After SMP am I a 1st year med student or 3rd

[jackfibi]

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So, if I were to go to somewhere like Georgetown and complete the SMP in two years and then move on to med school would I start out as a first year med student and retake all of the med classes that I already took as an SMPer or would I start out as a 3rd year? What's the deal there? Does anyone know?

 

[imrep1972]

So, if I were to go to somewhere like Georgetown and complete the SMP in two years and then move on to med school would I start out as a first year med student and retake all of the med classes that I already took as an SMPer or would I start out as a 3rd year? What's the deal there? Does anyone know?

First off, the SMP at Gtown is one year, not two.

When you complete the program and move on to med school, you will be a first year. Whether you have to repeat the classes you already took or not is up to the school itself. If you stay at Georgetown, you can opt out of all the classes you passed with a minimum grade (don't know what that is offhand). Other schools will let you opt out of certain classes (I have heard that NYMC will allow you to skip a few, but I don't remember which ones) and others make you take them all all over again.

 

[relentless11]

I think you can rarely skip entire years as a med student even after taking an SMP. It might be possible to waive a course if you took it at their school during your SMP, but if it is a school outside the SMP, then they can say that it might not be up to their standards, and you'd have to take everything again. Each school has their own standards.

If you do end up waiving a course they may make you be a lab TA or something so you remain in that year's class, but still take the class in some form or another. My friend already had general pathology so didn't have to take that, but they required him to TA the lab for his class.

SMP's are great programs, but like all post-bacc/grad programs, they aren't an all encompassing "warp zone" into med school. So yea for the most part, you should probably expect to retake courses, which isn't such a bad thing since you should do well in them anyway.