Two Questions...

[JerseyBelle]

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Hi everyone. 🙂
goes out to everyone who is going to med school this autumn. Believe me, a lot of us WISH we were you.
I have a couple of questions.
#1. I have two job options A and B.
A pays about $10/hour BUT is in a hospital (cardiac monitor tech), and gives me the scheduling flexibility to shadow an osteopathic physician.
B pays about $19/hour AND is at a major pharmaceutical corporation (NJ is the DRUG BELT), but the odds of me being able to shadow the DO (WHICH I NEED FOR ABOUT 15 of the 19 DO SCHOOLS) are slim.
The issue with the DO is she is ONLY in her office from 9AM-5PM (LITERALLY) M, W, and F. I could shadow her from 2-5PM, great.
But, I don't know if employer B will let me out that early, unless I show up to work at 6AM. The DO I can shadow from 2-5 is willing to write me a letter on Labor Day weekend, no questions asked.

If anyone could give me advice on this, great... 😕

#2: SHOULD I APPLY TO BOTH MD AND DO? I thought about re-applying to MD schools, but the MD process was a complete disaster from losing transcripts to charging my credit card twice to other assorted irritating crap.
AMCAS IS RUN BY SATAN!!
I got one interview out of 20 schools (1/20) (MSU-CHM), and I got rejected by phone the next day. WHY INTERVIEW ME IF YOU ARE JUST GOING TO REJECT ME? I AM NOT ONE OF THE HILTON SISTERS, I'M NOT LOADED!
The seven rejection letters in one day didn't help my morale either. I know it was my MCAT scores now, and I have since retaken the exam this April (thanks to help from Kaplan).
But, when the mailman is reluctant to give you the rejection letters (to spare your feelings), you know it's bad. 😛
Should I apply to both, or stick to just the DO schools, where I feel I will make the greater difference and not be seen so quickly as a set of numbers that don't mean jack after the white coat ceremony?

Thank you for reading.
Belle

 

[Thumper]

I say go for the $10/hr job so you can be exposed to the hospital setting, and work with a DO. Who knows, you might love it or hate it, but it is best to know now. Besides, a DO letter is very helpful!
As for which schools to apply to, I say as much as you can comfortably afford. Choose more middle tier schools that upper tier, and keep in mind that just because Osteo schools accept lower stats, it doesn't mean that you have a better chance of getting in. (There are fewer openings for Osteo than Allo!) Good luck, and I hope you get what you want!

 

[Qafas]

Hi Belle,
I agree with Thumper??.go with the first job. Even though it pays less, you?ll be glad in the long run that you did, especially if it?ll allow you to get a good DO letter. My DO gave me a solid letter without ever asking me to shadow him?..but I can rub that in some other day 😀 !
I couldn?t agree with you more about AMCAS. When I applied the first time, I had to change credit card three times!!! Anyway, I didn?t get any interviews either; but, then, I wasn?t a very strong applicant the first time around. Then, last year I applied to both MD and DO programs, after enrolling in a special master?s program. I fared much better with allopathic schools this time, but it still wasn?t enough to get me in. And this was after I did really well at the master?s program. Some of the schools have still not sent a rejection 😡 !!!!!!!! I?m not holding my breath though, and wish they would hurry up and put a closure on it.
The good news is that I got into an Osteopathic school ? UHS, and am really and truly glad to be going there this fall; like you said, the end goal is to become a physician. I am grateful that they were willing to look past my junior college years, where I did a lot of damage to my academic record, and consider the improvements I have since made. I don?t think the allopathic schools ever even got past my bad years. And, wouldn?t you know it, I have since become a huge fan of the Osteopathic philosophy 😛 . Can?t wait to become a part of this community and do my part to further its recognition.
As for you, I agree with Thumper once again ? apply to those schools with which you are comfortable and where you feel you have a legitimate shot. Definitely apply to DO schools, especially if you are interested in the Osteopathic philosophy. I know it?s a lot of work to go through AMCAS again, but if there are schools you would really like to go to, it just might be worth the time and effort.
Good Luck!

 

[LovelyRita]

Hey there,
Go with the hospital job, hands down, if you truly want to be a physician. I'm starting at UHS this fall and know that my work experience in a hospital helped the admissions committee realize that I'm serious/committed to medicine. It's all about working with the people, ya know?

DOWN WITH AMCAS!!! I think there should be a class action lawsuit against AMCAS for that debacle last year. I just threw away all my stuff, rather sadly because of all the TIME it took!! (what I wouldn't give for those weeks of my life back!!)

If I could tell you what admissions committees (MD/DO) are looking for, I'd be so rich I could pay cash for med school, buy my 100 acress and a yacht. Apply to both. Apply to DO especially if you are comfortable with the philosophy. Being a DO you will get to achieve your goal in becoming a physician, but there's that extra-special philosophy included. I personally feel that DO fits me best. I have more opinions, BUT we'll save those for another day!!

Good luck!! Persistence will reward!
M. 🙂

 

[Careofme]

Howdy Belle,

I am going to continue the trend here and also strongly reccomend that you take the lower-paying hospital job. Having worked at both a large pharmaceutical and small startup biotech I can tell you that I would have rather worked in a clinical setting and gotten a few really good connections and LORs. You never know, you might be applying to the same hospital in three years and can throw out a name already! The admissions comms also LOVE clinical experiences. I saw their eyes light up tremendously after telling them that I had shadowed a DO and even had the experience of being a regular patient of one.

In regards to AMCAS - I feel your pain. They do suck. Personally, in retrospect, I'd probably not have even bothered with allopathic medical schools had I known in the beginning how great osteopathy was and how it could offer me better if not the same education (+OMM) than the allopathic medical colleges. If you're strong about becoming a doctor does MD or DO matter? Also, apply to DO school in your state if you can or those that are nearer to you. On the extreme, also apply to those that are farthest from you - I know this is somewhat contradictory but trust me. PM me if you want more info on this.

Take care and good luck with the decisions - I know its tough!

care