PT to MD vs Pre-med classes?

[Macku]

I am a 28 year old massage therapist considering a MD/DO or PT degree. I think if I went the MD/DO route I would have to take a year or two of Pre-med program classes to fix my low GPA. (good school bad grades, I didn't plan on being a DR.)
I also was considering just getting a PT degree and working with my hands the way I do now.
I was wondering if anyone had thought about getting a PT degree then working 2-5 years and going on to MD/DO if they liked medicine and wanted more or being able to stay a PT or quiting the whole feild with out 6 years having gone by.
I have read about Pt's on this forum that then became MD's but what about staring out with that intention. Will med schools look at my PT degree grades and not care about my low BA grades or will they make me take a Pre-Med feeder program anyway?
thanks

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[lilnoelle]

You will need to take the prerequisites to get into medical school if you want to go to med school.
My advice is to do what you want to do now rather than wait. If you aren't sure what you want to do, then do your research first. Don't go into one program unsure if thats what you want - especially if your thinking your going to want to quit after a few years and change your careers. That just wastes time and money.

 

[blast7]

Most PT programs are 5 year(Master's) or 6 year(Doctorate). And while you are in the program you will have little time for anything but school. This is an awful lot of time for something you are unsure about. If you want to become a physician then go to med school.

 

[jlittlej]

First, you probably know this, but, contra to the above poster, most PT programs are going to a doctoral-level degree that is generally about three years long. I believe most programs require a non-trivial list or prerequisites that actually covers most of the med school requirements (save OChem for the ones I know of but plus anatomy/physiology).

It's not about getting rich, but pre-reqs plus three years of full-time school seems like a lot of school, tuition, loans and wages lost for the starting PT salaries I hear of ($60k).

Almost all health careers are competitive and admissions to such programs generally depends heavily on GPA. Your supposedly bad GPA might mean you'd have to apply very broadly to get into a PT school on the first try and could make American med school an impossibility, even with a year of good new coursework.

 

[njbmd]

I am a 28 year old massage therapist considering a MD/DO or PT degree. I think if I went the MD/DO route I would have to take a year or two of Pre-med program classes to fix my low GPA. (good school bad grades, I didn't plan on being a DR.)
I also was considering just getting a PT degree and working with my hands the way I do now.
I was wondering if anyone had thought about getting a PT degree then working 2-5 years and going on to MD/DO if they liked medicine and wanted more or being able to stay a PT or quiting the whole feild with out 6 years having gone by.
I have read about Pt's on this forum that then became MD's but what about staring out with that intention. Will med schools look at my PT degree grades and not care about my low BA grades or will they make me take a Pre-Med feeder program anyway?
thanks

If you know that you want to be a physician, then get your low uGPA taken care of and apply to medical school. Becoming a physical therapist isn't going to help you in terms of becoming a physician. The entry level for PT is now doctorate level which will not help to raise your uGPA as this is a graduate level degree.

If you can't make up your mind, do some shadowing and investigate both careers more closely. In either case, you are going to need a bachelor's degree with good grades in order to qualify for either graduate school or medical school. In the case of medical school, you are likely going to need the pre-med courses.

Many of the PTs who went on to become physicians were already in the field. In today's world of very expensive coursework, you don't want to be spending thousands of dollars for a field that you are not particularly interested in because you want to use it as a stepping stone to another equally expensive field. Getting a DPT is not going to direct an admissions committee away from looking at your previous poor grades. For either program your grades need to be good so find a way to get them up.

 

[gman33]

A low UG GPA can only be fixed by taking more UG classes. Med schools will not care too much about any grad degree unless it is a SMP.

Spend time researching both fields and determine which is most attractive to you. If you have a very low UG gpa, make sure you are realistic in what it will take to improve this. You could be looking at many years of coursework before you are ready to apply. Take this into account when making your decision.

 

[Blade28]

Agree with the excellent posts above.

Exactly what is your current GPA?

 

[bostonhopes]

It's not about getting rich, but pre-reqs plus three years of full-time school seems like a lot of school, tuition, loans and wages lost for the starting PT salaries I hear of ($60k).

I am a PT, I graduated in 2001 and have a DPT. Unfortunately, the starting salaries are actually closer to 40K! Especially if you work in a hospital, the salaries start very low. I started at Johns Hopkins at 37K in 2001- eek!

Needless to say, it was not the best fit - low ceiling, lesser emphasis on evidence based practice or technologic advance relative to medicine. There is a lot of flexibility and it, of course, has its benefits, but medicine will ultimately give you more options. I took post-bac classes at night for 2 years to get orgo, biochem and some others and am applying now.

I agree with the others, it is not a good idea to do the PT degree if you are thinking you might want to do MD/DO later. Just pick one now.

I am sure you can tell my vote is for medicine, but I certainly did not "hate" being a PT, it just was not enough to sustain me over the long term.

Good luck!

 

[MeowMix]

just wanted to add one more thing to consider: the bodyworkers I know (CMT, PT, chiropractors, rolfers, etc.) often find that as they get into their 40s, it becomes more tiring and less fun to do the physical labor, especially with pts with limited mobility or large body mass. Two PT friends of mine (both very physically fit) are 45 yo and love their work, but are getting very tired of the physical effort required. Think ahead and think what you will be wanting to do in 20 years.

 

[Blade28]

Unfortunately, the starting salaries are actually closer to 40K! Especially if you work in a hospital, the salaries start very low.

That's been my salary for the past 3 years.

 

[Buckeye4life]

I am a 30 yo MPT (6.5 years for the masters btw, not 5) who is attending osteopathic medical school. I did not go into PT with the intention of going into medical school, but I can tell you that having the degree will help if you apply DO. MD programs are all about the straight numbers and if you don't have them, you're just not getting in. I also believe that my PT degree has been invaluable so far in medical school, particularly anatomy, neuro, and OPP. Also, while there are many things that I still need to learn, I believe my patient skills have and will continue to be benefited because of my background.

All that being said, however, I would not go into PT as a stepping stone into medical school. The commitment is too long and expensive and after you graduate you never feel like you can live your life because then you are thinking about the long haul of medical school. I practiced for 3 years and the med school app process is so long and stressful, that sometimes it was just hard to enjoy my job and accomplishments that I had worked so hard for.

IMO, pick one field and go straigtht for it. If it's medicine, do a post-bac to raise your gpa. Also, D.O.s really have great opportunities to use their hands to treat because of their OMM training if that is really important to you.