Hi everyone! I am truly glad that I found this website. I’m a total newbie here (2 days) and already have been inspired by everyone’s diff stories of how they got to where they are now: either in finishing med school, in the middle of, or in the pursuit of it. I really enjoy the encouragement that everyone gives. First let me intorduce myself: I am 28 years old and graduated with a B.S. in Kinesiology 2.5 yrs ago and since I thought I was going to apply to med school right away, I ended staying 1.5 extra year to earn minors in Bio and Chem. Unfortunately, I took my gen Chem and gen Bio classes my Sophomore year (during one of my “lost in the dark years”) and did not fare too well (barely passed them). I have been working in an Exercise Scince Laboratory the past 2 yrs. and contemplated about applying to P.A. school. However, recent events in my life have really shifted my focus back to my desire to go to med school. I always wanted to go to med school when I was younger but have always settled for less in fear of being told that I am not good enough. I have to admit that I am not the smartest student here, but I have retaken Anatomy, Micro, and Phys in the local college and managed to do very well on each of them. I am thinking about going into Post bacc schools but quickly foundout that most of the schools would only take either students who have not taken the med school prereqs or ,since I’m here in Cali, would only take you if you have applied to med school already and did not get in. Or, a GPA of 3.0. My GPA in college was 2.7 and I have not taken the MCATs yet. I guess I wanted to know if it is advisable for me to just continue retaking classes at the local college or apply to grad school or post bacc? I know that I can do this. This is the first time in my life that I am sure about this decision. I will not quit. Any feedback, word of encouragement, and/or a reality check is welcome.
Hi Maximus,
Hello and welcome! It definitely is a great site, and I’m glad that you officially joined us.
Just a couple of things, unfortunately your GPA is low, and a grad degree really isn’t going to do anything to change that.
You need to figure out what you are flexible with and what you are not…for example, are you open to either MD or DO? Are you willing to move out of state or must you stay in California?
Since you have taken the prereqs, a postbac won’t really help because usually the classes taken are the prereqs. You would do better to just take upper level sciences classes at your university.
If you decide to go DO, you can retake some of those low grades, and if you do well, you can really raise your GPA. Although you will need to list all of your classes on your AACOMAS application, your GPA is calculated with the replacement classes taken.
As for DO, there are 2 schools in California…Western in Southern Cal and Touro-Mare Island in Northern. You also have 2 in AZ and 1 in NV.
If MD is your goal, you might want to see about SMPs through the different medical schools. You’ll need to look at the different schools to get more information. Some will, if you do well, either invite you for an interview when you apply to medical school.
Best of luck!
Thanks for the info and advice…I have been looking into the D.O. route. It seems like its more fit to my personality and my apporach to my “ideal practice” in the future. But it seems that DOs are mostly in primary care settings. I was really looking more into Orthopedics. It would seem that more DOs whould be into Sports Med or Orthopeadics. Any DOs out there practicing in Ortho?
Just to let you know that DOs practice in all different specialties, including orthopedics. yes, it is true that they try to encourage people to go into primary care specialties because that is where the need is, but they totally understand that a large portion of their students may be looking elsewhere. Actually as a DO you will open yourself up to more residency options. You will be able to qualify for both osteopathic residencies as well as allopathic residencies. You will probably have to take both the COMLEX and the USMLE, but many, many students have done that already.
You should do a search on Osteopathic residencies…that will probably ease your mind to what options are out there.
Good luck!
Amen to the DOs in orthopedics!! The doctors that did my knee replacement and my proximal row carpectomy are both DOs. . .and darn good!!
There are residencies in almost every specialty for DO students to consider. . . and even if you don’t see one in a DO program, MD programs now also accept DO graduates.
In other words, don’t let the idea of not being able to get into a residency scare you. What matters is doing well in school, doing good on your board steps, and applying to the programs you want!