<p>@matrixsurgeon Thanks! Haha, I did apply to Brown but just for regular undergrad, not PLME. I talked to my friend about the program (she was a senior last year and was looking into programs), and she said she talked to a few people that were in the program who said they really didn’t like it. Also, something about how the program doesn’t receive a lot of funding so it lacks in some areas.
My username is because I’m just an Indian girl lol. </p>
<p>Well not 3 years, but just 3 summers
University of Texas at Brownsville (worked with an anti-epileptic drug)
Rice University (analyzed light responsivity in E. coli using a genetically engineered protein from algae)
University of Texas- Pan American (studied the application of polycyclic aromatic compounds as new anticancer/antibacterial agents)</p>
<p>I wish all of you the very best in the New Year. Hope all your dreams will come true. </p>
<p>All of you have achieved a lot in your own ways don’t despair if you do not get in to a combined med program. You will achieve your goal of becoming a doctor the 4 + 4 way if you continue with your hard work.</p>
<p>Thanks tamtiger. Happy holidays and New Year to you as well!</p>
<p>Happy New Year to everyone!! 2014 is a huge year for all of us- obvs it’s going to have a lot of ups and downs, but we’re all going to end up in really awesome places come May! So here’s to the best :)</p>
<p>@texaspg, Happy New Year to you and to everyone participating in this thread.</p>
<p>I agree that the BS/DO program is definitely a good alternative to BS/MD program, especially if you are in the Northeast, or in southern states such as Oklahoma where there are so many practicing DOs who are specialists and holding program director positions. Therefore, DO can be equivalent to MD, but it depends on where you practice. You may still encounter people (esp. some of the older generation snobs) who think DO is inferior to MD and who just associate DO with “treating diseases using Osteopathic manipulation”, which is no longer the case. I can also say this confidently. As a foreign medical graduate myself (graduated in the United Kingdom), it is miles better being a DO graduate in this country than a foreign medical graduate, irrespective of which foreign county you have been trained. I have an impeccable c.v. with great accomplishment both clinically, academically, and in research and publications, yet I encounter lots of problems every time I decide to relocate to another state, hence having to apply for a new state medical license. Not only do I have to have all my credentials undergo primary verification from United Kingdom, I am also having to attend the Board meeting in person to justify my British training, even though members of the Board always ended up complimenting me on the very impressive academic achievements that I have. So, my ranking is MD may be equal to DO, DO definitely much better than International medical school (including the Carrebean medical schools). I know of an American who is an Oxford University medical graduate with a lot of research and publications and having difficulty coming back to this country for a residency program that he wants to do.</p>
<p>@IMGDAD since you are already a physician and have more direct exposure to these issues than we do, I have started a new thread because of an interesting experience we had yesterday from a dentist telling us to get out of medicine asap. </p>
<p>Anyone else wondering about the Affordable Care Act or have information I would love to hear what you have to say too! I am pasting the link for the new thread here - not sure if I know how to do this.
