Information about getting into, and once in.

[WannabeOrtho]

Hey all,

I just recently joined, and posted my "Hello" thread in the New Members section. I will paste some from there just so I do not have to type it all again, basically a introduction, and my questions.

I recently just found this website, and the message board. I am a 18 year old male getting ready to attend Nursing school starting August 14th. I am into the RN program, but actually won't start in the "Nursing" until I get my Pre-Req's done. I am actually wanting to attend a Osteopathic Medical School. Actually, the closest school to me, OUCOM. I have high wishes of being a Orthopedic Surgeon.

I have shadowed one Saturday so far with a Osteopathic ER Doctor, but the local hospital said I cannot shadow there anymore because actual medical students will be coming in for the next few months, and it will be very busy. I plan to go to the other local "big" hospital, and I am 100% positive of having a shadow position there for a Osteopathic Doctor.

My total plan is to attend Nursing school, graduate with my RN license and my Associates of Nursing, then to transfer, and get my Bachelors in Nursing. Once that is completed to transfer to Ohio University, and take Pre-Med at their university. I then wish to attend their Osteopathic Medical School. While going through Nursing school, and getting my Associates of Nursing, and Bachelors I will be shadowing various Osteopathic Doctors, in all areas of Specialties(mainly for the exposure).


I am curious with good grades, and a good MCAT, and my plan above. Would I be a very good candidate for Medical School? I do realize I might be early on shooting the gun, but in todays world I figured if I start early I will have a better chance of getting in, and what to expect.


Also, this is more for someone who is a Doctor, or is very well acquainted with the way this stuff works. This is an example. Once I am a orthopedic surgeon, and I learn most of the techniques, and ways to do the surgerys. How would I go about, or How do they go about coming up with new ways of doing the surgerys. Such as doing it quicker, more accurate, with a different computer etc.. Would I be qualified myself to research new ways, or would just certain Hospitals allow me to do it. How would a Doctor come up with new ways? By taking time off, and writing letters, and such to Doctors on how I/He plans to do it, and see if they would like to invest in it? How does one invent a new way of doing a knee surgery/arm surgery?


Thank you in advance,
Justin

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[WannabeOrtho]

Noone can tell me whether my plan "might" or "should" work? Not even suggestions? Come on people. =)

 

[christinejane19]

Noone can tell me whether my plan "might" or "should" work? Not even suggestions? Come on people. =)

You sound very focused and promising, and think you have a good shot at med school if you continue to work hard. With that said, I would NOT go to nursing school first. If you want to be a physician, go to college and complete your pre-med prereqs. Going to nursing school first only prolongs the entire education process 2-3 extra years. Pre-med and med school are long enough as it is.

I am a current RN, starting med school at the age of 25..i wish i had gone at 21-22 years old.. I'd be almost done by now!

Best of luck!

 

[WannabeOrtho]

You sound very focused and promising, and think you have a good shot at med school if you continue to work hard. With that said, I would NOT go to nursing school first. If you want to be a physician, go to college and complete your pre-med prereqs. Going to nursing school first only prolongs the entire education process 2-3 extra years. Pre-med and med school are long enough as it is.

I am a current RN, starting med school at the age of 25..i wish i had gone at 21-22 years old.. I'd be almost done by now!

Best of luck!

I see. I at first wanted to be a Nurse, then I thought long, and hard and I want to be a Orthopedic Surgeon, but I figured I would continue on, and get my RN license then directly to Pre-Med, because I think/thought this below means you need a bachelors degree in something.

(Directly from the Ohio University website)
Requirements
If you plan to apply to OU-COM, you will need:
* A baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution

So I figured whynot be a nurse, and a doctor, and get my bachelors in Nursing.

Unless, I am a idiot, and baccalaureate does not mean a Bachelors degree

 

[WannabeOrtho]

 

[christinejane19]

I see. I at first wanted to be a Nurse, then I thought long, and hard and I want to be a Orthopedic Surgeon, but I figured I would continue on, and get my RN license then directly to Pre-Med, because I think/thought this below means you need a bachelors degree in something.

(Directly from the Ohio University website)
Requirements
If you plan to apply to OU-COM, you will need:
* A baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution

So I figured whynot be a nurse, and a doctor, and get my bachelors in Nursing.

Unless, I am a idiot, and baccalaureate does not mean a Bachelors degree

You are not an idiot, you are absolutely correct. In order to attend any medical school (including OU-COM), you need a bachelor's degree. You can complete your bachelor's in ANYTHING you wish, including nursing. The only requirement for medical school is that you complete the following pre-reqs: intro bio 1 and 2, general chem 1 and 2, organic chem 1 and 2, physics 1 and 2, english and possibly a math (depending on the school)...

