Pre-med advice, non-trad

[climbyggdrasil]

Hello, don't get mad at me. I've searched the forums and had a few specific questions related to my path.

I am just hardly beginning this process, I want to go to osteopathic school. I went to college before, dicked around for a year because i was a lemming and had no idea what to do. I then took a few courses at a cc, for music theory composition.

my gpa is low, and i am confused in how i should go about this process now. would the courses i took at a cc for something completely unrelated count towards a pre-med degree?

I am looking to go through massage therapy school, as the interest i have in osteopathic medicine is OMT/NMM, and figured Massage Therapy is a branch of manual medicine. Would this help my application as i could work in a Chiro/PT setting as clinical experience? Would having my own MT business count towards this as well? I have seen a few comments on here that people have worked as a MT for a few years and are now in DO school. Would massage therapy be an entryway, or related groundwork, for OMT?

MT school would be completely unrelated towards my premed undergrad, i figured it would give me work that is applicable to OMT and something that could help pay for college. It is obviously not OMT, but the MT college i am looking to attend would qualify me in Neuromuscular Therapy (soft tissue).

in closing, would unrelated classes i took (music comp/theory) affect my undergrad gpa? I have a years worth of undergraduate classes (physics, biology, english, poly sci, college algebra and communications, both of which i will probably have to retake.) is my best route to do a year at a cc and transfer to a uni?

Is massage therapy/neuromuscular therapy something that adcoms would consider as clinical experience, if my end goal is to do a NMM or NMM/Internal residency? would clinical experience apply if the practice is outside of a pt/chiro clinic? (i.e. independent massage practice)

thanks, and please don't hate me, i didn't do nothing!

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[Papa Oso]

If you really want to go to a DO school, why are you doing MT?

 

[workaholic181]

Hello, don't get mad at me. I've searched the forums and had a few specific questions related to my path.

I am just hardly beginning this process, I want to go to osteopathic school. I went to college before, dicked around for a year because i was a lemming and had no idea what to do. I then took a few courses at a cc, for music theory composition.

my gpa is low, and i am confused in how i should go about this process now. would the courses i took at a cc for something completely unrelated count towards a pre-med degree?

I am looking to go through massage therapy school, as the interest i have in osteopathic medicine is OMT/NMM, and figured Massage Therapy is a branch of manual medicine. Would this help my application as i could work in a Chiro/PT setting as clinical experience? Would having my own MT business count towards this as well? I have seen a few comments on here that people have worked as a MT for a few years and are now in DO school. Would massage therapy be an entryway, or related groundwork, for OMT?

MT school would be completely unrelated towards my premed undergrad, i figured it would give me work that is applicable to OMT and something that could help pay for college. It is obviously not OMT, but the MT college i am looking to attend would qualify me in Neuromuscular Therapy (soft tissue).

in closing, would unrelated classes i took (music comp/theory) affect my undergrad gpa? I have a years worth of undergraduate classes (physics, biology, english, poly sci, college algebra and communications, both of which i will probably have to retake.) is my best route to do a year at a cc and transfer to a uni?

Is massage therapy/neuromuscular therapy something that adcoms would consider as clinical experience, if my end goal is to do a NMM or NMM/Internal residency? would clinical experience apply if the practice is outside of a pt/chiro clinic? (i.e. independent massage practice)

thanks, and please don't hate me, i didn't do nothing!

No this wouldn't help you. OMT is NOT chiropracty or massage therapy. The DOs I have shadowed have told me how irked they get when they see studies that lump OMT into categories with those other two. It is a distinct technique and DO schools will want to see that you understand and appreciate that fact. If anything I think goting to MT school and talking about how much you love MT and all the experience you have in it would be detrimental to your app.

Idk if you have a degree or not. If not, finish your degree and focus on school. If you need or want to work part time get a job as a patient care assistant or something like that, something with patient interaction where you get to observe medical professionals work. Something involved in MEDICINE, not MT.

 

[climbyggdrasil]

If you really want to go to a DO school, why are you doing MT?

To help cover my living expenses for the time being, and give me work opportunities during undergrad.

No this wouldn't help you. OMT is NOT chiropracty or massage therapy. The DOs I have shadowed have told me how irked they get when they see studies that lump OMT into categories with those other two. It is a distinct technique and DO schools will want to see that you understand and appreciate that fact. If anything I think goting to MT school and talking about how much you love MT and all the experience you have in it would be detrimental to your app.

