Medical School Forum

usmles for img graduate UK

Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:34 am

by jl562 (Posted Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:34 am)
hi, first of all thanks to all the contributors to this site, i have read a lot of postings and i have found it very useful.

my background is i am a canadian born internal medical graduate who has graduated from scotland in 2009. i have unsuccessfully applied to canadian residency through CARMS, have succeeded on my Canadian Evaluating Exam and Qualifying Exam Part 1(Equivalent of 2CS)

i am currently looking to seek US opportunities in residency as my first choice would not be to stay in the UK. i am doing a post-graduate MSc in Clinical Dermatology UK to keep myself active in medicine and have done some recent electives in Canada in Internal Medicine, GP and other fields. This was arranged locally in my home-town after obtaining educational license with the province and contacting doctors.

i am new to the US applications and am looking to absorb as much information about this process so that i do not waste time. from what i gather it is important to pass all Step 1, 2CS, 2CK, 3. I have not done any of them but have studied off of USMLEworld resources for my canadian equivalent Qualifying Part 1 Exam, so I am familiar with the difficulty level and preparation required.

Unfortunately my connections to talking to people from the States are quite limited in comparison to the numerous people I know matching in Canadian residencies. I wanted to specifically ask about what month of this year will I have to have all my steps written by to apply for next year's match. Seeing that I have passed my Canadian qualifying part 1 exam and I have worked 2 years at the post-graduate level in terms of intern rotations in the UK, I am very comfortable with writing the 2CS and 2CK in quick succession (and Step 3 for that matter). My Step 1 I admit will probably take most effort in preparing for.

Best wishes to all those IMGS who have applied to US residencies this year...

EZ pass Clinical rotation VS Maxwell

Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:51 pm

by Jack32 (Posted Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:51 pm)
I started my rotation at Mount Sinai NYC. I was advised to get EZ Pass Clinical rotation instead of Maxwell.
I am wondering anyone has this book, plz advice.

Is getting into an osteopathic school hard/prestigious?

Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:16 pm

by emt2er-doc (Posted Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:16 pm)

CaribMD wrote:
emt2er-doc wrote:You applied to medical school right? It is not easy right? If you are concerned about being a DO, then why did you apply?

Good Point!

BTW Just found out I passed CS! Now I'm Certified LOL
Just Residency and step 3 ahead

Congrats!!!!!!!!! Did you interview this year?

clinical hours through training programs

Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:18 am

by DOdoc (Posted Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:18 am)
It seems you have an interest in higher-level professional education--it's always a great choice to make by helping the community and earning a decent wage as well. If you work hard, and take seriously the role of being a provider, you can take your life literally in any direction you want.

To answer your question, it seems that you are wondering if credits that you have already earned could be used to satisfy the number of hours a medical student must perform in order to be eligible for graduation? If I am incorrect, please post a clarification of your question.

In short, the answer to your question is almost certainly, "No". Any clinical time that you have completed in a specific program other than for medical school could not be considered for medical school completion. There are several reasons for this. One, the responsibility, even if it appears to be similar or even the same in nature, is completely different for nursing, medical assisting, ward clerking, and/or for physicians. Though the patient contact component seems logical, the duties that you need to complete for each medical modality is vastly different. For example, even if you went to pharmacy school and earned a PharmD degree, most pharmacists would not be able to transfer onto a medical floor and begin practicing medicine (although their knowledge of and use of different medications would be an absolutely invaluable knowledge reference). I'm sure that example makes sense. But even a physician would be very hard-pressed to assume a nursing role on the wards, even though each (the doctor and nurse) would have much knowledge of what the other was doing at that time. Second, the time that you will spend on clinical rotations will likely be the most important time of your medical school career. This is where you will learn the actual science (and art) of practicing medicine, and this time in this capacity must be absolutely maximized. Even if you received some sort of credit for the "hands-on" portion of your previous education, the overlap between an LPN and physician role would be so minimal that the time spent in that role really wouldn't matter at the end of day. Third, there is a concern of liability. It would not really be in your best interest if (God forbid...) you were involved in a lawsuit, and knowledge that you spent less than the standard amount of clinical time--even if legally obtained in any way or form--in medical school would be disastrous for you.

