Post bac program

[kate333]

would the post bac program increase your chance of getting into DO schools or not?

i heard people talked about post bac programs at lecom and pcom. i was just wondering that if you go to one of those programs ... would your chance of getting into the do schools would be higher rite? assuming that you did well at that school.

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[GoForIt]

•••quote:•••would the post bac program increase your chance of getting into DO schools or not? ....
assuming that you did well at that school. ••••Yes, it would. Doing well in the post bac program further shows that you can crack the heavy med school workload. Also, you might meet the people in advance that could eventually end up interviewing you during the admission process. It would make you less nervous and perhaps give you that competitive edge.

•••quote:•••i heard people talked about post bac programs at lecom and pcom. ••••I do not know you really want to go out of state. If you prefer to stay in the west coast, you might want to consider COMP, TUCOM, and AZCOM. They are all very good schools. If you should like COMP, I know that COMP has a post bac program with one of the Pomona colleges ( I think it might be Pitzer, but I am not sure?? I do know it's not Pomona, Mudd, or McKenna.)

If you decide to go with the DO route, I suggest that you get to know a DO as much as you can, and as early as possible. There are many DOs in the SD area. Just look up the phone book if you do not already know one. For most DO schools, a letter of recommendation from a DO is a requirement.

Since you are doing your undergrad at UCSD, LOR from either Dr. Paul Price and/or Dr. Willie Brown will be extremely credible.

Good luck!!!!!

 

[barbjs]

I am in a post-bac program now and I think that it definitely helped me to get into med school. I am at Boston University to my post-bac, but I decided that I really wanted to go DO. ALl of my classes have been with the first year med students and if you can show that you can do well in these classes, it definitely gives you an edge. On my interviews, they asked me about the program, what I was doing, why I was doing it, and how it was helping me and they all seemed to respond positively, so now I am going to Nova

 

[kate333]

I heard that most of the post bac programs are very very difficult is that true? how would you compare it with undergraduate work?

thanks

 

[GoForIt]

There are TWO different types of post bac programs and they are for different target students.

The first type is for students not in science major, and did not take any pre-med requirement courses. Its curriculum is to help complete those courses in one year. It is difficult and fast pace since you will be taking many science courses and try to ace them all. Pitzer College has such program for COMP. Also, Harvard Extension has a two year post bac program for non-science major students.

The second type is for students who had taken all pre-med requirment courses, but did not do well at AMCAT. Its main purpose is to help students raise their AMCAT score and reapply the following year. UCSD has this kind of program. I heard over 90% of students in that UCSD program were able to gain admission to med schools.

 

[rpames]

There is a third type:
This is a program designed for students that have less then a steller GPA and want to prove themselves in med school level classes. Finch, PCOM, LECOM, and Boston are programs like that (I think they are at least).

 

[jean]

RPAMES

Yes, there is a third type of Post Bacc program, however there are many reasons why one enters into a program like PCOM, LECOM or Finch, it could be a low gpa, but more than likely its a low mcat score or placement on an waitlist at a med school the prior year.

 

[rpames]

jean

I agree with you, I was just pointing out that there are programs besides the two mentioned above. The programs I mentioned, I believe, state that they are designed to enhance ones academic profile and not a MCAT enhancement program. I wasn't saying that they are designed for 2.0 gpa students, just those that want to raise it. That could be a someone with a 2.8 of a 3.6. I'm not putting down those programs, I know about them because I looking at enter one.

 

[lady bug]

Any comparisions/contrasts on the post-bac programs at Boston U/ Georgetown/ MCP Hann? I've heard these mentioned from time to time on this site, but I'm not quite sure how people choose one over the other....

 

[Yah-E]

Kate,

There are Post-bac. programs available at both Midwestern University campuses, AZCOM and CCOM. It's their Master Biomedical Science (MBS) program. It's named MBS because you're able to earn a Master's degree if you wish or if your DO or MD school application are unsuccessful. For more program info, let me know, we'll chat!

 

[kate333]

Hi,

I started to shadow a DO last week but I can only shadowed 2hours/week because his office is 30 minutes from my house. Do you guys recommend that I volunteer at a hospital next to my school (VA hospital) like 4hours/week so I have more EC.

Do you think that I'm very very late?

My overall GPA is 3.4. Is science/pre-med GPA includes 1 year of Calculus, English, O-Chem, G-Chem, Physics, and Biology? If so then I have around 3.3.

My pre-med advisor told me that science GPA is all the science classes that I took. Since I'm a biology major is that mean that my major GPA is my science GPA plus ENglish. Can someone clear this up for me please.

Thank you