medicine or nothing

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nateriver

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so i switched back from pre dental after realizing that i won't be satisfied with anything but being a medical doctor, osteo included as well , id be fine with that, my question is , do the whole new obamacare legislation changes to healthcare scare anyone aware from doing med, like are you worried about putting in so much time to be poorly compensated by the new health system and what it may become, i have come to the relation that no matter what, my heart lies in medicine, but I'm just curious what others think, also thoughts on the upcoming new mcat?
If this is your question I can only tell you that applications are at an all time high for this date at my school.
 
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If this is your question I can only tell you that applications are at an all time high for this date at my school.
well thats good to know, thank you, others parts of the question include thoughts on the new mcat, being that you are a prof, how do you feel admissions boards will be looking at the new mcat?
 
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Ditto mine.

We how no idea who the new MCAT will shale out until we have a few admissions cycles under our belt. My advice is not to think it's going to be written in Korean, as some people here act like it's going to be.

If this is your question I can only tell you that applications are at an all time high for this date at my school.
 
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well thats good to know, thank you, others parts of the question include thoughts on the new mcat, being that you are a prof, how do you feel admissions boards will be looking at the new mcat?
MCAT's come and MCAT's go. Nothing really changes.
 
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well thats good to know, thank you, others parts of the question include thoughts on the new mcat, being that you are a prof, how do you feel admissions boards will be looking at the new mcat?

They will be looking at it as an important but singular component application. Just do your absolute best on it that you can and stop worrying about how it will be perceived.
 
They will be looking at it as an important but singular component application. Just do your absolute best on it that you can and stop worrying about how it will be perceived.
okay thanks, on a side note, anyone have an opinion on taking 3 labs at once? genetics, orgo, and physics....
 
If this is your question I can only tell you that applications are at an all time high for this date at my school.

Ditto mine.

Has this been the case for the last several years though, since 2008-2009? I thought that every year since that time, every application cycle has seen more applications?

I guess what I'm really asking, is the number of applications, or even the increase/all-time-high, out of the normal? Or is it in-line with what you expected?
 
okay thanks, on a side note, anyone have an opinion on taking 3 labs at once? genetics, orgo, and physics....
Nobody really cares. It only matters to you. If you can do it well, fine, if not, don't do it.
 
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Has this been the case for the last several years though, since 2008-2009? I thought that every year since that time, every application cycle has seen more applications?

I guess what I'm really asking, is the number of applications, or even the increase/all-time-high, out of the normal? Or is it in-line with what you expected?
This is an all time high for this date in the history of time. It could just mean that the same number is applying earlier. Until the cycle is over we won't know if the upward trend is still increasing, though.
 
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okay thanks, on a side note, anyone have an opinion on taking 3 labs at once? genetics, orgo, and physics....

I took the exact same classes together with labs…got A's in all of them (except Orgo lab, but that was expected for me)
 
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Despite the improving economy, our numbers of apps have been increasing each year for at least the past 5-6 years. The quality of our students have been steadily improving each year as well.

Has this been the case for the last several years though, since 2008-2009? I thought that every year since that time, every application cycle has seen more applications?

I guess what I'm really asking, is the number of applications, or even the increase/all-time-high, out of the normal? Or is it in-line with what you expected?
 
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you didn't find it to much with the labs all together and orgo, being that its well, orgo lmao

Well, it wasn't easy because I was also taking a Neuroscience course along with physio. lab but I did the best that semester by taking 21 credits than I did taking 16 the previous semesters…I guess it made me more focused somehow :/ Basically, what I'm trying to say is, it's doable!
 
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If this is your question I can only tell you that applications are at an all time high for this date at my school.

I get your point, but I really wouldn't take the record number of applicants as a commentary on the ACA or really anything to do with it, tbh.
 
Actions speak.

I don't want to get into an argument here because I respect your opinions on this forum, but I can't agree that the number of applicants has anything to do with the ACA. I certainly don't think that a bunch of pre-meds are sitting around making value judgement calls on the merits of the ACA and whether or not they should apply to (or be deterred from) medical school. Imo, the increase in applicants is for entirely different reasons.
 
