Ask Me Anything - I'm Internal Medicine and Fellowship Bound. I was a low-caliber student and had many struggles along the way but made it

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Hi everyone,

I think there's always AMAs out there but few people are willing to be upfront about things

I was a non-trad student. I had a lot of struggles in life in general. I went to a decent University of California undergrad originally thinking of a different career and graduated with a 3.0. I worked a few jobs and along the way I found out I wanted to do medicine. I did post-bacc at a community college and had like a 3.7 there. I took the MCAT and got a 28 (this is around 505 for you guys). I went to Western. I wasn't a great student. I failed my infectious disease class, graduated in the 4th quartile, passed step 1 with like a 205 or so then all three levels with 450ish score. I wanted to go into Neurology but failed to match and got into my backup IM, which was actually a blessing because I enjoy it more than Neuro. Now I'm going to go into fellowship for infectious disease. Yes, from failing ID to becoming the ID doc

Why am I doing this? Because I saw a post of someone that wasn't sure if they should be proud that they got into DO school. What kind of **** is that? Look at me, I struggled all the way and I'm very proud of everything I accomplished. I'm also not ashamed of the hardships because I made sure to learn from them rather than let them shame me. Would I have wanted to go to Harvard and found the cure for COVID? Sure, but that wasn't me and that's okay. Still, I know I'm a very good doctor and there are people alive thanks to me

Ask me anything. It doesn't mean I'll answer anything, but if there's something you want to know, go ahead. If you're struggling and in the shadows, you're not alone. You can PM me if you prefer

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[diehappy]

What kept you going when you were at your at some of your lowest points?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

What kept you going when you were at your at some of your lowest points?

A combination of many things. It wasn't always the same thing every time

1. Raw will power
2. Knowing that i could improve
3. Love for the subject
4. Seeing others students struggle and continue fighting. At the extreme, one friend was kicked out 4th year after failing the level three times
5. Faculty, friends and family that kept believing in me. I had a great advisor
6. Seeing patients. Sometimes from just wanting to help them. Other times from feeling it was never okay to give up if someone that was 15 was fighting for their life and i "had it all" they wished: life and health
7. Student loans

Ultimately grateful I get to still do something amazing

 

[TrapperPawn]

Why am I doing this? Because I saw a post of someone that wasn't sure if they should be proud that they got into DO school. What kind of **** is that? Look at me, I struggled all the way and I'm very proud of everything I accomplished. I'm also not ashamed of the hardships because I made sure to learn from them rather than let them shame me.

Intellectual self-cannibalism. I look around me and constantly find people who eat themselves up. They do it because they've become so adept at self-criticism (perhaps itself an extension of the need to "get the jump" on anyone else knocking them down) they actually begin to enjoy the taste of it. Not sure if the person in the post you mentioned falls into that category, but I wouldn't be surprised.

And thank you for stopping by my post on your way to making this one. The perspective is pretty👌.

 

[zNoodlez]

Is OMM covered by insurance?

 

[24blue8]

What do you like more about in IM than Neuro?

When/how did you decide to go for ID? What was the application process like?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Is OMM covered by insurance?

Yes but probably make more money by volume or by cash practice

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

What do you like more about in IM than Neuro?

When/how did you decide to go for ID? What was the application process like?

I liked the variety and feeling my backbone i could do all bread and butter medicine

I also felt the impact of the philosophical problems of neuro on a daily basis such as "what are we without our mind?" And i had a lot of more frustration knowing stroke is just secondary prevention and rarely tpa and fixing someone

I decided ID early on first year of residency. I confirmed by rotating in. I like that it's one of the few specialty in medicine where you feel you cure someone after treatment. Historically too many advancement with HIV and treating parasites. Applying is not bad. It's not competitive at all. It's all online now. I just had a few case reports and that was it

 

[8YearsLate]

Fellow* DO student here. Internal is on my interest list. A family member has continually said working as a hospitalist would suit me well (variety, but still continued care, etc.) Does this still exist? What setting do you anticipate yourself working in?

Edit: Sorry I understand you are a fellow / physician but I just meant, similar path.

 

[DOVinciRobot]

Always good to see the SDN stalwarts have success. Congrats.

No I won’t get you a bone biopsy in that patient without exposed bone

 

[Melchizedek]

No I won’t get you a bone biopsy in that patient without exposed bone

A small piece of me died while I watched IR and Gen Surg punt a patient back and forth for two weeks over this exact thing with ID egging them on and telling us that the pt can't get abx until they have organisms to target.

Its been revived by your comment lol

 

[HowlPrenderghast]

A small piece of me died while I watched IR and Gen Surg punt a patient back and forth for two weeks over this exact thing with ID egging them on and telling us that the pt can't get abx until they have organisms to target.

Its been revived by your comment lol

Empiric abx not an option?

 

[Melchizedek]

Empiric abx not an option?

With the way ID kept insisting, apparently not 🤷‍♂️

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Fellow* DO student here. Internal is on my interest list. A family member has continually said working as a hospitalist would suit me well (variety, but still continued care, etc.) Does this still exist? What setting do you anticipate yourself working in?

