DC to PA, MD, or DO

[pmae777]

Hello,

I am 31 years old and I have my doctorate in chiropractic. Chiropractic was a good field, but I became disheartened with. During clinicals I had the worst trouble finding patients so I could graduate. When I finished, I could not find a job and no one wanted to hire me locally (they wanted someone with experience). I felt like chiro school did not prepare me for the reality of not finding a job and opening a business. After many jobs that had nothing to do with my field or even biology, I became a teacher of anatomy and physiology. I love teaching but I want to get into a field where I could utilize my knowledge in a hands on enviroment, help others and make a decent living.

Since last year I've been working on being a PA, DO, or MD. I applied to PA school, but they rejected me because my GPA was not high enough compared to the other applicants and they felt like I could not explain well enough to them why I am not practicing chiropractic. I am considering DO and MD since they are opeing future schools in the area.

I'm wondering if it is worth it to go back to school to be an MD or DO, or should I stick to the PA route. Do I at least have a chance in either field? I'm also worried about whether or not I'll get financial aid since I already went to chiro school.

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[deleted6669]

Lots of chiros become pa's. there are > 150 pa programs now. apply broadly and you will get in somewhere. good luck.
check out www.physicianassistantforum.com for more info on pa's and the application process. there are several pa/dc folks who post there.

 

[Bernoull]

Hello,

I am 31 years old and I have my doctorate in chiropractic. Chiropractic was a good field, but I became disheartened with. During clinicals I had the worst trouble finding patients so I could graduate. When I finished, I could not find a job and no one wanted to hire me locally (they wanted someone with experience). I felt like chiro school did not prepare me for the reality of not finding a job and opening a business. After many jobs that had nothing to do with my field or even biology, I became a teacher of anatomy and physiology. I love teaching but I want to get into a field where I could utilize my knowledge in a hands on enviroment, help others and make a decent living.

Since last year I've been working on being a PA, DO, or MD. I applied to PA school, but they rejected me because my GPA was not high enough compared to the other applicants and they felt like I could not explain well enough to them why I am not practicing chiropractic. I am considering DO and MD since they are opeing future schools in the area.

I'm wondering if it is worth it to go back to school to be an MD or DO, or should I stick to the PA route. Do I at least have a chance in either field? I'm also worried about whether or not I'll get financial aid since I already went to chiro school.

It's impossible to guage ur chances bcos u haven't provided any numbers or extracurriculars.

As far as what route to take, MD/DO are essentially the same, PA is obviously very different especially in terms of scope of education/training and practice. Only you can decide what's right for you based on ur career goals, personal/professional aspirations, time/$$ u're willing to invest etc etc..

Regarding Finaid, having an advanced degree, in of itself, doesn't preclude one from being eligible for federal loans for another advanced degree. Now the question is how much cumulative federeal loans do you have, bcos there's a ceiling beyond which u can't borrow.. If u have OK to good credit u can get private loans and grad plus loans...

Good luck

 

[pmae777]

My GPA in undergrad is about a 2.9 and in grad school a 3.2. As far as Ecs I volunteered at the hosipital for a few months but other than that just mainly teaching. I have not taken my mcat yet.

 

[katiemaude]

What science courses have you taken (gen bio, gen chem, orgo, physics, microbio, anatomy, physiology)? How did you do in them?

I've actually had a hard time deciding which way to go myself - I could honestly see myself happy in either career - but one is definitely a longer road (MD/DO) than the other. PA is probably a more realistic choice, not because it requires a lower GPA (it doesn't) but because you can be back to earning a paycheck faster. I also know a few chiropractors who have become PAs. One, a former lab instructor of mine, is currently attending PA school; they counted her experience as a chiro for the patient contact requirement.

As for that requirement, you will need up to 1,000 hrs for some schools. Therefore, if you're not working as a chiro and you want to attend PA school, you should look for other work in the health field (CNA, tech, patient care assistant, EMT) to start gaining that experience. Some schools will count patient-contact volunteer experience and some only take paid.

For med school, you will need to get back to volunteering ASAP, preferably something clinical. The patient-care jobs mentioned above would also help you prove your interest in medicine and get you a paycheck, but are not required.

Either way, you will have to do some GPA repair. Do you have a 4-year state institution nearby where you can do your prereqs?

For PA school, you can study for the GRE in a relatively short prep period compared to med school, for which you will need months to prepare for the MCAT.

And yes, you will need an explanation as to why you don't want to be a chiropractor. Any career changer is going to have to explain and prove their interest.

 

[pmae777]

What science courses have you taken (gen bio, gen chem, orgo, physics, microbio, anatomy, physiology)? How did you do in them?

