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Any thoughts?
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Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, Puerto Rican medical schools are U.S. Medical schools and as such they are accredited by the LCME.What school is an American MD school but is not in the US?? That doesn't sound familiar to me... if it's truly a foreign/Caribbean school, I would take the year off and reapply since you really didn't give the application cycle your best effort (not completing secondaries, etc).
Also, get used to med schools costing a fortune. Some are reasonable, but many are around $50k per year (and that's not counting the additional loans you'll take out for cost of living). I graduated with $380k, along with many of my classmates. (Of that, about $40k was interest I accrued during school).
Bottom line- if you do not 100% want to go to medical school, DONT DO IT. At the very least take the year off and reapply next year.
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Absolutely not a guaranteemaking north of 400K
I wouldn't worry too much about the money. If you enter a non primary care field (likely as a MD student) your gonna be making north of 400K when its all said and done. The math gets tricky when you bring family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics into the picture, as they tend to make high 100's low 200Ks gross, so like low 100s after taxes.
............
You have a golden ticket the likes that most people will never get. DO students have a silver ticket, and Pod students have a bronze ticket. Sometimes, we have to take what life gives us and make it the best. Take this golden opportunity and do great works.
what was the turning point for you, that made you decide that you would attend ?I had most of the same thoughts you have, and seriously considered turning it down. Im looking at almost 400k in debt. It helped to make mock budgets to see what paying that off looked like if I made 200k, 250, 300 etc. After first year I'm really glad I stuck with it.
Maybe its just because its summer and i know that once i matriculate things will get serious, or maybe i just need a place to talk things through, but lately i feel i have been in a tough position where i know many would be grateful.
Anyways, I recently got accepted to medical school a few months ago and lately i have been having second thoughts. The medical school is located in Puerto Rico, but it is an American allopathic school (not IMG). Due to not finishing most of my secondaries ( a lot happened during the application cycle), i was not eligible for interviews for my in state schools. Thus, i am holding my one and only acceptance. Upon acceptance i was definitely relieved to have a place to continue studying and follow my career path.
However, a couple months after i found out that tuition went up for the school by a lot, and it was this increase that began this downward spiral of doubt and rethinking. The increase in tuition brought serious concern as i began to contemplate my life after medical school, and even post residency. With tuition clocking in at 230,000 for all 4 years of medical school, I was absolutely terrified. This outrageous number did not even include cost of living such as food, transportation, books, supplies, etc. It was only tuition. This def made me second guess my decision to be a physician, especially since that debt will look to be something more like 270-300 K in debt after all 4 years depending on how much help i received from my parents, and the living expenses i acquire from living in PR. During residency the number could further increase as interest continues to accrue. I then began to think about how i would even manage paying off this debt in a reasonable amount of time, while maintaining a family, saving for retirement, a house, etc. Its as if the reality of medical school really sunk in, and now i just have this constant fear that i will be miserable during medical school, will have no time for myself and others, and that it will continue on after medical school because of the amount of debt I would be caring. I fear that I could lose myself in medical school, due to how much sacrifice, time, and energy it takes.
Its weird because before the tuition raise i was set on going, but it was that raise in number that forced me to really think about this decision and not dive in as some naive young adult. I was not thinking about my life post residency, or how to manage debt or anything. I just assumed everything would work itself out, but seriously the tuition for this school is absurd.
I am only 21 so i was headed towards the path of taking a gap year to re-think if i really want to be a physician, and re-applying if i decide i still want to. However, many say this is not smart as re-applying is no guarantee that you will get in again, especially since schools can see that i have been accepted to a school before. Physicians have advised me to go if i really want a career in medicine, but a rushed decision to attend could also cause regret. Ive heard many cases where students wished they had taken a gap year, just because they have all their life to attend medical school and be a doctor.
Any thoughts?
