Hello, I got accepted to multiple BSMD programs last year (on 2019 thread you can find my posts!) and ended up going to SUNY Upstate Medical University’s thread. I have been off CC for a while to take some time off to enjoy the summer off from one of the most rigorous application process! (Which you or, if you’re a parent applying, your sons and daughters are going to go through soon! While I was applying, I wish I had someone on the thread, someone who got accepted the previous year, to actively answer questions because reading through the past year’s thread for HOURS on was too much work! Thus, I am here to help ANYONE and EVERYONE who is looking for any kinds of BSMD! Starting from which programs are good and bad, how to write essays, how your stats are looking, and how to prepare for the interview! I hope I can speak from applying to almost 30 different BSMD programs and getting interviews from 10+ and getting accepted to 5+ (yes, I applied to 30 and got accepted to like 1/6 of them and that’s what you should be expecting!) and getting into top 20 undergrad institutions some offering full ride such as BC Gabelli Presidential Scholarship along with several BS/DO schools and accelerated Dental schools. Please shoot me a PM for ANY questions and I will literally be on CC until school starts in September, which you should all be almost done with most, if not all of your application processes! (Many applications are due in November, except for Baylor which starts to even accept applications in September, which is when I applied and got results back to as late as April. Please ask any questions and I really support the success of the BSMD programs which saves a lot of time and money from the students and families! Please do apply to BSMD programs if you want to be a doctor and ask away any questions and I will answer all the questions with my best effort! Thank you and good luck! You are all amazing even by the fact that you have the guts to apply to such hard programs and willing to go through the application process!!
@gradedu I agree with @GoldenRock on CNU. They straight up hands out BUNCH of acceptance letters and gives 2 weeks to commit (which is VERY abnormal). They are super business oriented, doesn’t have a properly functioning medical school so students there complain that they don’t get a lot of clinical experience while they are there, which is CRUCIAL in matching into good residency programs in the future! Also, even if you don’t commit in that 2 weeks, they extend the date until you literally sign the dang contract until March or April I believe (check for thread from 2019 for specific and how obsessed they were). I am not here to say any program is bad because I know students from 2 years ago who are going there on a personal level, but speaking with them, I realized that CNU is not a good program. Also, CNU has SUPER high MCAT requirements for 6 year program, which you can literally apply to other top tier medical schools with. So even though I am from SoCal and it has one of those rare 6 year programs, I didn’t apply to CNU because my peers who are there told me all about it. And I am glad I didn’t apply there because even the 2019 thread proves that they are super sketch! So keep that in mind CO 2020!!
@funnyfool Hey! Some programs, like Brown, even takes international students, which allowed my friend who does not even have a U.S. green card to apply! You should really check for the program requirements for more specific details, but If your standardized scores and GPA looks great and if you took any AP/IB/College level equivalent courses in Canada, I believe that they take those into consideration! BSMD takes applications from all across the U.S. and even around the world, although some have a very specific in-state only or in-state favors like Kent State or UMKC, but besides those, if you are an American citizen, you should have NO problem applying! Good luck and ask me questions. Again, do some research on specific details and requirements to apply, but if you are an American citizen, your current residency should not hold you back in anyways… Just expect to fly a lot in January-March further than everyone else! 
Hope this helped and please PM me or tag me in reply if you have any questions!! Good Luck!!!
