MD & DO Educate Me On Doing Better 2nd Cycle

[Jonesfive]

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NY Resident, Graduated 2016 from top mid-tier college, ORM

cGPA 3.66, sGPA 3.55, no GPA trend
1st MCAT: 501
2nd MCAT: 501
3rd MCAT: 510 (130/126/127/127)

Clinical Experience:
200 hours in volunteering in hospice care (direct patient care, dispense medication, perform physical assessments and pain assessments, ability to care for the patient independently with a nurse on call if needed)

Non-clinical experience:
200 hours at my local hospital (no direct patient care, but work with the patient’s families).
8 hours in working at a local homeless shelter and cleaning a non-profit's office

Extracurriculars:
Interfaith Club (member of the executive board)
Club Sport (no leadership position)

Non-clinical Research:
1000 hours as undergrad
2000 hours as a lab technician post-graduation (first publication on Dec 2018)

LORs:
Committee Letter
Non-clinical Research PI. I have been working in the same lab since freshman year of college. Currently, working in the lab post-graduation as a paid lab technician.
Two more science faculty recommendations
One non-science recommendation
Hospice director recommendation

Confirmed no red flag on LORs from pre-health advising

1st cycle 2017-2018
Applied MD only. Received one II from state school

SUNY Upstate
SUNY Buffalo
Stony Brook
SUNY Downstate
Albany Medical College
University of Rochester
New York Medical College
Loma Linda University School of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Georgetown University School of Medicine
George Washington University of School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center

2nd cycle 2018-2019
Applied MD only. Currently no IIs

SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Upstate
Stony Brook
Tulane
Rosalind Franklin
Penn State
Wake Forest
Quinnipiac
Drexel
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia Medical School

I only applied to 11 MD schools instead of 20 due to time constraints. Also, I was planning on applying DO too, but it was November by the time I could apply. I felt it was too late to apply by then and I also lacked DO shadowing and a physician recommendation.

My improvements from 1st cycle to 2nd cycle. I gained 150 more hours in clinical experience in hospice care, obtained a new volunteer position at my local hospital (150 hours of volunteering when I applied) and received a recommendation from the hospice director at the home I volunteer at. I also had a publication submitted for review that was published on a pre-publication site at the beginning of the cycle. The publication was recently accepted as of December 2018.

What should I do next?
I want to continue applying to MD schools if possible. However, I also want to spend my current time further understanding osteopathic medicine to gain a greater appreciation for what it is before I feel I have the right to apply.

At the moment I feel my two options are:

1. I should pursue a SMP or post-bac in order pursue an MD/DO cycle for 2020-2021

OR

2. I can pursue DO only this 2019-2020 cycle

As of right now, I am going to look for DO shadowing. I will also try to obtain a physician recommendation, which will most likely be from the MD house doctor at the hospice home I am volunteering at. I will also try to obtain a DO recommendation if possible.

Are these my only options?
Do I even have a possibility of getting into an MD school at this point or should I focus solely on DO schools?
Is an SMP or post- bac worth my time?
Can I reapply MD/DO without an SMP or post-bac? What significant changes can I make to application without going back to school?

 

[Gurby]

2nd cycle 2018-2019
Applied MD only. Currently no IIs

SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Upstate
Stony Brook
Tulane
Rosalind Franklin
Penn State
Wake Forest
Quinnipiac
Drexel
Virginia Commonwealth
Eastern Virginia Medical School

I only applied to 11 MD schools instead of 20 due to time constraints. Also, I was planning on applying DO too, but it was November by the time I could apply.

Am I misinterpreting this, or did you apply to 11 MD schools in November, during your second cycle? When were you complete?

Planeblue's Interview Invite Tracker

 

[jarednogeek]

You need to reassess your whole application. It seems you keep rushing and half-doing things and it ends poorly. 3 mcats, 3 applications, not good ec’s. Stop doing research immediately and focus on becoming a diverse and well rounded applicant.

No shadowing hours????

 

[Faha]

You should apply more broadly to MD schools and apply to at least 20. I suggest these schools with your stats:
All 4 SUNY's
Albany
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Seton Hall
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
NOVA MD
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
St. Louis
Creighton
Also apply to at least 8 DO schools and you are competitive for all DO schools.
The best strategy is to apply in June and submit all your secondaries by July.

