Hello Fellow Nontrads,
I'm at a crossroads and could seriously use some advice, and I'll give some background for reference. I was a really great student and have some incredible EC's that would make me stand out, but I'll have trouble convincing adcoms of my candidacy because of two reasons, GPA and MCAT. I have 3 semesters of failed coursework taken over 10yrs ago while battling homelessness, bringing my GPA down a whole point to 2.7, with well over 200 credits under my belt at this point. I'm 30 now, married, my wife works full time and I'm a stay at home dad to our 2yr old during the day, and have returned to school last year to finish my undergrad in the evenings, earning deans list my last two semesters and finishing my BS in psych. My MCAT is an issue because it's been 13yrs since I've taken the general science courses and my foundation has dissolved, making it tough to build upon with test prep. Also, since daycare isn't an option, I was only able to dedicate a few hours nightly to mcat prep, and it's evident that this isn't sufficient since I scored a 496 in March and 494 in July. My content knowledge isn't there, so I would need at least a year to review the course content extensively and then redo prep to score higher, but that isn't an option at the moment due to our living situation. This leaves me with three options that I can think of, and could use some advice on what to do:
1: Apply to an online MPH program to boost my cGPA for DO school, and during the time completing the masters I'd review the general science courses and retake the mcat for a higher score. I'd love to be a DO, and was one of the people the changes to the retake policy really harmed. I'm thinking online MPH because my wife could still work and I could care for our child, and I could seriously see myself working in public health as a career so the degree wouldn't be useless if I'm unable to get into medical school, which is why I'm not looking into SMP's, and my credit hours are too high to make a postbacc work in my favor either. The downside of the MPH is that schools don't view it as favorably since it's not heavy in science coursework, and I'd be accumulating more student loan debt
2: Apply to Australian medical programs. I love the country, wouldn't mind relocating for a few years or even permanently, and their medical education seems to turn out great physicians and emphasize patient care. The pros are that their application process is straight forward and my GPA/MCAT allows me to apply to a few programs, and it's not the Caribbean. The cons being the IMG status when applying for residency in the US, and the programs I qualify for would be 4yrs in Australia instead of 2 in aus and 2 in us, leaving me limited exposure to US clinicals through an away rotation or two.
3: Apply to the Caribbean? This honestly sounds terrible due to the attrition rates and low residency placement rates. Also, since I'd be bringing my wife and daughter along to the third world island, I'd worry about their safety while I'm on campus studying. The pros being the 2x2 design and the clinical training in the US that I wouldn't get in Australia.
What would you all do? I want to make educated decisions, and think I might be a good candidate for a foreign medical education. I'm sure the door to US MD is shut, and the US DO door is nearly shut as well now that grade replacement is a thing of the past. I'm not terrified of being an IMG, and would embrace the title if they give me a chance to become a physician. I know this is a marathon, but with a family, every year I'm not in medical school and passing the responsibilities at home back to my wife is a struggle on the family's dynamic and my wife is growing weary as any SO would. Escaping this with as little extra student loan debt as possible, and being able to graduate medical school before the next decade happens and actually be able to practice medicine would be ideal. Thanks for the advice!
I'm at a crossroads and could seriously use some advice, and I'll give some background for reference. I was a really great student and have some incredible EC's that would make me stand out, but I'll have trouble convincing adcoms of my candidacy because of two reasons, GPA and MCAT. I have 3 semesters of failed coursework taken over 10yrs ago while battling homelessness, bringing my GPA down a whole point to 2.7, with well over 200 credits under my belt at this point. I'm 30 now, married, my wife works full time and I'm a stay at home dad to our 2yr old during the day, and have returned to school last year to finish my undergrad in the evenings, earning deans list my last two semesters and finishing my BS in psych. My MCAT is an issue because it's been 13yrs since I've taken the general science courses and my foundation has dissolved, making it tough to build upon with test prep. Also, since daycare isn't an option, I was only able to dedicate a few hours nightly to mcat prep, and it's evident that this isn't sufficient since I scored a 496 in March and 494 in July. My content knowledge isn't there, so I would need at least a year to review the course content extensively and then redo prep to score higher, but that isn't an option at the moment due to our living situation. This leaves me with three options that I can think of, and could use some advice on what to do:
1: Apply to an online MPH program to boost my cGPA for DO school, and during the time completing the masters I'd review the general science courses and retake the mcat for a higher score. I'd love to be a DO, and was one of the people the changes to the retake policy really harmed. I'm thinking online MPH because my wife could still work and I could care for our child, and I could seriously see myself working in public health as a career so the degree wouldn't be useless if I'm unable to get into medical school, which is why I'm not looking into SMP's, and my credit hours are too high to make a postbacc work in my favor either. The downside of the MPH is that schools don't view it as favorably since it's not heavy in science coursework, and I'd be accumulating more student loan debt
2: Apply to Australian medical programs. I love the country, wouldn't mind relocating for a few years or even permanently, and their medical education seems to turn out great physicians and emphasize patient care. The pros are that their application process is straight forward and my GPA/MCAT allows me to apply to a few programs, and it's not the Caribbean. The cons being the IMG status when applying for residency in the US, and the programs I qualify for would be 4yrs in Australia instead of 2 in aus and 2 in us, leaving me limited exposure to US clinicals through an away rotation or two.
3: Apply to the Caribbean? This honestly sounds terrible due to the attrition rates and low residency placement rates. Also, since I'd be bringing my wife and daughter along to the third world island, I'd worry about their safety while I'm on campus studying. The pros being the 2x2 design and the clinical training in the US that I wouldn't get in Australia.
What would you all do? I want to make educated decisions, and think I might be a good candidate for a foreign medical education. I'm sure the door to US MD is shut, and the US DO door is nearly shut as well now that grade replacement is a thing of the past. I'm not terrified of being an IMG, and would embrace the title if they give me a chance to become a physician. I know this is a marathon, but with a family, every year I'm not in medical school and passing the responsibilities at home back to my wife is a struggle on the family's dynamic and my wife is growing weary as any SO would. Escaping this with as little extra student loan debt as possible, and being able to graduate medical school before the next decade happens and actually be able to practice medicine would be ideal. Thanks for the advice!