Idk if you have a degree or not. If not, finish your degree and focus on school. If you need or want to work part time get a job as a patient care assistant or something like that, something with patient interaction where you get to observe medical professionals work. Something involved in MEDICINE, not MT.

I understand that it is not OMT. But OMT is manual medicine, no? And massage therapy is a branch of manual medicine, no? As is PT and Chiro. MT would allow me to work in chiro/pt clinics, would that not be considered patient interaction and/or observing medical professionals at work? Why is this not the case, if MT is a branch of manual medicine?

My plan is to go through MT school for 6 months, and then carry on with a premed undergrad, using the MT license to work in a chiro/pt clinic during undergrad. I said nowhere that I am planning to PREACH MY LOVE FOR MT during an interview, merely my interest for education in manual medicine. OMT is not the sole reason why I would like to go to med school, but it is a portion of my interest.

 

[cjcarter]

I feel like MT school would just be a waste of time for you since you still need to take all of the pre-reqs for med school. Get a job as a scribe or something similar that you can do part-time while in school.

To answer your other question, every course you have taken in the past will count towards your GPA.

So I really wouldn't waste the time or money on MT school. Focus on finishing your pre-reqs and acing them and then the MCAT. You can easily find a part-time gig doing something more medically relevant, but your focus should be school/doing well in classes right now.

 

[Papa Oso]

Get a job as a scribe or something similar that you can do part-time while in school.

I completely agree with the above poster OP. Whatever you can't cover with the job, take out loans like the rest of us who went to school did.

 

[climbyggdrasil]

I feel like MT school would just be a waste of time for you since you still need to take all of the pre-reqs for med school. Get a job as a scribe or something similar that you can do part-time while in school.

To answer your other question, every course you have taken in the past will count towards your GPA.

So I really wouldn't waste the time or money on MT school. Focus on finishing your pre-reqs and acing them and then the MCAT. You can easily find a part-time gig doing something more medically relevant, but your focus should be school/doing well in classes right now.

Just to clarify, working as an MT in a PT/Chiro clinic would not count as clinical experience? If my main interest or large part of my interest is in manual medicine and learning OMT? It will not be my only clinical experience, I have numerous doctors that will allow me to shadow them. I am 22 already, 6 months doesn't seem like a complete waste of time.

Is there an answer to why working in a PT/Chiro setting would not help my application?

 

[Shotapp]

Everyone is telling you that MT is a waste so try to heed their advice. Seriously you need to start working on your prerequisites. Don't ever go up to a DO and compare osteopathic manipulative medicine to massage therapy...ever.

 

[climbyggdrasil]

Everyone is telling you that MT is a waste so try to heed their advice. Seriously you need to start working on your prerequisites. Don't ever go up to a DO and compare osteopathic manipulative medicine to massage therapy...ever.

I never did.

 

[Shotapp]

I never did.

I didn't say you did...

 

[cjcarter]

Just to clarify, working as an MT in a PT/Chiro clinic would not count as clinical experience? If my main interest or large part of my interest is in manual medicine and learning OMT? It will not be my only clinical experience, I have numerous doctors that will allow me to shadow them. I am 22 already, 6 months doesn't seem like a complete waste of time.

Is there an answer to why working in a PT/Chiro setting would not help my application?

I'm not 100% sure if it would count as clinical experience. It seems like it might since you are interacting and touching patients, but I'm not an expert on this. If you were a PT tech or chiro tech, then I would say yes 100%. For instance, I was an optometric tech and did not apply to optometry school and it still counted towards my clinical experience for DO school. Your best bet would be to get advice from some adcoms on here and see what they think.

I just don't know why you'd want to waste another 6 months and $$ on something like this when you have a lot of difficult courses ahead of you. It seems like you're pretty set on it, so do you. I just think there are easier, faster, and cheaper ways to gain solid clinical experience.

 

[climbyggdrasil]

I didn't say you did...

My question was if it was complimentary, it is in no way a comparison.

 

[Shotapp]

My question was if it was complimentary, it is in no way a comparison.

MT isn't complimentary. If you are truly interested in MT regardless of what anyone else says about it then pursue it.

 

[climbyggdrasil]

I'm not 100% sure if it would count as clinical experience. It seems like it might since you are interacting and touching patients, but I'm not an expert on this. If you were a PT tech or chiro tech, then I would say yes 100%. For instance, I was an optometric tech and did not apply to optometry school and it still counted towards my clinical experience for DO school. Your best bet would be to get advice from some adcoms on here and see what they think.

