pod student wants to apply to med school

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determinedcat

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Hey everyone,

I'm currently in my second semester of podiatry school, but I've always wanted to be an M.D. At the time when I was supposed to retake my mcat (24) and apply to med schools, I was discouraged by others (including my ex-bf) who told me I wasn't going to get in. I have a 3.0 gpa from a very good university. I was a chem major. I have volunteered all through undergrad (clinical settings, shadowing) and after undergrad (disadvantaged communities in Mexico, homeless). I worked at a research lab at a state school in California (microbio) during 2008 and 2009 - I graduated in 2008. I also took the mcat in 2008. I have great letters of rec and an upward GPA trend.

My problem is: I want to apply to medical school now because I've always wanted to be an M.D. and I don't know what I should do. I freaked out and applied to SGU and Ross a couple of days ago. But, I've been told that I should not give up on US med schools since I haven't even tried.

Also, I had some rough personal situations during undergrad and that didn't help my GPA. My family has never been well-off and I've never been lazy. I'm also the first to graduate from college in the U.S.

What should I do?? I have no idea where to start.

Thanks in advance.
 
that three-oh is not going to do you any favors.. your road will be long and hard, the length and hardness (teehee) will be meticulously explained, no doubt, by posters who will follow..

but if you want my opinion, i think you should stick with pods unless you really hate feet
 
bleargh said:
that three-oh is not going to do you any favors.. your road will be long and hard, the length and hardness (teehee) will be meticulously explained, no doubt, by posters who will follow..

but if you want my opinion, i think you should stick with pods unless you really hate feet
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no urology jokes :laugh:
 
I have been doing OK. Not a 4.0, and some classes are P/F. Definitely passed all classes. So far, I've taken gross anatomy, physiology, neurophysiology, histology. Now, I'm taking biochem, lower extremity anatomy, and will start neuroanatomy tomorrow. My best subject is anatomy. Worst is histology, but I got a P for that one.
 
You are a couple years away from being able to combine science and helping people, providing care, being the leader of a group delivering care (making the assumption that you will be working with others in the delivery of services in your practice setting). Why go backwards? Why give up one career where you are the leader, providing health care and combining science and taking care of people to start over with the goal of eventually doing the same thing although being licensed to care for the whole body rather than just foot & ankle?

Why do you want to give up pods for more years out of the work force, more debt and fewer years as an earner (fewer years saving for retirement)? Until you can answer that question for yourself, you shouldn't even think about leaving podiatry.

Second, you need to wonder if your below average stats for med school indicate that you would even have a shot being admitted to a US med school. You might have a shot at a off shore school but you could end up with a big debt and nothing to show for it as those schools take many students with the expectation that many will flunk out. Even if you do graduate, there is no assurance that you'll get a residency and become licensed to practice in the US. Do you really want to throw away a career in podiatry for what's behind door #2?
 
LizzyM said:
Why go backwards? Why give up one career where you are the leader, providing health care and combining science and taking care of people to start over with the goal of eventually doing the same thing although being licensed to care for the whole body rather than just foot & ankle?
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With much respect to the profession, I have never really wanted to be a podiatrist. I was told I couldn't go to medical school. I was discouraged. But, I'm not going to be happy unless I become an M.D. I want to treat the whole body. This is my dream career. It is the only thing that will make me happy. I have no doubt that podiatry is a great career and that it can provide similar rewards. But, personally, since I have always wanted to be an M.D., I will feel unfulfilled. This has nothing to do with the podiatry career. This has to do with what I want to do in life.
 
In addition to what LizzyM said, you seem to sound like someone who only went to pods because you were afraid of not getting into MD schools (funny how you mentioned MD and Caribbean but no DO). I personally question your intent on trying to change your goal - if you weren't focused about pursuing MD then, what makes you think admins will take a pods drop-out?
 
