Hello. My name is Ivan Olson. I am new to the site and thought that I would introduce myself. I am 31, married, and have 2 daughters (6 & 3), and I am currently a pre-med student at Metropolitan State College of Denver. I have a B.A. in History, was licensed for Secondary Education, and originally had ambitions of being a history teacher. I found that there were very few job openings for new history teachers, and I needed to financially make ends meet for my wife and new daughter at the time. I found a job at brokerage firm where I became a stock broker, project manager, and trainer. Originally this was very challenging and exciting but after a few years I began to realize that I had taken a wrong turn somewhere. After 6 years I parted with my firm and I now have 2 semesters of pre-med behind me. Currently I am most interested in rural medicine and I am eyeing schools that specialize in this field. I have completed a pre-med ER internship at Lutheran Medical Center, and I am looking for an opportunity to shadow a D.O. and shadow a rural doctor. Is there anyone else in Denver on OPM?
Welcome Ivan!!
You will find that OPM is a great site for advice and encouragement as you journey through premed-dom and on to medical school.
I applaude your choice of rural medicine, but encourage you to keep your options open as you both prepare for and enter medical school. You will find during your future rotations that there are many areas of interest in the medical field and what you now desire may change several times before you reach a final decision.
NOW, that said, if you want to apply in the future to a school that has been named as one of the top 10 schools for rural medicine by US News and World Report for the last 10 years, as well as the number 1 school in the whole world for rural medicine in a study done last year, then when you begin your application process, don’t forget West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. It is a great school, located in a rather small community (which has really good schools for your kids), and it continues to produce a great number of rural primary care physicians.
Better yet, try to get to this year’s conference! There will be representatives there from WVSOM as well as a number of other schools, both allopathic and osteopathic, who can give you great information! And there will be several of us who are currently in medical school or through medical school present to answer questions as well.
Again, welcome to OPM! Take your time and browse through the forums and be sure to take advantage of the great membership we have!
Linda
Welcome to Medicine!!!
Ivan,
Hi. I just graduated from CU Denver, which is on the same campus as Metro. Does Metro have a health careers club? If not, I would suggest trying to get in touch with the one at CU Denver, it’s really good. Go to www.cudenver.edu, then biology, then premed.
Are you planning on applying to CU’s med school? Not sure it would fit with your goals of rural medicine, but it is close. I’m actually starting medical school at the Uniformed Services University in Washington D.C. in the fall, so I’ll be moving in July. If you have any questions about premed stuff in Denver, feel free to contact me. Good luck!
Gina