I just don't know why you'd want to waste another 6 months and $$ on something like this when you have a lot of difficult courses ahead of you. It seems like you're pretty set on it, so do you. I just think there are easier, faster, and cheaper ways to gain solid clinical experience.

MT isn't complimentary. If you are truly interested in MT regardless of what anyone else says about it then pursue it.

I am in the beginning stages of undergrad, after taking a few years off school. I am looking to pursue an undergrad in Physiology/Anatomy, and the MT school would have classes in anatomy and physio, so i figured it would be complimentary towards my undergraduate interest as well as DO school. I enjoy working with my hands and my main interest in pursuing osteopathic school is manual medicine. yes, i have interests in other aspects of medicine, so probably a combined residency of NMM/IM/FP when i get to that point. I have read on here before that someone took this route, i cannot find the comment or user who did so.

is the consensus that MT during my undergrad would be neutral in regards to my application? How can i contact adcoms on here?

I admit i am interested in doing MT for the next few years during undergrad, was hoping it could somehow be beneficial depending on the setting. There aren't many other options for manual medicine under the bachelor level besides pta, which I am not interested in.

 

[Shotapp]

My opinion is irrelevant. Do what interests you so long as you complete the prerequisites. It's going to take you longer because of the MT. @Goro what say you?

 

[climbyggdrasil]

My opinion is irrelevant. Do what interests you so long as you complete the prerequisites. It's going to take you longer because of the MT. @Goro what say you?

I'm 22 and i've been out of school for 3 years now.

 

[cjcarter]

I am in the beginning stages of undergrad, after taking a few years off school. I am looking to pursue an undergrad in Physiology/Anatomy, and the MT school would have classes in anatomy and physio, so i figured it would be complimentary towards my undergraduate interest as well as DO school. I enjoy working with my hands and my main interest in pursuing osteopathic school is manual medicine. yes, i have interests in other aspects of medicine, so probably a combined residency of NMM/IM/FP when i get to that point. I have read on here before that someone took this route, i cannot find the comment or user who did so.

is the consensus that MT during my undergrad would be neutral in regards to my application? How can i contact adcoms on here?

I admit i am interested in doing MT for the next few years during undergrad, was hoping it could somehow be beneficial depending on the setting. There aren't many other options for manual medicine under the bachelor level besides pta, which I am not interested in.

So you still need to complete a 4 year bachelors degree? Then even more so, MT is a waste of time. Why not be a PT tech? My boyfriend is applying to PA school and is currently a PT tech which has exposed him to PM&R and ortho PAs and physicians he is currently shadowing. Learning PT wouldn't be as big of a waste as MT IMO, plus it can give you connections to other hands-on fields you may be interested in.

 

[climbyggdrasil]

So you still need to complete a 4 year bachelors degree? Then even more so, MT is a waste of time. Why not be a PT tech? My boyfriend is applying to PA school and is currently a PT tech which has exposed him to PM&R and ortho PAs and physicians he is currently shadowing. Learning PT wouldn't be as big of a waste as MT IMO, plus it can give you connections to other hands-on fields you may be interested in.

Probably about 3 years, i have prior credits. Is PT tech the same as a PTA?

 

[cjcarter]

Probably about 3 years, i have prior credits. Is PT tech the same as a PTA?

No, you don't need schooling or a certification for PT tech. Less responsibility but still good patient interaction teaching stretches, doing ultrasounds, applying hot packs, etc.

 

[Goro]

MT is no more a clinical entity than waxing your car is. Please lose that conceit, because I have seen far too many massage therapists get outright rejected by my DO colleagues by people who think that somehow MT is equivalent to OMT.

And the people you work on are customers , not patients. MT is NOT Medicine, period.
I am looking to go through massage therapy school, as the interest i have in osteopathic medicine is OMT/NMM, and figured Massage Therapy is a branch of manual medicine. Would this help my application as i could work in a Chiro/PT setting as clinical experience?

Having your own business counts for something.
Would having my own MT business count towards this as well? I have seen a few comments on here that people have worked as a MT for a few years and are now in DO school.

NO.
Would massage therapy be an entryway, or related groundwork, for OMT?

Everything you took as a UG student gets counted towards your cGPA.
in closing, would unrelated classes i took (music comp/theory) affect my undergrad gpa? I have a years worth of undergraduate classes (physics, biology, english, poly sci, college algebra and communications, both of which i will probably have to retake.)

