Medical Education US

You may get a good laugh at this one!
I will applaud any reader who has the patience and the will to read this endeavor and reply!

To start, my name is Jonathan, I am twenty-four years old, and have been married for five months now. I just recently have been laid-off from my job as a Marketing Administrator for a large real estate firm in southern California and I am finding myself in a huge transition. I know, and I have always known, that I wanted more out of life.

Here is where the interesting factors fill in. I am a high school drop out having left school in my senior year. It has been approximately six years since then and I am in a position where I want to re-engage myself in school. For me, the first step will be getting my GED. From there, I want to move onto a State Community College to achieve an A.A. in Psychology, which would be transferable to a four-year California University. Nevertheless, I do not want to stop there. I want to then move onto Medical School to become a Psychiatrist.

I have read most of the threads on this website and countless others and have a firm understanding of the process that it takes to become a Psychiatrist. That is not why I have opted to write this, to get help on becoming a Psychiatrist. I am merely here for moral support and reassurance that even in the educational state that I am in, I can achieve this endeavor, and be successful.

I know It ultimately comes down to the desire and discipline that I have to under go such challenging prospects, but to hear encouraging words will give me a boost for my next impending steps!!!

Thank You!

Jonathan

You have a very long challenging road ahead of you. I'd suggest you take things one step at a time. First, focus on getting your GED. If you plan on going to medical school, community college pre-med classes are probably not going to be sufficient. However, the community college would be reasonable for your non-science classes, and it will give you an idea of how well you can manage some of the easier academic challenges. How things are going at that point should give you clearer perspective on whether medical school and becoming a psychiatrist are reasonable goals. Pre-med classes in college would be a much better taste of what lies ahead - but that is several steps away.

I don't want to sound discouraging, but medical school is a long way from where you are at right now and I'm just trying to give a realistic perspective.

Knowing how you had done in high school prior to dropping out, and what your reasons were for dropping out might also be helpful in assessing how realistic your goals are.

You are certainly right about desire and discipline, and you will need to add patience (for you AND your spouse) to the list. As Dr. Admin has pointed out, it is a huge challenge to get into (let alone through) medical school. By my rough calculations (1-GED + 2-AA + 2-BS + 4-MD), you are looking at about another decade of school before beginning internship and residency, so definitely try to enjoy the ride!

I would recommend keeping your larger goal out there on the horizon as a guide, and focusing your immediate efforts and energies on being successful with each step. Every educational achievement along the way, from GED to AA to BS to MD, is a big success in and of itself, and I hope that you will find a good measure of satisfaction in them, as well. Above all, if I may kick in some advice -- please try not to buy into the trap of thinking "I will be happy when I have achieved such-and-such..." Try to be happy along the road to your goals. Life is SO much more pleasant that way!

Best of luck to you!

I want to thank you both for your responses and insight. I can fully understand your point of views and respect them. Yes, it is a very serious road I have considered and I will definately take it one step at a time.

I will fully appreciate the ability to achieve satisfaction with each and every step I accomplish. Passing the GED and doing well with the few classes I will start with in CC will be a great achievment in itself.

Thank you.

I am a going to take my GED next week!

When I went for preperation classes, for the GED, the instructor had noticed that I didn't really belong there becuase I was much more advanced than those there. After speaking with her for several minutes, she suggested that I go and take the test with out her class. Although, she would have liked me to stay to help her teach.

Good luck Silverdragon. Each step along the path you have laid out will open up new options for you. Whether that ultimately involves becoming a psychiatrist or not, the future looks brighter, with more choices. Congratulations!

Greetings!

I cannot believe that it has already been one year since I posted my first thread. I did take the GED exam and scored with in the 12% percentile. I was very proud of myself doing so well after being out of school for nearly more than six years.

There has been a few changes since I last responded. Since my last post, my wife and I moved from our small mountain community to San Diego County. We moved to San Diego for better job opportunities but more so to be closer to excellent colleges. I have always wanted to go to UCSD, and I also know that UCSD Medical School is quite well known. Though it may not be one of the top medical schools, it is certainly very well regarded.

I started a new job working as a financial contractor for an Independent Marketing Organization for broker dealers. It has been very challenging and I have thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience. Now that I am settled in my new job, I plan on starting college courses.

My first step will be to take assessment exams for both English and Mathematics. This will ensure that I enroll in the appropriate courses and start on the right foot... maybe the left... we will see!

I am excited and optimistic.

Congrats on the GED and thanks for the update. Best of luck with the upcoming coursework.

take one step at a time.. i know you can do it... (^_^)

This is SilverDragon...but I had to change my id to Atlantis for the new site.

So, I just wanted to give updates regarding my progress, as it has been nearly a year:

Since my last post I have completed one semester and summer session. Thus far I have been able to maintain a 4.0 GPA... hopefully this lasts

I will be starting fall semester in a week and a half. I cannot wait! The community college that I am attending is very challenging and all of the professors have been quite passionate and excellent teachers. At this point in time, college is going well. I am proud of my of progress and determination. I wish I had this amount of discipline while I was younger and in high school...but I am happy that I am able to realize that now and learn from my downfalls.


Ciao

Great work! You should be very proud of your successes thus far. Whatever you decide to do with your career, you'll benefit from your education.

Best of luck and keep us all updated.

Greetings,

I have decided to make another post to this thread due to some recent changes. It is quite interesting to read the thread from the begining up till now.

I am very happy to say that I have the same job from when I moved to San Diego County. My progress w/ the company has been great, and I have seen many raises and promotions. The one recent change is that I have relocated to Olympia, WA. The operations division of our company was relocated, and I was aksed to move. My wife and I have been in Olympia now for almost two months.

The one fall back is that I am on temporary hiatus from college The cost for college courses as a non-resident is definately more expensive. It usually takes about 12 months to be eligble for resident prices. I definately want to contine where I left off. I am upset that I am holding off on continuing my edcuation, but look forward to being able to start up again.

I still have great hopes and determination to continue my college career.

I hope that the next time I post, I will be enrolled in college courses!


Cheers!
Jonathan