Medical Education US

Could someone explain to me what a post bac program is? Or at least direct me to a site where I can find more info.

If you have completed a bachelor's (or a master's, or even a doctoral) degree -- but you didn't take the pre-med classes during undergrad and now want to be a physician -- you can take those classes through a "post-bac" (short for post-baccalaureate) pre-medical program.

Simply put, this is a barrage of the pre-med science classes, which gives you the prerequisites and preps you for the MCAT. You have to take these classes, and you have to take the MCAT, in order to be considered for matriculation in a US/Canadian medical school.

Some schools offer official programs, complete with a certificate upon completion and help in the application process to med school. You can also create your own program by taking the sciences yourself, which is what I did.

I know that many, many schools offer official post-bac programs -- in the Boston area, you can find them at Tufts University, Boston University Metropolitan College, and Harvard Extension School. Seriously, though, there are a ton of them out there.

The classes you need, by the way, are a year of biology, a year of chem, a year of organic chem, and a year of physics (all with lab). There are some schools which require biochem, as well.

Good luck, I hope that helps.

How expensive are these post bac programs? Does the university or the federal government give any finanical assistance to help you attend?

Post-bac programs vary as much in cost as do the tuition costs of the universities themselves. Which is to say, a LOT.

In general, you can take these classes at a state or public school for much cheaper, or at a private school for more. It all depends on the school, and what they are offering. Sorry to be so vague, but there are thousands and thousands of schools out there!

Financial aid is tough to get if you go it on your own, but may be available if the school offers a certificate for completion of the program. You would have to ask the school you are considering whether or not that is an option. It will likely vary from place to place.

One way to do it, (and the way I paid for most of my post-bac work), is to get a job at a university. Many schools allow you to take a class or two for free (or at a steep discount) if you are an employee of the university. Then, as long as the department you work for is cool with you taking classes and fitting them into your schedule, it's all good! This made it possible for me to take my pre-med classes and still get a paycheck, supporting my wife through her graduate program. It was a lot of work, but it paid off in the end.

Good luck in finding a post-bac situation that works for you!

If I can get into and complete a post bac program at a famous university such as Yale, would medical schools treat me the same as a Yale undergraduate who applies to medical school? We are taking the same difficult pre med classes at the same university.

Certainly the post-bac from a prestigious university would help, especially if you do well. However, med schools will look at everything. They won't ignore the rest of your undergraduate experience because of the post-bac or where you did it. And no, they would not regard you as if you graduated with an undergraduate degree from Yale because you did the post-bac there. They would regard you as a graduate of whatever university who did a post-bac at Yale.