That's fine.
is my best route to do a year at a cc and transfer to a uni?

NO. See explanation above.
Is massage therapy/neuromuscular therapy something that adcoms would consider as clinical experience, if my end goal is to do a NMM or NMM/Internal residency? would clinical experience apply if the practice is outside of a pt/chiro clinic? (i.e. independent massage practice)

 

[climbyggdrasil]

MT is no more a clinical entity than waxing your car is. Please lose that conceit, because I have seen far too many massage therapists get outright rejected by my DO colleagues by people who think that somehow MT is equivalent to OMT.

And the people you work on are customers , not patients. MT is NOT Medicine, period.
I am looking to go through massage therapy school, as the interest i have in osteopathic medicine is OMT/NMM, and figured Massage Therapy is a branch of manual medicine. Would this help my application as i could work in a Chiro/PT setting as clinical experience?

Having your own business counts for something.
Would having my own MT business count towards this as well? I have seen a few comments on here that people have worked as a MT for a few years and are now in DO school.

NO.
Would massage therapy be an entryway, or related groundwork, for OMT?

Everything you took as a UG student gets counted towards your cGPA.
in closing, would unrelated classes i took (music comp/theory) affect my undergrad gpa? I have a years worth of undergraduate classes (physics, biology, english, poly sci, college algebra and communications, both of which i will probably have to retake.)

That's fine.
is my best route to do a year at a cc and transfer to a uni?

NO. See explanation above.
Is massage therapy/neuromuscular therapy something that adcoms would consider as clinical experience, if my end goal is to do a NMM or NMM/Internal residency? would clinical experience apply if the practice is outside of a pt/chiro clinic? (i.e. independent massage practice)

Thank you. I have called several schools asking for advice on the subject and it i received mixed reviews on whether or not it would be considered clinical experience. Most said that it would not be detrimental towards an application, I plan on doing this in ADDITION to shadowing, volunteering, etc. I do not consider it comparative to OMM, my post and questions were regarding if it would be complimentary.

I spoke to a DO who does his own OMT clinic, he thinks it would be a good idea as it would involve gaining palpatory skills. The MT school I am thinking about going to is Curriculum * North Carolina School of Advanced Bodywork . I have been out of college for 3 years now, I don't think 6 months is going to set me back that much. If working as an MT is in no way detrimental towards my application, I'm going to do it because I have genuine interest.

Sorry for being stubborn, thank you to all for your advice.

 

[workaholic181]

To help cover my living expenses for the time being, and give me work opportunities during undergrad.



I understand that it is not OMT. But OMT is manual medicine, no? And massage therapy is a branch of manual medicine, no? As is PT and Chiro. MT would allow me to work in chiro/pt clinics, would that not be considered patient interaction and/or observing medical professionals at work? Why is this not the case, if MT is a branch of manual medicine?

My plan is to go through MT school for 6 months, and then carry on with a premed undergrad, using the MT license to work in a chiro/pt clinic during undergrad. I said nowhere that I am planning to PREACH MY LOVE FOR MT during an interview, merely my interest for education in manual medicine. OMT is not the sole reason why I would like to go to med school, but it is a portion of my interest.

I'm aware that you understand the difference between OMT and MT but you it's in your best interest to get clinical experience in the medical field, in a role where you get to watch physicians work and work beside them.

 

[Ulgarmoose]

Thank you. I have called several schools asking for advice on the subject and it i received mixed reviews on whether or not it would be considered clinical experience. Most said that it would not be detrimental towards an application, I plan on doing this in ADDITION to shadowing, volunteering, etc. I do not consider it comparative to OMM, my post and questions were regarding if it would be complimentary.

I spoke to a DO who does his own OMT clinic, he thinks it would be a good idea as it would involve gaining palpatory skills. The MT school I am thinking about going to is Curriculum * North Carolina School of Advanced Bodywork . I have been out of college for 3 years now, I don't think 6 months is going to set me back that much. If working as an MT is in no way detrimental towards my application, I'm going to do it because I have genuine interest.

Sorry for being stubborn, thank you to all for your advice.

I really doubt it could be detrimental unless you write a personal statement on how you want to go to osteopathic school because you think it'll be MT+. It's being regarded as a waste of time on here, which it would be if you're doing it in order to "get a foot in the door" with DO schools. It's not a complimentary practice and I wouldn't count it as clinical experience but rather a meaningful life experience. If it's something you have a genuine interest in and want to pursue, don't let anyone on here stop you.