what pharm schools will accept MCAT instead of PCAT?

[TheNorthWaves]

I have a 29 on the MCAT, did very well in undergrad and excellent in grad school. However, I have applied to medical school three times and nothing has happened for me. So... time for pharmacy school. I am willing to take the PCAT, the subject material is similar to the MCAT so I'm not worried about it. But honestly, I've got more important stuff to do than take ANOTHER test...

I heard that Campbell (NC) pharm school will accept the MCAT instead of the PCAT - despite the list on this website which says the PCAT is in fact required there - does anyone know what other schools will honor this? I don't have a terrible MCAT score, it's just not good enough for a white male to get into med school... (should have a 31-33 to be competitive).

Thanks!

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[Me+PharmD]

I don't know of any schools on the eastcoast who would accept the MCAT rather than a PCAT. I've actually never heard of swapping the 2.

 

[sleazye]

Apply to DO schools. Don't go into pharmacy because you can't get into med school. They are not substitutes for one another. To answer your question, I have never heard of any school taking the MCAT over the PCAT. If you really want to do pharmacy and don't want to take the PCAT, apply to CA schools and the others that don't require the PCAT.

 

[evilolive]

You could just take the PCAT because it's 10x easier than the MCAT... If you prepared for the MCAT and got a 29, there's no reason why you shouldn't get at least a 95+ percentile on the PCAT.

 

[TheNorthWaves]

You could just take the PCAT because it's 10x easier than the MCAT... If you prepared for the MCAT and got a 29, there's no reason why you shouldn't get at least a 95+ percentile on the PCAT.

actually that's a pretty fair point. I didn't want to offend anyone but I thought the pcat topics seemed pretty easy in comparison.

I applied DO but ultimately don't think I want to do it. Public perception is important to me. Perception may be changing for the better, but I envision the terrible conversation for the rest of my life...

"so i hear you're a doctor"
"yup"
"when did you get that MD after your name"
"I have a DO after my name"
"you're not a doctor?"
"no i am a doctor, internal medicine"
"but you're not an MD, how is that possible"
"DOs and MDs are equivalently licensed physicians - i went to an osteopathic school"
"why"
"because I got a 29 on the MCAT not a 33 and couldn't get in"
"ok so it was easier to get into than med school, i see"
"no, i went to med school"

and at this point the person thinks you're a quack...
I think i'd go to an MD school overseas before I went to a DO school here

 

[cdpiano27]

I also think that some of the hospital politics are pretty bad. Some patients are taken advantage of so that the doctors / hospital / insurance companies can make a huge profit.

And then there are the lawyers.


In terms of medicine in foreign countries I think that there is a great example of a country that some people in the US think is an enemy but I think that is doing great things to advance the field, regardless of what someone might think of Castro or his government:

Cuba, sends its doctors overseas to do tons of missionary work in Africa. In fact, Cuba had even volunteered to send doctors to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. And in fact, some students from underprivileged backgrounds were given admission to the Latin American School of Medicine, which is as good as most of the medical schools in the US. I think that the Cuban doctors, most of who are family practitioners, are a very good example for the rest of the world.

I wish medicine would be less money-driven than it currently is right now.
It is the case where Cuba, considered a poor country, can train so many qualified physicians, and send them on all these missions to Africa is an amazing story. And most of the doctors over there make very little money, by the way.

Now back to the point, DO or MD does not matter. DO's ARE doctors and have a different philosophy than MD's do. But THEY ARE DOCTORS. I would personally, if wanted to go to medical school, go to DO school if I had to. But maybe there is a stigma against DO's and that is too bad. Medicine is seen too much as what one's status is, rather than as a noble field.
It seems like it is too much doctors vs lawyers vs insurance companies vs hospital administration.

Just my opinion.

 

[sleazye]

If you aren't going to med school because of a potential conversation with an ignorant stranger maybe you shouldn't be a doctor. I don't see how becoming a pharmD is going to make you more prestigious than being a DO. Pharmacists are much less well respected than physicians, DO or MD. I would say do what you want and don't care what anyone else thinks of you. You'll be happier and your patients will be better off.

