Does anyone know how feasible advance standing transfer to the UK or Caribbean would be? MCAT 33Q, Postbac Science GPA 4.0, first semester didactic grades in DO school are As and Bs.
I’ve had just about as much OMM cheerleading as I can stomach and unfortunately here the OMM course is a full two years in length. Yeah, I chose poorly.
That having been said, I’m surely not going to take Biochem/Anatomy/etc again.
I’m really sorry to hear how you feel about your OMM course. But, you’re already 1/4 of the way through with it, as well as some of your other classes, including anatomy, right? Talk to your OMM instructors. See if your second year is anything like ours, where the last semester is almost entirely spent seeing and treating patients. Even our first year, we had about 6 or 8 weeks of no OMM lab, but instead seeing patients. That helps the time go faster.
Then find someone you know who really has a pain problem that you might be able to help. Try using some of the simpler techniques, as well as the more advanced as you learn them, and see if it doesn’t make this person feel better. Try to find a way to open your mind to the effectiveness of OMM. And, if you can’t, then remember, once you are a physician, the use of OMM is entirely your decision.
Good luck.
Boeing -
I definitely wouldn’t transfer to an offshore or UK school for a couple of reasons. There is the cost issue: I believe that it was recently mentioned on here that they are no longer going to allow Stafford loans for offshore schools. This means you will have to rely soley on private loans to finance your education. The cost of living is also higher off-shore.
Even though many offshore grads DO get into competitive residencies, it is a fact that they are at a distinct disadvantage compared to US MD and DO grads.
A better option, if you really think you can’t take it for the rest of your two years would be to seek advanced standing transfer to another DO school that doesn’t place such a heavy emphasis on OMM.
Thanks for the input…I’ll do some inquiring. Can a transfer from one domestic school to another do so without going through the “application cycle” (AACOMAS, Secondaries, LORs, etc)? The reason I ask is that it’s already nearly December and most deadlines for new applicants have passed.
If it was just a matter of learning a block of stuff, regurgitating it for the practical, and moving on, that would be fine. The problem is that the course is (1) cumulative to day one, (2) second year is graded on getting a correction, not just diagnosis and setup.
I’ve been muddling through so far, but that second requirement is going to sink me for sure.
You are in a 100% better position sticking it out in the USA.
Beleive me it’s tough out here. The Carib schools have few loan options and I was lucky with my loan but the school and location is less desirable than the USA. Check out FREIDA and you will see that some programs for residency do not accept FMG and my school is not accepted in all 50 states yet. FMG is last option I think. If you are in a DO school, you cannot transfer to any UK or European schools that I know of. DO has just started to get Lic over here in the UK same as an MD but it’s still sketchy. I know DO’s are a good route and I’m not putting them down at all, in fact I wish I could have gone that route. But fact is the rest of the world is still getting use to DOs. I would only transfer from a program cause of money or succeeding period. You worked way too hard to let some propaganda to make you leave and hey, every school has a spin.
Bottom Line stay in a USA program if you can.
Good luck 
Boeing, applying to transfer is a totally different animal, handled as individual applications (AFAIK) and not moderated by AACOMAS or any other entity. Best thing would be to contact schools you’re interested in and see what they say. As you know, transferring med school is tough. I DO know someone who transferred from one allo to another, and there were a number of transfer students who joined my class both at the beginning of sophomore and junior years.
And I’m sure that I don’t appreciate exactly what you mean by “second year is graded on getting a correction, not just diagnosis and setup,” but I have to think that it’s more do-able than it looks from where you sit right now. Are there some third- or fourth-years you can talk to for reassurance?
Hang in there, first year medical school is when LOTS of us wonder if we had sh!t for brains when we committed to this career path, but it DOES get better.
Mary