@nosleep2020 Hello! Looks like you are interested in DDS or DMD (basically dental programs!) Here, the “conditional acceptance” can mean many things… as a matter of fact, ALL BSMD, BSDO, BSDDM, BSDMD programs offer “conditional acceptance” which means that they will accept you in the future (depending on what year program you are on) if you meet the “conditions” whether it be the GPA requirement, DAT/MCAT score requirement, community service hour requirements, etc… So even my acceptance letter to SUNY Upstate, it is still “conditional” because if my “condition” of 3.5 GPA is not met for the next four years, I won’t be accepted into medical school, which is completely normal and expected. Thus, what I want to say is that there is nothing you should be skeptical about the word “conditional acceptance” letter at all! However, if the “conditions” are too abnormal, such as CNU 6 year program with such high MCAT requirements compared to any other BSMD requirements, then you should be skeptical! And since this dental school is CNU related and since it’s BSMD program has bad reputation, I recommend that you review the “conditions” first and carefully! And keep in mind UOP and NYU has accelerated dental programs (UOP even WITHOUT BS degree being require, their 5 year program), so compare the “conditions” when you get acceptance letters to receive “actual acceptance” at the end of your undergraduate years before going into medical school or dental school. So folks, alway ALWAYS read requirements and conditions carefully when choosing the school even after getting multiple acceptance letters! If anyone wants, I would tell you why I chose SUNY Upstate Medical University’s program over the other 5+ programs I got accepted to! I hope this helps! Thank you!!
@ekballerbsmd2019 - please tell us (it will be helpful)
@Andorvw Sure thing! I realized that even the first few post on this thread was very interested in the SUNY Upstate Medical University’s Upstate Accelerated Scholars Program! So here is why! Back in last August, when I was making the list of where to apply, I came across this program unexpectedly and the first thing I realized was that this program is BRAND NEW. SUNY Upstate was known for having the BSMD program as a rural program, meaning that they favored students with disadvantaged backgrounds and in producing primary care physicians in rural areas. However, the program has been renewed with a complete BSMD option (last year they chose like 2 people or something as guinea pigs to this program) and this one was the official first year. Now, if you go visit the program you can see so many affiliated undergraduate institutions but back when I was applying, only UAlbany and Purchase College was available! So, now getting into the real meat of the question, why Upstate? I got accepted into UOP 5 year dental program, LECOM 7 year BSDO program, B2B BSMD, Siena/Albany, Rutgers/NJMS, SUNY Upstate etc… and I chose SUNY Purchase/Upstate because I fell in love with the aspect that I can major in ANYTHING!!! Coming off from high school, I was involved in school’s orchestra, jazz band, varsity basketball, science olympiad, community service club etc… and I know well enough that you guys in the thread are all doing that because that’s what you need to get into these kinds of programs! However, you know you want to go to BSMD because you know how hard pre-med in college could get! And that’s exactly why I wanted to go to SUNY Upstate Accelerated Program because they gave me the freedom to major in ANYTHING I want and the pre-med requirement was relatively less rigorous compared to other BSMD programs! Now I know when you read this, you would think that “oh less rigorous pre-med courses! Would that affect my success in med school?” But here is what I mean: pre-med requirements by AAMCAS has A LOT of courses that makes you really questions whether they really help you in med school! Think about it, I mean YES bio, chem, and organic chem all helps in med school and THEY ARE also requirements for Purchase! However, unlike many other BSMD programs where the requirements to matriculate is to complete the school’s pre-med requirements (where it has higher level physics courses like physics will help you in earning good MCAT score but SUNY Upstate exempts your MCAT!!) SUNY Upstate let’s you major in literally ANYTHING you want. Now, the free-major is only available for Purchase/Upstate at the time and now I know many other UG signed with Upstate to do the same because the whole purpose of this program was to let students take a different stance in medicine by making them take different majors other then the traditional bio, chem, biomed engineering, psychology, etc…! I really liked this idea enough to turn down the other BSMD programs because I felt like the school would really focus on the student success as they said they would invite us EVERY SUMMER to take summer school in MEDICAL SCHOOL so we get a head start in medical education even during our UG years!! Also, as it is the new program, I know that the school really wants us to success and I’ve really had an awesome experience on campus during the interview. Lastly, yes I do aspire to be a doctor