Silverfalcon said:
In addition to what LizzyM said, you seem to sound like someone who only went to pods because you were afraid of not getting into MD schools (funny how you mentioned MD and Caribbean but no DO). I personally question your intent on trying to change your goal - if you weren't focused about pursuing MD then, what makes you think admins will take a pods drop-out?
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I wasn't afraid of not getting into MD schools. Other people told me I shouldn't apply. They discouraged me. I was an idiot and listened to them. As for your question, I don't know. That's why I'm here. That's actually what I am asking myself. And, I am not a "pods drop-out". I'm wondering what I should do when applying to med school. Should I stay in pod school? Should I leave pod school and get a research job?
 
determinedcat said:
I wasn't afraid of not getting into MD schools. Other people told me I shouldn't apply. They discouraged me. I was an idiot and listened to them. As for your question, I don't know. That's why I'm here. That's actually what I am asking myself. And, I am not a "pods drop-out". I'm wondering what I should do when applying to med school. Should I stay in pod school? Should I leave pod school and get a research job?
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if you really want to apply to med schools, you're going to need to bring that MCAT up by A LOT as well as potentially multiple years of GPA rehab. probably can't do that with pods school.

be realistic here though, do you think you can score ~ 35 on the MCAT?
 
determinedcat said:
I wasn't afraid of not getting into MD schools. Other people told me I shouldn't apply. They discouraged me. I was an idiot and listened to them. As for your question, I don't know. That's why I'm here. That's actually what I am asking myself. And, I am not a "pods drop-out". I'm wondering what I should do when applying to med school. Should I stay in pod school? Should I leave pod school and get a research job?
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OK, not a drop-out, but if you quit pod-school, you will be a pod-school-quitter. Blunt, yes, but truth.

We are not really telling you to do either way. It's your life. But remember that life is more than just Newton's Third Law - for every action, there is not just equal and opposite reaction but another thing called "consequences." Quitting pod school does not guarantee anything about your future, and who knows, you may end up liking podiatry.
 
Bleeaeaargh and Silver, I sent you both a PM about my situation.

I don't think I'd regret staying in podiatry. I think I'd regret not going after my dream career, which would make me very unhappy in podiatry.
 
determinedcat said:
Bleeaeaargh and Silver, I sent you both a PM about my situation.

I don't think I'd regret staying in podiatry. I think I'd regret not going after my dream career, which would make me very unhappy in podiatry.
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i think you have your answer then. life is about compromises yo.
 
I'll be blunt: with a 24 and a 3.0 you have a very, very slim chance of being admitted into any school of medicine and your chances of successfully completing medical school are not as good as the chances among applicants with MCATs of 26 or better.

You tell us that you want to be an MD but nothing about how MD is different than podiatry, except for treating the whole body. What is it about the whole body that you is lacking in podiatry?

If this is about prestige (noting, too that you specified MD and not physician in general) then your chances are even more slim. I just don't see adcoms falling all over themselves to give you a shot.
 
LizzyM said:
I'll be blunt: with a 24 and a 3.0 you have a very, very slim chance of being admitted into any school of medicine and your chances of successfully completing medical school are not as good as the chances among applicants with MCATs of 26 or better.

You tell us that you want to be an MD but nothing about how MD is different than podiatry, except for treating the whole body. What is it about the whole body that you is lacking in podiatry?

If this is about prestige (noting, too that you specified MD and not physician in general) then your chances are even more slim. I just don't see adcoms falling all over themselves to give you a shot.
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This isn't about prestige. This isn't about podiatry not being a great career. This is about me going after something I've always wanted. I didn't even have a chance to re-take the mcat, improve my app, and apply. That's what I'm getting at. And, I'm asking on here what I should do to apply...
 
determinedcat said:
This isn't about prestige. This isn't about podiatry not being a great career. This is about me going after something I've always wanted. I didn't even have a chance to re-take the mcat, improve my app, and apply. That's what I'm getting at. And, I'm asking on here what I should do to apply...
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Retake the MCAT. If you do well (>29 and at least 10 in each section) and think that your podiatry grades will make up for poor performance as an undergrad, then go ahead & apply for medical school. However, why you dropped out of podiatry school will be a big question and "MD is my dream" is a poor response.

