WAMC

[brbcrying610]

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[stinkycheeseperson]

nothing you did outside the us counts
lab rat should be included
what did you do with the pain med

why not mph

 

[stinkycheeseperson]

medical missons are even worse than voluntourism. first they're not US based and youre going in to the us system. second they're usually a way for premeds to do stuff they're not allowed on poor ignorant people in colombia or whatever.

MA is good.

what would your intentions be with a focus like that? adcoms may ask .... why are we training a us doctor who is so focused elsewhere?

 

[brbcrying610]

nothing you did outside the us counts
lab rat should be included
what did you do with the pain med

why not mph

- does global work really not count? They were through organizations in the US (medical missions)

- thanks for the advice about the lab rat!

- For pain med, I was a medical assistant so I was directly interacting with patients and the physician

- My MHS was in global health as I am very interested in this field in healthcare!

 

[brbcrying610]

medical missons are even worse than voluntourism. first they're not US based and youre going in to the us system. second they're usually a way for premeds to do stuff they're not allowed on poor ignorant people in colombia or whatever.

MA is good.

what would your intentions be with a focus like that? adcoms may ask .... why are we training a us doctor who is so focused elsewhere?

I actually wrote about why these 'medical missions' turned out to be voluntourism in my PS, and how I want to improve global health in a different fashion vs short term visits. After this I began volunteering/working with US physicians + working with more sustainable programs. My intention would be to find sustainable and competent methods to bridging health gaps both domestically and internationally

 

[stinkycheeseperson]

ok thats saying MPH, PhD in public health, policy... it's not saying you want to be a doctor to help us people. im not trying to be mean im just not buying it right now yknow?

 

[brbcrying610]

ok thats saying MPH, PhD in public health, policy... it's not saying you want to be a doctor to help us people. im not trying to be mean im just not buying it right now yknow?

No worries, I see the concern! What I'm trying to say is I want to work with more at-risk communities as a physician who understands/addresses public/global health concerns. Def want to be a doctor in the US haha

 

[Mr.Smile12]

MCAT predictions are worthless. Go get that score.

As pointed out earlier, you're going to be trained to work in the US system, for what it's worth, so you need to have a solid understanding of the US system. Go into policy or an MPH as @stinkycheeseperson said.

 

[Faha]

With your current MCAT of 496 you could only receive interviews at some DO schools.
These are DO schools where you could receive interviews with your current stats:
VCOM (all 4 schools)
UIWSOM
NYIT-AR
ARCOM
WCU-COM
ACOM
LMU-DCOM
WVSOM
UP-KYCOM
LUCOM
ICOM
BCOM
Noorda-COM
LECOM (Erie, Elmira, Seton Hill)
PCOM Georgia and South Georgia
Kansas (new school)
If you do retake the MCAT and score 505+ you can add any other DO schools that appeal to you.

 

[chilly_md]

I actually wrote about why these 'medical missions' turned out to be voluntourism in my PS, and how I want to improve global health in a different fashion vs short term visits. After this I began volunteering/working with US physicians + working with more sustainable programs. My intention would be to find sustainable and competent methods to bridging health gaps both domestically and internationally

I am sorry for your losses during your undergrad years. If possible, it might be worth seeing if you can retroactivitely withdraw from courses during those semesters.

That section about medical missions in the PS leaves the wrong impression that you were involved in voluntourism and distracts from the main purpose of explaining why you want to pursue medicine. You could try to approach it from the perspective of your MPH. However, the MPH is not in hard sciences, so it does not help your GPA out when being interpreted by admissions.

Currently, it would not be worthwhile to apply to MD schools with a 496. I would not recommend DO either with your lower GPA. It might make sense to pursue post bacc courses, retake the MCAT and gain non-clinical volunteering in the US before applying next cycle.