and yes my parents were the ones to sign me up to first start sports and learn to play the instruments but I did fall in love with them as they became something that defines who I am and I wanted to continue to do it in college. Yes BSMD lowers the GPA requirements and literally GUARANTEES your acceptance to medical school, but I know being stuck in higher level physics class would literally burn me out and hate school when I can be taking orchestra and jazz theory or even sleep! Keep in mind the “pre-med” courses are designed to make you success on the MCAT and NOT THE USMLE STEP 1!!! Thus, if I don’t have to take the MCAT (which DOES have physics and USMLE Board DOESN’T) I really didn’t feel the necessity to take that higher level courses in physics when SUNY makes me really go study abroad, double major in music, and still be involved in sports!! Also, Purchase College is a small school located only 0.5-1 hour away from NYC but still has a quiet campus which makes it perfect for living and studying and if I ever want to enjoy the city life and culture, NYC is LITERALLY RIGHT THERE!! Also, Purchase is ranked top 10 liberal public schools and because SUNY is such a HUGE organization, the study abroad option is limitless and open to everyone in the BSMD program, which is REALLY rare for any pre-med students! Thus, that is why I decided that this program was the best fit for me for location wise, price wise (although giving up Baylor was a HUGE dilemma but I’ll explain why I did if you want through PM because I don’t want to write why I DIDN’T choose that program because who am I to judge a program to be bad that I didn’t go! but why I DID choose this program! But PM me if you want to know!), and academic wise to really help me grow in person, doctor, musician, and athlete! I hope this helped. Thank you for reading this long response and let me know if you have any questions!
Hello folks! I know how stressful this time is (if you aren’t you will be soon) in preparing to apply. The list of all the schools aren’t available and each year the requirements are different and the deadlines for all the applications are different and I can already relate to the parents being nervous and how the students already feel overwhelmed by the essays they have to write and the journeys and experiences they will make during the process and how they can all contribute to their personal and character growth. Speaking from my personal experience, I grew so much as a person through the process so I want to say that you all took a great first step towards success 
Anyways I decided to post one quick tip to everyone who is currently researching school!
Here is my tip on how to research for schools:
- Yes, prestige is important and yes, the top tiers and tier-1,2,3,… might matter to you A LOT as parents and a student (I know how competitive you’ve all been doing in school and being on top of everything you’ve ever done that’s why you’re applying to BSMD and this desire to make it to top BSMD programs is ABSOLUTELY normal and understandable I was there too last year at this time of the year) but really look at WHY YOU WANT TO GO TO BSMD!!!
Many people forget WHY BSMD when they are suddenly exposed to top school names like Brown, Case Western, Baylor College of Medicine (med school ranked top 5 in the U.S.). I am not saying that this is wrong, but I think it is important to understand your goal and your child’s goal in finding the best school since they are going to spend 6-8 years in that community! For me, this was the reason why I was able to give up Baylor College of Medicine for SUNY Upstate. What I really wanted to get out of getting into BSMD program was to avoid the life-less lifestyle of the typical pre-med students and really get to enjoy my time doing what I love such as music, sports, traveling, etc… and Texas life just wasn’t it for me! Yes, the rankings did matter to me but I am just as happy as the kid who is going to Baylor, Brown, Case Western, Northwestern, because at the end of the day, we will all be doctors being superheroes to save people’s days! (also, school name values has NOTHING to do with your salary. They are determined by the prestige and kind of your residency choice. Yes, the statistics have showed and, obviously common sense, good medical schools send more students to more prestigious residency programs. However, if you look at the match list just about any medical school, at least a few of the will go to JHU, UCSF, and Mayo Clinic, etc… so look at match list, match rates, and those over names if salary determination is a thing for you!)
- Tying a little back to 1. but don't plan to overlook your UG!
Yes, BSMD schools usually try to make affiliations with not-so-good UG programs to make the affiliated schools have more smart kids, with the exception of some schools. However, you will still be able to find LOTS of new experience that you didn’t even have in plan! College experience will definitely be a great one for all of us and yes we are all getting early acceptances to medical school but your UG will still matter a lot to your academic journey and development! Thus, consider your UG’s location and even plan to visit!
