<p>I was having an interesting conversation with my friend. Basically, I was told that anyone could be a doctor. They might not be the best paid but they can become one by going to a mediocre university or community college and go thru the PreMed program and as long as they pass the courses, they dont even need As, just like Cs.
He quickly burst my bubble by saying that it is not true because med schools dont accept everyone and if you do go to a community college, you would need all As to be considered (guys, is this true?)
Anyhow, that got me wondering to what happens if people get rejected?
He said they take a year or two off at research facilities interning or volunteering, which they can add to their application. And if they get rejected again, they give up and must switch their major and get a job or redo their undergrad which would take 3-4 more years. So basically if you get rejected you will have to completely switch your major into something completely different like Mechanic?
And so, basically one of my friends is not that smart. Shes attending our state university. She will probably get a B or possibly even a C in her Bio and Chem classes (most likely a B). She really wants to become a doctor and is very enthusiastic about it but I dont think shes that smart at all or has the work ethic I see in some people who are really motivated. Do you think she has a chance?</p>
<p>Okay. You seem to have three friends:</p>
<p>Friend A: “Doctors don’t have to be that smart. They can become one by going to a community college.”
Friend B: “Med schools don’t accept everyone.”
Friend C: Attending state school.</p>
<p>Friend B is right. </p>
<p>1.) Medical schools won’t accept anybody who only has a community college degree. They will have to go on and finish at a four-year school.
2.) The national average among accepted medical students is about two-thirds A’s and about one-third B’s. There’s room to be somewhat worse, but a GPA of C’s will definitely get rejected.
3.) If you come through a community college first and then finish at a university, they probably will want all A’s, or at least mostly A’s.
4.) Physician pay correlates very poorly with what school you attend. It’s not like you can attend a lower-ranked medical school and get paid half as much, but still get to be a doctor.
5.) Premeds don’t usually start college over again. They can either use their biology degree – or, for that matter, there was no need to major in biology in the first place. They could have majored in economics or history or whatever, and they can go get a job with that. Or they can apply to law school, or graduate school, or whatever else.
6.) Most premeds don’t make it. In fact, even after taking the MCAT, only about 25% will ever get into medical school. So your friend is probably in this group. But give her a chance to figure that out for herself, first. Who knows? She might surprise you.</p>
<p>One C in a pre-med class is not a deal breaker. Lack of work ethic is another story.</p>
<p>Oh wow. So if youre the 75% who dont get accepted. What happens exactly?</p>
<p>3 Possibilities</p>
<p>1) Prepare to reapply
2) Delude Thyself that you are preparing to reapply
3) Move on and be happy</p>
<p>4) Like any other liberal arts major, go out and get a job.</p>
<p>there’s also the very often unmentioned paths of DO, PA, NP, and RN if one still desperately wants to be a health care provider.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call DO school an act of desperation but yes that’s also an option if your GPA and MCAT scores are decent.</p>
<p>I am not sure if all B’s and occasional C’s will cut it to DO. There are plenty of much better GPA’s who are applying to DO. Forget CC. And most people have all kind of EC’s while in UG, volunteering, Med. Research, shadowing, job and some non-medical related that are also looked on very favorably (at least so far my D’s experience).</p>
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<p>I like this. :)</p>
<p>what’s do, pa, np, and rn? lol, i only know of physician assistant and registered nurse…</p>
<p>D.O.- Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (full-fledged doc with same privileges as an M.D. )
P.A. - Physician’s Assistant
NP- Nurse Practitioner
RN- Registered Nurse</p>
<p>IwannaBeBrown, I don’t think “D.O.” is really one of the unmentioned paths…lots of people apply to both these days. And it certainly isn’t a career alternative like the RN, NP, PA suggestions (since it is the same exact job).</p>
<p>"P.A. - Physician’s Assistant
NP- Nurse Practitioner
RN- Registered Nurse "</p>
<p>Out of curiosity what is the difference in what these people do? I have fellow employee whose son is going for a P.A. which I’m assuming is more years after undergraduate?</p>
