Transferring

[srin04]

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I am currently a first year DO student at NYCOM. As it happened though, at the beginning of school I became very ill and was laid up in the hospital for the first 2 weeks of classes. Now I am at school and unfortunately the school is not being very understanding about my situation and it so I am miserable here. I know I have to somehow get through this year but I am very interested in transferring out. Preferrably somewhere closer to home. The only problem is that there are no DO schools nearby. I am not sure what the procedure is to transfer from a DO to an MD school. If anyone knows of someone who has done it and how they did it i'd love to talk to them. My main questions are:
1.) What is the actual procedure.....like when is the best time to start, etc...
2.) Which schools would I have the best chance with?
3.) To an admissions committee, would my reasons be justified?
4.) Anyone know of anyone from NYCOM that transfered to an MD school?

I'd appreciate any information or advice.

Thanks.

 

[Heeed!]

You need to visit the school's website into which you want to transfer. Most allopathic schools don't accept DO transfers but some do. Their procedures are variable. I'm assuming your home is in NY. This school accepts DO transfers: University of Buffalo . Good luck!

 

[N.O. Shane]

I know you can transfer to allopathic schools from osteopathic schools. I am from New Orleans and I know both Tulane and LSU of New Orleans accept transferees from DO schools. Tulane and LSU can not be that unique that they are the only schools that do this. You can go to the website of the school and follow their transfer procedure. It works the same as applying to the school. For instance, Tulane will accept transfers after the first, second and third years of med school. The curriculum of the school you are transfering from has to be the same as Tulane. So if you are in a systems based curriculum then you would have to wait after your second year. Their web site has all of these details. I am just using their site as an example. Good luck.

 

[docbill]

Transferes are usually once you finish 2nd year... you want to do it now... so I don't think any school in the US will consider that. You will have to finish first year for sure.. and even than.. I think you will need second to go to most DO schools.

If you plan is to get out of DO school and get into an MD school than you are really fighting a battle (at this early in your education). You will most likely have to do your USMLE I and deminstrate you are capable of that.. and even than each place has there own requirements.

I say with all due respect. Get up.. dust yourself off and go in fighting. Get an optimistic outlook and forget the idea of leaving. If you leave one med school you basically have little chance of being accepted at another.

Try to talk to dean and see if something can be worked out. Be humble be patient..

It reflects better on you if you beat this.. an come out a winner.

 

[DrMom]

I hate to break it to you, but I don't think many schools would be "understanding" of a 2 week hospital stay. That's not to say that they're being mean or that you shouldn't have been in the hosp, just that it is difficult to catch up on that much med school (esp at the beginning when you're not used to the volume).

In my class we've had 2 ladies have babies...each missed about 1 week. These same 2 also ended up having surgery not much later (odd cases) and again missed very little time (1 week for one and a couple of days for the other). They were both given a hard time by a couple of professors & told that they should consider dropping out, but they both caught up and did fine. I had surgery during MS2 and came back the next day even though I felt crappy & should have really been in bed. We're told that for the rest of our careers we'll be expected to be around even when we're quite sick so we'd better get used to it now.


My point is that you had a reason for selecting this school to apply to and attend and I seriously doubt that changing schools will "fix" your problem. You hit a big bump in the road, but you don't necesarily have to let it derail your plans. Work your butt off and show them that you can catch up despite your health issue. 🙂

 

[med26]

I want to transfer out of NYCOM too. Maybe we can help each other.

 

[misyel]

I want to transfer out of NYCOM too. Maybe we can help each other.

Aww guys... it's only been a month...

 

[Amy B]

You might be able to defer until next year and start again from scratch. We have some one who went through a half of their first year and had to stop for medical reasons. That person is joining our class in a few months and picking up wher they left off last year.

I would agree with what is said here....dust your self off and try to get back into things. We had a guy who lost his father and and to fly oversees. It has been rough on him but he is back after a few weeks of being gone.

Life deals us hard blows, but it is how we handle them that makes us strong. Good luck. I hope things work out for you.