Post-Bacc Premedicine Program: It’s Never Too Late to Apply to Medical School

Daniel Won, ‘22, started as a premed student as an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis before family circumstances put medical school out of reach for the time being. He switched his path from biochemistry to business, double majoring in finance and operation supply chain management. An internship on Wall Street led to four years working in trading, equity research, and investment banking.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic led Daniel to pause and reflect on his career. “I was financially well off after my years in banking and could attend medical school without any debt,” he says. So, he applied to the Northwestern University post-baccalauareate pre-medical program as well as the medical school linkage connected to the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. He plans to graduate from medical school in 2026.

Preparing for medical school through the Northwestern SPS premedicine program

Students admitted to a medical school via a linkage accelerate their enrollment by starting their medical studies following completion of the post-bacc premedicine program, bypassing the glide year. “A linkage program is good for people who are further along in terms of their age,” Daniel says (he is 27). “It's basically a career transition period between undergrad and medical school.”

Daniel enjoys a challenge and liked that the Northwestern University premedicine program included a fast track to a top-tier medical school (Feinberg).  “When you step in the door, you must think, ‘In a year, will I have the stats to apply to medical school?’ That is very difficult because most undergrads do that in four years. Can you hit the average GPA, which is 3.92, can you hit the average MCAT score, which is 520? And you've got to volunteer and gain clinical experience, too.”

Daniel says that maturity and experience are assets in the premedicine program. “It helps you with project management, changes the way you think about issues facing healthcare today, about executing tasks to meet challenging deadlines from physicians and colleagues.” In addition to the studying and long hours, he says there was a learning curve adjusting to the medical world from the finance world. "On Wall Street, working 120 hours a week in a tough and fast paced environment focused on outcomes, particularly on revenue and profits, helps define your character. However, in medicine it is very different. The way you talk to physicians and patients is different. The way you draft your emails is different. In business, emails are no longer than a sentence. But in medicine longer emails are preferred. You want to show physicians that you did the research and  that you're very passionate about it.”

Finding support from Northwestern SPS premedicine program faculty

Daniel says premedicine program faculty members helped prepare him to apply to the medical school linkage. He remembers how Dr. Derek Nelson’s infamous organic chemistry class helped him meet the high expectations set for linkage students. “From my previous banking career, I learned to enjoy the blood, sweat, and tears early on. Dr. Nelson’s class was just an extension of that. Pushing yourself every day makes you successful.”

Another benefit of being an older student, Daniel says, is the ability to see that there is more to education than just studying. “When I was in the premedicine program, some people were a hundred percent committed to just studying. And I think that's the wrong way to do it. You should also be involved in volunteering and helping people out as well.” He was volunteering at the University of Illinois Chicago's plastic surgery clinic, doing administrative work when he struck up a conversation with the head of plastic surgery. “We talked about our stories and he was like, ‘Okay, you should not use stapling papers.’ He then brought me on to do research with him and it was a great experience.”

What’s next for Daniel after the post-bacc premedicine program at Northwestern University

Now that he’s a medical student at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Daniel is considering pursuing cardiothoracic surgery, possibly later starting a private practice or company to address insurance and affordability issues in healthcare. He still puts his business background to work, heading Choosing Wisely, a Feinberg student group that studies and promotes value-based healthcare. In the meantime, he is getting experiences he probably wouldn’t have on Wall Street, particularly during his time shadowing in cardiothoracic surgery. “Seeing the heartbeat for the first time was definitely a memorable experience,” he says.

Daniel's advice to Northwestern SPS premedicine students

Daniel advises other students considering the Northwestern premedicine program and linkage path to be realistic about how much time and work it takes to not only fulfill the needs to graduate, but also meet the needs of the conditional acceptance of medical school linkages. Despite the high expectations, he says that it’s worth it to see the hard work pay off. “Once in a while you’re going to get behind, but you go shadow a physician and you see what you learned. This patient survived because of the knowledge you have, so that’s the rewarding part of it.”

Northwestern University School of Professional Studies offers many degree and certificate programs, with evening and online options available. To learn more about how Northwestern University's Premedicine and Professional Health programs prepare graduates to advance their careers in the healthcare field, fill out the form below and we will contact you soon.