I don’t know much about college…HELP

rainbow baby

Thu, Sep 28 2006, 9:40 am

Sorry I understand what you mean about studying Freud I found it boring but if you want to do medicine you need to relieze that psychology is a big part of medicine now. It is for the best and personnal I would not want it to go back to what it was all those years ago, when people were told what was happening to them and that was it. That the drs never used to treat the person as a whole, etc......

amother

Thu, Sep 28 2006, 9:45 am

I just feel I should be allowed to take my accumulated knowledge to the next level. Family and friends call me in the middle of the night with questions about their kids (a cough, a fever, a seizure…) and I think I should be doing this for real. I’m not interested in becoming a doctor, pediatrician, all that is not going to happen, especially not while building a family here. I guess I still don’t know what I want to do, but at least to be able to take blood pressure, give a shot, diagnose and stuff – hey, use a stethoscope!

rainbow baby

Thu, Sep 28 2006, 9:54 am

Sorry amother to say this the reason why nurses, drs etc... go to college for years is because you need all the knowledge to understand what the syptoms mean. Yes you can learn how to take blood pressure pretty quickly, but it is all very well being able to take a blood pressure but what do you do with it, what do the readings mean? Do you mean that you want to self diagnos? Well to tell you the truth that is plain and simply dangaerous. What happens if you miss something? Self diagnosis really worries me. In the UK I was not aware that there were such courses available maybe it is different elsewhere.

amother

Thu, Sep 28 2006, 10:03 am

Don’t worry. Before I spend a lifetime sitting in any college, I will definitely have to get myself an advisor to help me figure out what I want to learn and then what I want to do with it. Thank you all so much!

rainbow baby

Thu, Sep 28 2006, 10:08 am

amother I feel bad know I never meant to put you off I just wantesd you to release that it is not as easy as opening up an manual and hey know I can do it. Sorry!!!! Please can you PM me so we can discuss this further. please!!!!!

mimsy7420

Thu, Sep 28 2006, 10:30 am

To the OP, just to let you know there are sometimes options in Colleges to get accepted into BA programs as a Mature Student. Without a high school diploma.

chavamom

Thu, Sep 28 2006, 10:58 am

Amother - you can get an associates degree in nursing in about 2 years (full-time) schooling and qualify to sit for the exam to be a RN. If you want after that you can continue on to finish a bachelors degree in nursing and with further study become a nurse practitioner. Often your employer will pay for your continued schooling once you are an RN.

Mitzvahmom

Thu, Sep 28 2006, 12:13 pm

RN is a 2 year program... You still have to have all the prereqs to get into the program and that can also take 2 years.

JRKmommy

Thu, Sep 28 2006, 2:02 pm

Medical education breaks down like this:

High school diploma or equivalent
Bachelor's degree, with required courses (varies, but generally includes biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, math) - 4 years
MCAT test
Medical degree (4 years of INTENSE study, the last 1-2 years of which are in a hospital setting)
Internship - varies, but generally one year
Residency - shortest is for Family Medicine (1-2 years), general internal medicine is 4 years, general pediatrics is 4-5 years
Subspecialty fellowship - 2 yrs or more. Means the difference between being a rheumatologist vs. general internist, or cardiac surgeon vs. general surgeon. The more specialized, the longer the training.
Post-graduate/post-doctoral work - Dh and I have some friends who loved research and school so much that they not only did fellowships, but also went on to do Ph.Ds and extra post-doctoral training. They will not only treat patients in their subspecialty, but also do research and teach for medical schools.

Dh is a rheumatologist, which means that he finished his training around his 31st birthday. At that point, I'd had enough - but he was still getting pressure to go the Ph.D/post-doctoral work route and work for the unversity and teaching hospitals.

Now, some medical schools will admit mature students with less schooling - check with the individual schools for requirements. You still need to show that you would be able to manage the science content.

Don't go to European or Caribbean medical schools unless you confirm that your degree will be recognized here and you will be able to practice. Some of these schools will promise that it won't be a problem - and there graduates end up washing test tubes in Canadian labs, because they find it so difficult to get licenced.

Law school, by comparison, was relatively short. Most schools require a BA (although I went to one that admitted some students with only 2 years of study toward a BA if the grades and LSAT scores were high enough, so I was 19 when I started). Law school is another 3 years. It's intense, but not nearly as much as medical school - I was able to hold down a part-time job, edit a Jewish student newspaper and get involved in some organizations (no kids at the time). After that, you need to write the tests to qualify to practice in your state.

If you want to do something shorter, there are junior colleges, business schools and technical schools. For example, it doesn't take years of schooling to become a medical secretary or ultrasound technician through these schools.

A few schools offer co-op programs. My sister, for example, took Recreation Therapy and would spend 4 months in school, followed by 4 months working, for the duration of her degree. It was perfect for her - she earned money during the work terms, graduated with tons of experience and contacts, and she learns best through doing something.

You can contact colleges to get program and admission information. Also, do some research on the basic fields that interest you. You can also see if there is any vocation counselling services near you.

chavamom

Thu, Sep 28 2006, 2:15 pm

Mitzvahmom wrote:

RN is a 2 year program... You still have to have all the prereqs to get into the program and that can also take 2 years.

Not all programs require prereqs to get in - some let you do them as you go. Mine did. You took A&P with Nursing 1, and so on.

Pickle Lady

Fri, Sep 29 2006, 5:44 pm

Since I went to engineering school I can explain that a little. I studied civil engineering. From this education I went to work for companies that designed roads, bridges, underground tunnels (massive sewers) and buildings. I learned alot with my degree.

To be an engineer you need to do a few things.
1) Have a BS in engineering from an accredited school.

2) Pass the EIT Engineering in Training Test -to take this exam you need to be in you I think 3rd year of engineering school or higher.

3) Pass the PE Professional Engingeering exam- to take this exam you need a combination of a years experience under an engineer and a masters degree or just a few years of experience under an engineer.

Its very common to only have a degree and never take the PE exam and just work under another engineer.

amother

Wed, Nov 22 2006, 4:55 pm

Okay, here’s an update. Some people have helped me realize that teaching whati already know is a very good future for me. I have extensive knowledge and many years of working experience in a very specific computer field. Which degrees would a school like “Cope Institute’ look for in an applicant, if I want to teach students about the subjects that I know? I already know the material, I just need to study briefly and pass the tests and get the certification. Thank you so much.