Greetings..

[lightthelamp4]

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Hello SDN,
I come here in search of intelligent, fun conversation and advice; Im glad I found this site. I have somewhat of a unique situation as a pre-medical student and Im sure that someone here can relate and maybe give me some advice. I am a 21 year old pre-med at temple. I also am a practicing assistant physical therapist (cant do evals and certain modalities as a pta)working in a very unique situation where I get to do outpatient ortho, tcu rehab, acute care and long term care all on one campus. I work full time and go to school full time as well; and I am expecting a 3.8-4.0 range cummulative gpa at the end of the semester. I am active in extra-cirriculars at school (treasurer of our pre-soma chapter (word life XAN!) and active in pre-amsa aswell).
When I began college 3 years ago I had plans on getting my pta (associates) and then working as an assistant while getting my bach/masters level degree. Much has happened over the last few years with apta politics (wont get into it, but its on the pre-pt board Im sure), and I have not had the sort of experience I thought I would working in the field thus far. I decided on my first acute care affiliation that I would be pursuing something else. I

I suppose I am concerned about explaining my choose to change career paths during my admissions process. Im not sure if that is really somthing to be concerned over actually, but I have been thinking about it. Anyone else in a similiar situation? Is there anything more I can be doing to make myself a better applicant?

 

[brookliner7]

well, I was initailly in my undergrad program for pre-pt.
I was working as a PT tech part time and realized that the scope for PT was too small for me. I wanted more of a challenge and a field that allowed me to pursue some of my other interests, such as biochemistry.
I knew I would become bored in PT, which is why I chose medicine.
I had no problems declaring that in my personal statement and essays.
None of the schools that interviewed me asked me about it. My essays were pretty informative.
GL!

 

[Buckeye4life]

You do have a very unique situation being a therapist assistant. There are quite a few PTs who are going (myself included) or who have already gone, but I haven't met a PTA who had the ambition to want to pursue medical school. My advice would be to take the MCAT as soon as you're done with the prereqs, and just keep up the good work with your grades. Your clinical experience will definitely be an advantage for DO schools. The allopathic schools don't seem to care too much about work related experiences. Bottom line is you should be as focused on doing well on the MCAT at this stage in the game.

 

[lightthelamp4]

I guess what makes it an even odder situation is that unlike most pta's (often people looking for carreer change); im only 21. I have been taking traditional core classes and premed classes along the way and picked up my pta as I went.

I think your said it right, the scope is too small for me aswell. Especially in acure care, which is where my heart is really. Also, I alleady LOATH having patients that never seem to really "get better" (I have a hard time with equating functional with this) with therapeutic exercise and modalities.

 

[SunshineNYC]

You shouldn't be concerned at all. I had NO idea that I wanted to go into medicine for a while and I had done a number of different things as diverse as web design, counseling, and the music industy. Instead of focusing on why I didn't pursue those careers, I focused more on why medicine was my calling and what I have done towards becomming a physician. So, as you do more things, finish your classes and take your MCATs, you'll have a little more to work with in terms to stating you case for what you want to become a physician as opposed to anything else you might have tried. Good luck.