4th Year DO student, ask me anything...

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I see. Ty for your helpful input. So basically this is all information I would need to ask my advisor week 1 of medical school?

No, it's all stuff you'll pick up on as you go. In week 1 of medical school you should practice drinking from a firehose.

In all seriousness, your choice of specialty is likely to change, perhaps even multiple times. I must've flirted with like 5 or 6 choices during the past 4 years. The main thing you'll want to know, and you'll learn this along the way, is which fields are going to be super hard to get into (Derm, Rad-Onc, Plastic Surgery etc), and what you want to look for in a program once you make your final decision on what to go into.

All of this stuff just comes to you as you immerse yourself in the medical establishment as a Med-Student, don't stress over it now.

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No, it's all stuff you'll pick up on as you go. In week 1 of medical school you should practice drinking from a firehose.

In all seriousness, your choice of specialty is likely to change, perhaps even multiple times. I must've flirted with like 5 or 6 choices during the past 4 years. The main thing you'll want to know, and you'll learn this along the way, is which fields are going to be super hard to get into (Derm, Rad-Onc, Plastic Surgery etc), and what you want to look for in a program once you make your final decision on what to go into.

All of this stuff just comes to you as you immerse yourself in the medical establishment as a Med-Student, don't stress over it now.

I see, well I like being "active" and being hands on. All my hobbies revolve around using hand dexterity (I am even employed as a phlebotomist) and I want to combine that with medicine. So atm I"m leaning towards surgery,
but like you said, it may change quite a bit.

I have no real interest in dermatology at the moment and plastic surgery either. I almost feel like some people go into those two because of "prestige" and other reasons that should not be considered when choosing something
you are doing for the rest of your life, but thats just my opinion.

Again thank you for your helpful input.
 
I see, well I like being "active" and being hands on. All my hobbies revolve around using hand dexterity (I am even employed as a phlebotomist) and I want to combine that with medicine. So atm I"m leaning towards surgery,
but like you said, it may change quite a bit.

I have no real interest in dermatology at the moment and plastic surgery either. I almost feel like some people go into those two because of "prestige" and other reasons that should not be considered when choosing something
you are doing for the rest of your life, but thats just my opinion.

Again thank you for your helpful input.

Plastic Surgery and Dermatology are certainly thought of as "prestigious", but they are both also incredibly awesome fields with great compensation, cool technology, fun cases, and patients who really appreciate the services. Notice I said plastic surgery not "cosmetic" surgery, cosmetics would be hell.

I did rotations in both plastics and derm this year as electives and I think I could be really happy doing breast cancer reconstruction for my career. That's a rewarding job with patients who really really appreciate the services the surgeons provide. I was initially quite interested in Oncology and during my electives in Oncology the breast cancer patients would go on and on about their plastic surgeons and the reconstruction work, much more than the Oncologists or their current status as cancer patients. It's not that I need praise from the patients, but it's clear that reconstruction surgery was very important to a lot of women in that situation, and it would be rewarding to be able to provide that to them.

It's good if you've got something in mind, just keep it open too. I never saw myself liking OBGyn, but I did, and it's what steered me to Family Medicine over Internal Medicine (FM doc's can do a bit of OB, and tend to do more Gyn procedures than IM-PCP's).
 
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Plastic Surgery and Dermatology are certainly thought of as "prestigious", but they are both also incredibly awesome fields with great compensation, cool technology, fun cases, and patients who really appreciate the services. Notice I said plastic surgery not "cosmetic" surgery, cosmetics would be hell.

I did rotations in both plastics and derm this year as electives and I think I could be really happy doing breast cancer reconstruction for my career. That's a rewarding job with patients who really really appreciate the services the surgeons provide. I was initially quite interested in Oncology and during my electives in Oncology the breast cancer patients would go on and on about their plastic surgeons and the reconstruction work, much more than the Oncologists or their current status as cancer patients. It's not that I need praise from the patients, but it's clear that reconstruction surgery was very important to a lot of women in that situation, and it would be rewarding to be able to provide that to them.

It's good if you've got something in mind, just keep it open too. I never saw myself liking OBGyn, but I did, and it's what steered me to Family Medicine over Internal Medicine (FM doc's can do a bit of OB, and tend to do more Gyn procedures than IM-PCP's).

Interesting. Very good sir.

Tell me, what about invasive cardiology? That requires 3 year IM residency, 2 year cardiology fellowship and then what?
 
