In addition, volunteer work, clinical experience (EMS [EMT-B or EMT-P is generally viewed equally], hospital volunteering, physician shadowing, etc) and research experience is also helpful. Your GPA is much more important than any EMS experience you may gain. The average GPA for first year medical students is over 3.5.

Prior to applying you will need to take the Medical School Admissions Test (MCAT) which has questions on verbal reasoning, physics and general chemistry (physical sciences section), and organic chemisty and biology (biological sciences section). Each of those sections are given a grade based on the average score with a 7 being the average *for the people taking the test* (note: taking the MCAT does not equal applying. MCAT average=21. Average applicant score=27) with a standard deviation of 2. Hence there is a big difference between scoring a 7 and a 10. A test prep course is recommended. During my graduate school I took a course and my score went up 5 points (29->34). 

There are two medical professions in the United States, allopathic medicine and osteopathic medicine. While they are licensed and certified by different boards and their schools are accredited by different organizations, there is no distinction made  in the United States between practice rights. They each have their own application system. (in addition to the Texas school application system).


----------



## firecoins (Dec 2, 2008)

burchsl said:


> hey everybody ,
> 
> right now im a freshman in college and im taking my certification from emt-basic to emt-paramedic, after that im moving to houston for a job until my wife finishes college in about 5-6 years, afterwards i want to try and go back to college then on to med. school to become an orthopedic doctor..
> 
> can anyone give me advice as how to go about being able to do this and accomplish want i want out of life... please help me i need answers



see an advisor at your school.


----------

