Any questions...?

[YankeeCandle1141]

4th year DO student with a few days off, willing to answer any questions you may have. Just not what school I go to.

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[OrdinaryDO]

As a D.O. MS4 are you treated equally by attendings while doing rotations? Said differently, is there any bias against D.O.s that are noticable in the work area? I have talked to many MDs and most of them say to hell with people who think DOs are inferior to MDs. I have my heart set on DO schooling, but I have been curious to know this answer.

Thank you!

 

[asdf123g]

What brought you to attend the school you currently attend? What is particularly good about your program (without giving it away)?

 

[YankeeCandle1141]

As a D.O. MS4 are you treated equally by attendings while doing rotations? Said differently, is there any bias against D.O.s that are noticable in the work area? I have talked to many MDs and most of them say to hell with people who think DOs are inferior to MDs. I have my heart set on DO schooling, but I have been curious to know this answer.

Thank you!

The only bias that exists in medicine against DOs is in residency applications... And its really only evident on the upper end of the competitive spectrum. The bias isnt necessarily because of the DO degree though. IMO its because of the strength of the school.

In other words, the difference between Harvard and The Commonwealth Medical College.... Nobody calls that bias.

The difference between CCOM and some Touro satellite school...nobody calls that bias

But the difference between Pitt and LECOM... For some reason we call that a "bias".

AKA its not the degree, its the school. And even then, it doesnt matter for at least 90% of students

What brought you to attend the school you currently attend? What is particularly good about your program (without giving it away)?

Location. Pure and simple.


Your med school decision should be based on your own personal needs. If you get into only 1 school, thats your school. If you get into 30, pick the one that suits you the best.

 

[Supernatural17]

I was curious to know how much studying is actually done during your first and second year? Is there still time for other things ? Thanks

 

[asdf123g]

^how rough was the transition from Uni to medschool in terms of studying?

 

[Halcyon45]

How did you personally prepare for your interviews? What would you have liked to know before your interviews that you didn't until after?

 

[YankeeCandle1141]

How did you personally prepare for your interviews? What would you have liked to know before your interviews that you didn't until after?

Interviews are open file, or in other words, they will ask you questions about your application. The only thing you should do to prepare for interviews is to know your own application. By getting an interview, you have made the quantitate cut. Just being a human and talking comfortably will get you the qualitative portion.

I wouldn't suggest preparing for interviews except for doing some research on the school, that way if they ask why you want to attend, you can give a legit answer. Otherwise, just be cool and you are in.

^how rough was the transition from Uni to medschool in terms of studying?

Not rough. The material isnt difficult. Its the amount of material that is difficult. If you are an efficient studier, its no harder than uni. If you mess around on twitter for 2/3 of your study time, it will be much harder.

I was curious to know how much studying is actually done during your first and second year? Is there still time for other things ? Thanks

Same as above. Its pretty student dependent, but I had more free time as a med student than I did in undergrad.

 

[asdf123g]

Same as above. Its pretty student dependent, but I had more free time as a med student than I did in undergrad.

did you have a job or something during undergrad that took time away from you?
Is your medschool not mandatory lecture?

 

[DoctorKrieger]

Does the OMM end after MS2?

 

[Halcyon45]

Thanks for the interview question answer. Question, did you get any current events questions, questions about healthcare policies, etc? I'll admit, that is my weak point. I understand it is important and I will focus on them when I am in med school, but as of now... I'm a science major not really into politics.

 

[YankeeCandle1141]

Thanks for the interview question answer. Question, did you get any current events questions, questions about healthcare policies, etc? I'll admit, that is my weak point. I understand it is important and I will focus on them when I am in med school, but as of now... I'm a science major not really into politics.

Yes during 2 interviews I had questions like that. You dont want to have a studied answer. Make sure you kind of know what you are talking about and shoot from the hip.

Does the OMM end after MS2?

Kind of. You will have to study it for board exams, and depending on your school you may have an OMM rotation, but its nowhere near as annoying as the first two years.

did you have a job or something during undergrad that took time away from you?
Is your medschool not mandatory lecture?

Yes and yes.

 

[yanks26dmb]

Is it possible to set up your own rotations easily enough during third year?

If I want to be back in southern California for residency, wouldn't it make sense to try to do all my rotations down there...not just the audition rotations?

