Autistic - Business to Medicine

Hello,

Long time lurker but I think now is an appropriate time for me to become more involved in the forum. I’m not really sure where to start but I will say that since I was a child, I always knew I had wanted to become a doctor.

I was a sickly child, allergic to nearly everything under the sun, and had a host of health issues growing up. Being autistic I received cold treatment everywhere, from teachers and administrators, my parents and family, neighbors and friends, instructors at the religious schools simply because people didn’t understand my condition and thought I was just trying to be difficult. Despite having to visit the county clinic for health issues, interacting with my PCP was one of the few places I felt a solemn connection with anyone.

We grew up modestly. My mother was a hostess at a diner and now does makeup, and my dad hopped from one fast food management position to the next. With four of us, we grew up on garage sale clothing and the reduced-cost meal plan at school.

After high-school I spent about 7 years working as a mechanic because college seemed out of the question. I took several evening classes at the CC but would have to withdraw due to my ADHD and poor study habits - all of this made a medical or science related career even farther out of reach. Over time I improved and kept at it, eventually earning my B.S. in Accounting in 2015. My grades were not good but I was a full-time contractor first at an investment firm then later a large bank working as a financial analyst. My last year at Uni, I was hired at a CPA firm and worked there for a little over two years. My graduating cGPA was a 2.7.

I’m down to my last class that will make me eligible to sit for the CPA exams. But, if working in the financial industry has taught me one thing, it’s that I won’t make it unless I get a job working with databases all day. People have absolutely no sympathy and will show no respect to someone with my condition. They want to cry about Autism when their child has it but treat everyone else like absolute garbage. Furthermore, I fear that when I become a CPA, my biggest struggle would be building a client base. I’ve heard some pretty horrendous things from coworkers and past bosses and I literally stopped giving a shit all together.

I quit my job 4 weeks ago but have been saving for about a year to pay for premedical classes at the 4-year Uni. My wife who is in nursing school thinks this is a good path for me and has agreed to cover the bills for the next year and a half. I find out in the next couple days if I’ll be allowed to enroll in classes even though I am non-degree seeking. My Uni is making it very difficult.

Thank you for listening. I’m excited to share this now that I’m finally so close and also excited to see what the next few days has in store for me.

Welcome! Thanks for sharing your story. Let us know how we can help!

Welcome and good luck! I hope that you’re able to get your classes for the spring semester. Please keep us posted :slight_smile:

Hi Dr. Gray, and KRinMD. Thank you for your interest. I was lucky - the classes I wanted to enroll in had a wait list but I was finally able to secure a spot. In-fact I just finished my first Bio lecture and am writing this from the university library.

I was able to enroll in:
Biology 1 and lab.
Physics 1 and lab.
Intro to Chemistry and lab.

The last time I took any sort of chemistry was in high-school in 2002. Apparently the chem department at the uni. I’m attending sets up their classes to be rigorous so both the science adviser and the pre-med post-bacc adviser recommended taking the intro course. Very excited for the challenge these classes should provide.

Regarding work experience - after reading through the forum it seems imperative that someone in my position would gain experience shadowing physicians. I’ve done some research but was wondering what your suggestions may be to sell myself as a quality “shadower”. Should I take a medical terminology class and solicit myself to private clinics? I looked into a scribe company called PhysAssist. From what I can tell they set up contracts to provide scribes to hospitals. They provide both training and some sort of certification but I’m skeptical because their recruiter is making it seem too easy. Would this route be worth the time?

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated!

That’s great news. Have you considered applying to study full time as a degree-seeking student for the fall? If you need a large number of classes, it may be more cost effective and even open up financial aid and scholarship opportunities to go full time. You’d probably get better priority in registration, too. You wouldn’t necessarily need to complete the degree (unless that’s a stipulation of a particular scholarship). My local college offers a second bachelor’s option where you only need to take a certain number of credits; prereqs from your first bachelor’s transfer for credit but don’t count toward your GPA. I don’t know how common this option is, but you may want to check with your school’s advising office.

This is my plan since I need ALL of the classes. I took Dr. Gray’s advice of not keeping my plan a secret, and I’ve been amazed at how helpful people have been. If you know anyone who works at your college (or if you know someone who knows someone), don’t be afraid to ask for help. You never know until you ask!

It’s a long road but you can do it with determination. Just remember, 1 step at a time. Also, this is a pretty stressful journey so make sure that your ADHD is under control.

Short Update - we just took our first exams for the semester for which I have been diligently studying. Hopefully I can report some good grades to you folks. I am very excited.

KRinMD - I do want to claim Biology as my major but the science department wants us to have Biology 1 completed. I’m currently enrolled in this class so I will be able to claim a major this summer. A majority of the scholarships I want to apply for also require the applicant be degree-seeking.

SKrat - Thank you - Yes it has been a challenge managing but with the help of my therapist and psychiatrist I’ve been doing well so far this semester. I’ve also been reading books on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy and Mindfulness and they have been instrumental in helping me keep my focus, especially in the larger lecture halls and labs.