Chances?
- Thread starter chddoc
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I think you should go for it.
I also think that today, right now, you should get a volunteer position in a hospital or clinic. Research in labs gets you no exposure to patients. As LizzyM says, you need to smell them. You also need to see the administrativia, the politics, the conflicts, the frustrations, and how docs/nurses/staff deal with it all day after day. So start now and volunteer maybe 4 hours a week until you start med school. You have no credibility in "wanting to do medicine" without substantial exposure to the practice of medicine.
As for the rest of the process, look for the constantly-repeated advice here on SDN. Apply to *lots* of schools. Get started on your letters of recommendation early. Look for the advice from ScottishChap on coming from overseas. Look through the MCAT forum for strategies and myth-abatement.
Assume you're smart enough to do this. Also assume that you need coaching and inside info and that you need to be teachable. In your shoes I'd be obsessive about three things:
1. find and follow every relevant discussion on SDN
2. get mentors who are practicing medicine who can reality check you
3. pay daily attention to health news, either in the NYT or the WSJ (preferably both)
Best of luck to you.
I also think that today, right now, you should get a volunteer position in a hospital or clinic. Research in labs gets you no exposure to patients. As LizzyM says, you need to smell them. You also need to see the administrativia, the politics, the conflicts, the frustrations, and how docs/nurses/staff deal with it all day after day. So start now and volunteer maybe 4 hours a week until you start med school. You have no credibility in "wanting to do medicine" without substantial exposure to the practice of medicine.
As for the rest of the process, look for the constantly-repeated advice here on SDN. Apply to *lots* of schools. Get started on your letters of recommendation early. Look for the advice from ScottishChap on coming from overseas. Look through the MCAT forum for strategies and myth-abatement.
Assume you're smart enough to do this. Also assume that you need coaching and inside info and that you need to be teachable. In your shoes I'd be obsessive about three things:
1. find and follow every relevant discussion on SDN
2. get mentors who are practicing medicine who can reality check you
3. pay daily attention to health news, either in the NYT or the WSJ (preferably both)
Best of luck to you.
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The ^ advice is really good (from Dr. Midlife). But be aware there's a relatively small chance you'll end up at that same state school. For any individual med school, it's a total roll of the dice that you'll get in. If you apply, don't hamstring yourself and apply to just that school. Apply to 15-20 schools, and apply broadly. Apply to several states, apply to private and public schools, apply to reach schools and ones you think you'll have a good shot getting into. It's a lot of luck.
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Residency status isn't the issue in this thread. The issue is foreign coursework. Getting your transcripts evaluated, and convincing admissions committees that you're ready for the US med ed system, is non-trivial.
So, no, you don't stand the same odds unless you went to college in the US. See advice from Scottish Chap and others about overcoming intl coursework hurdles.
Best of luck to you.
It is recomended that you at least do the pre-reqs in the US. Some schools require 90 undergrad credits from a US school (eg. all texas schools + there are several others). A handful require a US undergrad degree (eg. Mayo). Most require anywhere bwteen 30-90 US sems credits. Only a tiny handful (in single digits - can't remember more than 2 at this time) will consider the credits from a foreign school. Besides AMCAS application does not consider the foreign credits in their GPA calculation - so if you were to apply next summer w/o taking any undergrad classes in the US, your undergrad GPA on AMCAS would be 0.0
I am in a similar position (though I am a US citizen - but I did my undergrad and masters in a different country and have been working in Engineering for the last decade here). I am doing a Post Bacc now. My goal is to have 60+ credits on US soil before I apply next year.
You may look for posts from people like Scottish Chap and others that had foreign degrees and got accepted to med school here.
I am in a similar position (though I am a US citizen - but I did my undergrad and masters in a different country and have been working in Engineering for the last decade here). I am doing a Post Bacc now. My goal is to have 60+ credits on US soil before I apply next year.
You may look for posts from people like Scottish Chap and others that had foreign degrees and got accepted to med school here.
