reduced course load and medical school admission

[js5412611]

Hi,
I'm quite new here, but I'm really interested in going into medicine. Ive never taken a full course load in my degree but I'm managed to maintain a 3.9 gpa and do research. I've heard that my application will be thrown in the trash and not even considered since i didn't do the full load. But before i give up I'm just wondering if thats true. I've seen some similar questions posted here but many of them had valid medical reasons for their reduced course loads and moreover their course load was only reduced for a semester or two.
(note: the reason for my reduced course load is that i have a documented learning disability)

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[IslandStyle808]

What was your usual credit load?

 

[Rekt]

Hi,
I'm quite new here, but I'm really interested in going into medicine. Ive never taken a full course load in my degree but I'm managed to maintain a 3.9 gpa and do research. I've heard that my application will be thrown in the trash and not even considered since i didn't do the full load. But before i give up I'm just wondering if thats true. I've seen some similar questions posted here but many of them had valid medical reasons for their reduced course loads and moreover their course load was only reduced for a semester or two.
(note: the reason for my reduced course load is that i have a documented learning disability)

This would be a particular harmful revelation to admissions in my opinion. Are you sure you'd be able to handle the rigors of medical school?

 

[cbrons]

This is a preallo question friend

Sent from my SM-N910P using SDN mobile

 

[Donald Juan]

Hi,
I'm quite new here, but I'm really interested in going into medicine. Ive never taken a full course load in my degree but I'm managed to maintain a 3.9 gpa and do research. I've heard that my application will be thrown in the trash and not even considered since i didn't do the full load. But before i give up I'm just wondering if thats true. I've seen some similar questions posted here but many of them had valid medical reasons for their reduced course loads and moreover their course load was only reduced for a semester or two.
(note: the reason for my reduced course load is that i have a documented learning disability)

Taking less than the max credit hours would not necessarily leave your application in the trash. Your GPA and research background are on par with competitive students for med school. You need to let us know a little more about your learning disability and how few hours you took during college if you want us to assess if you could handle medical school. Even within medical school, people with learning disorders are often allowed some special allowances for taking tests (private rooms, extra time). Of course, these things are more limited on licensing exams that you take throughout medical school.

 

[atomi]

Medical schools are fairly unforgiving when it comes to academic disabilities. Sure, they will accommodate you to the extent they are required to by law if you declare it during medical school, but they can block your admission if they know about it up front. The reason being essentially some combination of (1) they view it as a kind of cheating or unfair advantage, (2) they have no way of knowing whether your "disability" is legit or not i.e., basically they don't trust your documentation to back it up, and (3) they are ok with discriminating because it is justified in their minds lest they produce an incompetent doctor that harms someone.

Just my two cents.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

Full course load can mean many things. 12 hours (full time), 15 hours (average for college students), 20 hours (max many schools will let you take?

Without more info it's hard to give a lot of help. Schools do like to see that you are up to the challenge of medical school and a light course load could be a good indicator that you just aren't up to it.

 

[MareNostrummm]

Its pretty common for people to take 8 or 9 units while working full time or having a family to take care of. If you are just taking 8 or 9 units every single quarter/semester then yeah it would be highly questionable. You could probably get away with just taking 12 units every quarter although you would probably not graduate in 4 years.

That being said you will definitely have to score high on the MCAT to back up that 3.9 or they will just think your gpa is heavily inflated compared to the kids that took full schedules.

 

[Lost In Transcription]

Medical schools are fairly unforgiving when it comes to academic disabilities. Sure, they will accommodate you to the extent they are required to by law if you declare it during medical school, but they can block your admission if they know about it up front. The reason being essentially some combination of (1) they view it as a kind of cheating or unfair advantage, (2) they have no way of knowing whether your "disability" is legit or not i.e., basically they don't trust your documentation to back it up, and (3) they are ok with discriminating because it is justified in their minds lest they produce an incompetent doctor that harms someone.

Just my two cents.

Uhhh, pretty sure that they block you from admission because they know you will probably not be able to handle the depth of material at medical school...has nothing to do with being an incompetent doctor

 

[Lost In Transcription]

That is an incorrect assumption. Medical schools, like undergraduate schools, must follow the rules and regulation to accommodate students with learning disabilities, particularly, if these disabilities do not violate the technical standards in being a physician. Most schools have a stated policy such as Stanford's below

https://med.stanford.edu/md/mdhandb...edicine-technical-non-academic-standards.html
Although these standards serve to delineate the necessary physical and mental abilities of all candidates, they are not intended to deter any candidate for whom reasonable accommodation will allow the fulfillment of the complete curriculum. Candidates with questions regarding technical standards are encouraged to contact the School of Medicine Advising Coordinator immediately to begin to address what types of accommodation may be considered for development to achieve these standards. Admission to Stanford University School of Medicine is conditional on the candidate’s having the ability to satisfy these technical standards, with or without reasonable accommodation, and results from a process that examines and values all of the skills, attitudes and attributes of each candidate on a case-by-case basis.

https://med.stanford.edu/md/mdhandbook/section-3-5-disability-accomodations.html
Students with disabilities (including, but not limited to, temporary and permanent physical, psychological, or learning disabilities) who may need academic accommodations (including services and auxiliary aids), should register with the Office of Accessible Education for assessment and approval of such accommodations. The Assistant Dean of Medical Student Affairs coordinates with the Office of Accessible Education to facilitate accommodations. Students with documented disabilities are responsible for notifying the Assistant Dean of Medical Student Affairs of their accommodation needs. Students should request accommodations well in advance of when needed. Prior to registration with the Office of Accessible Education, students should not request accommodations directly from faculty members or clerkship directors.

Hmmmm fair enough. I thought Goro talked this before as them being concerned you wouldn't be able to handle the firehose amount of info.

Also, my post was mostly to dispel the other poster's statements that med schools won't let someone in with the disability because they think it is cheating/will mean as a doctor that student is incompetent.