Alot of great reponses here, a fascinating lot, you Old Pre meds.
Still, I’m curious as to what the straw that broke your particular camel’s back was that made you switch lanes in the middle of your proverbial highway… Do tell!
‘WHy medicine, and why now?’
If it doesn’t sound familiar yet, it will!
SCUHS comes recommended by my acupuncturist, my ayurvedic md and a few others that I’ve spoken to in LA about how to take classes and remain in my business (film production).
I’m not 100% sure about whether the credits will transfer but I think the practice of a lab intensive course will be helpful in shifting my gears and my brain into this new vein of focus. The Director at Temple took the position that why wouldn’t I do it as long as it was an accredited university. Bryn Mawr was much more snotty about it.
Some of the reasons so far:
Because I want to be the change.
Because western esp. allopathic medicine is currently in a hugely transitional phase and I see opportunities for creating a much more health-based model rather than a dis-ease model in this transition.
Because I have always been drawn to service although I didn’t always understand or heed the call…til now.
Because I’ve always been strongly compelled by healing and drawn to healing modalities, both for myself as well as others.
Because I have survived a broken back and a flaming car and having walked away from both of these experiences I believe I’m here for a reason. I’ve concluded that reason is to heal, to teach, to make the world a better place. It just took me a while to put it together that medicine was the missing piece of this puzzle.
Because I’ve spent 13+ years living with an autoimmune disease (graves), learning about the range of options available from western to eastern and many variations due to my personality - a detective, a problem solver, an advocate & an activist. Most people don’t know how to ask the questions, much less feel empowered to ask them, toward more holistic, integrated health. They need better guidance systems and partners within the healthcare “industry”.
Because I’ve learned in my yoga practice and in my teaching experience that my life experience, my understanding of and my compassion for injury and pain makes me a better teacher. Also that role-modeling a preventive lifestyle can be inspiring to others in their journeys. Talk the talk and walk the walk.
Because I am inspired by learning and growing constantly and medicine is a path paved with opportunities for lifelong learning.
Because I just said goodbye to my 96 year old grandfather and I realize that I likely have a lot more time left here to do something worthwhile.
My astrologer tells me that Chiron is a huge influence in my chart. "In the astrological birth chart, Chiron reflects the archetypal energies of the shamanic wounded healer and teacher that potentially lives within each one of us. (http://thezodiac.com/chiron.htm#chiron)
All of this and more. I am discovering more why’s every day now that my eyes and heart are open to this path. It’s been an amazing revelation.
Queen,
That is quite an inspirational list!
It seems we have a ton in common. I am currently a teacher in a public school, and I am pursuing medicine so that I may eventually provide a much broader and fuller education and actually be able to help in more concrete and tangible ways.
Medicine represents all we know about what it means to be a physical human being. We can prevent and correct major diseases. We can save a life. There is nothing as noble or meaningful for a human to do than to dedicate their life to helping others, in my opinion. I am honored to even attempt to be some small part of that.
Plus, I like lab coats.
Mon Fleur
How did you come to the decision of Osteo vs. Allo?
I have a very strong urge toward Osteopathic myself but I’m getting tripped up on the whole “don’t you want to be a REAL doctor” (read MD) and other similar feedback from MD’s I know. plus my family is an ivy league/7 sisters type and I went to both Bryn Mawr and Barnard (transferred to Barnard and graduated from there). So I’m fighting the snobbery aspect but I’m also wondering about the MCAT score differentials and the cultures…
I’d love to hear your thoughts as well as everyone else’s on this topic. I think I’m feeling stronger that since my calling is to Osteopathic medicine first and foremost I’m going to reapply to Bryn Mawr’s PB program which this explicit intent - to consort to PCOM. But also apply to other programs and do a mix of MD/DO applications if the BMC/PCOM thing doesn’t work this next round. I’m trying to be open to the MD/Integrative model which I think has a lot of merit - and which I’ve personally spent a lot of time pursuing as a patient - but it’s hard to figure out how to proceed. And how you proceed impacts which programs you’ll get into I’m learning more and more and more…
Hey how do you include that quote? Manually or template?
Queen,
No matter which two initials are behind your name, they still call you Doctor!
Whichever one you decide to do, it should be the one that most well meshes with your particular personality.
It would really stink to become an MD because that is what everyone else wanted for you, only to realize later that Osteopathic medicine is where your passion is.
Just based on what you’ve said here, I can say that DO sounds right for you. THat beiing said, however, I get the peer pressure of all things Allopathic too.
When you come from a family with means, decisions like this can carry the weight of their judgements as well. But, my guess is you’ve been a black sheep this long, why not keep it going?
And to answer your other question, go under your profile and write it in the ‘signature’ box.
Good luck in your travels!
Artman
Agreed. I got more than a bit waylaid by the whole MD vs. DO prestige snobbery and whatnot that has been coming my way since I announced my intentions.
Thanks for the pep talk.
In fact my interest in pursuing medicine really took off in response to my exposure to Ostoepathic Medicine. So the challenge will be to get into a program for this. I’m going to play the field but really focus on DO I think.
The great irony to me is that I applied to Bryn Mawr explicitly because of their relationship (consort) to PCOM but then I lost my nerve and didn’t play this to the hilt in my application. I was cautioned not to be so specific, not to pigeonhole myself into this “more limited” area…blah blah blah.
Amazing how the reality is that DO’s have more education (OMM on top of the MD base curriculum), more continuing education hours and yet…they aren’t “real” doctors because the popular perspective is that the MCAT score is what really makes the doctor.
Ha!
See my post re: MCAT changes for more on this.
