So what do you do...

[nweb]

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When you finish a post-bacc and still don't get in to a med school?

I just found out that a PhD student that I work with ended up in Neuropsych only after completing the Columbia post bacc and never getting admitted to a med school program.

This is a huge issue for me; to spend so much time, money and effort on getting there and never getting there.

Does anyone else have thoughts on this?
Are there backup plans (I know this has been discussed in other threads- pharm, PA, DO, etc)? Can you actually do Anything with a grad certificate or post bacc completion?

That is all the catch for me...don't really want to be that 35 year old just getting into the work world after bouncing from goal to goal.

 

[doc3341]

I totally know where you are coming from. Im in the process of applying to a post bac and am hoping for the best. if you check out the "re-applicant" forum, theres a bunch of success stories of people getting in after 3rd and 4th tries. i guess you have to ask yourself how bad do you want it??? There will always be options for you especially after completing a psot bac. you can go to pharmacy school, optometry, PA etc... or you could continue applying. i know a pharmacist who was offered a full ride to DO school after graduating pharmacy school. So maybe thats one route.

 

[ussdfiant]

To the OP, I noticed that you listed DO as a backup if one does not get accepted into med school. You do realize that Osteopathic schools are medical schools.

 

[nweb]

I was putting that comment in terms of allopathic schools being the first goal following the post bacc... just sounds like alot of people recommend applying DO after allo rejections.

 

[Trismegistus4]

I have to admit, even though this probably isn't the right attitude, it would be difficult for me to be happy about becoming a DO. Maybe that attitude will change as I get farther along in the process, though. DO's are perfectly legitimate medical doctors and we all probably know a DO or 2 who is a better doc than most of the MD's out there, but the mere fact that DO school is so often seen as a "backup plan" against rejection from MD schools would make me feel like I was settling for something, like I wasn't "good enough" (or smart enough, or, doggone it, people don't like me! 😉 )

I met with a pre-med advisor last week who, after looking at my undergrad transcript, said "you might be a better fit for osteopathic schools." It's that idea that a few screwups early in my college years might forever keep me out of MD school that drives me nuts. I've only recently overcome, with a great deal of effort, the idea that it's "too late" for me to do anything useful with my life, and to be told that it in fact IS "too late" to do any one particular thing is extremely demoralizing. Even when there's really nothing wrong with DO school.

 

[doc3341]

i understand what your saying about DO school being a backup plan. And I know that there is a stigma about having to go to DO school as opposed to MD schools, but the truth is I'd rather go to a DO sachool than go foreign anyday. i work at a hospital in S. Florida, DO's are not treated any differently than MD's. i even Know of a DO who was Chief Resident at an MD residency. But I do hear that the differences are significant with regards to practicing medicine, if your a DO who goes into a DO residency program. But if your a DO who goes into a Medical(MD) residency, theres very little difference besides whats on the lab coat. I personally think DO's are suited much more for patient care medicine, for whatever reason they know how to talk to patients and their families in a much more humanistic manner. If I was hospitalized I would defiently want a DO on my case. But this is just my point of view. And as for applying to DO schools after rejection from allopathic schools, why? Why not apply to a couple the first time around. there is only 19 of them nationally. Why wait a year?

Mike

 

[Blisterpeanuts]

Originally posted by Trismegistus4
DO's are perfectly legitimate medical doctors and we all probably know a DO or 2 who is a better doc than most of the MD's out there, but the mere fact that DO school is so often seen as a "backup plan" against rejection from MD schools would make me feel like I was settling for something, like I wasn't "good enough" (or smart enough, or, doggone it, people don't like me! 😉 )

For me it comes down to: do DOs save lives? Do they get the broad, deep scientific training that qualifies them to do research? Are there jobs out there for DOs? Do they have the autonomy and the freedom and the tools to innovate? Can they open a free clinic? Are DOs able to work overseas (WHO, for example)?

These are the reasons I'm interested in going into medicine so if osteo works, I figure why not consider them up front. However, I'm also going to shoot for allo simply because it's the mainstream and I hear it's more widely recognized overseas even though DO appears to be better medicine in some ways.