Go to PA school or retake classes for med school?

[Willbny]

Hello everyone,
I'm at a crossroads of sorts, I just received my BS in biology with a 3.35 gpa, and science gpa is probably around the same or slightly lower. I have applied to PA school and received several interview invitations. I had always intended on m.d. school, but around my junior year, my gpa began to slip due to motivation and personal issues. I have had thousands of hours of shadowing mds, worked at a hospital, and great extra curricular activities. I scored a 1390 on the old gre.

After graduation, I was tested for add, and was told i have a pretty severe case, which I hope helps to explain the low energy, habitual procrastination, and difficulty concentrating that have always been part of my life. I am trying medications now and feel like they made a significant improvement on my focus and energy. Although I had been confident in my future as a PA, I am now wondering about what could have been. How difficult do you think it would be to get my gpa to a good place for a Georgia medical school? Would a medical school frown if I retook my my science classes with Cs over the course of a summer semester or two?

My fiance is about to begin applying to law schools, and there are good chances she could be accepted near the PA schools I was looking at. I hate to put our lives on hold (especially I should fail) but I don't want to live with a regret either


P.S. I tried to type this from a tablet pc, and accidentally posted it before I had written anything. That is also the reason for inconsistent capitalization.

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[solitarius]

Tell us, did you actually get in?

Or is this yet another meaningless hypothetical question meant to waste everyone's time?

 

[487806]

eeveryone,

 

[Willbny]

Tell us, did you actually get in?

Or is this yet another meaningless hypothetical question meant to waste everyone's time?

I have interviews for PA school, I feel (and have been told by admissions officers) I am a strong applicant. Most of the MD's I know and have shadowed tell me I would be better suited as an MD. Sorry that my post was nonsensical when I created the thread, technical difficulty.

 

[solitarius]

It would probably be better to pose this question when you get in.

PA is not a bad career. It's probably a smarter move financially than MD if you're going to do primary care. Also, I think PA is tougher to get into than MD from an acceptance rate perspective because the bar is not as high,* so there are more qualified applicants to each seat.

Given how increasingly competitive the medical field as a whole is getting, I would not dump a sure thing for a high-risk gamble. Also, I'm not one to be easily swayed by others (like MDs) either, so maybe I'm biased like that.


* I still think MD is harder to get into because it screens a lot of people out before the application cycle and the requirements are tougher.