Check it out, I just graduated from Resp. Therapy school this last December. I have a 3.4 GPA and was awarded two of three major awards at my graduation, including the Gold Key award. All the posts and replies have really answered alot of my questions concerning the good ol' pre-med journey, except one. How will graduating and working in an allied health field effect my chances. I still have about a year left of classes and still lack the MCAT. Anybody been in the same situation??? Any answers or tips will be of great help and much appreciated!! Thanx ------------------ Proverbs 17:22
I am also a Respiratory Therapist and currently have been accepted to LECOM. I feel that my clinical experience was a huge factor. Working in the hospital gave me access to many physcians and allowed me to obtain excellent recs. Moreover, I got accepted despite a low MCAT twice (22,23) and I know my clinical experience helped. It's a long road, but be persistant and get the best grades you can and it will work out. Oh yeah, have fun suckin snot, I love it..HAHA.
Welcome fellow Respiratory Terrorists!! I have been, and will always be one at heart, a RRT for 10+ years! The things Sporrt mentions are quite true...you get the advantage of 'face-time' with Docs. One, they can help you get in by couching you through this process. Two) you also get the advantage of seeing a physician's life for what it really is...you will be far confident and abel to articulate why you want to be a Doc come interview time. In some schools, applying as an Allied Health Professional will not help all...those are the school's that actively seek to fill their class with the 4.0/40 gunner types. Being a non-traditional applicant to those places essentially shoots you in the foot. However, there are many schools that value life-experience and actively seek to have each class represent a cross section of their applicant pool. I know KCOM, where I attend, very strongly believes in this. Also, UTx at Galveston (UTMB), George Washington and U Chicago are big into this...and there are many others. You'll just have to invest time and effort into investigating! Best of luck and feel free to contact me off the list if you have questions. ------------------ David W. Kelley, MS-2 'Old Man Dave' KCOM, Class of '03 Nothing Risked, Nothing Gained!!