Don't get me wrong--having ANY experience in ANY clinical role (even as a volunteer) will help you tremendously. Unfortunately, there are still some doctors out there who never saw a patient until their third year of medical school and discovered they really didn't like the "patient part" of medicine. By that time, you are almost completely committed to having to finish your degree because of the loans you've already accrued. You certainly don't want to find yourself in a position where when you see sickness, pain, disease, and death for the first time you decide the job isn't for you. In addition, any previous experience within the healthcare system will give you an advantage--sometimes tremendously so--when you make your application to medical school. Sometimes the only difference between two candidates is their level of experience or exposure, so don't underestimate the potential value.

There is one exception I could think of where you could receive credit for your time, and that would be if you had already completed a nurse practitioner or physician assistant program and have been working in an established role. In that case, I could see a very valid argument to award credit for time completed, but this would only be because repeating clinical rotations would actually be a step backward for an established practitioner. In that case, I could see some clinical rotations of the specialty or sub-specialty that the student practiced in being granted credit.

I hope I answered your question, and please feel free to re-post your question if I missed something. Good luck in your pursuits!
DrK

Non-clinical careers for physicians

Wed Feb 01, 2012 11:12 pm

by Adminnaoum (Posted Wed Feb 01, 2012 11:12 pm)
We've just put up a whole series of articles on non-clinical careers for physicians. It starts with Nonclinical Careers.

The other articles in the series feature interviews with:
Dr. Maria Simbra (medical reporter for KDKA-TV News, Pittsburgh).
Dr. Julie Silver (Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Chief Editor of Books for Harvard Health Publications).
Dr. Bob Uslander a 20-year emergency physician and founder of Doctors On Purpose.
Dr. Arlen Meyers President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs (Yup, that's SOPEnet.org, linked to above).
Dr. Joseph Kim a physician-executive who blogs at Non-Clinical Jobs (and who earlier contributed to this thread).

Bad Grades as a Freshman 10-12 years ago..no hope?

Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:18 pm

by jedjick (Posted Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:18 pm)
hello friends..

welcome to this forum site..

I am a non-trad student, I am currently doing the necessary steps such as receiving good grades (so far, I have received all A's), volunteer work, patient interaction, shadowing, ect. The one thing that is lingering in the back of all of this are the 7 F's I received my Freshman year in 1998 and 1999.
-----
Debra Fine

Please help with my Master's Thesis study on medicine!

Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:34 pm

by zephyrdg (Posted Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:34 pm)
Hi All,

I am currently finishing my Master's Thesis on care providers and medicine. I'm looking for participants to take my online survey. Participants can be MD/DO/NP/PA students, as well as those in residency and in practice.
https://qtrial.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_82gJBMuSXuWo0p6

Any and all help is appreciated!! If you could forward widely (and/or post to med school message boards) to your colleagues, that would be great!
Thanks!!

Please help with my Master's Thesis study on medicine!

Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:33 pm

by zephyrdg (Posted Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:33 pm)
Hi All,

I am currently finishing my Master's Thesis on care providers and medicine. I'm looking for participants to take my online survey. Participants can be MD/DO/NP/PA students, as well as those in residency and in practice.
https://qtrial.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_82gJBMuSXuWo0p6

Any and all help is appreciated!! If you could forward widely (and/or post to med school message boards) to your colleagues, that would be great!
Thanks!!

indian medical school?

Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:32 pm

by studyguideindia (Posted Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:32 pm)
I think this nice info about all Colleges in India but I need to know about more if you want that visit below website

List of Colleges in India

Can I get into DO school with NO UD scinence classes

Tue Jan 31, 2012 10:12 pm

by vegas (Posted Tue Jan 31, 2012 10:12 pm)
Please reply after reading this post. All feedback is highly appreciated. So far there have been more than 400 views, but no replies after the initial conversation. I'm sure alot of pre-med students (especially non trads) come across this question or simillar questions. So, many people who may view this post in the future might also benefit from your feedback. Thanks.