I understand the difficulty because I struggled with it as well. Felt more drawn philosophically to Osteopathic medicne. I am COMPLETELY happy that I came this route. But my inspiration was my MD uncle, and my niece is currently in MD school. Fortunately, my family paid me the compliment of assuming I could make the best decision for myself. When they came to my white coat ceremony the first year and heard about osteopathy, and the school in particular, they were unanimous is saying “this is the perfect school for you” because they saw the very things that had attracted me.
For me, shadowing a community family practice DO was the final deciding factor --because his practice was exactly the kind of practice I wanted. I saw that he does medical outreach trips every year. He set up his office adjoining the public housing development to be accessable to the lower income patients. He has a certified nurse midwife working in his practice. He does osteopathic structural exam for relevant problems and will treat during the office visit. If they need more extensive treatment he has an “OMT” afternoon where the appointments scheduled are longer to allow more complete treatment. He actually assesses patients support structure and spiritual needs when appropriate. He meets weekly with an MD who is also a PhD in Homeopathy to increase his knowledge base there. It’s just a very holistic, and health-care team based practice.
I had a 34 on the MCAT and that does put me higher than some of my classmates. But my take on it is that Osteopathic schools are looking primarily for compassionate service-minded people and accept lower MCAT scores if there is evidence the person will be able to be academically successful in med school because they are looking at the whole person and don’t want to limit themselves to those who excel only academically and not as a whole balanced person. Incidentally that is true of some of the MD programs I did apply to such as Albert Einstein medical school. They were my “backup” plan.
Kate
Kate
Thank you so much for posting this! It’s really helpful to me to hear about your experience of this.
I will be (re)applying to Bryn Mawr with a specific goal of linkage to PCOM this year. My back up plans will include a number of different post-bacc programs with glide years & applications to DO and MD programs OR linkages to MD programs with integrative medicine focus. (I haven’t found any other linkage to a COM from PB programs other than Bryn Mawr-PCOM)
In particular I think Johns Hopkins is appealing due to the Center for Autoimmune Disease Research that Noel Rose heads up. Ultimately where ever I get in is going to pave my path but I am strongly inclined toward the DO route.
- I am very interested in research and building the evidence based research for OMM
- I am also very interested in CAM and “Integrative Medicine”
- I intend to work with the exponentially growing population of people with autoimmune disease - I’m imagining as a DO/NMS specialist with Ayurvedic training and other CAM modalities (this has been my personal experience as someone living with Graves disease since 2000)
Those are the broad sketches. That said I’ve got to get in first.
In your experience is the DO curriculum addressing an integrated model as a baseline vs. MD programs? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Thanks!
- queenofspades Said:
I got more than a bit waylaid by the whole MD vs. DO prestige snobbery
Completely trivial aside: I always like to point out to the wannabe MD snobs on SDN, that the executive director of that site, Dr. Lee Burnett, is a DO. Not only was he perhaps the key figure in found SDN, but the site was originally hosted on Osteopath.com. BTW, Dr. Burnett can't join us this year for the OPM conference as he is on his 4th combat tour with the US Army in Afghanistan
I am in! 
I was accepted into the Biomedical internship program for this summer. It’s amazing how baby steps can carry a person to a dream. I honestly did not think I would be accepted into this program.
I still remember when I found this site, nervously reading other people’s stories and daring to creak open my mind to consider myself as “one of you guys.”
Okay, the gushing is over. Now the real work is about to begin.
To continue on in the vein of the OP, I think it is the highest expression of humanity to use the knowledge of the sciences to help other people. Nineteen year old me tried to lord my intelligence over other people; now it seems fitting to use knowledge and intelligence to problem solve for others.
Oh well; I’ve got some learning to do.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! I’m so excited for you!
Update: I did not apply the 2013-2014 cycle at all.
I re-evaluated really questioned my dedication and interest and ability to do this. Trying to work in film and take Calculus online really turned my head inside out and I had a crisis of faith. But then I realized that the problem is not in my aptitude, it’s in my lack of control over my schedule and time while I’m a freelancer in film. So last June I enrolled in SCUHS’s ISP program and knocked out Biology 101 and 102 to see if my interest was real and how I would fare. Killed it. 
Thus last fall I applied to Scripps, LMU, SFSU and Mills. I got into LMU, SFSU and Mills. I’m moving to Oakland presently to join the Mills 2017 Cohort at age 46!
Congrats! Best of luck on your journey! As far as the whole DO vs. MD thing… it doesn’t really matter. You’ll be able to practice where you want in the US. With the GME merger every residency will be ACGME. The only people who seem to care are pre-meds. I’ve rotated with DO students, MD students and offshore students. No one cares as long as you pull your weight and not throw your fellow students under the bus. Go where you fit the best. Again, best of luck to you!
Premeds and snobby first year medical students are the only ones who care about DO/MD. In residency, what they really care about is your ability to work with others under a stressful environment. Many “gunners” don’t realize that residency selection is really “small group dynamics.” BTW, the main founder of OPM, OldManDave, is a DO who went to Dartmouth residency in anesthesia followed by a fellowship in critical care. He is in line to be medical director of large ICUs (50 beds total) with something like 40 physicians and 20 midlevels (PA/NP) under him. And you know what they call him? Doctor!
JimmyJames,
How “late is the hour” of your calling - in other words, how old are you? I’m 54, beginning to accept that med school isn’t the path for me, no matter how much I wish it were, and am reading as many posts as I can find on people who started VERY late and still managed to get that M.D. It still might not be my path, but I’m a willing cheerleader for all those out there still fighting the fight - and my heart has a weakness for late bloomers, like me 
Kathleen