A few things. When looking at paying off debt, even if I only make 200k, I'll likely be able to pay off the debt in 5 years while still taking home more than my dad made when I was a kid. It's not great, but I'm not very materialistic so making my peace with it is preferable to bailing on a career I was (and still am) confident that I'll like. Unless your biggest motivator, by far, is $$ AND you actually can get into a different high paying career, debt shouldn't be a deciding factor imo.what was the turning point for you, that made you decide that you would attend ?
Im going through a similar thing, but with podiatry
DO students have a silver ticket
Maybe its just because its summer and i know that once i matriculate things will get serious, or maybe i just need a place to talk things through, but lately i feel i have been in a tough position where i know many would be grateful.
Anyways, I recently got accepted to medical school a few months ago and lately i have been having second thoughts. The medical school is located in Puerto Rico, but it is an American allopathic school (not IMG). Due to not finishing most of my secondaries ( a lot happened during the application cycle), i was not eligible for interviews for my in state schools. Thus, i am holding my one and only acceptance. Upon acceptance i was definitely relieved to have a place to continue studying and follow my career path.
However, a couple months after i found out that tuition went up for the school by a lot, and it was this increase that began this downward spiral of doubt and rethinking. The increase in tuition brought serious concern as i began to contemplate my life after medical school, and even post residency. With tuition clocking in at 230,000 for all 4 years of medical school, I was absolutely terrified. This outrageous number did not even include cost of living such as food, transportation, books, supplies, etc. It was only tuition. This def made me second guess my decision to be a physician, especially since that debt will look to be something more like 270-300 K in debt after all 4 years depending on how much help i received from my parents, and the living expenses i acquire from living in PR. During residency the number could further increase as interest continues to accrue. I then began to think about how i would even manage paying off this debt in a reasonable amount of time, while maintaining a family, saving for retirement, a house, etc. Its as if the reality of medical school really sunk in, and now i just have this constant fear that i will be miserable during medical school, will have no time for myself and others, and that it will continue on after medical school because of the amount of debt I would be caring. I fear that I could lose myself in medical school, due to how much sacrifice, time, and energy it takes.
Its weird because before the tuition raise i was set on going, but it was that raise in number that forced me to really think about this decision and not dive in as some naive young adult. I was not thinking about my life post residency, or how to manage debt or anything. I just assumed everything would work itself out, but seriously the tuition for this school is absurd.
I am only 21 so i was headed towards the path of taking a gap year to re-think if i really want to be a physician, and re-applying if i decide i still want to. However, many say this is not smart as re-applying is no guarantee that you will get in again, especially since schools can see that i have been accepted to a school before. Physicians have advised me to go if i really want a career in medicine, but a rushed decision to attend could also cause regret. Ive heard many cases where students wished they had taken a gap year, just because they have all their life to attend medical school and be a doctor.
Any thoughts?
I believe AACOMAS is starting to ask if you've been accepted to another school.1.) This dates way back to Allo so I feel @LizzyM @Goro and @gyngyn are the ones to answer this for you but last time I had this question, I came away with the assumption that declining a US MD acceptance is a red-flag and that many people drop out post-interview day at their safeties they no longer want to attend.
2.) Went to PR for a week's vacation. PR is a decent area to live at a reasonable cost. It's not NYC/SF/etc. for living costs nor is it Caribbean quality of life which I've heard is abysmal. A walk down the street was just like one in my home neighborhood.
3.) Don't take this as an attack. When you say "due to not finishing your secondaries" and then go on to talk about an "outrageous" tuition it just demonstrates bad judgment. In my opinion, if tuition was a big enough issue to reject an acceptance it should have been a big enough issue to figure out a way to turn in more secondaries. More importantly, your rationale probably won't get any respect from AdComms looking at your application.
So what do you do? I'd say go to medical school now. You've been accepted to a credible US MD school (some people forget PR is US territory). Estimating conservatively, you may 200K as an attending for an extra year vs. 25K*4 and lets conservatively estimate interest causes the difference to double. All in all, both paths break even. BUT, this assumes you get in the following year. The Plan B that I endorse is taking the gap year but then applying next year with lots of DO schools. To the best of my knowledge the admissions processes still don't share information (@Goro ) so you'd be safe with DO schools even if all MD schools don't bite.