If you major in bio or chem, the pre-reqs are built into the major and you will not have to worry about cramming them into your schedule. However, many people successfully major in things like English, philosophy, psych, etc while doing their pre-med requirements.

The problem with the nursing major is that it requires several clinical courses. These clinicals are generally 2-3 full days per week. This leaves little time for the labs and coursework needed to fulfill your premed requirements. This is why I suggest choosing a major more conducive to being able to focus on your science requirements for med school.

If you choose to doing nursing FIRST and then complete your pre-med requirements after you receive your degree, you will have spent years and $$ learning something you will seldom ever use in your life..

That said, if you chose to do the nursing degree, you may have an advantage during your medical school rotations since you will be comfortable within the clinical setting.. so it certainly does have its benefits.

Just my 2 cents.. I am sure you will achieve success in whichever path you choose!

 

[WannabeOrtho]

You are not an idiot, you are absolutely correct. In order to attend any medical school (including OU-COM), you need a bachelor's degree. You can complete your bachelor's in ANYTHING you wish, including nursing. The only requirement for medical school is that you complete the following pre-reqs: intro bio 1 and 2, general chem 1 and 2, organic chem 1 and 2, physics 1 and 2, english and possibly a math (depending on the school)...

If you major in bio or chem, the pre-reqs are built into the major and you will not have to worry about cramming them into your schedule. However, many people successfully major in things like English, philosophy, psych, etc while doing their pre-med requirements.

The problem with the nursing major is that it requires several clinical courses. These clinicals are generally 2-3 full days per week. This leaves little time for the labs and coursework needed to fulfill your premed requirements. This is why I suggest choosing a major more conducive to being able to focus on your science requirements for med school.

If you choose to doing nursing FIRST and then complete your pre-med requirements after you receive your degree, you will have spent years and $$ learning something you will seldom ever use in your life..

That said, if you chose to do the nursing degree, you may have an advantage during your medical school rotations since you will be comfortable within the clinical setting.. so it certainly does have its benefits.

Just my 2 cents.. I am sure you will achieve success in whichever path you choose!

Thank you for the kind words. I certainly hope I have success in my path. =)

See my key goal was becoming a nurse, ultimately that way, big IF I do not get accepted to medical school, I can work part-time while fixing whatever my problem is. How long does it typically take to complete Pre-Med classes, and such? 1-year? 2? I should be able to take my Pre-Med classes while obtaining my Bachelors in Nursing, take my Pre-Med at the sametime. I will be taking my Pre-Med either at Ohio University, or Marshall University so they all should qualify for Ohio University since Marshall, and OU are academically close.

Just thinking. If I choose to obtain my bachelors at Ohio U, I could indeed take Pre-Med classes there, for their medical school. I just thought of a new thread to make, lol.

Justin

 

[DiverDoc]

Thank you for the kind words. I certainly hope I have success in my path. =)

See my key goal was becoming a nurse, ultimately that way, big IF I do not get accepted to medical school, I can work part-time while fixing whatever my problem is. How long does it typically take to complete Pre-Med classes, and such? 1-year? 2? I should be able to take my Pre-Med classes while obtaining my Bachelors in Nursing, take my Pre-Med at the sametime. I will be taking my Pre-Med either at Ohio University, or Marshall University so they all should qualify for Ohio University since Marshall, and OU are academically close.

Just thinking. If I choose to obtain my bachelors at Ohio U, I could indeed take Pre-Med classes there, for their medical school. I just thought of a new thread to make, lol.

Justin

You have a formula for success. Many many pre meds out there wish they would have been focused right out of high-school. Me included. I got focused late second semester. I have a 3.5 but just think if i would have been focused 1st semester like you will be !

 

[HunterGatherer]

One problem with the nursing route is that some schools have basic sciences for nursing students and then a set of more "rigorous" basic science for science majors and premed students. When applying to medical school this could possibly pose a problem.

If you are dead set on ortho please visit the ortho forum on SDN. Check out the difficult process for MDs and DOs. Consider going to a school with an ortho residency and start showing interest early.

Personally I would skip the whole nursing idea unless you actually want to be a nurse. Nursing can be a stressful program because of their standards. It is also time consuming.

All the effort you are putting into a nursing degree you will not use could be used to study for the MCAT, get a nice GPA, do ortho research, shadow ortho docs,etc.

 

[ocdp09]

The only thing is your probably at a bigger disadvantage going to nursing school. not only are you wasting your time there, your taking more classes that are not needed. i would recommend going straight to a 4 year university and taking the premed required classes there. i think going to nursing is a waste of time and money. plus, its not that easy for a DO (like you want to be) to become a surgeon. in fact, it could be harder for a DO because the % of DO's being surgeons especially orthopedic is very very low compared to that of MD's. but lets say you get into DO school, your going to have to be an amazing student there because to become a surgeon, your going to have to finish a very good residency, but to participate in a very good residency your going to have to compete with every other MD/DO student in the country. but hey, if you got the potential, the grades, and i mean if your a very good student then maybe you can make it as a osteopathic orthopedic surgeon. but overall, i would say skip the nursing.