Frankly, the people who discouraged you from retaking a MCAT of 24 given your 3.0 gpa were doing you a favor. You are in profesisonal school and have a bright future as a health care professional. I can't figure why you'd chuck that for the chance at going to school for seven more years (including residency).
 
determinedcat said:
This isn't about prestige. This isn't about podiatry not being a great career. This is about me going after something I've always wanted. I didn't even have a chance to re-take the mcat, improve my app, and apply. That's what I'm getting at. And, I'm asking on here what I should do to apply...
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If it's not "prestige" issue, why are you not mentioning DO schools?
 
If I were to stick with podiatry, I would still go still go to school for 7 years...

So why not try to do something I know I will enjoy if I will be in school for a long time anyway?

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.
 
determinedcat said:
If I were to stick with podiatry, I would still go still go to school for 7 years...

So why not try to do something I know I will enjoy if I will be in school for a long time anyway?

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.
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But you've got almost one year down and six to go so you'll begin practicing in 2017, correct?

If you were to retake the MCAT and apply in June 2011, you would matriculate in Fall 2012, graduate in 2016 and finish residency in 2019....And that is optimistic. It is possible that you might apply, reapply and never get in. Then where will you be in 2019?
 
LizzyM said:
But you've got almost one year down and six to go so you'll begin practicing in 2017, correct?

If you were to retake the MCAT and apply in June 2011, you would matriculate in Fall 2012, graduate in 2016 and finish residency in 2019....And that is optimistic. It is possible that you might apply, reapply and never get in. Then where will you be in 2019?
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Correct. At least I know I tried.

"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." - Theodore Roosevelt
 
If it's always been your dream to be a physician, then I can understand you going for it and not wanting to have regrets when you reflect on life 10, 20, or 30 years from now. But honestly, applying to Caribbean schools without considering DO schools is a big mistake in my opinion.

As other have stated, your chances at an allopathic school are extremely slim, even if you do manage to get 30+ on the mcat. Your undergrad GPA + the fact that you'd have to justify giving up a perfectly good career in podiatry may be too much to overcome.

At least be realistic and consider DO which will still be an uphill battle for you. Or roll the dice and go to the Caribbean if having different initials after your name is really worth the risk. Honestly, I don't know how anyone can go to the islands without even trying to get into a DO school first.
 
everyone here is being pretty negative OP and they have kind of a reason to. However i understand your situation; you want to become an M.D and thats that. So disregard everything else; thats what you want and you have to be willing to anything required.

First you should fix your GPA; retake any pre-reqs that you did poor in and overall obtain a higher GPA. Then take the MCAT score 29+; i think you can do it!
 
Do you get any breaks in pod school? If so, consider retaking the MCAT (without dropping out of pod school). If you can get a competitive score, you can take the next step towards applying to a medical school. If your score remains similar to what it is, you would have a pretty difficult time being admitted to medical school.

I wouldn't commit to pursuing medical school unless you can get a competitive MCAT. Otherwise you risk dropping out of podiatry school to not gain admittance to medical school & get stuck with the debt you've racked up.
 
LizzyM said:
I'll be blunt: with a 24 and a 3.0 you have a very, very slim chance of being admitted into any school of medicine and your chances of successfully completing medical school are not as good as the chances among applicants with MCATs of 26 or better.

You tell us that you want to be an MD but nothing about how MD is different than podiatry, except for treating the whole body. What is it about the whole body that you is lacking in podiatry?

If this is about prestige (noting, too that you specified MD and not physician in general) then your chances are even more slim. I just don't see adcoms falling all over themselves to give you a shot.
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Everything but feet, maybe?
 
OP, with all due respect, having "always wanted" something isn't a good enough reason to drop out of pod school to pursue medicine (in my opinion). You need more concrete reasons -- what, specifically, would medicine offer to you in terms of career intangibles that medicine cannot? "Treating the whole body" is such a vague generalization and your reasons should really be better clarified.

I think you should REALLY ask yourself why you want to be a physician (and not because it's what you've always wanted) -- and write those reasons down. Can they be accomplished by a career in podiatry? I would say probably yes.

However, if you really want to pursue medicine, especially in the US, I think you should only be focusing on DO schools. You keep mentioning 'MD' but DO schools would be much more accessible, but still incredibly difficult to gain an admittance. If you were to retake classes you did poorly in, osteopathic schools would replace that grade instead of averaging them like MD schools.

