I interviewed 4/12 and got the happy call from Joyce the following Monday. Unfortunately, I have yet to receive my packet--what's in it, anyway?--so I don't know how much to pay or where to send payment. Awaiting further word from Joyce. Ah well--as someone else said, freaking out won't help, so I've spent the past week trying to catch up to this thread.
My path to med school has been circuitous. I got my BA in English in '87 (I'll be the geezer of our class), did technical writing for seven years, then segued into massage therapy. My wife and I own a clinic in Evanston, IL. I got into osteopathic medicine because my neuromuscular therapy teacher often mentioned the term
osteopathy when instructing us in certain techniques. When I found out what it meant, my destiny became clear. I'd been considering chiropractic, but osteopathic medicine is that and way more. But yeah, I'm going to be insanely into OMM, and I avoided DO schools that seemed to give short shrift to OMM. CCOM, for example, is conveniently located here in IL, but they couldn't seem to care less about OMM, from what I could tell. KCOM was a strong candidate until I visited the school and saw that my wife would find it nearly impossible to earn a living there.
Who is the OMM instructor? He/she will be my surrogate dad/mom.
I'll be getting by on loans all the way, as I'm a year too old for the military. Besides, I have a problem with authoritah.
Housing? No idea yet. Something within biking distance of campus would be nice, as my wife and I share a car. Otherwise, I'll have to get a scooter and J.D. it.
Year-round schooling is no biggie to me. Working for myself, I rarely take a day off anyway.
I've been assigned to Milford (hi Jenny10!). It was my seventh or so choice, as I'm way ready to escape from the clutches of the Midwest, but oh well--crappy weather will just make it easier to study, eh? Milford, the Amish CHC, will sure be a culture shock for this city boy, though; I mean, just how many Whole Foods supermarkets or coffee shops with wi-fi could Milford possibly have within walking distance of my apartment? What about cell-phone reception?
I'll probably U-Haul it out to Mesa (and am very much looking forward to the cross-country drive). Anyone interested in helping each other unload? It's the Amish way!
I'll be MVP at the BBQ. My cinnamon cream cheese brownies have won awards, and my three-day vegan baked beans are the faves of my buddy's family, who are bigshots in the meat-brokering biz.
I don't trust that med specialty aptitude test either: it recommends pediatrics for me, but I have a very W.C. Fields attitude toward kids.
I like the name ATSU-SOMA, for the Greco-Latin pun. Still, COMA would have been so inappropriate, it would have been
perfect!
I'm excited to learn about dentistry, as some of my massage therapy for TMJ dysfunction involves intra-oral work. But screw the cosmetic procedures, like bleaching--just the health stuff, please.