Interesting. Very good sir.

Tell me, what about invasive cardiology? That requires 3 year IM residency, 2 year cardiology fellowship and then what?

3 year IM residency, 3 year Cardio fellowship, and I think 1+ years of additional interventional training.

Cardiology reimbursement is declining every year now, it's not going to be that sweet of a gig for too much longer.

Plus cardiologists work some of the longest hours I encountered in my 4 years of Med-School. On my rotation it was ~120 hours per week. No thanks!
 
3 year IM residency, 3 year Cardio fellowship, and I think 1+ years of additional interventional training.

Cardiology reimbursement is declining every year now, it's not going to be that sweet of a gig for too much longer.

Plus cardiologists work some of the longest hours I encountered in my 4 years of Med-School. On my rotation it was ~120 hours per week. No thanks!

I wasn't aware that cardiologists made a lot of money compared to other specialties. I've just heard that if you cant be a surgeon, invasive radiology and invasive cardiology are other close 2nds "kind of"
 
I wasn't aware that cardiologists made a lot of money compared to other specialties. I've just heard that if you cant be a surgeon, invasive radiology and invasive cardiology are other close 2nds "kind of"

I wouldn't call them close 2nd's. I'd say OBGyn is the closest "2nd" to general surgery, it's still surgery just of the female reproductive tract.

Interventional Rads, and Cardiology are in a league of their own, and yes Interventional Cardiology can pay quite a lot. But you gotta be willing to put in a lot of hours to get it.

It's easier to become a surgeon than an interventional cardiologist in terms of straightforwardness of the path of training. Length of training is similar overall, but as a general surgeon you do a 5 year residency, then maybe tack on a fellowship year or two if there's something you want to focus on.

Cardiology you've got to get into the best IM program possible, which isn't a walk in the park anymore. Then you've got to hope you can get the opportunities it takes to become competitive for Cardiology fellowship, then you have to hope you actually get a Cardiology fellowship, then you have to actually do a cardiology fellowship.

I thought at one time it might be cool, but having seen it up close, there's no way on earth I could see myself doing it now. But I'm me, not you; so like I said before, keep an open mind.
 
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What are some study strategies that work best for you especially in medical school?
 
Be confident, and not only sell yourself, but make sure to have the school sell themselves to you. It's you that's going to be paying them $100K+ in tuition, so you've got to be comfortable going there just as much as they've got to be comfortable admitting you.

Make sure you ask the interviewers why you should pick their school.

Also, be gracious, and polite TO EVERYONE! The entire day is part of the interview; you are being watched and evaluated from the moment you set foot on campus for the interview.
i feel like that could come off wrong
 
What are some study strategies that work best for you especially in medical school?

Ty for the help and info SLC.

I also have the same question as the poster above me as well.

I fear that if I do get into medical school, my strategies used in college will not work as well. (had a 3.7 in college)
 
What about orthopedic surgery? Is that considered a hard match for DO's as well?
 
Ty for the help and info SLC.

I also have the same question as the poster above me as well.

I fear that if I do get into medical school, my strategies used in college will not work as well. (had a 3.7 in college)
Oh you can answer part of my question as well. What are you study strategies to earn a 3.7 in undergrad?
 
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Oh you can answer part of my question as well. What are you study strategies to earn a 3.7 in undergrad?

Well, I am not super smart like some of these 37 ACT, 5.6 gpa, 48 MCAT kids, but basically just study a week before your hard science classes and Thoroughly understand and read the chapters pertinent to your classes.

I've been out of college for 3 years now, but thats all I did:)
 
What are some study strategies that work best for you especially in medical school?

I made it a point to focus on the big picture in everything. "Is there some overreaching concept that I can latch onto" is the question I asked myself over and over again.

Also, I studied with groups. This can be great or it can be a bad thing, you gotta pick a group that gets down to business because it's easy to waste time BS'ing rather than studying. I tried to get a group together that had people with different strengths and weaknesses, and we assigned eachother topics to teach to the group. After lecture was over for the day we'd meet for a few hours and each of us would lead the discussion on one or two lecture reviews. It worked really really well once I got with a solid group.

Also, I started to realize that I was re-learning a lot of the same ideas applied to a new organ system much of the time. That realization made studying much more efficient.

