application process advice requested

[mkh]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am a PhD student in physiology (soon to finish, I hope). I determined recently that I get much more satisfaction from working with people than with my rats. Then I decided after talking to a medical student friend that I should bite the bullet and apply to med schools for next fall instead of looking a PT schools (which had been my previous plan, didn't seem challenging/autonomous enough relative to the expense and compensation after more research). Then, someone let me on to the D.O. approach to medicine and that was very exciting because it sounds virtually identical to what I've been wanting to achieve career-wise (a holistic approach to patient care which incorporates physical manipulation techniques...just goes to show that there really is no such thing as an original idea). Aside from PT, I had also looked into massage school and training in other bodyworking techniques.
I took the MCAT in '94 (think I got a 29, didn't have time to really prepare), and am planning to take it again in Aug. Should I go ahead and request that they forward those earlier scores (which I doubt most schools will accept due to their age) to AACOMAS just so that they have a reference point while they wait for the new MCAT scores? Or will they not even consider it until they receive the new ones? My undergrad GPA was 3.3 (biomedical engineering from a top 20 university) and my graduate GPA is something like a 3.6 (there's a long story about how the scoring is relative to the medical students here--they curve--but I won't go into it unless someone wants to know). I am trying to get in touch with some local D.O.s to see what osteopathic medicine is like in practice (I've never actually known one). While I've been in grad school I haven't had/made time for much in the way of volunteering because I hadn't thought much about all this until this past year. So the extent of my clinical experience is volunteering in the ER at my undergrad univ, and a little bit of PT observation, this past year; that's about it. Does anyone know if I have a chance of getting accepted without having more clinical experience than this? I feel fairly confident that this is a career that I would really enjoy, but I am not sure how to get that across. Any ideas or advice is appreciated? Thanks.
-Kris

 

[siulrc]

Kris:
Your numbers are fine the thing that adm.comm. may have problem with is juggling of professional fields. When a student enters a PhD it is assumed that the students is totally committed to the field of interest. Getting PhD degree requires lot of effort, time and committment. Adm Comm may question how committed would you be to the medical field. In other words "would you stick with it". But the only way to find out is by applying. Submit you application early no matter if you have your MCAT scores or not. Good luck!
Keep posting.

------------------
siul

 

[AMS-007]

If you have not done so already, I advise you to visit the AACOM website (address is www.aacom.org). This site will provide some valuable info about how useful your old MCAT scores are as well info about GPAs and sizes of previous classes from 19 different Osteopathic Medical Schools.

I personally think your GPAs look fine. Your old MCAT score is also good. However, be advised you may need to take the MCAT again because at my school (NYCOM), only new scores were acceptable when I applied.

Let me know what happens by posting here.

Amit
NYCOM, Class of 2002

 

[PROFESSOR]

Your old MCAT is competitive with a PhD. The profession needs PhDs who are intersted in research as well as patient care. If you're interested at coming to the Philadelphia COllege of Osteopathic Medicine, call and talk with Deb Erdner or Carol Fox to see if you need to take the MCAT again. Also, the application is on-line. I would suggest doing it on-line. It takes two weeks to get the on-line application to the schools while it takes about eight weeks to get the paper applications to the school.
Good luck on in your application.
Wm. Thomas Crow, D.O.
Assistant Professor

 

[PROFESSOR]

I checked with the admission's office here, and the preference is for an MCAT score that is no older than 3 years.