I have an odd situation...

Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:33 pm

by DOdoc (Posted Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:33 pm)
My pleasure. I'm happy to help in any way that I can. Certainly, if I can be of a specific type of help, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll keep browsing through and posting to those topics I can believe I can be of help to. By all means, please let me know if there is something specific I can address.

I appreciate your post and feedback. I know what I went through in medical school (I know you share this pain along with me) and it was always helpful to speak to those who have been there themselves. Unfortuantely, I feel that proper help and intervention can be quite lacking at times to say the least, and I found some great people with great advice and their help and information proved unbelievable valuable to me and my pursuits.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to post here in this blog.

Best wishes,
Frank K., DO

Perceptual Ability Test on iTunes

Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:20 am

by pat (Posted Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:20 am)
For those looking to take the DAT, there is a new app on iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pat-perc ... 36093?mt=8. Hope it helps

Question about University of Phoenix??

Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:42 am

by guitarmon691 (Posted Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:42 am)
Hey thanks for the reply. The extrapolated cum. and Science GPA's were calculated using the Amcas calculator in Excel. So those are the anticipated GPA scores that I will have when I apply next year, given that I get A's in the rest of my pre-reqs

EDP vs Applying Regular Cycle

Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:04 am

by monica f (Posted Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:04 am)
Hi again,
Also make sure you start working on your AMCAS (MD) and/or AACOMAS (DO) applications right after the MCAT is out of the way if you didn't have time for this before you took the MCAT. It takes a few months to get the applications put together, so you should ideally start about two months before June 1st to fill out the applications or at least gather the required information and start working on your personal statement.

Premed Status Report

Sun Jan 29, 2012 1:35 pm

by Adminnaoum (Posted Sun Jan 29, 2012 1:35 pm)
The Premed Status Report crunches over 20 variables to estimate your chances of getting accepted into medical school.

Helps you answer the following questions:

Report Cost: $25

Click here to create your premed status report

High School GPA

Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:19 pm

by CaribMD (Posted Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:19 pm)
Awesome! Welcome
I have a secrete that no Advisor for any college will ever tell you

Whats important to admission to medical school:
1. Any US university and university level work ( not CC or tech college)
2. Any major you do well in with the prereqs 1 yr of each: Bio, Chem, Ochem, Physics and Math
3. GPA better than 3.4
4. MCAT of 30 or better
5. Volunteering ( while in college)
6. Patient contact experience
7. Shadow a Doctor

What you do during Highschool is important for:
1.Foundation
2.Getting into a college

Understand, when you apply to Medical school what you did during highschool is not important
any volunteering or patient experience will not matter that much because you not over 18 and past highschool stage. More responsibility is given to the older college students and that is the experience the Medical Schools want to see.

Also to emphasize this:
Any University of course an Ivy college wins some minor points but the GPA is the one most important thing and the College GPA used for medical schools will be All grades earned during college years ( includes ones earned during highschool), all college grades on the transcripts are averaged together.
It will be important to take a class once and get a C or better because if you repeat the 1st and 2nd grades are averaged together for a new GPA by AMCAS,

"The American Medical College Application Service® (AMCAS®) Web site. AMCAS is a non-profit, centralized application processing service that is only available to applicants to the first-year entering classes at participating U.S. medical schools. Most medical schools use AMCAS as the primary application method. Advanced standing and transfer applicants should contact the medical schools directly for assistance.

Regardless of the number of medical schools to which you apply, you submit just one online application to AMCAS. AMCAS does not render any admission decisions and does not advise applicants where to apply." https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/

Good Luck!

Two questions I have

Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:57 pm

by CaribMD (Posted Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:57 pm)

blueparrot wrote:Thank you for replying.

Oh. Right, I graduated with 3.3 in Biology and I have all the prereqs except anatomy/physiology. I'm not sure what my science gpa is but I started off with A&B for my first year and then some C's my second year, then back up to straight A's my last semester. And I haven't retaken anything.