 

[omnione]

You could just take the PCAT because it's 10x easier than the MCAT... If you prepared for the MCAT and got a 29, there's no reason why you shouldn't get at least a 95+ percentile on the PCAT.

Seriously...I agree

My best MCAT score is a 27 and I scored a 94 on the PCAT. To the thread starter, if you did okay or even relatively mediocre (as in about 8-9 for each section), you should rock the science portions on the PCAT.

I suppose that its possible for one to have an iffy PCAT score and a 30+ MCAT score if the test-taker isn't good with the PCAT content that's not on the MCAT as well as PCAT problems that don't have a contextual passage like the MCAT does, but the PCAT is significantly easier than the MCAT.

 

[TheNorthWaves]

If you aren't going to med school because of a potential conversation with an ignorant stranger maybe you shouldn't be a doctor. I don't see how becoming a pharmD is going to make you more prestigious than being a DO.

Unfortunately the "ignorant stranger" accounts for probably 90%+ of the population (this percentage is a guess based on the large number of people I have spoken with about the topic). I can't scientifically back up this assertion though.

Again it's not about prestige - it's more about layman recognizability - and that's what the general patient or customer base is. Within a profession, obviously, a DO is going to be generally well respected with the exception of by a few ignorant people.

 

[Falokis]

If it's all about public respect, I don't think Pharmacist are more respected than a DO. I'm sure most people think we are Pharmacists because we can't get in med school or whatever.

 

[TheNorthWaves]

I'm sure most people think we are Pharmacists because we can't get in med school or whatever.

I'm not doing you guys much of a favor avoiding that stereotype either... here I am the failed med school applicant, lol.

Actually the people I know in pharmacy... well, not a single one of them applied to med school first. In fact I get the impression they think going to med school is an overpriced, under-reimbursed situation undertaken by people who are slightly mentally ill...

thank you all for the feedback!

 

[Falokis]

I'm not doing you guys much of a favor avoiding that stereotype either... here I am the failed med school applicant, lol.

Actually the people I know in pharmacy... well, not a single one of them applied to med school first. In fact I get the impression they think going to med school is an overpriced, under-reimbursed situation undertaken by people who are slightly mentally ill...

thank you all for the feedback!

The cons out weigh the pro's for being a MD, at least for me. I don't want my job to be my life. Even if I love every second I'm at the pharmacy, I don't want it to be my life. I work around doctors all day(3rd shift), I see them when I first get to work at 9pm and I see them before I leave. They are over worked and never really get rest. No matter where you are or what you are doing they are your patient and you will be contacted. F-that. I like the fact that once I leave work, I leave work. I like helping sick people ala pharmacy, but I hate working around dying people all day like at the hospital now. The pay is alot less. The respect is a good bit less. That is well worth the trade off knowing I will have a life outside my work, to me anyways.

 

[fmbzp5]

The cons out weigh the pro's for being a MD, at least for me. I don't want my job to be my life. Even if I love every second I'm at the pharmacy, I don't want it to be my life. I work around doctors all day(3rd shift), I see them when I first get to work at 9pm and I see them before I leave. They are over worked and never really get rest. No matter where you are or what you are doing they are your patient and you will be contacted. F-that. I like the fact that once I leave work, I leave work. I like helping sick people ala pharmacy, but I hate working around dying people all day like at the hospital now. The pay is alot less. The respect is a good bit less. That is well worth the trade off knowing I will have a life outside my work, to me anyways.

I totally agree. I had a hospital job where I worked 12 hour shifts and I would talk to doctors when I arrived and speak to the same ones before I left.

As for DOs it is a shame that they do not get the same level of respect as a MD. I had a shoulder problem from a work injury that three MDs did nothing for but give me pain killers. (and two of them were specialist) I finally went to a DO and after his manipulations from two visits it practically was healed. A totally different approach and more effective outlook on medicine I believe.

 

[KellyBean]

So if you use your MCAT to substitute for PCAT, even if the schools accept it, they might ask why?? They might even be offended. Who knows? I think it is just better to take the PCAT instead of having to explain all of that if it was even allowed.