<p>My parents went to crappy schools in a 3rd world country, but they managed to become doctors in America. My Dad seems to think that I can go to community college and still become a doctor, but I doubt it lol. But still, anyone imo can become a doctor if they put enough hard work into it. Go to med school in the Caribbean or something if its too hard in America.</p>
<p>Caribbean as an option is horrible. At most of the Caribbean schools, anywhere from 30-60% of the class flunks out. At St. George’s University, the best of the best of Carib schools, only 75% of its students make it into US residencies. It’s a huge gamble to me to spend $250,000 for a chance to be a doctor with these numbers. Google “Ross University unemployed medical students” who failed, have 6 figure debt, and now work construction jobs. That being said, there are plenty of great Carib doctors who make it, it’s just that the numbers aren’t in anyone’s favor. Plus there are new MD/DO schools opening up every year in the states, creating more competition for FMGs. </p>
<p>The better option is to take a few years off to salvage your application. Do an SMP, a post-bac, an informal post-bac, re-take the MCAT, get more research/clinical experience, apply D.O., and if all this still leads to a failure and you are dead set on being a physician, then opt for the Caribbean. </p>
<p>I’m really not trying to hate on the Caribbean. My point is that I just think it’s important for pre-meds to understand the huge, inherent risks of Carib med schools and to not think of it as a a solid safety net. Too many times people will go straight out of college to a Carib med school if a US one doesn’t work out, while for many of them, they would be doing themselves a far better service to take time off and fix the gaps of an application.</p>
<p>[What</a> is the Difference Between a PA, NP and RN?](<a href=“What is the Difference Between a PA, NP and RN? (with pictures)”>What is the Difference Between a PA, NP and RN? (with pictures))</p>
<p>I’m a PA student (it’s physician assistant, not physician’s assistant). We go to school for 2-3 years beyond undergrad and receive a master’s. The majority of programs require paid healthcare experience (via EMT, CNA, medical assistant, etc), so we’ve “gotten our hands dirty” a bit and seen and interacted with patients before school. Basically, our curriculum consists of a year of didactic/classroom and a year of clinicals, and additional learning is done once we’re out on the job. </p>
<p>We can see and treat our own patients, prescribe drugs, and practice medicine under a physician’s supervision. This does not necessarily mean that the physician has to sign off charts or even necessarily be on site while the PA is in clinic; rules about the supervising physician/PA relationship vary by state. PAs work in every area of medicine and have the freedom to switch between specialties during their career. There are year-long residencies that one can undergo for more specialized training in a specific area (ex: emergency med, ortho), but they are not required. It depends on what area one is working in as to how much “autonomy” there is - I think that family practice is one of the more autonomous areas for PA practice.</p>
<p>It’s national PA Week, so I guess I’m doing my part to spread the word :)</p>
<p>This is all very interesting… and confusing/complicated a bit</p>
<p>Im a simple freshman at undergrad at UMD going for PreMed. So what should I do? Just try to aim for straight A’s?
If Im minoring in a completely different field (Music) do I still need to get A’s in that? Because I think I might have a hard time with that</p>
<p>Aiming for A’s is a good start, but not getting them in every course isn’t the end of the world. A’s in scientific core classes can offset not-A’s in other classes, but those other classes aren’t entirely irrelevant. Getting grades in areas outside of science can show a candidates ability to adapt to acquiring different types of information or sometimes just the ability to put the work in to succeed in a broad range of categories. </p>
<p>Knowledge in the long run is still the most important thing and it still shocks me to this day how that information I acquired in my (Pre-Reagan era) UG Mythology/Cultural Anthro/Sociology/Educ or Abn Psych/Macro or MicroEcon class somehow becomes shockingly useful in figuring out a problem or sometimes just having an interesting conversation with a Patient or family. It isn’t all about just taking the classes to fill out a transcript and there really is a reason that AdCom’s look for something outside of the usual science classes.</p>