3.3? DO will be the best chance but it may not be good enough for them too, You may have to look to the Caribbean 3 Schools
Science GPA is Bio/Chem/Math/Physics BCMP

So I don't have any volunteer hours, so that's what I really wanted to work on. I could get my MCAT sometime this year and then just work on volunteering until the next cycle? I'm going to interview for a spot at a place working with youth, later today. And I am still waiting on hearing back from a hospital for volunteering in their pediatrics center. Also, what about volunteering at animal shelters?

Any of that is fine, you need Patient contact hours as well (Human)

I've been reading a lot of your posts and it seems like you give out the most advice. So I wanted to ask one more thing, while I remember, what kind of recommendations should I be looking for? Are recommendations not from professors, looked down on. Because I don't have many professors I could ask.

A doc you shadow as one then Professors second, if you cannot get them then a Boss and some professionals in Medicine.

Medical

Fri Jan 27, 2012 4:45 am

by Medical08 (Posted Fri Jan 27, 2012 4:45 am)
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Home medical solutions offer acceptable skills and sources that are designed to provide the rehabilitative needs of homebound people. Although personal amenities have been around for many years, in-home older care has become a popular form of medical in the United States. The Nationwide Connections for House Care and Medical indicates that the house environment allows for additional control and mobility. Home Medical allows care providers to get time off, while also offering medical solutions for people with a incapacitating sickness. Specifically, the continuous service is available to senior citizens who are impaired, crictally ill, or in need of some type of therapy. These people were lately released from the healthcare facility and get further rehabilitative solutions in the house.

Medical supervision is a area that has been increasing considerably from the dynamics of the position to the training involved. As medical amenities increase, so does the demand for and required the and fitness care manager. Someone who is versatile and well-rounded is a highly popular selection to fill these roles with growing liability in this area.

Medical provides funds to support people who need house Medical. In other conditions, State medicaid programs and group programs cover the cost of the service. Based on an peoples situation, the family and individual may pay the house care organization immediately for medical services. They may obtain assistance from a public company or utilize their private medical insurance.

Medical

2.8 GPA 37 MCAT

Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:17 pm

by fms1 (Posted Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:17 pm)
I am not an expert, but most of my friends that are med students claim that a high MCAT will balance out a low gpa. I would say apply and see what happends, it might work out in your favor.

- Apply to schools in the U.S that is, then if you are rejected apply to the Caribbean schools (personally I think they should be a back up plan not a first option. Especially, when you have never applied to schools in the states.)

Looking for some basic USMLE info.

Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:20 am

by CaribMD (Posted Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:20 am)

Seq225 wrote:Hello - Im new here but have some questions. I will start here I guess. I am asking for someone else, as I am not a med student, but would like to clarify some things for myself. So any help is greatly appreciated and bare with my ignorance with these matters.

my questions:

1. is it correct that if you don't do so hot (but pass) on the USMLE step 1 - that you CAN take it again for a better score, but that you CANNOT take step 2 again if you didnt do great?

2. Which score makes more of a difference on applications for residency?

Thanks.

Once you Pass any USMLE step you are stuck with the score forever ( 7 years if you do not get into a residency)

Is my 1998 B.S. Computer Engineering degree enough?

Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:19 am

by CaribMD (Posted Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:19 am)

saoj wrote:I graduated in 1998, B.S in Computer Engineering with a 3.6 GPA. No biology classes. My electives were in economics (minor in Economics). Now I want to study for the MCAT and apply to Med School. My question is: Does my 15-year-old college degree meet the requirements to enter med school? I don't want to make the investment (time + money) to take the MCAT and later find out that I am not eligible to med school due to my college degree. Can the fact that my college degree is old (1998) be a problem? Am I lacking biology classes? Or if I do well on the MCAT the med schools will not have a problem with it? I understand that every med school is different and the top ones will consider even the color of your shirt, so let's consider an average med school for the question.