Best wishes to all for the New Year!!!</p>
<p>@Midhelper, I will participate in the thread. However, if going into medicine is primarily for the financial side of the profession, one can do something else instead (e.g. investment banking, actuarial science, computer software engineering, etc etc) and get a much better return. That is why I have been saying to my kids is to do what they enjoy. Remember that they will have to face their profession for the rest of their lives and it would be extremely difficult to be able to do that if they are in professions they do not enjoy, even if they are making a lot of money! I am fortunate to never have to think about the financial side of medicine and went into medicine because I felt that was what I wanted to do and have enjoyed my profession since, so much so that I just cannot imagine myself retiring. So, I hope all parents guide their kids along to fulfill their potentials and interests appropriately in a profession that their kids enjoy and do not think about the financial side of the profession. The money will come in if you are good at what you are doing, irrespective of what it may be. You can only be good at what you are doing if you enjoy doing it. As a physician who enjoys very much what I do, Affordable Care Act or not isn’t going to influence my choice of career, except to be more cognizant of the potential changes in the horizon.</p>
<p>Thanks! I 100% agree with you. My kids are still too young to understand the weight of debt. They are definitely choosing their careers because it’s what they truly want to do - dealing with people/research etc. I tried hard to convince them into engineering and be done with it in 4 maybe 5 years - even after extensive hours of shadowing various professions all it did was confirm to them more that they wanted to do medicine. The Care Act is something we really have not been paying attention to and that is why I asked for the same reasons - awareness of changes in the horizon.</p>
<p>I’m starting to work on the baylor 2 baylor medical track scholarship application, and I was wondering, is this the only application required for the medical program? or is there a separate application to the medical school itself? the questions seem pretty broad, and there isn’t a specific question about why I want to do the baylor/baylor med program. Also, since there isn’t any word limit, how long do you guys suggest for each question?</p>
<p>@everyone
Happy New Years!! (I am tad late but you know how it is with college application cycle coming close to an end )
I submitted Brown PLME earlier today and am excited for it cause I thought I wrote some nice essays even though I know that all the odds in the world are against me! I have always wondered why they don’t have an interview stage like all the other schools do? Brown Alpert is a very selective med school (<4 percent normal) and places highly into top residencies and is a good med school.</p>
<p>^ I wondered the same thing about PLME. Perhaps it is because the two institutions are more linked than say Rice-Baylor, Baylor-Baylor (did you guys know they’re not affiliated? It surprised me), or some of the other ones where undergrad is a different school than med. It’s too late at night for me to think of any others haha. Alpert med school probably trusts the seasoned undergraduate admissions office and their opinion. </p>
<p>Also maybe it is a reflection of the program’s focus on a liberal undergrad experience and relative freedom and range of career concentrations in Alpert. There’s not much that can be gleaned from a med school interview at the high school stage over what drew you to the undergrad freedom. Their focus is not on the med degree as much as it is on the path you’ll take to earn it.</p>
<p>@GreenSage, Son heard from Judy April this morning inviting him for a Skype interview with the the Biomedicine committee for the Kean/Drexel program. Have you heard from her yet?</p>
<p>@IMGDAD, “…If the program you are applying for is primarily for Primary Care, …, like anyone else, your clinical is done in the main teaching hospital, and if there is not anywhere in the final degree that mention the you are in a Primary Care program, … Along the same line as Primary Care BS/MD program, I already have some anxiety about my son, if he goes to a program (e.g. the Drexel partnership program) in which he has to spend time away from the main teaching hospitals, even though those are still big hospitals such as St Peter’s, Allegheny etc etc.”</p>
<p>I like to know if any of the med schools give out an MD degree with a specialty such as Primary Care specified in the diploma. Also, do the Drexel partnership programs such as Kean, Robert Morris, by virtue of having the rotations in those hospitals, make it difficult to go into a specialty residency? Are you aware of any good articles on the residency slection by hospitals? Thanks</p>
<p>@bsmd14, I know that Texas Tech has a Family Medicine program in which the students can graduate after three years. I do not, however, know if it says in your MD certificate that you follow the FMAT (Family Medicine Accelerated Track) program or now. I also do not know if you follow the Primary Care/Rural Medicine training track in the other schools, the final degree will include information that you were in the specific track or not.</p>
<p>As far as residency program is concern, I raise the issue because I certainly look at which hospitals a candidate is trained during recruitment because I believe that it gives insight into the type of training the recruit may have undergone. This is probably particularly important in the academic world.</p>
<p>@brown4college14 you have a REALLY good shot at all your bsmds! Your stats are so great haha. Here are mine.</p>
<p>35 ACT, 2200 SAT (CR really screwed me too), 8/600 in high school, instrument for 6+ years, HOSA went to nationals etc, 150 hospital hours, some shadowing, president of nhs/youth and government, tennis captain and some more. Hopefully we meet at pact/fame/etc interviews</p>
<p>@WeIsCool
I think it might be because of the sheer NUMBER of applicants and acceptances they hand out for the program (more people than most bsmds apply so obviously more acceptances) that they don’t have the resources to interview 400+?</p>
)