Other Opportunities with Duluth MD?

[dproberts]

For the big rural medical schools out there (Minnesota-Duluth, West Virginia), is it more difficult to pursue something besides family/rural medicine after graduation? At this point, I'm not entirely interested in the rural track . . . but I also know how difficult acceptance to any med school is . . . so I don't want to rule anything out.

[CaribMD]

For the big rural medical schools out there (Minnesota-Duluth, West Virginia), is it more difficult to pursue something besides family/rural medicine after graduation? At this point, I'm not entirely interested in the rural track . . . but I also know how difficult acceptance to any med school is . . . so I don't want to rule anything out.

I have no idea why this thought persist that the medical school you go to is the kind of Doctor you will be.

You can be any kind of doctor you want to be from any medical school MD or DO. This is a Fact.

So yes you can pursue other then rural.

[OlufunshoBY]

i second that. I go to sch on WV and the sch focus is to produce as much rural medicine docs as possible becuase they r in desperate need of it. But i am going into surgery outside of west virginia. My point is once u get in, its up to you to decide what u want to do with ur career.

A school cannot force you into anything u dont want to do, they might persuade u though.

[dproberts]

Great! Thanks for the input, guys.

[Redsbear]

Please DON'T apply to a school just because feigning interest in their mission it is an "easy" acceptance. Yes, Duluth heavily selects for rural, primary care-oriented students. We already have a shortage in that department, and it doesn't help if pre-meds are saying whatever the school wants to hear just to get in.

However, if rural primary care sounds like something you'd put on your list of specialties, apply away!

RB

[CaribMD]

Please DON'T apply to a school just because feigning interest in their mission it is an "easy" acceptance. Yes, Duluth heavily selects for rural, primary care-oriented students. We already have a shortage in that department, and it doesn't help if pre-meds are saying whatever the school wants to hear just to get in.

However, if rural primary care sounds like something you'd put on your list of specialties, apply away!

RB

I do not go to that school yet I'm rural bound for FP

I think it doesn't matter, what ever school accepts you is fine, there are those in it for the money and those who are not. I'm not ( yet the big secrete in medicine is that rural practicioners make more then city docs in primary care.)

[Redsbear]

Maybe I didn't come across correctly. I understand that an MD degree (or DO, for that matter) will get you into a residency program and ultimately, practicing medicine in any specialty. My point was that we have a shortage of rural docs. We have a shortage of primary care docs. Paying a school that is dedicated to training rural primary care physicians lip-service by publicly declaring your devotion to their mission while privately having no true interest in actually going into rural primary care is dishonest and decidedly unaltruistic (something premeds are supposed to exude, what with volunteering 7000 hours as a hospital flower delivery boy to be competitive...).

Maybe an applicant honestly thinks RPC is for them, then finds out it's not all they thought it was. Fine. That's where you exercise your choice to match into whatever residency you want. At least you went into this 7+ year commitment with intentions to check out Family Practice first. Just don't apply to Duluth and WV as 'safety schools' because you think you can bluff your way in. Thanks...

RB

[Enot]

I agree with you, RB.

I think that it is worth the time to investigate what branch of medicine you want to go in to and learn about it's strengths and limitations. With that knowledge, one should then select schools that have a focus similar to your own. I think that misrepresenting your interests in order to gain acceptance is doing a disservice to that school and to yourself. Perhaps I am naive, but I think that starting from a position where you are clear about your intentions forms the basis of the professionalism that one should conduct oneself with.

In all fairness, it must be really tough for someone who has a lifelong dream of being a hematologist whose state school has a huge emphasis on primary care. But then, it really might not be the best school for you, even if the in state tuition is attractive along with the chances of acceptance.

[Enot]

Carib MD, you made an interesting point about greater compensation for rural primary care docs. I think you are probably right, at least as far as the geographic cost practice indices of Medicare B are concerned. Another thing, I read that rural primary care docs often have a greater sense of job satisfaction than their big city counterparts. Just food for thought.

[medmatt]

I think its completely asinine to pretend like you have any idea of what specialty you want to get into. Most of my classmates have already changed what the "want to be when the grow up" at least once. And we're what 2 months into it? You are already going to be blowing smoke up and down adcoms a**es so I would disagree and say apply where you want and good luck. WVU is not a back up school though, unless your from WVU. They do not accept a lot of applicants from out of state, usually about 5. I interviewed there. They sounded like they liked me a lot. My scores are higher than there accepted average, and I didn't get in. Thats one reason you should think about staying away (not sure about Duluth). Good luck either way.