MD & DO What are my chances

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Powerlifter24

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I was just trying to put together a small list of MD schools.

I have:
125+ volunteer hours
75+ shadowing hours
1 semester of research under my belt (started late)
I have a 3.55 science gpa. With a strong upward trend and high A's in medically related classes such as gross anatomy, pathology and physiology. My major is rehabilitation sciences at the university of Pittsburgh.
I have a 3.5 cgpa
I have very good letters of rec, I know this because I got to read them!
I will be published as an author on a neuromuscular paper pertaining to the military.
I am in a fraternity
I am active in 2 clubs campus

I got a 513 on the MCAT.

I have a nice solid DO school list I would like to add a couple MD schools to my list because I thought why not!

Thank you for your time looking at my particular case!

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Your stats are within the range of a number of MD schools. In fact Id tell you you might want to do things the other way around; make a good long list of MD schools and a shorter one of DOs. Because you really dont need that many DOs if you can interview decently.

The issue I see is a lack of clinical experience outside of shadowing and an overall lack of service. Note these issues if improved would also help your DO odds for sure. If you can address those issues(which would probably take another gap year at this point) you become a potentially viable candidate at a number of MD schools. If you are a PA resident there are 5 schools that certainly accept people with academic credentials in your range in your state.

Get MSAR for issues concerning your school list. Use 32 as your MCAT score as a conservative estimate when looking through. Schools that take at least 30% OOS and have an MCAT median around yours are the ones to target. If it takes under 10k apps a year, all the better.
 
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The issue I see is a lack of clinical experience outside of shadowing and an overall lack of service.
.

What would be an acceptable amount of clinical experience and is volunteering only a sufficient clinical experience?
 
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What would be an acceptable amount of clinical experience and is volunteering only a sufficient clinical experience?

Dont think in terms of X hours think in terms of being able to cogently show a commitment to service(which the field is about) and clinical exposure that can highlight you know you are getting into. There are many forms of clinical experience it's jsut volunteering in many ways is the easiest. But working as a scribe, phlebotomist, nursing asssitant etc all are other valid examples. Volunteering takes on many forms: service with the least fortunate and vulnerable populations in particular stands out and this often isnt clinical at all.

The best answer that might specifically answer your question is if you take on these things starting now and continue them regularly/routinely through summer 2017 youll certainly have sufficient experience in these areas.
 
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Thanks for your response. Was going to ask more, but don't want to steal the thread.
 
Increase clinical hours. I would try to find something that is meaningful to you and really plug into it now and plan to do it throughout the next year so you can out those expected hours on MSAR. I would do very few DO and I would hit as many 'Mid-Tier' as you feel you need and even shoot for some top programs.


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I was thinking of taking a year off and working as an EMT. I've always enjoyed trauma surgeries when shadowing so I think that would be an interesting choice with a ton of clinical exposure. Just not sure if I want to take a year off.
Thank you for replying with such detail. It will surely help me decide what I would like to do! The MSAR sounds like a great resource which I will definitely check out. Thanks again!
 
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