 

[AmyO]

I would not go the nursing route. The nursing program is packed full of nursing courses and does not allow you ample time to complete much beyond pre-med reqs. Plus many of your nursing science courses may not count, because many medical schools require that the science pre-reqs are taken from that department and must be the course that majors are required to take (ex. nursing biochemistry may not count, schools may want you to take biochem from the chemistry dept). I also find it a disadvantage going into the interviews. I was a emergency medical services major (had my Bachelors and training in the paramedic program plus all of my pre-meds were taken from a 4-yr rigorous pre-med program) and I had many interviewers ask me "well, I don't understand why you aren't just a paramedic" when I never intended to be a paramedic (was just trying to gain experience). I ran into physicians, who were my interviewers, who had negative views of allied health professionals and one even called me an "ambulance driver." I felt like I spent more time trying to defend my major than actually explain why I would be a good fit for their medical school. I would have to say that the osteopathic medical schools were more appreciative of my major than the allopathic schools. It was a hassle and in the end, I wish I had done something else traditional like biology. They tell you to "do anything that interests you," but if it is something in the allied health, I would avoid it because in my experience, it seems to work against you.

 

[WannabeOrtho]

Can any of you give me some examples of majors that work with the Pre-Med requirements. I would love to hurry, and get my Bachelors, but say I go with Biology, what exacty can I do with say that degree IF I do not get into medical school.

 

[WannabeOrtho]

With that above being said. I run into other problems. I was planning to take the Nursing at a local community college, hence the transfer to a bigger university to get my bachelors. While it has many majors I cannot find anything half interesting other than Nursing. I also believe it is too late to transfer everything to a actual university. Classes for community college starts August 14th. I already have everything complete. I personally do not want to run into problems with them bugging me about the nursing field. I actually thought having a RN license, and passing the NCLEX would half look good. Specifically if my Bachelors was from their college. Also for my Pre-Med to be from their college. I don't think I seen an answer above on how long Pre-Med usually is.

These are the requirements for OUCOM.
Semester Quarter Hours
English 6 9
Behavioral Science 6 9
Biology/Zoology 8 12
General Chemistry 8 12
Organic Chemistry 8 12
Physics 8 12

Could these courses essentially be completed in 1 year? Or what is the estimated time to complete them.

 

[LINYKid]

With that above being said. I run into other problems. I was planning to take the Nursing at a local community college, hence the transfer to a bigger university to get my bachelors. While it has many majors I cannot find anything half interesting other than Nursing. I also believe it is too late to transfer everything to a actual university. Classes for community college starts August 14th. I already have everything complete. I personally do not want to run into problems with them bugging me about the nursing field. I actually thought having a RN license, and passing the NCLEX would half look good. Specifically if my Bachelors was from their college. Also for my Pre-Med to be from their college. I don't think I seen an answer above on how long Pre-Med usually is.

These are the requirements for OUCOM.
Semester Quarter Hours
English 6 9
Behavioral Science 6 9
Biology/Zoology 8 12
General Chemistry 8 12
Organic Chemistry 8 12
Physics 8 12

Could these courses essentially be completed in 1 year? Or what is the estimated time to complete them.

They could maybe 1yr with a summer school

fall- english, behav sci, bio chem phy
winter mini- behavioral sci2
spring - english2, bio chem phy2
summer- organic 1,2

 

[HunterGatherer]

I think being a nurse would help if you were a career switcher that worked as a nurse for a while. Getting into medical school is not so complicated that you need to have the "right" major. There are a lot of people fighting to get into nursing school for a career and you plan to use it as a stepping stone. There is no way to call nursing interesting if it is just a stepping stone.

Try calling the admissions office of OUCOM to see if they will accept your nursing credits when applying. If they say no and you truly want to be a doctor you willl have to switch majors or risk wasting 2 years doing something interesting.

You can just start taking basic sciences now and general requirements for graduating until you decide your major.
english, general chemistry, biology, required history course

 

[WannabeOrtho]

Try calling the admissions office of OUCOM to see if they will accept your nursing credits when applying. If they say no and you truly want to be a doctor you willl have to switch majors or risk wasting 2 years doing something interesting.

I am trying to understand this. They would have to accept their own Bachelors degree in Nursing I would think. Wouldn't they? Or do you mean I should go ahead and call them asking them if they will accept my associates from the community college? I haven't started the actual "nursing courses" yet. I am doing my math, writing, and such. Hmm.. I just thought of this. Maybe I should do my first quarter at my community college. Which would only consist of my math, science, etc.. Then see if they(OU) will accept the credits from the classes I took, and make my major once there something different.

