Looking at the academic calendar, the last MMI is scheduled for October 21. The class could be full by that point. The previous MMIs are scheduled for September 23 and August 19, if you can get everything settled before that you shouldn't have to worry too too much. Just get your application and transcripts in early so MCAT is the only thing pending.
Would interviewing in August/September put me at a disadvantage? Are there still people getting acceptances around that time?
Can't say for sure, but i can give what I have noticed. They seem to accept a lot more people early on out. The further down you go the more wait-lists they give out as the class starts to fill up. I haven't seen that many straight out rejections, but most people don't post their rejections. So basically what I'm saying is it's likely that you'll be waitlisted if they have accepted too many people by then. If that is the case, a spot opens up from a person dropping out then you'll be given the seat.
It appears that the average GPA is around 3.4 and MCAT around 508. I know their low end cutoff for MCAT is 504 so I would hope for something around a 510.
Honestly anyone that meets the gpa and mcat requirements gets an interview. After that I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of doing well enough on the interview.
@skiteflies123 isn't LECOM the school with those insane professionalism rules, or am I thinking of a different school?
I interviewed at LECOM and I personally wouldn’t have chosen them even if I wasn’t waitlisted. The professionalism rules, the weirdly intense level of security, and the overall vibe of the students and staff that I gleaned from the info sessions do not align with my own personality at all. I remember feeling very intimidated during the session itself because it just felt like the professors and the dean didn’t really want to be there and a few students came with pre-prepared monologues disguised as questions (this wasn’t even an interview, just an info session, and it was 5 hours long).
I honestly didnt want to get too involved in this because it really is a personal choice. Theres always going to be a stigma against UQ-O because they are IMG, but at the same time, we do our most important years in the US with a school that is in a partnership rather than one that is getting paid for us to do rotations, so they actually care for us. Plus, I think carrying connections is much more important nowadays. I personally dont think of LECOM as one of the top, but it is arguable. I think the point of comparing a US DO to Ochsner is kinda moot at this point because it depends on the school and your own personal opinion. The only thing that @Wolvvs and I can speak to is what we do have and dont have, which I think we did do a good job on. Just in case, I will summarize: our match is good and we have good faculty especially at ochsner, but we are still considered IMG and who knows how that will play a role in the future of matching. For LECOM, I know that their rules are strict, but some of them are not even followed and some of them people just suck it up and do. If you are an independent studier, I think the only things that this comes down to is experience and finance imo. Assuming you all will be in Australia by next year, thats probably going to provide you with a more interesting experience than going to LECOM, but Im sure its also much more expensive.
I'm in a very similar boat to you! I'm deciding between UQ O and Nova Southeastern DO. In my case, Nova is freaking expensive so money doesn't play a role in my decision. I would choose Ochsner too if we could match in 2025. The only thing that's pulling me towards staying in the US at Nova is that I will match in 2025 and that saves a whole year. To me that's important. But similar to LECOM, Nova has hella admin issues and weird things going on at the school so I don't know if it's a risk choosing them. Not to mention as a DO, I'd have to take 2 sets of boards and OMM adds a lot to the curriculum, etc etc.
Yeah it's almost a dealbreaker for me too. While Nova's issues seem really bad, I have talked to many current students who loved their experience and I think it's all dependent on personal fit with the school and location, as well as just what you make of it. I'm from SoCal so Florida sounds amazing to me. I'm waiting to hear back from LECOM actually, but even then I think I would still go with Nova. I think no matter where we go, we'll reach our end goal! But I do agree with US DO > IMG.
Most people who have a 504 or above can usually get into a DO school. I think the MCAT requirement at UQ-O is the significant barrier of entry for most people. The average MCAT score for matriculated DO students was a 502 in 2019. The average Carib school applicant has an MCAT score that's much lower so this program wouldn't be an option.
www.news.com.au
I have an acceptance at a different international program and am on a couple of waitlists at US MD/DO schools. In full honesty, if this program had interviewed/accepted me before the other international school, I'd have chosen UQ!
I strongly disagree on this (of course this is my opinion and my situation, and will vary depending on the person). As someone who has a partner who won't be able to go over to Australia, I'm actually really happy to be attending online. I don't get the sense that we're missing out on anything that onshore students have available--as I've said before, I feel like this program really works best for those who work and learn best independently. There's no dissections but they do have actual specimens, so the biggest difference is really seeing those specimens live or seeing pictures of them.
Wow, that must've been a hard decision for sure, but best of luck to you and as always feel free to reach out if you need anything, you can still be an honorary member of the family 😂
I think in general being an IMG puts you at a disadvantage but there are a few exceptions. I think this program along with Sackler and WCM-Q are better options then the majority of DO schools imo. Most IMGs are either coming from Caribbean medical schools or no name medical schools from the 3rd world. The majority of IMGs aren't coming from well known medical schools in first world English speaking nations. For example, I don't think a US citizen who graduated from Oxford medical school would be at a significant disadvantage to someone who graduated from Rocky Vista college of osteopathic medicine just because ones an IMG and the other is a US grad. If you look at the match list for this program and the other 2 that I've listed, you'd notice that it looks more like a match list for a low tier US MD school rather than a DO or Caribbean medical school match list. So yes, I agree DO is usually the better option when compared to the average IMG, but I believe there are exceptions to that rule.
That's true, it's hard to know how residency programs will react. We know from the match lists that matching into competitive specialties is possible but don't know how much work that took compared to someone from a USMD school. It's also important to consider that being a DO will also be detrimental for competitive specialties and those schools are often expensive as well.
Add to that the fact that the two are basically the same price unless we’re talking about LECOM and it gets even harder 😂😂
Can't.
That's interesting, I wonder if those students didn't want their matches published.
There were actually 5* diagnostic radiology matches last year (2 at ochsner). and the year before last year there was an IR match at Sinai (or it was the year before that can't remember). This year there was 1 diagnostic rads match.