And my school gave us "objectives" basically a huge checklist of the topics that each professor would pick test questions from. It usually consisted of a set of 10-15 questions per lecture or so. We started out using those to guide our study, but eventually they became more time consuming than they were worth, so we bagged them and just focused on learning everything we could from each lecture. We'd go around the group and talk it through, and if something hadn't been discussed that a group member knew about he/she would take a moment to teach it to the rest of us.

It's all about finding a system that works well for you (whatever that system is), and that allows you to be efficient. Your biggest struggle will be staying on top of things.
 
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I have a question, can you redirect me to your stats and the undergrad college you went to?

In the forums, or just restate it.
Thanks

I am considering DO/MD and you seem very knowledgable in the places I have not been.
 
2 Questions-

What seems to be the big one during interviews- Why osteopathic medicine?

AACOM mentions preventive medicine as a distinguishing feature of osteopathic medicine. As a future applicant with an UG degree in Public Health and an MPH preventive medicine appeals to me, but I'm curious about your experience with that. Have you noticed an emphasis on preventive medicine during your medical education? (vs. allopathic medicine, if you can speak to that.)

Thanks!
 
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How did you like the Oregon CHC? And how did you like the city of Portland and living there for 3 years?
 
Thanks for the incredibly helpful thread!
How did you study during your preclinical years? Where you apart of study groups? Also How did you find learning OMM correlated with the rest of the curriculum?
 
Did you ever encounter individuals on rotations that were prejudiced against DO students? I.e. simply because you were a DO student, they looked down on you or thought lesser of you than of your MD-pursuing counterparts?
 
I've asked this a lot and always gotten extremely positive feedback on it. You can't do it in a standoffish way. More like you have to ask them why they think you should pick their school.
I asked my interviewers why THEY chose to work or study at the school. Same kind of question but seemed better that way. Haha
 
I have a question, can you redirect me to your stats and the undergrad college you went to?

In the forums, or just restate it.
Thanks

I am considering DO/MD and you seem very knowledgable in the places I have not been.

3.2 cGPA, 2.7 sGPA (crazy right?)
MCAT was 30
Went to the University of Utah
 
Did you ever encounter individuals on rotations that were prejudiced against DO students? I.e. simply because you were a DO student, they looked down on you or thought lesser of you than of your MD-pursuing counterparts?

Funny enough I didn't encounter much pushback. And my residency program (a very prestigious ACGME institution and top 20 medical school) said they were very excited and interested in having DO's.

The one time I did catch flak for being a DO was on an internal medicine rotation at an ACGME residency program. I caught it from one of the interns on my team, who was a DO herself and seemed to have some major self loathing going on. Apparently she felt like the residency program was beneath her and she only landed there because she was a DO, she hated DO students because she felt they were dumber than MD students and that she could have matched better if she was an MD. Personally she could have matched better if she wasn't so painful to be around.

She tried to make my life pretty miserable for that month, and she was unfortunately largely successful. That was the one month where I fantasizes about quitting medical school. All my other rotations were with 99% MD's and they were awesome!
 
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SLC, thanks for starting this thread and being so helpful.

What do you think about the rate of proliferation of osteopathic medical schools and the difficulty some schools already appear to have in arranging suitable rotations for their students? If you had to apply now, so you'd be the first class going through the all-ACGME match (sorry if that's not the right way to describe it, but I imagine you know what I mean), would you be worried because year after year there will be an increasing supply of DO grads flooding the market? In other words, do you foresee osteopathic med school grads having a really tough time in a few years, much the way law school grads have been having a tough time lately?
 
How did you like the Oregon CHC? And how did you like the city of Portland and living there for 3 years?

Oregon CHC was awesome. Good to great rotations, incredible RDME, and Portland is the coolest town I've lived in. I have big plans to head back there after residency if I can find the right job.
 
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Funny enough I didn't encounter much pushback. And my residency program (a very prestigious ACGME institution and top 20 medical school) said they were very excited and interested in having DO's.

The one time I did catch flak for being a DO was on an internal medicine rotation at an ACGME residency program. I caught it from one of the interns on my team, who was a DO herself and seemed to have some major self loathing going on. Apparently she felt like the residency program was beneath her and she only landed there because she was a DO, she hated DO students because she felt they were dumber than MD students and that she could have matched better if she was an MD. Personally she could have matched better if she wasn't so painful to be around.

She tried to make my life pretty miserable for that month, and she was unfortunately largely successful. That was the one month where I fantasizes about quitting medical school. All my other rotations were with 99% MD's and they were awesome!

