Need Advice

[littleemt]

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Ok so here is the story... kinda long so bear with me

I graduated with a BS in biochemistry in 2006 from a public/city college.
I have applied to med schools for entering classes 2006 and 2007. Applied to about 20 schools each time, some re-applications, no DO schools.
Took the MCAT twice, April 2006: 28R (B:10, V:10, P:8) and January 2007: 30O (B:10, V:9, P:11). My GPA overall is around 3.56, NS:3.7, S:3.42. (I did get two C's for a physiology class)
I was an officer in pre-science club, did a little bit of volunteering, worked as a nursing assistant for about 2 years (junior and senior years). I spent 2 years as an undergraduate research assistant/intern (no publications though). I became an EMT last year (during the last application season),and an instructor-intern at the EMT school where I studied. Now I work as a Research Coordinator at a (drumroll please) very prestigious medical school. I didn't apply for 2008 entering class at all.

Now the main question.. should I try again, take the MCAT, apply for 2009? Or should I give up that idea and try Carribean? Or perhaps DO school?

I spoke to an admissions dean at the med school where I work and he gave me options : MS, PhD, post-bacc, foreign med school or DO. I'm more confused than ever, please help.

 

[Gold 5]

Ok so here is the story... kinda long so bear with me

I graduated with a BS in biochemistry in 2006 from a public/city college.
I have applied to med schools for entering classes 2006 and 2007. Applied to about 20 schools each time, some re-applications, no DO schools.
Took the MCAT twice, April 2006: 28R (B:10, V:10, P:8) and January 2007: 30O (B:10, V:9, P:11). My GPA overall is around 3.56, NS:3.7, S:3.42. (I did get two C's for a physiology class)
I was an officer in pre-science club, did a little bit of volunteering, worked as a nursing assistant for about 2 years (junior and senior years). I spent 2 years as an undergraduate research assistant/intern (no publications though). I became an EMT last year (during the last application season),and an instructor-intern at the EMT school where I studied. Now I work as a Research Coordinator at a (drumroll please) very prestigious medical school. I didn't apply for 2008 entering class at all.

Now the main question.. should I try again, take the MCAT, apply for 2009? Or should I give up that idea and try Carribean? Or perhaps DO school?

I spoke to an admissions dean at the med school where I work and he gave me options : MS, PhD, post-bacc, foreign med school or DO. I'm more confused than ever, please help.

What is your objective?

 

[littleemt]

I want to be an MD. Badly. To be more specific, I want to specialize in Emergency Medicine.

 

[fireflygirl]

I want to be an MD. Badly. To be more specific, I want to specialize in Emergency Medicine.

When you spoke with this admissions dean, did you find out what the weaknesses of your application might be? Because that could make the difference....if you have taken a lot of upper level science courses then you may not even be eligible for a post-bac. Personally, I think your MCAT is fine but that depends on the kind of medicine you want to practice. If you want to be at an academic oriented institution then you will have to retake the MCAT as their averages are generally higher. However, if you want to go to a clinical oriented school, then I would suggest finding out what the weaknesses are in your appilication, addressing it, and then reapplying. And this time I would seriously consider DO school. Especially if you want to do Emergency Medicine; half the docs I worked with at Penn's ER were DOs. If you are worried about the letters behind your name, I would strongly suggest you learn more about the two degrees and hopefully realise that there's no difference. However, if the MD is particularly important to you, then I would consider what I have said above and possibly applying to the Carib. Do know however, that you may encounter some challenges coming from the Carib and as long as you ready to deal with them, you should be fine. Your stats should go over really well in the Carib and I think they are still taking applications for 2008 if you are interested.

 

[Gold 5]

I want to be an MD. Badly. To be more specific, I want to specialize in Emergency Medicine.

Hi Little,
Sorry to hear that. You sound as if you right on the cusp of getting in. If your desire is an allopathic degree, than an MS or better yet an SMP would be my next move. Caribbean is always an option and I have meet fine doctors who have come from Ross or SGU but coming back to the states is difficult. If you are going down that route I would apply broadly to allopathic schools in the US on June 1 just to try the game once more while having your app in Caribbean. May cost some money but it won't harm either.
I was in a similar situation a few years ago but my grades where a bit older (I'm 35). After speaking to a few MD's they recommend to me not only Allopathic schools but the Osteopathic schools. The DO degree is not as well know to the general public so the application pool is smaller but you get the same license to practice medicine. After starting to learn about the degree I realized some of the attending Dr's in my local ER's where DO's. After chatting / shadowing them for a few days I had no qualms in going for the degree. With the DO degree you do have take some classes on OMM and take the COMLEX but you can also sit for the USMLE. If emergency medicine is your goal, both degrees get you there.

 

[littleemt]

So basically unless I want to do MS or SMP, I should give up on allopathic degree from the US? Reality really bites. 🙁
Another question, if I decide on a change of specialization, from emergency medicine to lets say.. dermatology, anesthesiology, neurology.. will DO or Caribbean school still get me there?