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I heard something interesting a few days ago about this. Someone was saying that the generation of young adults currently applying to medical school grew up with the uncertainty of 9/11 and the economy crash. There is this sense that being a physician is a very secure job - people will never stop needing healthcare... I wonder if similarly 'secure' jobs are seeing an increase in numbers, too.

Another possible explanation could be just a growing population of young adults, without a growing number of spaces available in medical school.

There are a lot of reasons we could speculate over, but there's very little evidence to suggest a direct correlation, either way.

EDIT: As for scaring people away from medicine... I don't know. I don't think most pre-meds really appreciate how the changes brought by ACA will affect their careers as physicians.
 
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I don't want to get into an argument here because I respect your opinions on this forum, but I can't agree that the number of applicants has anything to do with the ACA. I certainly don't think that a bunch of pre-meds are sitting around making value judgement calls on the merits of the ACA and whether or not they should apply to (or be deterred from) medical school. Imo, the increase in applicants is for entirely different reasons.
Either they don't know, don't care or care but applied anyway. In each case they were undeterred by the ACA (at a minimum). From reading secondaries (hazardous way to get real information, admittedly) a significant number of them are inspired to apply because of ACA.
 
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Either they don't know, don't care or care but applied anyway. In each case they were undeterred by the ACA (at a minimum). From reading secondaries (hazardous way to get real information, admittedly) a number of them are inspired to apply because of ACA.

That's interesting. As someone who's talked to a few physicians about this (cardiology, family practice, ophthalmology), I wouldn't call out the ACA as a reason for going into medicine. While I believe in the ideals behind it, from what I've heard, it has started out very rocky. Many family practices in my area, for instance, are switching to concierge care because they can't stay above water with current reimbursements from medicare. Similarly, private practices have started turning away medicare/medicaid patients due to poor reimbursements and all the paperwork/hassle of dealing with them... Maybe I need to start reading more about the ACA, though. I've been depending too much on word of mouth, and I'm probably missing other perspectives.

Maybe I'm focusing too much on medicare though, and not enough on the ACA...
 
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If this is your question I can only tell you that applications are at an all time high for this date at my school.
Does the increase seem to be following trends from previous years or is the increase much greater than would have been expected?
 
Does the increase seem to be following trends from previous years or is the increase much greater than would have been expected?
There is a trend of increasing numbers and higher average scores for applicants. The ACA has had no effect on this slope thus far.
 
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That's interesting. As someone who's talked to a few physicians about this (cardiology, family practice, ophthalmology), I wouldn't call out the ACA as a reason for going into medicine. While I believe in the ideals behind it, from what I've heard, it has started out very rocky. Many family practices in my area, for instance, are switching to concierge care because they can't stay above water with current reimbursements from medicare. Similarly, private practices have started turning away medicare/medicaid patients due to poor reimbursements and all the paperwork/hassle of dealing with them... Maybe I need to start reading more about the ACA, though. I've been depending too much on word of mouth, and I'm probably missing other perspectives.

Maybe I'm focusing too much on medicare though, and not enough on the ACA...

Back when I was on Medicaid, which was before the ACA, I remember being turned away from an office because they said they had reached their "panel" of Medicare/Medicaid patients for the year.
 
Back when I was on Medicaid, which was before the ACA, I remember being turned away from an office because they said they had reached their "panel" of Medicare/Medicaid patients for the year.

I guess it's a growing problem, from what I heard... not sure though. I obviously need to read up more on the ACA and rely less on word of mouth.

I'm sorry to hear that you were turned away.
 
Well, it wasn't easy because I was also taking a Neuroscience course along with physio. lab but I did the best that semester by taking 21 credits than I did taking 16 the previous semesters…I guess it made me more focused somehow :/ Basically, what I'm trying to say is, it's doable!
thanks , that actually makes me feel like I'm not crazy and the looks and "ur nuts" attitude some ppl have given me isn't so true
 
thanks , that actually makes me feel like I'm not crazy and the looks and "ur nuts" attitude some ppl have given me isn't so true

A lot of people will tell you it's impossible….I actually posted this same Q on SDN and people told me to come back when I get my 2.3 sGPA that semester (I got a 3.9 =P) Ultimately, you know best what you can handle! And confidence is a large part of it!
 
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