Interesting that an intern actually has the level of authority to make a med student feel miserable. But nontheless, this was the sort of thing I expected and think one needs to be prepared to face. I definitely wouldn't expect frequent discrimination, but pockets here and there seem likely to be encountered. Really glad you pushed through that - and see? Now you're an inspiration. ;)

Also wanted to ask you about the ACGME/AOA combination. How does this affect things? Will there be any clear way to distinguish between DO friendly/unfriendly programs? Could one simply go off the old AOA list to determine which programs are most accepting of DOs? Or do you think there could be a shift due to more MD representation in the applicant pool for pre-AOA programs?
 
Funny enough I didn't encounter much pushback. And my residency program (a very prestigious ACGME institution and top 20 medical school) said they were very excited and interested in having DO's.

The one time I did catch flak for being a DO was on an internal medicine rotation at an ACGME residency program. I caught it from one of the interns on my team, who was a DO herself and seemed to have some major self loathing going on. Apparently she felt like the residency program was beneath her and she only landed there because she was a DO, she hated DO students because she felt they were dumber than MD students and that she could have matched better if she was an MD. Personally she could have matched better if she wasn't so painful to be around.

She tried to make my life pretty miserable for that month, and she was unfortunately largely successful. That was the one month where I fantasizes about quitting medical school. All my other rotations were with 99% MD's and they were awesome!

It is funny that when people do face discrimination, it comes from their own kind. Such a pity.
 
2 Questions-

What seems to be the big one during interviews- Why osteopathic medicine?

AACOM mentions preventive medicine as a distinguishing feature of osteopathic medicine. As a future applicant with an UG degree in Public Health and an MPH preventive medicine appeals to me, but I'm curious about your experience with that. Have you noticed an emphasis on preventive medicine during your medical education? (vs. allopathic medicine, if you can speak to that.)

Thanks!

If I'm being completely honest, the only 'real' reason I see preventative medicine emphasized in DO school is because there's a huge emphasis on primary care. It's not something unique to DO schools, it's just that DO schools seem much more primary care oriented than MD schools from what I can gather.

Sure, there are the "osteopathic tenets" which stress the body's ability to heal itself and that structure influences function, basically implying that OMM has the potential to prevent disease, but nobody really practices that way in real life.
 
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Thanks for the incredibly helpful thread!
How did you study during your preclinical years? Where you apart of study groups? Also How did you find learning OMM correlated with the rest of the curriculum?

I covered my study strategy in a post earlier on this page. As for the logistics of it, I spent on average 4 or so hours each weekday (after class) and like 6-12 hours on Saturdays. I tried to take Sunday's off as much as possible.

As for OMM, they tried to sync OMM lectures with the organ systems we were learning our main lecture series; but that isn't always possible. Still OMM didn't really take away from my ability to learn the other material effectively if that's what you are wondering.
 
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Interesting that an intern actually has the level of authority to make a med student feel miserable. But nontheless, this was the sort of thing I expected and think one needs to be prepared to face. I definitely wouldn't expect frequent discrimination, but pockets here and there seem likely to be encountered. Really glad you pushed through that - and see? Now you're an inspiration. ;)

Also wanted to ask you about the ACGME/AOA combination. How does this affect things? Will there be any clear way to distinguish between DO friendly/unfriendly programs? Could one simply go off the old AOA list to determine which programs are most accepting of DOs? Or do you think there could be a shift due to more MD representation in the applicant pool for pre-AOA programs?

I don't think I'm being overly optimistic in saying that I think the residency merger is going to be a net positive for DO students. Right now we have two accrediting bodies for GME in the USA. The ACGME (MD), and the AOA (DO).

If you strip it down to its most basic, the ACGME exists to accredit and QC residency training for USMD's and USMD's only. It's fortunate for us DO applicants that the ACGME programs let us apply and participate in their training, but there's no requirement that individual programs are open to us. Because of this there are a number of ACGME programs right now with formal "no DO" policy; they are few, but they exist.

Now on the other hand, the AOA does not allow USMD's to apply for AOA residencies. This is because the residencies reportedly require proficiency in OMM to complete (though in many cases that's not really true). Knowing this, it's clear to see that U.S. dO's have had it pretty good with respect to GME options these past few decades.