 

[RxnMan]

Ok so here is the story... kinda long so bear with me

I graduated with a BS in biochemistry in 2006 from a public/city college.
I have applied to med schools for entering classes 2006 and 2007. Applied to about 20 schools each time, some re-applications, no DO schools.
Took the MCAT twice, April 2006: 28R (B:10, V:10, P:8) and January 2007: 30O (B:10, V:9, P:11). My GPA overall is around 3.56, NS:3.7, S:3.42. (I did get two C's for a physiology class)
I was an officer in pre-science club, did a little bit of volunteering, worked as a nursing assistant for about 2 years (junior and senior years). I spent 2 years as an undergraduate research assistant/intern (no publications though). I became an EMT last year (during the last application season),and an instructor-intern at the EMT school where I studied. Now I work as a Research Coordinator at a (drumroll please) very prestigious medical school. I didn't apply for 2008 entering class at all.

Now the main question.. should I try again, take the MCAT, apply for 2009? Or should I give up that idea and try Carribean? Or perhaps DO school?

I spoke to an admissions dean at the med school where I work and he gave me options : MS, PhD, post-bacc, foreign med school or DO. I'm more confused than ever, please help.

The bolded parts are the traditional parts of the med school app - and you have them. Everything there seems to be in order with the number of schools you applied to.

What schools did you apply to? Did you go all top 20? Did you do apply to state-supported schools as an out-of-state applicant?

Depending on the answers to the above, each of these could have sink your application.

I would caution against getting a grad degree - most folks do those as a way to remediate poor grades, and it isn't very effective method. And you don't need to do that.

What about the other parts of your application? Could you have had a bad LOR?

 

[littleemt]

I applied to many many schools. Some were the "top-tier" but not all of them. Some applied to twice, some I didn't. My state-supported schools.. one I was waitlisted in 2 times, the rest didn't even bother. But I applied to some as an out-of-state applicant (not my state).
PS was allright, or at least thats what I was told. LOR might have been shaky but I've been out of school for 2 years now and don't know how I could improve it.

 

[fireflygirl]

So basically unless I want to do MS or SMP, I should give up on allopathic degree from the US? Reality really bites. 🙁
Another question, if I decide on a change of specialization, from emergency medicine to lets say.. dermatology, anesthesiology, neurology.. will DO or Caribbean school still get me there?

Well like I said, I can't tell you if the allopathic route is lost because I don't know your background enough and for me, it sounds like there is something missing in your application - that's why I asked you if the Dean pointed out some specific things you could improve on. Also, I would cast a wider net and apply to some allopathic and osteopathic schools. I know a few students with your stats that go into some of the more clinical, "lower-tiered" allo schools. However, only you know if you application is at the optimal place it can be. Have you talked to your advisor?

Also, you should check out some sites about osteopathic medicine including the pre-osteopathic and osteopathic threads and learn about it. You will find that you can go into any speciality you want to but as it is for both allo and osteo students, the more competitive residencies (ie derm and anthesiology) are competitive for everyone. Your board scores will matter and it may be in your best interest to take the COMLEX and the USMLE if you want to go into the more competitive residencies. However, you should check out specific osteo schools' websites as well and find out what their residencies are like. At PCOM, in Philadelphia, they have their own osteo residencies, some of which include surgery, neurosurgery, optho, and plastics. Granted these are very competitive, but you should feel comfortable knowing that with the right stats, you are just as able to get into these as any allo student.

With the carrib, you will be considered a FMG or foreign medical graduate. You will have to take the USMLEs as any allo student however, because you are considered an FMG, it may be harder to find residency. Rumours have it that there are a lot of other challenges for docs that come out of the Carrib but I'm not going to comment on that since I simply just don't know what the reality is. However, I do believe that most people will say that US med schools, whether MD or DO, are far better in terms of education and respect than Carrib schools but that's from what I hear.

Finally, if you are going to go the DO route, don't do it as a back up to the allopathic route. Really research the degree and figure out if the philosophy is for you. I didn't know anything about it before I applied but the more I learned, the better fit I thought it was for me and I am really psyched to start.

 

[fireflygirl]

I applied to many many schools. Some were the "top-tier" but not all of them. Some applied to twice, some I didn't. My state-supported schools.. one I was waitlisted in 2 times, the rest didn't even bother. But I applied to some as an out-of-state applicant (not my state).
PS was allright, or at least thats what I was told. LOR might have been shaky but I've been out of school for 2 years now and don't know how I could improve it.

If you think your LORs are shaky, perhaps it's time to get a new set. You said that you have been an EMT intern/instructor - why not get one from your boss? What about your research position - get one from your PI. Maybe it's time to get rid of the some of the older things on your app and refresh it with some of the newer ECs that you have been involved in.

 

[littleemt]

Thanks. I think that I will try for the MD/DO route again (third time's the charm?) and work on the MCAT, LORs and ECs. After all I'm only 25 and have the time to do it.

Fireflygirl, the dean didn't point out anything specific so I think I just wasn't competitve enough. Well... I'll try for next year. I have enough time until June to make sure that it's all top-notch. 🙂

 

[fireflygirl]

I wish you the best of luck. It must be hard to reapply but just keep at it and I know something will work out!!

 

[RxnMan]

I applied to many many schools. Some were the "top-tier" but not all of them. Some applied to twice, some I didn't. My state-supported schools.. one I was waitlisted in 2 times, the rest didn't even bother. But I applied to some as an out-of-state applicant (not my state).
PS was allright, or at least thats what I was told. LOR might have been shaky but I've been out of school for 2 years now and don't know how I could improve it.

Applying to state schools as an out-of-stater is a losing proposition. Too many spots are reserved for in-staters.

You can replace the shaky LOR with one from a boss or supervisor.

I really don't know what to say - with your numbers and app, I would expect you to have more success. When (time of year) did you apply?