 

[WannabeOrtho]

Actually I just thought about this after viewing OU's website. I will continue my nursing courses at my community college. I will hopeful graduate with a Associates in Nursing, then transfer to Ohio University. I will then get into their RN ADN-to-BSN program, do that while taking my Pre-Med classes. I do only see one problem. Explaining to OUCOM, or any other medical school why I chose to be a Nurse, then want to become a Doctor. I just don't see any other profession in the medical field that I would see myself taking. I like the idea of having a RN license. Would they look negatively if I have let's say a 3.9 GPA throughout my Associates degree courses, and my bachelors, and Pre-Med courses? I do realize that is alot of work. Could a person actually get a 3.9 throughout, and get say a 30 on the MCAT. I feel like that would be crazy if they rejected you with that, and with a good personal statement.

Even though the above sounds crazy, almost undoable. Would that be a good candidate for medical school?

 

[Moedog]

It sounds like you truly are set on becoming an ortho MD! I am also an RN who is applying to medical school...I was not as focused at your age, and never considered medicine until I began working as an RN. First I will say there are MANY benefits to being a RN and applying to medschool...it really allows you to have an accurate perspective of medicine however, if you feel you have what it takes to get into medical choose a more traditional route, and bust your ass! and apply to MD first as I do believe you will have an easier time getting in to ortho residency this way...and just remeber to appreciate nurses also! good luck Moe

 

[HunterGatherer]

I meant for you to call OUCOM Osteopathic admissions office to see if they will accept your basic sciences from the Assoc degree nursing program.

3.9GPA, 30 MCAT, solid LORs, and solid interview and you are good.

there is more than one road into medical school. Just be prepared to be questioned.
Don't go telling your nursing classmates and professor "I'm just passing through". good luck.

 

[WannabeOrtho]

I meant for you to call OUCOM Osteopathic admissions office to see if they will accept your basic sciences from the Assoc degree nursing program.

3.9GPA, 30 MCAT, solid LORs, and solid interview and you are good.

there is more than one road into medical school. Just be prepared to be questioned.
Don't go telling your nursing classmates and professor "I'm just passing through". good luck.

Thank you very much. I am definitely sure if I work hard enough I can achieve them grades. I am sure anyone can if they work hard enough.

Sorry but the whole "I am just passing through", made me laugh IRL(in real life).

 

[WannabeOrtho]

(Pasted from above looking for an answer without making another new thread.)

Also, this is more for someone who is a Doctor, or is very well acquainted with the way this stuff works. This is an example. Once I am a orthopedic surgeon, and I learn most of the techniques, and ways to do the surgerys. How would I go about, or How do they go about coming up with new ways of doing the surgerys. Such as doing it quicker, more accurate, with a different computer etc.. Would I be qualified myself to research new ways, or would just certain Hospitals allow me to do it. How would a Doctor come up with new ways? By taking time off, and writing letters, and such to Doctors on how I/He plans to do it, and see if they would like to invest in it? How does one invent a new way of doing a knee surgery/arm surgery?

 

[LINYKid]

(Pasted from above looking for an answer without making another new thread.)

Also, this is more for someone who is a Doctor, or is very well acquainted with the way this stuff works. This is an example. Once I am a orthopedic surgeon, and I learn most of the techniques, and ways to do the surgerys. How would I go about, or How do they go about coming up with new ways of doing the surgerys. Such as doing it quicker, more accurate, with a different computer etc.. Would I be qualified myself to research new ways, or would just certain Hospitals allow me to do it. How would a Doctor come up with new ways? By taking time off, and writing letters, and such to Doctors on how I/He plans to do it, and see if they would like to invest in it? How does one invent a new way of doing a knee surgery/arm surgery?

heck out a lot of the sticks/faq's they will answer a LOT of your questions. But as Hunter said check to make sure that your nursing courses count as 'basic sci' many schools have sciences specially setaside for nursing majors and they wouldnt meet your med school pre-req's. Why not just pick a major and make sure you have the pre-req's for medschool if that is what you really want or you could always go the nurse practitioner route. Admin's reps will wonder why you took the nursing classes to go straight to med school unless you plan on taking a several yr break by working as a urse than going to med school

 

[ocdp09]

to learn different procedures in surgery as well as come up with procdures usually is done by doctors who had PhD's, who are researching and focusing on developing techniques. Once they come up with some they publish it to fellow doctors in journals. I dont think you would jeopardize your liscense, reputation and career by trying out new procedures when the risk is unbelievable nor will you have a solid insurance for long