 

[Roxas]

1. What are you planning on going into?

2. Did you take USMLE as well?

3. How did you study for Step/Level 1?

4. How did you study for COMATs?

5. Any advice for a med student who only marginally passed first year? (I'm asking for a friend....)

 

[YankeeCandle1141]

Is it possible to set up your own rotations easily enough during third year?

If I want to be back in southern California for residency, wouldn't it make sense to try to do all my rotations down there...not just the audition rotations?

Setting up rotations is dependent on your school, and the hospital you want to rotate at.
There is big business at play when it comes to medical schools and their relationships with the hospitals in the area. It gets especially tricky when multiple schools are competing for the same area hospitals to rotate at.

That being said, elective rotations can be done anywhere. At some hospitals you will need to apply via VSAS, which is the visiting student application service-basically an attempt at streamlining the process by which you get electives. At some hospitals you will fill out their own application. At some you just call up the clinical education coordinator and they sort it all out over the phone.
Generally, if the hospital has an established relationship with your school, you just send a few emails or make a few calls and you are done.
If the hospital is truly an "outside" hospital (no formal relationship with the school), you will need to provide a drug test, tb test, medical records, background checks, proof of flu shot etc.

most students get their background checks/drug tests/vaccinations yada yada once per year, and just keep copies of all of them.


Thats elective rotations.

Core rotations (IM, Surgery, Peds, OB/Gyn, psych, FM, neuro) you need to complete at a hospital/office that has been approved by your school. I have never tried to do a core outside of my schools network, and i am not even sure that its possible.


If you can do all of your rotations in one location, its worth doing. You dont want to be traveling around the country between rotations. Or maybe you do. It will be expensive though.


Just dont expect to be able to do your core rotations wherever you please. There is probably a strict list somewhere on your school website that tells you where you can choose from for cores.

 

[YankeeCandle1141]

1. What are you planning on going into?

2. Did you take USMLE as well?

3. How did you study for Step/Level 1?

4. How did you study for COMATs?

5. Any advice for a med student who only marginally passed first year? (I'm asking for a friend....)

1) Internal medicine then critical care
2) no
3) i used DIT for level 1, with savarese and uworld
4) i didn't really study for COMATs. If you read every day during your rotations, COMATs are a breeze.
5) identify your weaknesses, and don't stress out too much. A big thing to realize in the early years of medical school, is that half of your class is "below average". There is nothing wrong with that. You are being compared to people who are actual geniuses. I also barely passed first year. People dont like to admit that, but its way more common than youd think.
Dont let it get you down either. Thats also way more common than people admit.


Good news is, med school gets better each year, and once you start rotations its a whole new ballgame.


The days seem long, but the years are real short.

 

[drdecaf]

Thank you YankeeCandle. Thumbs up for your willingness to help us!

 

[OrdinaryDO]

This is inspiring to read. Makes me want to start tomorrow! Haha. Thank you, YankeeCandle.

 

[yanks26dmb]

Setting up rotations is dependent on your school, and the hospital you want to rotate at.
There is big business at play when it comes to medical schools and their relationships with the hospitals in the area. It gets especially tricky when multiple schools are competing for the same area hospitals to rotate at.

That being said, elective rotations can be done anywhere. At some hospitals you will need to apply via VSAS, which is the visiting student application service-basically an attempt at streamlining the process by which you get electives. At some hospitals you will fill out their own application. At some you just call up the clinical education coordinator and they sort it all out over the phone.
Generally, if the hospital has an established relationship with your school, you just send a few emails or make a few calls and you are done.
If the hospital is truly an "outside" hospital (no formal relationship with the school), you will need to provide a drug test, tb test, medical records, background checks, proof of flu shot etc.

most students get their background checks/drug tests/vaccinations yada yada once per year, and just keep copies of all of them.


Thats elective rotations.

Core rotations (IM, Surgery, Peds, OB/Gyn, psych, FM, neuro) you need to complete at a hospital/office that has been approved by your school. I have never tried to do a core outside of my schools network, and i am not even sure that its possible.


If you can do all of your rotations in one location, its worth doing. You dont want to be traveling around the country between rotations. Or maybe you do. It will be expensive though.


Just dont expect to be able to do your core rotations wherever you please. There is probably a strict list somewhere on your school website that tells you where you can choose from for cores.

Thanks so much for the detailed feedback. I'll look into this more on my schools website.