I wouldn't worry too much about the money. If you enter a non primary care field (likely as a MD student) your gonna be making north of 400K when its all said and done. The math gets tricky when you bring family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics into the picture, as they tend to make high 100's low 200Ks gross, so like low 100s after taxes.
Im going through a similar thing, but with podiatry, doubting wether or not I should go. Ultimately, you have achieved what others, like myself and a majority of DO students, only have dreamed of. You have earned this. Someone on that committee thought that you would be an excellent doctor one day. Someone in admissions thought you had what it takes to literally save lives.
You have a golden ticket the likes that most people will never get. DO students have a silver ticket, and Pod students have a bronze ticket. Sometimes, we have to take what life gives us and make it the best. Take this golden opportunity and do great works.
The only fields where I'd say 400K is a reasonable bet is Surgical Subspecialties like Orthopedics, Urology, ENT, Plastics, Rad Onc, and possibly Derm as well. Others include fields that at PGY6+, in rural areas, or not the typical situation. IM/Family/Peds are definitely not the only ones.
Cardio, Gas (although not sure with all the CRNAs running around anymore), ophthalmology, and others make 400K+
You're saying a lot of things here that have no basis in reality.
For example, internist hospitalists can routinely make 300k (depending on LOCATION)
And overall your post sugar coats the OP's bleak financial outlook. It's not a small venture. Try reading white coat investor's blog for a while and plan what your best and worse case scenarios might be. At least enter into medicine (and your debt) with both eyes open.
If not on AACOMAS (yet), it is definitely seen on (most) secondaries.I believe AACOMAS is starting to ask if you've been accepted to another school.
We have very little information regarding the success of US IMG's who attended South American medical schools. There were an insufficient number to be included in the only NRMP publication on the topic. If OP hopes to work in the US, attending a US medical school (including a Puerto Rican school) confers a considerable advantage.Hey, so I was a similar situation as you. I was doing undergrad in the USA and was getting deeply into debt. I always knew that I wanted to get into medicine reason why doing undergrad seemed almost like a waste of time (knowing that in most other countries undergrad doesn't exist...you go straight into what you want to study).
Considering all these options I decided that I was going to study medicine and not get into insane debt. Thus I decided to move to Argentina to study medicine. Here medicine is tuition free and of high quality. The medical school is 7 years during which you complete whatever you would have done in undergrad + the med school content. In addition, you have contact with patients from the first day as a student. Honestly, it was the best decision I have ever made. I am now finishing med school and I feel ready to be a doctor. Now I am not writing this post to convince you to come to Argentina. I am writing this post in order for you to have a clear notion that the education system in the US is severely flawed and many times out of reach for anybody not upper class (unless you are willing to get into debt and have years taken in order to pay it off). Because of this severe flaw, you might want to take advantage of other paths less traveled.
However, do know that if you study in another country you won't have as much preparation for the steps and thus it will become a harder step. In addition, and very logically, the US favors its own students. All this makes the process of returning to work in the US harder, yet not impossible.
Everything has its advantages and disadvantages, just be aware that you have more options if you truly want to be a doctor that go outside the limits of USA certified schools.
As for the gap year, I think it's a brilliant idea. I wish I would have taken a gap year to really assess where and if I wanted to study and also if I was ready to go in. I only really became convinced that medicine was the right choice I made into the 3rd year of med school, having been convinced before would have spared me a lot of emotional uncertainty. There is not shame in deciding that you need to mature a little more before med school since it literally consumes everything. Again, I wish i would have taken a gap year since it would have put everything into perspective and give me time to enjoy and be a kid before the MASSIVE responsibility that is medical school.
Whatever it is that you choose, you will do great. Just weigh your options and make an educated decision.
Best of luck.