In the next few years, the ACGME will incorporate the AOA residency programs, and there will be no more AOA residencies. (From here on, I'm dipping purely into my personal opinion and speculation)

What many of my fellow DO student colleagues fear is that once the AOA residency accreditation system goes away the DO's will lose their safe haven of residencies that they don't have to compete with MD's for and will suddenly have a much harder time matching. Now I don't expect things to necessarily get easier, but I fully expect more ACGME programs to become even more DO friendly.

Think about it: at that point the ACGME will no longer be able to accredit GME for USMD's and USMD's only; they will be our accrediting body as well. It will be their responsibility to represent DO's as well as MD's at the GME level. This can't happen while they allow programs to have formal "no DO" policies.

In my opinion, what you as future DO students should fear above all else is the expansion of DO schools without the expansion of GME. Tons of new DO schools are opening, but they aren't opening residencies to accommodate these new students. Right now there are enough extra residencies out there (we still have a significant number of foreign grads matching every year), but this can and will change if the GME system doesn't expand some soon. You guys could be left without a residency training program after graduation because there might not be enough spots for everyone. I have no idea when that will happen, it's been predicted for a while now, but it will happen eventually if we don't get more residencies opening.
 
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SLC, thanks for starting this thread and being so helpful.

What do you think about the rate of proliferation of osteopathic medical schools and the difficulty some schools already appear to have in arranging suitable rotations for their students? If you had to apply now, so you'd be the first class going through the all-ACGME match (sorry if that's not the right way to describe it, but I imagine you know what I mean), would you be worried because year after year there will be an increasing supply of DO grads flooding the market? In other words, do you foresee osteopathic med school grads having a really tough time in a few years, much the way law school grads have been having a tough time lately?

Yes and no, see above.

Basically I'd be worried, but not because I was a DO. I'd be worried because the applicants: positions ratio is creeping closer to 1:1 each year. The new system should (has to) represent DO's equally vs. MD's; the ACGME will be our GME system just like it is the MD's system now.

If anyone feels a lot of hurt from this, it's FMG's and USIMG's. Thing pretty much suck for them already, but they will only get worse. You'd have to be crazy to head to the Caribbean now! Even crazier than you had to be before.
 
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What were your ECs?

Worked/volunteered at a free clinic for a couple years. Did some very high level stuff that really shines on my app.

Volunteered with a summer camp for kids with cancer. 3 summers.

Went on a humanitarian medical deployment with the military, as a civilian. Translated and worked in an EMS and teaching role. 2 months in the summer right before medical school.
 
I had a question in regards to applying for residency. Of course I haven't even started my first year yet, but I was wondering is applying to residency similar to applying to med school ie will take tons of money and time?
Also is there any benefit to getting connections at certain hospitals that you want to do your residency at to increasing your chance of getting in during clinical rotations. My knowledge of the whole med school process is very limited. Thanks!
 
I had a question in regards to applying for residency. Of course I haven't even started my first year yet, but I was wondering is applying to residency similar to applying to med school ie will take tons of money and time?
Also is there any benefit to getting connections at certain hospitals that you want to do your residency at to increasing your chance of getting in during clinical rotations. My knowledge of the whole med school process is very limited. Thanks!

Yes it is a lot like applying to med-school, it costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. You will be flying around the country interviewing so the flight costs will add up quickly. I think I spent nearly $10K this year.

There can be benefit to rotating and establishing connections at places you want to be. But residency applications are cutthroat and I'd advise you to take any connections you make lightly as the program will take the people they want whether that includes you and your connections made or not.
 
Yes it is a lot like applying to med-school, it costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. You will be flying around the country interviewing so the flight costs will add up quickly. I think I spent nearly $10K this year.

There can be benefit to rotating and establishing connections at places you want to be. But residency applications are cutthroat and I'd advise you to take any connections you make lightly as the program will take the people they want whether that includes you and your connections made or not.

Ohh wow. I am definitely going to need a job sometime during medical school! Thank you for the information.
 
Hi. I am graduating undergraduate this summer 2015 but grades(2.5 ugpa similar sgpa) are not well due to family problems. I was thinking about studying for my MCAT, retaking prereqs for one year, then retaking a couple of higher level bio courses another year. Then applying to DO program program within 2 years for starting 2017. If I do well on MCAT and replacements, do you think they will even give me a chance? I know that I have what it takes!
 
