If I don't get into an SMP...

[ToGodALLGlory]

could MBA be an option for grad-level coursework to improve my app as plan C (plan A: current waitlists, plan B: RFU SMP, plan C: MBA, plan D: commute 1 hour for MS in Bio, plan E: stay at CC doing informal post-bacc (running out of science classes to take there)) for 2008 app cycle? Advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[TheGalvaniFrog]

MBA is NOT a good plan for boosting your stats for med school admissions purposes. The med schools will care more about science GPA, which MBA will do nothing for. Unless you can convincingly explain why the MBA is a valuable experience that can contribute to your future profession as a physician, don't expect it to improve your med school admission chances.

 

[braluk]

I cannot imagine an MBA being too useful to help you get into an SMP for the following year. I would put MS in Bio at the top of your lists if an SMP doesn't accept you- that or postbac to raise your undergrad GPA. MBA is quite random and would label you as the career student- the degree hoarder. You'll want to stick in the academics, particularly in the life sciences.

 

[ToGodALLGlory]

Thanks for the responses! I thought an MBA might make me a better "office manager" if I have a private practice and more marketable in terms of acquiring a residency or a job later (or maybe the potential for a future in administration). I'm trying to move forward degree-wise, too, because the retakes are killing me. Two years later I still have a BA if you know what I mean. I want to do it properly though, and I didn't come this far to drop the ball now. I heard that traditional masters programs aren't that impressive to ADCOMs anyway (UG>grad GPA), so if it was all the same, why not move towards a degree my physician's degree won't later trump? I thought I would take a few elective courses in Bio for a grad science GPA. I'd be part-way through an MBA program and maybe could transfer into a combined degree program when they finally let me into med school. Just some thoughts that occurred to me today.....I threw them out there to be redirected if there is a flaw in the logic, so constructive criticism is certainly welcomed.

 

[braluk]

I think the common mistake that most students make is that having an MBA will make their private practice a better business given the newfound knowledge of business know how. Many good practices will either outsource their financial dealings to a consultant, or have their doctors take a few extra classes in business management to increase their know how. I dont think an extra degree will help too much when it comes to getting into medical school unless you use it for several years, and even then it wont help improve a weak application. Usually, the MD/MBAs ive worked for (one this summer in fact), are in the business side of medicine- that is they work in medical advertising, pharmaceutical type of businesses, and rarely do I see practicing MD/MBAs as a healthcare provider. Unless you demonstrate some strong connection to this through your personal statement/experience, an MBA will most likely not carry too much benefit to your application.

What you will really have to gather is why you didnt get into medical school the first time. If the reason points to a poor UG GPA and BCPM, taking an MBA wont really address those issues, and thus your application wont be improved in the areas in which they are the weakest. Taking on an MBA certainly wont address poor science grades, no matter where you take it. Granted, a grad GPA has been heard to be less "weighty" when it comes to adcom decisions but at the very least, you are addressing those very issues one way or another in the area in which you are the weakest. You are, after all, taking classes taught by PhDs and MDs in material that aren't normally found in an UG text book.