- Joined
- May 17, 2003
- Messages
- 200
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
dilemma?
- Thread starter stwei
- Start date
Congrats, stwei.
1)Is european medical school , that you applied to, WHO recognized? If it is not, ECFMG will not let you take board exams. If it is, do you feel like doing lots of self studying in order to pass medical boards in the US?
2)Considering mentioned above price of educationin PA school I would assume that it is probably a community college program, which may not give you master's degree. By the way, are you sure that it is $3000 per year and not per semester?
1)Is european medical school , that you applied to, WHO recognized? If it is not, ECFMG will not let you take board exams. If it is, do you feel like doing lots of self studying in order to pass medical boards in the US?
2)Considering mentioned above price of educationin PA school I would assume that it is probably a community college program, which may not give you master's degree. By the way, are you sure that it is $3000 per year and not per semester?
- Joined
- May 17, 2003
- Messages
- 200
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
Tulkin said:
Glad that you remind me.
Well yes, the drawback would be that they do not prepare me for the boards, but I'm sure there are ways to resolve via using Kaplan courses and tapes, and various other media. The advantage would be that the education there would make me eligible to practice in Europe afterwards as well, provided I pass their exams. I get to study for 6 years however.
Sorry, my bad. Yes, it's 7,500$/yr, and the curriculum only lasts two years.
And yes, the degree would only be considered a bachelor's degree. But I don't see how this would make a difference if I am still eligible to take the same licensing exam as the master's degree students?
stwei said:
Hey Stwei
I was in this very same position, I was accepted to medical school in Europe and in PA school. I chose PA school. I don't really know what you should do, but I can tell you what I did and maybe you can find something relevant to your situation. The reasons I chose PA school were right for me. I felt that investing 6 years in europe in med school was an awful lot of time (that's before residency!). I was pretty confident that I would do well in PA school due to the nature of the program itself (focused, intense, no second chances and no extraneous crap to learn). So I figured I could do 2 years, become a PA, learn the nuts and bolts of medicine, boost my GPA, gain an invaluable credential and see just how much more medical education I wanted to subject myself to. If I am up for more after I am done, med school is still an option and hopefully I could now do it in the US. If not I could work as a PA taking care of people like any other primary care provider and do so without all the extra crap associated with med school, residency etc, plus make a good salary right out of school. But I'll mention again that you got to do what is right for you. This particular plan can easily backfire. It is really easy to wreck your GPA in PA school, you've got to be the kind of person who does well in an focused and intensive field of study. Not to say that PA school is really hard or anything but it is definitely very intense and very focused. Luckily this type of focused and singleminded environment is exactly what I need to do well. If you think that you may want to go this route then 2 years PA school + 4 years US med school=6 years, exactly what you would have done in europe. Not to mention that A PA degree may show an adcom that you can handle the rigors of a medical education (but no guarantees on that either!). But once again I gotta mention should really know what sort of student you are before trying something like this. A 2.2 GPA won't get you anywhere near a US med school and you'll have to be prepared to be content with being a PA. Best of Luck to you, I hope you find the wisdom you need to make this tough decision.
If it's really 6 years, I would agree with niko327. It makes sence to finish PA school in the US and then go to medical school if you are not satisfied with your position. Upon completion you probably will not get advanced standing in med. school, but as far as I know it will increase your chances to get there, especially if you apply to osteopathic school.
hey soundman,
I'm not done yet, but so far so good i've managed to improve and maintain a nice GPA, and will be doing clinicals in a few weeks so I think the hardest part (for me anyway) is over. Where r u going to med school, DO route maybe? I do have to admit though, that the longer I'm in PA school, the better the PA profession looks. 🙂
I'm not done yet, but so far so good i've managed to improve and maintain a nice GPA, and will be doing clinicals in a few weeks so I think the hardest part (for me anyway) is over. Where r u going to med school, DO route maybe? I do have to admit though, that the longer I'm in PA school, the better the PA profession looks. 🙂
- Joined
- May 16, 2004
- Messages
- 941
- Reaction score
- 3
- Points
- 4,551
- Location
- Midwest
- Resident [Any Field]
Well I was right at the point where you are right now and all I could say to myself was dang I wish I was in medschool. I had a terrible undergrad GPA, 2.99, but I knew if I got into PA school I'd do well. Ended up in the top of the class, and PA school GPA was solid 3.7. I was initially planning to try for the 2006 entering class, but I'm finding out that as I continue to work as a PA, the desire to be a physician is more overwhelming so 2 months ago started studying for the MCAT, OMG those classes were over 6-8 years ago for some of those chemistry and physics courses, but it comes back quickly.
Good luck with clinicals and if you have any questions fire me off a PM or something.
I'm going the MD route because I'm an orthopaedic surgery PA right now, and I'd like to be an orthopaedic surgeon. Plus I'm applying to only instate UNMC and Creighton. No DO schools in NE.
Later
Good luck with clinicals and if you have any questions fire me off a PM or something.
I'm going the MD route because I'm an orthopaedic surgery PA right now, and I'd like to be an orthopaedic surgeon. Plus I'm applying to only instate UNMC and Creighton. No DO schools in NE.
Later
Thanks and best of luck soundman, I hope it works out for ya. Ortho is a such a great field. I'm hoping I still have the same drive after clinicals to go for the whole doctor thing. I've pretty much decided that if I do go for it I'm going to go for the DO. I like the concepts of OMT alot and wish I had more time to study them independently, it seems that as I get older I finding there's more than one way to skin a cat.
stay safe.
stay safe.