Personally, from what you've typed, I think you would be making a mistake by dropping out of podiatry school. Just educate yourself the best you can about your options, and don't be so driven by the emotional aspects of the decision.
 
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If you want to apply to MD school here is what you're going to have to do:
1) Retake the MCAT, get at least a 30, if you need a course for this take a course
2) 16 months before you want to start medical school - apply. Its a year long process. Have at least $5,000 saved up for application costs
3) Apply to DO as well since a 3.0 will screen you out of almost all MD schools - this may cost another $5,000
4) While you're doing all this, probably enroll at least part-time in a community college somewhere because otherwise your podiatry school loans are going to come out of deferment and you are going to have to start making loan payments.

That is the answer to your original question. However, I am going to tack onto everyone else on here and say don't do it. It will cost you years of life, the wasted money applying, and the wasted money spend on a year of pod school and you may end up with nothing to show for it.

The biggest things keeping you out of an MD school (and DO schools for that matter):
-3.0 GPA - its just too low, and in general, you don't get extra points for going to a "good college" or majoring in chemistry. Nor will the adcoms put too much stock in family problems during undergrad. Sounds unfair - yes, but thats life
-24 MCAT. Even if you get a 30+ on your next, they'll still see that 24 and may ask what happened.
-Pod school. They are going to want to know why you went to pod school in the first place (and while it may be the truth - "other people discouraged me from MD" isn't going to do you any favors). Then they're going to want to know why MD when you had a perfectly good spot in a podiatry school. As others have already said: "I have always wanted to be an MD" is a terribly answer. You better get a mature, well-thought out answer to the question and put it in your personal statement if you want to even be considered.

Having a one-tract mind about medicine and seeing no road by MD is very immature and poorly thought out. Adcoms will see that. So again, you better have some darn good reasons why you are leaving one healthcare field for another, and nothing you've said on this forum is cutting it.

Are we trying to discourage you? Yes. Because what you are about to do could have serious ramifications on the rest of your life.

Lets take a worse case scenario: what do you do if you drop out of pod school and don't get accepted into medical school? Because that is a VERY likely scenario for you and you better have some ideas of what you will do for your career then and how you will pay back your podiatry loans.
 
i'd stay in podiatry just because it means less debt, less studying and much less stress than starting medicine. at a certain point, jumping ship isnt worth it. enjoy life! i had a shot at finishing pharmacy within 5 yrs after highschool (loving canada's style) but i turned down the offer. I'm kicking myself everyday for letting opportunity go. now i have to jump through all these extra hoops to get into med school. dont make the same mistake as me.
 
nicolemeooow said:
I guess we should just let her try...
Good luck OP:xf:
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seriously. OP had his/her mind made up before even starting the thread.

the 30+ MCAT is nice advice if OP is OK with DO, but GPA repair is going to be necessary if MD is in the picture - regardless of MCAT. I'd actually think OP would be a good candidate for an SMP: the material wouldn't be new, anyway.

also, withdrawal from pod school is necessary before applying. med schools don't like poaching people from other programs, especially other health programs.
 
gravitywave said:
GPA repair is going to be necessary if MD is in the picture - regardless of MCAT. I'd actually think OP would be a good candidate for an SMP: the material wouldn't be new, anyway.
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Agreed, if her grades in her grad program, essentially all upper-level Bio, have been excellent, a Special Masters Program may take that into account as showing good potential for success in the program and get her an acceptance if the MCAT retake is 28-30+ (depending on each program's cutoff).
 
Catalystik said:
Agreed, if her grades in her grad program, essentially all upper-level Bio, have been excellent, a Special Masters Program may take that into account as showing good potential for success in the program and get her an acceptance if the MCAT retake is 28-30+ (depending on each program's cutoff).
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I think that an excellent performance in pod school might be substituted for a SMP. Both show the ability to handle the medical science material.
 