You said you were above average in your classes correct?
You had a 2.7 sGPA and got into med school? I think you just made my day. I have a 3.0 sGPA right now and 3.6 cGPA and I'm retaking chem 1 that I got a D in but that retake will be after I apply.
I actually think I might have a shot right now. Thank you for sharing
 
You had a 2.7 sGPA and got into med school? I think you just made my day. I have a 3.0 sGPA right now and 3.6 cGPA and I'm retaking chem 1 that I got a D in but that retake will be after I apply.
I actually think I might have a shot right now. Thank you for sharing

He probably had an interesting application.

Not many people with a 2.7 get in.
 
He probably had an interesting application.

Not many people with a 2.7 get in.

I did have an interesting application, very unique and very focused on a certain area of medical service. I did some things for EC's that most people only ever dream of.

That being said, I have a few classmates who had similar apps to mine. We all got in and did well in school.
 
Hi. I am graduating undergraduate this summer 2015 but grades(2.5 ugpa similar sgpa) are not well due to family problems. I was thinking about studying for my MCAT, retaking prereqs for one year, then retaking a couple of higher level bio courses another year. Then applying to DO program program within 2 years for starting 2017. If I do well on MCAT and replacements, do you think they will even give me a chance? I know that I have what it takes!

If you do well enough, you will be given a chance (you'll get interviewed for school). Work as hard as possible till you apply, show them that you have what it takes.
 
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Hello everyone, current 4th year student here. I'm on my second to last rotation, things have slowed way down, and I'd like to offer up answers and advice for anyone who wants it.

A little about me:

- Former underdog applicant (from the original underdogs thread)
- Did quite well in med-school and on boards
- Married with kids
- Applied

SLC
3.2, 2.7, 30 (12B, 11V, 7P)

230's, 570's (step/level 1)
230's, 520's (step/level 2)
I did have an interesting application, very unique and very focused on a certain area of medical service. I did some things for EC's that most people only ever dream of.

That being said, I have a few classmates who had similar apps to mine. We all got in and did well in school.

I have a pretty different application to, can i ask you what you meant by unique?
 
I have a pretty different application to, can i ask you what you meant by unique?

I mean that I did things like lead high level healthcare advocacy and public health projects as an undergrad, hundreds of hours of shadowing, medical missions abroad, etc.

My EC's were what got me in, no doubt about it.
 
Do you have any advice on D.O. students trying to obtain research experience, or if it is even worth it? I'm aiming for EM vs. GS. I imagine it is particularly hard for SOMA students, but you might have ideas since D.O. schools are usually in the middle of nowhere

Did you match where you wanted?

I didn't worry too much about research, it's not really something I am that interested in, plus I also have a family so time management was an issue.

That being said, I have a friend in the current M1 class who found a summer research opportunity with the MD program in the city the CHC is in. I really think this will be good when residency application season comes around. My advice would be to search for those types of opportunities. Also remember that you can also write up case reports and get them published as a student. It's not research, but it is still scholarly activity that is a good idea for interested students.

As far as my match, I couldn't be happier ;) I graduated on Friday, and I'll move out to the new digs and begin residency in the next few weeks!
 
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I mean that I did things like lead high level healthcare advocacy and public health projects as an undergrad, hundreds of hours of shadowing, medical missions abroad, etc.

My EC's were what got me in, no doubt about it.
Yeah, i have things like that. My grades have been **** bec of severe financial issues but my ec's are phenomenal. Jokes aside. My pre med advisors keep pushing me to apply because they insist the ECs speak volumes.
 
Yeah, i have things like that. My grades have been **** bec of severe financial issues but my ec's are phenomenal. Jokes aside. My pre med advisors keep pushing me to apply because they insist the ECs speak volumes.

You might give it a try then, I will say that applying with poor grades is no picnic, but it worked out well for me. I never had to be a re-applicant. Perhaps you'll be the same? It's really tough to predict.

Either way, if you don't get interviewed/accepted, you know exactly what to address before applying again.
 
You might give it a try then, I will say that applying with poor grades is no picnic, but it worked out well for me. I never had to be a re-applicant. Perhaps you'll be the same? It's really tough to predict.

Either way, if you don't get interviewed/accepted, you know exactly what to address before applying again.
Thats true. I really want to apply this cycle and i feel i should boost up my sGPA but somehow my ECs etc might help me a lot. Its just an inner conflict i need to deal with this summer. Thanks for responding though- i appreciate it!
 
What apps do you recommend for note taking or just MED school in general? I've heard netters flash cards are gold
 
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