 

[Jonesfive]

Am I misinterpreting this, or did you apply to 11 MD schools in November, during your second cycle? When were you complete?

Planeblue's Interview Invite Tracker

In my second cycle I was verified late August for my primary app. I submitted my secondaries in by early October. I know I made a mistake in trying to apply this cycle. I plan to pre-write my applications now to prevent a time crunch from happening again. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Jonesfive]

You need to reassess your whole application. It seems you keep rushing and half-doing things and it ends poorly. 3 mcats, 3 applications, not good ec’s. Stop doing research immediately and focus on becoming a diverse and well rounded applicant.

No shadowing hours????

I missed listing the 16 hours of shadowing I did in Emergency Department with an MD. Thanks for catching that.

Could you clarify what a diverse and well rounded applicant would be?

Currently, I work as a paid lab technician, but I also perform 4 hours of hospital volunteering and 4 hours of direct clinical care at a hospice home each week. Isn't what I'm doing diverse and well rounded?

What do you think I should pursue instead of a my lab tech position that would have a meaningful impact on my application? Thanks for the advice.

 

[Jonesfive]

You should apply more broadly to MD schools and apply to at least 20. I suggest these schools with your stats:
All 4 SUNY's
Albany
New York Medical College
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Seton Hall
Penn State
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
George Washington
NOVA MD
Oakland Beaumont
Western Michigan
Medical College Wisconsin
Rosalind Franklin
Loyola
St. Louis
Creighton
Also apply to at least 8 DO schools and you are competitive for all DO schools.
The best strategy is to apply in June and submit all your secondaries by July.

Do you think I can apply MD/DO in this next cycle? Would MD schools even consider me since this would be my third cycle and I have been out of school since 2016? Isn't performing a masters or post-bac the only way MD schools would consider me at this point? I feel DO schools may consider me if I start shadowing a DO now and this would be my first cycle with them. Thank you for the advice.

 

[jarednogeek]

I missed listing the 16 hours of shadowing I did in Emergency Department with an MD. Thanks for catching that.

Could you clarify what a diverse and well rounded applicant would be?

Currently, I work as a paid lab technician, but I also perform 4 hours of hospital volunteering and 4 hours of direct clinical care at a hospice home each week. Isn't what I'm doing diverse and well rounded?

What do you think I should pursue instead of a my lab tech position that would have a meaningful impact on my application? Thanks for the advice.

You need 50 hours shadowing, non clinical volunteering with the underserved. Applying 2 times with only 16 hours of emergency room shadowing was a bad idea....

 

[Faha]

Do you think I can apply MD/DO in this next cycle? Would MD schools even consider me since this would be my third cycle and I have been out of school since 2016? Isn't performing a masters or post-bac the only way MD schools would consider me at this point? I feel DO schools may consider me if I start shadowing a DO now and this would be my first cycle with them. Thank you for the advice.

Many MD schools will consider your for a 3rd cycle. Shadow a DO before June and apply broadly to DO schools.

 

[Jonesfive]

You need 50 hours shadowing, non clinical volunteering with the underserved. Applying 2 times with only 16 hours of emergency room shadowing was a bad idea....

I am working on the shadowing now. I will also look for another non-clinical volunteering position. Thanks for the input.

 

[Jonesfive]

Many MD schools will consider your for a 3rd cycle. Shadow a DO before June and apply broadly to DO schools.

Thank you for taking the time to look over my post and for your advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[candbgirl]

Go back to the homeless shelter. You have to get out of your comfort zone. Medicine is a service profession so you have to prove your altruism to ADCOMS reading your application. You need at least 150 hours serving the underserved/unserved in your community! And of course the shadowing is an issue. I can’t believe your advisor let you apply with 16 hours of shadowing twice. You need several hours of primary care shadowing. You have literally thousands of hours of some kind of research and it hasn’t gotten you anyplace. I’d stop that and find something else to do! You’ll still be able to list all of those hours but you need to branch out. Are you interested in a PhD program? If not get out of the lab. It seems like that is your primary focus and everything else is done to fill out your application. It hasn’t worked so it’s time to try another path !