I forgot to mention. I took post bacc classes [no formal program or anything] (hematology, human genetics, evolutionary bio, cell bio, etc) at a Cal state university, but if was only for a semester. I retook some classes, too. My GPA there was 3.7 (I aced all my retakes). I don't know what my GPA is here because some of the classes are P/F and because some classes are 1 year long, like Neurosciences (part 1 is neurophys and part 2, which i'm taking now, is neuroanatomy). It's probably not as good as my post bacc one because my bf broke up with me the first day I started pod school (I gave up med school for him/it was a serious relationship) and I was severely depressed.

Also, thank you all for answering my question and giving me tips. It means a lot to me. I'm thinking an SMP would be a good idea. But, which one? Does anyone know of good ones in CA? I'm looking at the Berkeley one.

I will finish pod school on the week of May 15 or so. I'll retake the MCAT in July (6,16,28,29?) not sure what date exactly, but I'll try to review some during this semester. I'll apply for this cycle, and I'll do an SMP for a year. Does that sound good?
 
determinedcat said:
I'm thinking an SMP would be a good idea. But, which one? Does anyone know of good ones in CA? I'm looking at the Berkeley one.

I'll apply for this cycle, and I'll do an SMP for a year. Does that sound good?
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Your GPA from your informal postbac sounds very promising.

You'll have to focus on SMPs that will take your current MCAT score (there are some) as I expect the application deadlines may be after your retake score is due back in August (not sure about that, so check it out).

Post-Baccalaureate Programs, including SMPs: (see the sticky at the top for a good summary) http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=71
SMPs, searchable database: http://services.aamc.org/postbac/
 
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Retake your MCAT and talk to medical school advisers on your chances, and what you would need on the MCAT to be competitive at their particular schools. Look up DO, and I would stay away from the Caribbean schools, you don't want to have hundreds of thousands of more debt, and no career should they not work out.
 
It seems like you have your mind made up about going for the MD, so I don't think anything anyone says will change that. An SMP will be a good idea as well as an MCAT course to help raise your score. It think it will probably be difficult for you to significantly raise your MCAT score on your own with only a couple of months to study. Also, make sure to apply broadly and please consider applying for DO schools as well. After all that you will have gone through, it would be a shame to go to a Caribbean school and not be able to finish or land a residency spot.

Good luck with whatever route you decide to take!
 
Thanks for the responses.

Question: would it make any sense to leave podiatry school right now? Since I have to take the mcat, is it wise to leave podiatry school and study for the mcat? Or, should I stay in podiatry and come may, study for the mcat?
 
determinedcat said:
Thanks for the responses.

Question: would it make any sense to leave podiatry school right now? Since I have to take the mcat, is it wise to leave podiatry school and study for the mcat? Or, should I stay in podiatry and come may, study for the mcat?
Click to expand...

You need all the help you can get. Whether or not it takes dropping out, you need to apply as early as possible with an improved MCAT score.
 
OP, why are you ignoring everyone telling you to go DO? Do you even know what a DO is?
 
determinedcat said:
Thanks for the responses.

Question: would it make any sense to leave podiatry school right now? Since I have to take the mcat, is it wise to leave podiatry school and study for the mcat? Or, should I stay in podiatry and come may, study for the mcat?
Click to expand...

Stay in school as a fail safe.
 
Mbeas said:
OP still hasn't even acknowledged it. it's all about the PRESTIGE. screw DPM. i want MD.
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Indeed. That's why I stopped giving advice on this thread because it became pointless to persuade someone who wants to treat the whole body but only demands, "MD! MD! MD!" 👎
 
I want to be encouraging to your plight. But the fact that your only reason is because you think you will be more happy pursuing an MD over a DPM (which you are already in progress) is facepalm reasoning.

Reasoning that way is more subjective than me saying this thread is incredibly superficial.
 
DO is an option. I will apply to DO schools as well. I never said that I wouldn't.
 
If you're serious about DO being an option you may want to consider the Nova Southeastern program. They have an accelerated DO where someone with a DPM can spend only 3 years to get a DO. Since you are already one year into the DPM and would have another year of applying the earliest you would possibly graduate from med year school would be 6 total years from the begining of this year. The combined DPM/DO would be 7 years. The link is --
http://medicine.nova.edu/dodpm/index.html

However, it's only for people who want to practice podiatry but don't want to be constrained by some of the regulations. So, if you really don't like feet this may not be for you.
 
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