SHort Answer NO

Long Answer:

A successful candidate for Medical School admissions will have this profile:

3.3 GPA or better
28 MCAT or better
1 yr of each: Bio, Chem, Ochem, Physics plus Math
Volunteering
Patient contact experience
Shadowing a Doc
and could have
Research

15 years ago? A lot has changed since then so I doubt that any science will count
My suggestion
Go to a university and talk with them, you may have to do a second BS degree now,
the Good Many courses will transfer in and count
the Bad You have to take the science

MCAT means very little, its a one day test of your problem solving ability using the acquired knowledge of the 1yr of each : Bio, Chem, Ochem and Physics
so with those courses taking the test will lead to low scores and no chance at admission anyway and the results are counted, if high no matter it expires in 3 years and you have to retake anyway.

Your comment is interesting...... Color of your shirt? Never heard of such.

"Top Med schools" Hmm, to reach them you would need
GPA of 3.8 MCAT of 38 to 40 and research

Average school is what I posted
DO 3.3 or better
MD 3.4 to 3.5 or better

really you need to consider this, 15 years is really too long recycle some of the credits and do a new BS premed and you do well then you should have a decent chance.

Good Luck

which caribbean medical schools are accredited in New York

Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:54 pm

by CaribMD (Posted Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:54 pm)

FurtureMD2018 wrote:I am currently in my junior year and I am getting ready to apply to medical school. I have been studying for the MCATs for a few months now and have been scoring high 20s and even a 31 on one occasion on many of the practice exams. As of right now my stats are cGPA 3.3, sGPA 3.1,and many ECs and awards. I have completed two research projects at Yale with one published. I am worried that I will have to apply to caribbean Medical school. I am a single mother and had to work my way through college which explains why my gpa is so poor. I wanted to know which caribbean schools are accredited in NYS. Also would a year of post-bac be better than a CMS? Thank you in advance for any help.

Quick answer: NONE, no school outside the USA is "Accredited or Approved"
New York has no such process at this time
Accredited schools are LCME in the USA and those schools are all in the USA and PR only no other school outside the US is LCME

There are schools Approved by 3 States California, Florida and Texas but and big but, any school that are IMED and WHO listed are ok ( unless Banned) for practice in 49 US states
California is the only state which will not license a school not on their list, all the others the list is a guide and everyone is case by case basis.

When Caribbean schools talk about Accreditation and Approvals they want you to be confused on purpose. I know this first hand and did the research on it.

Each school must be accredited and or approved by the country they are in.

Each school must be WHO listed
Each school must be on the IMED list

if not it = no practice anywhere

A caribbean school with practicing Doctors in the US is the best bet.

The Schools you should be looking at are SGU, Ross, AUC
these three have a decent track record and your GPA is well high enough.

University GPA + CC GPA?

Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:54 pm

by johnisles2011 (Posted Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:54 pm)
I believe it will be cumulative. Still, though, i think it'll raise some red flags to adcoms when they see that you were able to have a very high gpa when the difficulty of the work was low, but your gpa plummeted when the difficulty of the work picked up.

As a general rule for people who went cc-> university, you want to see only a relatively small drop in GPA so you can show that you're capable of working at a very high level.

Still, an overall 3.4 is a reasonably competitive gpa.

Does it matter what undergraduate college you go to?

Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:51 pm

by johnisles2011 (Posted Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:51 pm)
Like CaribMD said (basically), if you have great scores and gpa, you'll be fine. You also need to get solid ECs (shadowing, clinical experience, research if you can, and volunteering) and write good application essays and get good LORs. You don't have to have a perfect application, but you want to have every angle covered.

You're a Premed with a question? Read this

Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:02 am

by j2dloso (Posted Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:02 am)
So, I have finished a degree in biochemistry already, but I was able to do so without completing a full year of basic biology. I got the first semester done and I was not required the other half to graduate. I have taken other biology classes however: anatomy with lab, physiology, microbiology, genetics, cellular neurosciences, and a semester of independent studies in bio lab.

WIll these classes be good enough to replace the other semester of basic bio i wasn't able to take?

This is a really important question to me because I have been trying hard to get into the second semester of basic bio but complications with credit transfer have prevented me from doing so.

need advice re: obtaining residency in California

Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:15 pm

by DOdoc (Posted Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:15 pm)
Hi. Well, it sounds like you have your hands full, but I hope I can provide to you some information you have requested. To be honest, I am unclear on some of the details in your question, so if I am incorrect in the reply please clarify.

