Medical school for health professionals...

If you look at the same data, you can see that the MCAT average for “Specialized Health Sciences” candidates is significantly lower than applicants from other categories. This is more likely to be the explanation of lower acceptance rate rather than discrimination based on their major.

  • sam74 Said:
If you look at the same data, you can see that the MCAT average for "Specialized Health Sciences" candidates is significantly lower than applicants from other categories. This is more likely to be the explanation of lower acceptance rate rather than discrimination based on their major.



It should be pointed out that the AAMC data indicates that specialized health students who are accepted have MCAT and GPA levels in line with other acceptees across majors

Here are three possible things going on as to suggest impacts on the lower MCAT scores and acceptance rates

1) The scores may reflect that specialized health major's coursework is less directly applicable to the MCAT as compared with other majors. By that I mean, biomedical and chemistry classes that are more narrowly tailored to these majors may not serve them as well as more generalized courses that are taken as prereqs. As aside I have often have wondered how many of these students apply with realizing that many of their courses would not substitute for the required prereqs.

2) It would seem that nurses, PAs, and other allied health professionals are more likely to be in the workforce than other more traditional students, therefore have less time (and perhaps parental financial support) when preparing for the MCAT and applying to medical school.

3) Beyond MCAT and GPA, social-professional aspects do play a strong role in the selection process. At the risk of over simplification and generalization, adcoms want to see clear motivation, commitment, and achievement towards being physician, not simply medicine overall. For most students, that makes little practical difference. However, specialized health students in nursing, PA, and other similar fields, it raises the question that if you wanted to be a physician, why are in you in another path? What is your motivation and commitment to your current path and to being a physician? This would impact specialize health majors who are applying to medical school while still completing their degrees are who have recently done so.

All that being said, several of founding and early members have come from nursing, respiratory therapy, and similar backgrounds.

In sum, for nurses and other allied health professionals who have been graduated and in the workforce for sometime have less issue than recent graduates in these fields.
  • sam74 Said:
If you look at the same data, you can see that the MCAT average for "Specialized Health Sciences" candidates is significantly lower than applicants from other categories. This is more likely to be the explanation of lower acceptance rate rather than discrimination based on their major.



I teach chemistry for nursing students and chemistry for science and engineering majors.

While its more in line with the MCAT than it was in years past, pre-nursing chemistry istill pales in comparison to what the other folks are learning.

In my opinion and based on observations, the reasons people are admitted or rejected to med school are multi factorial. I simply wish people would keep that in mind when a URM is accepted.

As for the allied health I think it has more to do with lower MCAT’s due to having a job and not having time to study.


I also agree with pathdr2b. I went to my mentors graduation and he and I were both shocked that about half of the students were legacy kids. The first one to have their parents hood them I thought it was cute. After the twentieth I was less than impressed. I’m prepared to counter the “affirmative action acceptance” with asking about being a legacy kid.

Path,


I do agree with this statement. I know personally that this occurs. I had a cousin that attending a dental school at a HBCU in WDC. Although, her father was a dentist, she saw where preferential treatment were given to the children of Alumni from this school for both the dental and medical programs. I would assume that this occurs at most colleges/universities.