PA Anesthetist looking to return to MD

[anesthetistmike]

I'm a practicing PA Anesthetist (Anesthesiologist Assistant, AA-C) looking to return to medical school to do surgery/EM/ICU...eggs in different baskets!

I've got a 3.0 Engineering Degree Overall GPA, anes. grad school GPA was 2.78 but that was more pass/failish of a program. I expect to get a 28-30 on the MCAT if I do as well as I have on practice exams.

As such, I will have sick letters of rec, I manage high acuity patients (ruptured AAA's, stat C/S's, unhealthy open hearts, leaking ventricles, numerous codes), I've performed anesthesia overseas for medical mission work in the middle of nowhere, old undergrad research...extracurriculars are my strongest trait. I reside in Georgia. Looking at Emory (prev. grad school), MCG, Mercer (instate only), all early decision, and perhaps USU/GW/Georgetown/UF/FSU/Vandy/MUSC/OHSU and wherever OoS isn't out of reach. I can get letters of rec from MD graduates from several of those programs.

Grandfather went to OHSU in Portland. Not sure if legacy helps with entry, but I wouldn't mind returning to the PNW.

Finally, I'm half-Filipino. Not sure what that entails, either.

Never took the MCAT before. Never tried to go MD before. I like the position I'm in considering I have an awesome job if I don't make the mark first time around--I just want a career. Considering this unorthodox mix, what are my chances pending a 28ish MCAT?

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[cspringer]

Great ECs aside, you GPA is far too low for MD schools. A 28 MCAT won't help that either, unfortunately. Also, You can only do early admission to one school.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Can't you retrain as a PA? I wouldn't borrow money and start over to do the same thing.

 

[Temperature101]

You have a career and seems a great one, wth would you want to do med school? It amazes me how many rn's pa's np's want to do med school.

The grass is always greener on the other side...

 

[anesthetistmike]

Can't you retrain as a PA? I wouldn't borrow money and start over to do the same thing.

PA-C is a great lifestyle, but for me it would be a lateral move responsibility-wise and a lower move financially. Also it doesn't free me from one of the main reasons why I want to go MD. Licensing restrictions. As an AA-C, I can only work in 17-18 states, and while PA-C can go to any state...

Does MSF recruit Physician Assistants?
No. The traditional Physician Assistant role of primary health care provider is done by the national staff in the field. However, Physician Assistants with extensive international NGO experience can still be considered for coordinator level positions.

...I still don't escape the international red tape. So far I haven't been able to secure a license to practice overseas. I've had to work under the license of a physician, many of which I haven't worked with. This isn't easy to find, as many MDs are skeptical to delegate tasks to those they haven't seen in action.

 

[Noggin]

If I were you I would not take the mcat until you are consistently scoring 30+. You do have a very unique background that makes you stand out among the thousands of cookie-cutter bio majors. If I were you I would not take the MCAT until you have studied more. However your GPA is also too low. If you are set on MD you will probably have to do a post-bac. Have you considered the DO route?

 

[anesthetistmike]

I have considered holding off on taking the exam year and waiting until 2015. By then I would also have other things in order, financially. I work with MDs that went to school their early to late 30s.

As for DO, I don't work with very many DO's in surgical specialties that I'm interested in, and if I'm interested in opening a cash only clinic (3rd party payments, govt or private, is awful) or working travel locums full time, I'm not sure how that will play out in the long run. If I am interested in going back to school, I have got to maximize my potential with as little financial sacrifice. 8-10 years of no anesthetist income and more loans is going to take awhile to make back up in primary care. If my scores plateau under 30, then yes, I'll consider DO...or perhaps take a DAT and go dentistry.

Mercer here in GA, however, is probably one of the most generous programs in the country, regarding the numbers game.

 

[survivordo]

Best bet is to get that MCAT score up before you do anything. You are right that currently going the DO route will limit any international options which seems important to you (although this is slowly improving). My thought initially would be that you are crazy for switching careers (grass is greener) but if you are going to go for it get that MCAT up into the low 30's

Survivor DO