Your Honest Opinion Please

Started by naturalmd7
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naturalmd7

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I have about two semesters of premed left to do, and have not taken the MCATs as yet. I am about to turn 38. Do I:

A) Stay in FL; do a Post Bac premed program ($97 per credit hour) at UF and take the MCATs in April '05

B) Uproot and go to a caribbean island and start premed in May '04 (I have been accepted.)

I appreciate your honesty.
 
Dude,

Stay put, take the MCAT and see where you stand after that. The Caribbean admission and offer will always be there at the end. As for the 97 dollars a credit, you'll amass close to 150-200K in med school, so take the 97/credit and take your chances with the US schools (including DO schools) before going abroad.

Also, don't worry so much about the age thing. 4 years of med school, 3-5 years of residency...1 extra year isn't going to make much of a difference.

Good luck with the studies.
 
I personally don't want to wait any more. It is difficult to get into US med schools, especially with age 38. Very few people are accepted with this age. You may just waste another 1-2 percious years for practicing medine. If your school is good and you don't mind with less competitive specialities, then Carib med school is not a bad choice, either.😎
 
Originally posted by naturalmd7
I have about two semesters of premed left to do, and have not taken the MCATs as yet. I am about to turn 38. Do I:

A) Stay in FL; do a Post Bac premed program ($97 per credit hour) at UF and take the MCATs in April '05

B) Uproot and go to a caribbean island and start premed in May '04 (I have been accepted.)

I appreciate your honesty.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't do any premed course at a Caribbean school.

go to community college if you are strapped for cash.
take your MCAT. at least see if you have a chance at a US school.

carib school admission is a sure thing, so don't let them con you into their pre-med programs
 
I understand about what you are saying when it comes to US schools. For that reason, I agree with you. However, there are some are not going to Caribbean schools because they cant get into US schools. So when you look strictly at the program and what you learn, MUA seems to have a nice premed program. Here is what two students said:

Student one -

Enter MUA as soon as possible if you don't have to practise in California, New Mexico or Texas (there may be 1 or 2 more states where it's on a person by person basis and New York should be okay by the time you graduate). Pre-med in May means Med 1 in January (just keep a B average and you automatically get into Med school). From there it's a 40 month program. You'll have an MD degree before you hardly would have finished gross anatomy in the states (assuming you got accepted to a US school). All you need is a mechanism to sit for the USMLE step1 and then get into clinical rotations. From there it's the same as being from a US school. The emphasis here (at MUA) is geared toward preparing for the step1. All test are written in the same manner (as the USMLE) and you even take a prep course (required) for the USMLE. Of course, if you bomb the step 1 and step 2 (meaning barely pass) then you'll have trouble getting a good residency later on regardless if you went to a US school or not. Although, look at the unfilled spots every year; if you pass step 1 and 2 and graduate from med school you can find a residency somewhere (family practice probably but that's a great field as well). Also, here at MUA the Pre-meds seem to do much better in general than many first year students. That is because they are taught what is important for med 1 and when med 1 rolls around they feel very comfortable and are not as stressed. As a premed 1 I've already gotten to identify the nerve chords and branches of the brachial plexus as well as the various muscles and arteries in the arm (we have 2 cadavers from last semester assigned to us and we also go from table to table in Gross anatomy class examining the fresh cadavers). This is something you won't get from a pre-med course at your local college! The instructors are great for the most part and they go out of their way to make sure you get the information you need. Don't get me wrong, you have to earn it but they give you all of the tools you need. I know this is long but I wouldn't hesitate to go into the pre-med program if I were you. One other thing, rumors run rampant. Unless you know 100% that something is true, I would disregard it (99.999% of the rumors are BS). This is a great small school that will get you to where you want to be...a licensed and practising Doctor.

Good luck and hope this helps!
Tim
PreMed 1

Student 2 -

NY is ok right now... you can get a permanent license in NY as it stands now.. you just CANNOT do more than 12 weeks of rotations there OR do your residency there ... thats the whole thing with NY approval.. want approval to do greater than 12 weeks of rotations and want approval to do as RESIDENCY in NY....

the premed program is GREAT at MUA.. its a stepping stone into the med program and it really prepares you very well.. the premed kids have consistently been at the top of their classes when starting out in first semester... so you really have nothing to worry about as far as doing premed at MUA is concerned...
 
I am skeptical of anybody that says there are shortcuts to an MD, especially when they come from Caribbean schools that warn about denial of licensure in certain areas.

after 10 years, working to get where I can finally say, I am done, for somebody to then tell me that because of some stupid rule, I am disallowed from practicing at some great job ( just because it happens to be in a certain state ) I would be Crushed

until you decide on a specialty AND begin looking for jobs, you have absolutely no idea of where you will ultimately work.


to eliminate potential locations from the beginning is pretty foolish, but fortunately, for certain schools that want to say
" aaah, forget California or New York " premed students are often not thinking that far ahead.

that's where people that are done should chime in and say " Whoah, wait a minute. attend a school that keeps all of your options open "
 
I agree with you. However, I dont know if I agree with the 'shortcut' statement. The program mentioned earlier is two semesters (normally a year here in the states). The program intertwine the classes and it is catered to medical school. I think the first semester you take the Chemistrys, Anatomy & Physiology I, and Medical Terminology. Semester II, you take Advanced Organic Chemistry, A & P II, and Intro the cellular Biology.

I have 3 years of premed behind me....however, I need Organic Chemistry I & II. That program covers it and more. I could use the biological refreshing anyway.

There are plenty of post bac programs in the states that are 1 year....This one just happens to guarantee you a seat in Medschool if you do well. This works for me because I am not sure I am coming back to the States....among other reasons.
 
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