Competely Torn! Help!

[gcvfish]

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I'm currently in a major decision dilema.

Background on myself:
Graduated with an online degree (BS in Business Administration) from an accredited school in 2007 with a GPA of 3.0 Had a few withdrawals and some D's due to going through a nasty divorce. In 2008 I decided to pursue my dream and went to a 4 year university slowly getting my pre-reqs done while working full time. Have a sGPA of 3.5.

During my time getting my pre-reqs I wasn't extrememly busy. I quit my job to stay at home with my step son so my husband could work 14+ hours a day.

Since then I've been volunteering with children's programs for Cub Scouts, Awana's, Cheerleaading, etc. I was a President at Golden Key International Honour Society for a year and did various volunteering activites there.

As far as clinical work I have none in a hospital or medical setting. All I have currently with patient contact is that I have my STNA and have been taking care of an elderly man for over a year.

When putting stuff on paper, it looks like there's a lot of time where it looks like I'm just sitting around, and I've read it's not recommended that you've spent your time taking care of kids!

Where I'm at now - I currently have a 1 yr old and am pregnant with my second. I plan on taking the MCAT before the birth of my second. With application submitted next summer. Some things I still need are a couple of LOR's (I have one from my physics teacher) and Job Shadowing, and more vounteering and some clinical work. I'm worried that my app will look rushed towards the end.

I know this is getting lengthy, so I'll get to the point. I'm worried my application will have too many holes in it where I have nothing to document what I'm doing... I don't want to look lazy or that I'm not working hard towards my goal.... Any advice??

Secondly, I know without my MCAT scores it will be hard to tell if I am competitive but my passion is holistic medicine. I'm wondering if I should just settle and get an ND or keep going and get my DO and maybe in the future get an ND. Any thoughts? I guess I just don't know if it would be worth it to go through the application cycle and all that money if I'm kidding myself on being able to get in. Any thoughts or words of encouragment are greatly appreciated!

 

[gcvfish]

Hey thanks for the support.... So disappointing

 

[Helen Wheels]

gcvfish,

I don't have children so I can't comment on that specific aspect but I did have a similar situation. I had to slowly work through my pre-reqs while working full time and being the sole caregiver for my mother. By the time I finished my pre-reqs, my mother's health had gotten to the point that I had to put med school on hold for several years. I worked full time to support us and took care of my mother. Eventually, she passed away and I got back on this path, relearned everything for the MCAT, took MCAT (twice), and applied (took two app cycles to get in). So, I don't think that it is an absolute app killer to have been caring for your stepson.

You're right, really hard to know your chances without an MCAT score. Don't underestimate this exam. It's like no exam you have ever taken before. In my experience, it's very difficult to get love from allopathic schools with an MCAT below 30 and, while some people get in with lower, a 27 is very competitive for osteopathic.

Provided you get a decent MCAT score, the only other problem I see is that you have no experience that shows you know what a physician's day is really like. In addition to MCAT prep, I think you need to get some good shadowing under your belt or other experience where you are working alongside physicians. Adcoms are going to want to be sure you know what you are getting into. But you have a year to work on this, too. In my case, I was working in clinical settings directly with patients and alongside physicians for over a decade so I didn't have to do the typical shadowing/volunteering stuff. I think applying in one year is reasonable and gives you time to work on the MCAT and shadowing.

One comment about the holistic medicine issue. I am an osteopathic student so I know what DO school teaches. I have also seen a holistic physician as a patient. The holistic physician I see is an MD who only prescribes hormones and vitamins. If that's what you are primarily interested in, you will be disappointed by DO school. Many of the things the holistic physician says and recommends are directly contradicted by what I learn in DO school. DO school, despite all this lip service about "treating the whole patient," is conventional medicine with some OMT added in.

Best of luck to you!

 

[ShyRem]

The whole key to applications is spinning negative into positives. I was a part-time worker and full-time mom for almost 20 years. Being a wife and mother taught me a lot. My part-time and volunteer work taught me a lot. And before I was a wife and mother, my full time jobs (at one point 3 at one time to make ends meet) taught me a lot. I got hurt and got fired from my job because my injury gave me a permanent disability. And yes, that too taught me a lot.

You have to learn how to spin things to your benefit. Almost anything can be a positive point on your application. This is what the personal statement is made for. I see little in this regard that is an app killer.

Now you are talking above about ND or DO. These are two entirely different animals. Perhaps you should figure out what you really want to do before you start applying to such different aspects of medicine. THIS is your app killer. From what you post above, it doesn't sound like you are sure what direction you want to go. If you want to be a physician, it takes drive and commitment. If you aren't sure if you want to do ND or DO that doesn't sound very committed to me.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Don't take this for anything other than how it is meant to be. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=917910

A DO and an ND are not the same. They aren't even close to the same. IMHO, they aren't even on the same planet. You can get a "Doctor" of Naturopathy online. That makes it NOT like a DO. If you can get a 'doctorate' online, it's pretty BS. If you want to be a physician, be a DO, if you want to have people sniff herbs and drink tea, be a naturalist. I hesitate to call it a 'doctor' because it isn't. This is worse to me than the DNP vs DO/MD stuff. There are some pretty sad examples in the thread I posted about NDs refusing to send patients to real medical doctors to get care when they had treatable cancers and those patients died... I appreciate holistic treatments and thought processes, but not sending a person to get care that could save them is wrong, and NDs aren't liable for lack of care and malpractice.... If you want to be a physician, be an MD/DO if you want to add holistic care, take ND or holistic courses after.