I've actually had a hard time deciding which way to go myself - I could honestly see myself happy in either career - but one is definitely a longer road (MD/DO) than the other. PA is probably a more realistic choice, not because it requires a lower GPA (it doesn't) but because you can be back to earning a paycheck faster. I also know a few chiropractors who have become PAs. One, a former lab instructor of mine, is currently attending PA school; they counted her experience as a chiro for the patient contact requirement.

As for that requirement, you will need up to 1,000 hrs for some schools. Therefore, if you're not working as a chiro and you want to attend PA school, you should look for other work in the health field (CNA, tech, patient care assistant, EMT) to start gaining that experience. Some schools will count patient-contact volunteer experience and some only take paid.

For med school, you will need to get back to volunteering ASAP, preferably something clinical. The patient-care jobs mentioned above would also help you prove your interest in medicine and get you a paycheck, but are not required.

Either way, you will have to do some GPA repair. Do you have a 4-year state institution nearby where you can do your prereqs?

For PA school, you can study for the GRE in a relatively short prep period compared to med school, for which you will need months to prepare for the MCAT.

And yes, you will need an explanation as to why you don't want to be a chiropractor. Any career changer is going to have to explain and prove their interest.

I've taken all classes above.
BIO 1: A (after retake)
BIO 2: B
Chem 1: A(after retake)
Chem 2: C
OChem 1: A
O Chem 2: C
Micro: A (after retake)
A&P 1: B
A&P 2: B
Phys 1: C
Phys 2 : C

One of the PA adcoms told me I should take A&P again so it could be more current and it would be an easy GPA booster. We have plenty of schools close by thankful.

As far as my explaination for who I did not want to be a chiro, I didn't know exactly what to say without bashing the profession. My biggest issue was getting established as a chiropractor. No one wanted to hire an inexperienced chiro. I went to so many interviews and even travel out of state to Pittsburg (I'm from SC) because of a supposed "sure thing". I just got really frustrated with after that. I also had trouble getting patients when in clinicals, so I began to worry about if I would have the same issues when finish school. I wanted to help people on a much broader scale, and the school I went to was "straight chiropractic", which meant spine adjustments only. I wish I could have put all of that in an essay, but I was afraid of saying something that would shoot me in the foot.

 

[katiemaude]

Chiropractor issues aside, with the grade replacement policies at DO schools, at least your sGPA would be significantly higher. Have you considered retaking the other classes that you have C's in?

Besides more retakes, the next step is to kill the MCAT, and those retakes should help with that, no?

Meanwhile, you can start volunteering again.

I'm not sure how retakes work for PA school but more undergrad classes that you have A's in will gradually bring up your overall gpa. If you're sure about that route, better get any job in healthcare that gives you patient contact and start racking up those hours.

 

[princekc]

Hello,

I am 31 years old and I have my doctorate in chiropractic. Chiropractic was a good field, but I became disheartened with. During clinicals I had the worst trouble finding patients so I could graduate. When I finished, I could not find a job and no one wanted to hire me locally (they wanted someone with experience). I felt like chiro school did not prepare me for the reality of not finding a job and opening a business. After many jobs that had nothing to do with my field or even biology, I became a teacher of anatomy and physiology. I love teaching but I want to get into a field where I could utilize my knowledge in a hands on enviroment, help others and make a decent living.

Since last year I've been working on being a PA, DO, or MD. I applied to PA school, but they rejected me because my GPA was not high enough compared to the other applicants and they felt like I could not explain well enough to them why I am not practicing chiropractic. I am considering DO and MD since they are opeing future schools in the area.

I'm wondering if it is worth it to go back to school to be an MD or DO, or should I stick to the PA route. Do I at least have a chance in either field? I'm also worried about whether or not I'll get financial aid since I already went to chiro school.

...

 

[srs178]

Hello,

I was reading your thread because I am in a similar situation. I am a DC wanting to go back to school for PA. I was wondering what path you chose and if you were able to get student loans or any loans for that matter to go back to school. I'm afraid that I will not be able to go back due to funding. Any advice?

 

[Back 5]

I am applying to DO/MD school this upcoming cycle (sitting for the MCAT in April). I don't mind talking about what I have done as far as preparing my application etc if you have questions. I chose to go the DO/MD route over PA-C for various reasons.

I, too, did poorly in undergrad, so I have utilized the retake policy for DO schools in order to get my sGPA into the 3.5-3.6 range. This also helped me with studying for the MCAT because, let's face it, the science courses on the MCAT where a long time ago.

As far as loans go, the GradPlus loan seems to be our best option outside of securing your own funding.