What to do?

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Ag1625

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Hey guys, I’m new to the community and I need some advice from you guys.

My girlfriend is in chiropractic school. Before I continue on chiropractic let me tell you about her. She was a text book pre-med student in undergrad as well as an AEMT. Her passion was always medicine and her dream was and is to go to D.O. School. When she finished undergrad her father continued to urge her to get her life started. He emphasized that another 4 years for school & residency wasn’t in her best interest. While she felt differently she decided to pursue P.A. So that she could stay on the time frame her father had her on. She wasn’t accepted into PA school and he was over the whole process as a whole & he was also ready to stop helping her and providing for her. She decided to settle for chiropractic. She told me she enjoyed going to her chiropractor, she did like some of the things within chiropractic but overall she wasn’t passionate about it, and doesn’t care for it. She has one year left in the program but she doesn’t care for it at all. Her passion was to be a D.O. I’ve told her that it isn’t too late, I’m in med school and she basically told me that she’s happy to see me finally in considering how hard I had to fight for it but she feels very sad because she always wishes it were her. I understand her feelings. So guys, what should her next steps be? She’s taken so many courses from majority of all pre-reqs, she has the chiropractic classes also which maybe will count for something.. any advice on this would be helpful! Thanks in advance.

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This is a tough situation. At this point, all you can do is be there for her and support her regardless of the path she chooses. Talk with her and tell her that if her dream is truly DO, then she can still go for it regardless of her setbacks. Maybe even give the chiropractic side a little time and see if she comes around to like it. Just do your best to talk with her about her options and discuss the pros and cons of each. Ultimately she'll make up her mind and will need your support! Good luck!
 
This is a tough situation. At this point, all you can do is be there for her and support her regardless of the path she chooses. Talk with her and tell her that if her dream is truly DO, then she can still go for it regardless of her setbacks. Maybe even give the chiropractic side a little time and see if she comes around to like it. Just do your best to talk with her about her options and discuss the pros and cons of each. Ultimately she'll make up her mind and will need your support! Good luck!
Thanks so much! Yeah I think she’s fully made up on doing D.O. Which is fine but I just don’t know what should her next steps be
 
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Thanks so much! Yeah I think she’s fully made up on doing D.O. Which is fine but I just don’t know what should her next steps be
No prob! Okay, then it looks like the choice is clear! You could both come up with a plan to get her to DO. Provided she has good GPA and medical shadowing and experience, maybe she could start studying for MCAT and she could work in chiropracting in the mean time. I'm sure her chiropractic experience would be of some benefit when applying to med school as well. I may be wrong, as I am just a premed myself, but hopefully this helps. :)
 
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Can you tell us her stats, extracurriculars, and whether or not she has 2 science LORs 1 non-science LOR and 1 physician LOR?

Is she willing to exit chiropractic for this path, and if she is, will she be able to fund it somehow? (loans, father, your help?)
 
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So, let me get this right.

Your girlfriend was 21-22 years old when she applied PA - which really isn't old enough to be super competitive in the day and age - especially for PA. Which made her 22-23 when she applied/went to chiropractor school. Which makes her 25-26 ish years old now and somewhere in the ballpark of 150k in debt.

Lets say she quits, applies right now, and goes DO. She's looking at finishing residency at age 34-35, and well over 500k in debt.

That is a lot of time, and a lot debt. If she truly won't be happy as a chiropractor, then she should follow her dreams and her heart. 100%. Otherwise, she will just hate herself. There is no doubt about that. But she should also be fully aware of the consequences of doing so. Time, money, happiness, family, etc. Furthermore, you're probably pretty close in age to her. So, are you planning on getting married? And if so, are you prepared to jointly be in 1 million dollars in debt without a second income until she is 34 or 35? If you aren't planning on getting married, then I would strongly encourage you to let her make her own choices because if she makes the choice of medicine hoping you'll be there every step of the way and that you'll help to pay some of these costs when you become an attending, and then y'all break up and she's left that much in debt anyways, OH BOY - way to ruin someones life.

Her next steps are simple to me; first, y'all need to have the above discussion. Second, it takes about a year of planing to apply to medical school IF you are already prepared for it. She's going to need a strong undergrad GPA; her chiropractor courses MAY help, but a lot of medical faculties see it as a profession unfounded in science, and thus it may mean nothing She's going to need to get patient care and volunteer hours. She is going to need letters of recommendations. Finally, she's going to need the MCAT. If she can make a 505 on the MCAT tomorrow, then she should take it tomorrow. If she cannot, then she needs to study for it.

I say all that to say this; if this is truly her last (4th) year, then I see no reason why she shouldn't finish it and obtain the degree. There really isn't any way that she can get accomplished what she needs to be a competitive applicant this cycle. She should spend the rest of the year studying for her classes, spending the weekends trying to get clinical exposure / volunteer work / studying for the MCAT. Come next summer, if this is truly what she still wants to do, then hopefully she will not only hold a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine, but she will also have the hours and MCAT score to be competitive and apply on time.
 
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Can you tell us her stats, extracurriculars, and whether or not she has 2 science LORs 1 non-science LOR and 1 physician LOR?

Is she willing to exit chiropractic for this path, and if she is, will she be able to fund it somehow? (loans, father, your help?)
Yes I need to get them but I’ll post here
 
We have had a couple DC's in our class. They did fine. Were very receptive to OMM and didn't need re training so to speak. Chiropractors in our area have full parking lots. Unless she absolutely hates it, she should consider finishing IMO. If she hates it, why go through the schooling and debt becoming a DO? People who say debt is just a number have never retired a very large debt load. Do the math and look at what the monthly payments on a 1 million dollar total loan would be.It can be stifling for years. Yes, there is the military and public health service. Some towns or employers will help pay loans. Those are some considerations but are becoming harder to get. Check out the finances before you all make a decision. Good luck and best wishes
 
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