It sounds like your question is how she can come into the US and complete residency here, and she will be using Canadian residencies as a back up if she cannot gain admission to a US program. Is that correct? If so, you all would need to know that this process is difficult at best--even for the most qualified individuals, so I'd suggest first being realistic about your goals. It is not impossible by any means, but it is going to be an uphill battle--again, even for the most qualified individuals in this position applying from Canada.

The first issue to consider, and one you didn't mention with detail, is the work visa issue. In general, there are two different visas that can be obtained (I suggest doing a general Internet search for these as I'll only include the very bare basics for time/space constraint). The first option, which is harder to obtain, is the H1B visa. This visa gives her more options, and is less restrictive, but again, it's harder to obtain. If she is planning to leave Canada altogether, this visa would set in motion the paths to a green card and ultimately the potential for citizen, but this is years down the road. Essentially, this visa would allow her to come for residency and then likely stay after residency is completed. It is much more expensive, and there are specific considerations in obtaining this. First-she will need to complete (and pass) USMLE step 3 before being qualified to apply. In other words, she would need to have graduated medical school FIRST and have the exam results posted before she could even apply for this. Second, it's very likely no competitive residencies in the US would even consider offering this as a possibility as they have plenty of US graduates to draw from. Programs almost with complete certainty will not allow this possibility because of the inherent risks and costs involved. Again, those programs will have such a large, qualified applicant pool that there would no need for them to pursue this. So, for this visa, by default she will be relegated to smaller, likely rural, non-competitive residencies to even be considered for this. And, keep in mind, certain events will need to be in place (i.e. USMLE step 3) before she can be considered.

The second visa, and the one much more likely she'll receive, is the J-1 visa. Though easier to get, it is also more restrictive. First of all, she will likely need a letter from the health ministery in Canada stating that there is a need for physicians in Canada for that particular field, but as of late, that Canadian graduates/residencies cannot fill the present need for physicians seeking that specific specialty. In general, no letter=no visa. On the other end, this visa will require her to return to Canada for a minimum amount of time after residency is completed (she'll need to go back for 2 years, I think). She can apply for a waiver to stay in the US, but this would relegate her to working in rural/underserved areas of the US and possibly organizations such as the VA. Again, you can research this through the internet and I go into the minutiae further--but it gives you an idea. Again, for this visa, she'll likely need to seek out non-competitive residencies (whether by specialty and/or location) since the US applicant pool will likely be quite large. However, there are some specialties such as GP/FP or IM programs that are looking for available positions to be filled--and recruiting IMGs is one way to fill those vacancies. Keep in mind, however, that the program (especially the program director) will need to be actively involved in the process of her acceptance, and there are undoubtedly programs out there in which the people involved either don't know how to, or don't want to, get involved with IMGs or their visas because it does create more work for everyone.

So she is not completely sunk--she can most likely find something somewhere. However, limiting to a specific area, or a specific program will make it significantly more difficult because you will only have an option or two, and that will hinge on only a few areas. In other words, everything will need to go exactly perfectly in order for her to come and complete residency--and even in the absolute best-case senario, this would be very difficult at best.

The only last thing I would add: in general, IMGs applying for anything in the US need to blow the USMLE out of the water and also convince prospective programs that acceptance of the applicant over US applicants is the best decision for the program to make. Not only does she have to prove her achievement level, she has to prove she will get results that will advance the program. There is no requirement that any program must accept any number of IMGs, so she will need to make her case that she is better (and thus the program will benefit greater) than the 50-100 US applicants...which will be much greater in number for competitive programs (if she can find one accepting IMGs).

My advice would be to do a lot of research about programs and requirements for IMGs to be accepted into those programs. If her USMLE scores aren't good enough, then focusing on retaking them to make her more competitive would be a good place to start. She can also consider taking a class or two here so she can establish a placement among US students (taking a science class or health class of some kind would be best) is a good place to start, especially if it's cost prohibitive to do more.