Edit: Sorry I understand you are a fellow / physician but I just meant, similar path.

Yes, hospitalist is always an option with IM. Don't let anyone make you think there's no jobs. I know people that got positions in busy metropolitan areas

I hope to do nearly all community hospital ID

 

[Ho0v-man]

Very refreshing post. Need more of this and less ridiculous posts about how we’re not real doctors since we can’t do dermatological ortho surgery at Princeton or whatever.

Glad things worked out for you.

 

[PapaGuava]

I don't have a question for you @AlbinoHawk DO , but I wanted to say congratulations on everything! I've seen you around the forums for a long time now and I'm glad to see the progression!

Also, I added your AMA to the sticky thread!

 

[petomed]

How, if at all and for better or for worse, would attending a different medical school have changed your woes?

How would you rate the quality of clinical rotations available through your medical school?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

How, if at all and for better or for worse, would attending a different medical school have changed your woes?

How would you rate the quality of clinical rotations available through your medical school?

Depends on the school. At the time, i went when it was common to go to class 8am to 5pm. All our class wasn't doing as great as admin wanted and there was faculty that wanted us to start taking night classes. Thank God they eventually went the other way and reduced hours but that was after i left. Also OMM was over the top. They had this small group waste of time thing. I think i would have done better at a school that allowed more time to digest material and followed first aid

Rotations were poor for the most part. Good sites being lost constantly. You rotate with these clowns that use you as a medical assistant. You don't benefit from the structure of a resident team

Overall, WesternU would be considered an undesirable school if it wasn't in southern California

 

[Proudfather94]

Congratulations on overcoming all of those struggles! I'm nervous about how I'm going to do when I start this upcoming autumn but posts like this give me hope that I won't be screwed if I struggle.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Thanks @AlbinoHawk DO for posting and validating my many dust ups with those who argue that you should not go DO unless you will be satisfied with only matching FM. Yes, it's a tough journey, but if you work hard and keep your eye on the prize, you can do it. Playing the match game well is also critical. Well done!

 

[Proudfather94]

Thanks @AlbinoHawk DO for posting and validating my many dust ups with those who argue that you should not go DO unless you will be satisfied with only matching FM. Yes, it's a tough journey, but if you work hard and keep your eye on the prize, you can do it. Playing the match game well is also critical. Well done!

I feel that someone should not apply to medical school unless they would be alright with only doing family or internal medicine. It would suck to be dead set on something like derm bomb your step and then have to do a specialty that you would hate.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

I feel that someone should not apply to medical school unless they would be alright with only doing family or internal medicine. It would suck to be dead set on something like derm bomb your step and then have to do a specialty that you would hate.

Agreed. I started as FM bound and quickly became a specialists with 2 subspecialties. It was a tough time deciding as for the first time in my life, I wasn't certain what to do. In retrospect, I wouldn't do anything different.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

You're missing out on neurology big time.

jk. congrats on surviving. Matching ID would be the ultimate comeback

Goddam right, I am proud to be a DO and not a straight-out-of-high-school MBBS or MBBCh pseudo-MD.

 

[DO2015CA]

Hi everyone,

I think there's always AMAs out there but few people are willing to be upfront about things

I was a non-trad student. I had a lot of struggles in life in general. I went to a decent University of California undergrad originally thinking of a different career and graduated with a 3.0. I worked a few jobs and along the way I found out I wanted to do medicine. I did post-bacc at a community college and had like a 3.7 there. I took the MCAT and got a 28 (this is around 505 for you guys). I went to Western. I wasn't a great student. I failed my infectious disease class, graduated in the 4th quartile, passed step 1 with like a 205 or so then all three levels with 450ish score. I wanted to go into Neurology but failed to match and got into my backup IM, which was actually a blessing because I enjoy it more than Neuro. Now I'm going to go into fellowship for infectious disease. Yes, from failing ID to becoming the ID doc

Why am I doing this? Because I saw a post of someone that wasn't sure if they should be proud that they got into DO school. What kind of **** is that? Look at me, I struggled all the way and I'm very proud of everything I accomplished. I'm also not ashamed of the hardships because I made sure to learn from them rather than let them shame me. Would I have wanted to go to Harvard and found the cure for COVID? Sure, but that wasn't me and that's okay. Still, I know I'm a very good doctor and there are people alive thanks to me

Ask me anything. It doesn't mean I'll answer anything, but if there's something you want to know, go ahead. If you're struggling and in the shadows, you're not alone. You can PM me if you prefer

Its cool to see where everyone is going from my generation of premed/med school. Ill also be headed to fellowship this July, pediatric pulmonology though. Congrats!

 

[AClassicRisetotheOccasion]

You're missing out on neurology big time.

jk. congrats on surviving. Matching ID would be the ultimate comeback

Goddam right, I am proud to be a DO and not a straight-out-of-high-school MBBS or MBBCh pseudo-MD.

foreign docs = fake docs?

 

[Postictal Raiden]

foreign docs = fake docs?

Not fake docs but fake MDs. They have a bachelors degree