I hope I answered your questions and explained to you what I think you were asking. If I completely missed the point, I am happy to post a new reply if you provide clarification.

Good luck! It's a tough process, but not impossible. Just do the research and make the best decisions you can using what you have, and try to strengthen weak areas...and take it from there.

Chances of getting into med schools with your scores

Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:45 am

by wildcherry (Posted Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:45 am)
Hey everyone, I'm really new to all this but I would greatly appreciate some advice early!

So I'm a high school senior and I have been accepted into UCF Honors. I have done 2 years of Dual Enrollment at Valencia CC. So I just needed some help to kinda make a guideline to become a doctor. I can't really imagine doing anything else and I have wanted to be an Orthopedic Surgeon since I started High school.

I sort of wish I had not done Dual Enrollment, because I have a 3.5 GPA and I wasn't really studying seriously. I only took one Bio class and got an 88. I believe my GPA resets at UCF, and I want to really get serious and get A's. I have yet to choose a major and I really am totally new to all this.

If you all could be so kind, would you please give me some guidelines? Like what GPA and MCAT would mean guaranteed acceptance to a good Med school? And does it help to go to UCF undergrad for UCF med? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. I want to start on the right foot.

DO or Caribbean MD School?

Sun Jan 22, 2012 3:53 am

by CaribMD (Posted Sun Jan 22, 2012 3:53 am)

emt2er-doc wrote:
johnisles2011 wrote:Personally, my vote is for the Caribbean MD. Yes the Caribbean is less prestigious, but at the end of the day, if you do really well there, you can become a legitimate practicing US licensed MD, and (pls DO people, don't be offended) that is more prestigious and respected than a DO degree. I'm not saying it's right or wrong.

Good luck

I am sorry but I strongly disagree with you and find it pretty offensive even if you ask me not to. An MD is not more respected than a DO pure and simple. When it comes to patient care, a good doctor is a good doctor. It does not matter what the letters after their name are. In addition, what you are saying is continuing a long line of improper information which is detrimental to everyone.

A US Osteopathic Medical Student will have a greater chance at getting a US residency than a foreign Medical Graduate. And a caribbean graduate is a Foreign Medical Graduate. in addition, the Osteopathic graduate will have the ability to apply for both MD and DO residencies which are now approaching maximum capacity.

I am well respected by my MD peers in my hospital and residency program. By both residents and attendings alike. This is because I am a good resident and I listen to my patients and their needs. You don't only have to be an MD to be able to do that.

Before perpetuating false information, ensure that your research is done. Is there is discrimination against DOs? Sure. But this is usually the old guard that is dying off. And this will not happen if people keep providing false information.

MD=DO
DO=MD

what about MBBS? Many around the world have this British originated Physician degree.

In the US
MD=DO=MBBS they are all the same and all are Physicians

I really think we need to get off the initials wagon and focus on goals

1. US based medical school for US practice is always the best path,

2. Caribbean is second to both US MD and US DO because Caribbean students do clinicals in the us but are not considered US grads but FMG grads even if you are a US natural citizen.

3. All other medical schools outside the US, why? no US clinical experience.

One last thought, US DO may be better in some ways then US MD. WOW you say, your an MD grad. Yes true, but if your goal in more in the direction of natural approaches and less surgical approaches, then DO school has this component, DO grads do go into surgery, but I feel that DO students have a different perspective at times than MD students.

BTW I'm a Caribbean Grad myself ( no residency yet in the match this year)

NonTraditional Pre-Med Workshop March 18, 2012

Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:49 am

by emt2er-doc (Posted Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:49 am)
Old Pre Meds is proud to announce its first ever Northeast Regional Admissions Workshop:

March 18th 2012 on the campus of UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, NJ. Topics include overcoming a poor GPA and writing a personal statement.

http://www.oldpremeds.org/northeastworkshop/

Check it out.

Need Help

Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:25 pm

by Syed (Posted Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:25 pm)
Thanks so much . Ironically, that's what I was doing before I just got back on here. I feel much better, the only thing deterring me was a few advisers and looking at some of the mean averages for some medical schools around Chicago.