- Plan, plan, and plan. To increase your chances, you need to apply A LOT. And I know all of you have different standards such as "I am only going to apply to schools with NO MCAT" or "I am going to apply to ONLY the accelerated 6,7 year programs" or "I am only going to apply..." These are good ideals and goals and motivations that will get you through this really hard process. People say that senior year is a chill year, but BSMD moms and dads can say that it's the busiest year for both the students and parents. Thus these expectations are good, but let's first get acceptance letters. Have Plan B's. They might not be your "safety" schools, but they might be schools that might not necessarily meet your "BSMD expectations and standards". But guess what, I thought SUNY Upstate was my "out of standard" school but the long journey in visiting and interviewing made it my top choice! Also, keep the list of application deadlines and DO NOT wait to apply! A lot of the programs work on rolling basis or might have secondary applications for you to fill out once they receive your application! Rumors say that due to big numbers of applications, the later you apply, the lower chance you have at being called for interviews and secondary applications... Lastly, really plan your time accordingly to do proper research on schools so that you know you are paying for a good program because application fees are EXPENSIVE. Don't find yourself applying to a Caribbean Medical School because they seem easy and offer good deals and tuition because the graduation rate at Caribbean medical school varies from 5%-95% and their chance of getting a residency in the U.S. is close to ZERO. Now these schools have names like "Ross School of Medicine" with a small lower case next to it "in Grenada" so students might fall for them and end up wasting money, time, and if the student goes, might never be able to practice in the U.S. due to failures to match for residencies! And don't find yourself applying to DDS/DMD, DO schools when you want to be an MD. Plan early and plan right. If you aren't sure, check CollegeConfidential because people like me, who got accepted from the previous year, are willing to help and we are probably the most up-to-date and accurate information source available.
- Don't blow up senior year 1st semester.
Remember, the interview calls go out in January-March (for Baylor, in APRIL!), so your 1st semester grades count! This can be a difference between you being on the verge of getting an interview call and getting called for it for getting straight A’s on 1st semester, and them not offer you one because you got a “C+” on AP Chemistry. Keep building your resume and look for someone to write your recommendation (teachers, volunteer leaders, the doctor you shadow, etc…)
- Relax, your dreams are about to come true!
You are few months away from knowing whether you will be a doctor or not. This time will be very nerve wrecking and sure my senior year was a rollercoaster ride as well. But remember to keep calm and make it through! Keep encouraging yourself and your students that they will do great because they are great! Help them to plan their application processes if you are a parent reading this!
I hope this helped and I really am happy to see how many people share the same passion as me and I just wish I can continue to help! Thank you for reading and ask any questions away! I can even check and throw some facts/stats and anything about each schools if you send me your list of schools you are applying!!
Thanks so much for your help!
Would we be able to see some stats, if you’re comfortable?
@funnyfool of course! Please share it!
I know I posted earlier, re-posting here.
My daughter is going to be a rising junior this Fall. She wants to apply for BSMD and would like some advice on her stats and kind of colleges she should look into.
Stats:
Research:
Computational Biology: since 1 1/2 years and still working on this
Research in Neurology Lab - started a month ago and will probably have 2 year by the time the application process begins
Local hospital - 250 hrs till now
Autism Center: Just started and will continue
SAT: 1510
ACT; Taking next week
School stuff:
GPA: 4.0 UW/4.52 W, no ranking
SATs: Chem - 760
APs in Sohphomore:
AP Chem - 4
APUSH - 4
AP Stats - 5
In Junior:
AP Bio
AP Calc BC
AP Comp
AP Spanish
Extracurricular:
NHS - Member
Philharmonic Orchestra
National Spanish Honors Society - Officer
Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated! I know bsmd is very competitive. Are her scores competitive enough?
@mygrad2021 Hello! Your daughter’s school academic standing looks pretty good in GPA wise, but seeing that your daughter is trying to take the ACT as well, I see that she knows that 1510 isn’t considered “BSMD competitive” yet (assuming that your family is ORM?). She should keep up the good work in school and take on the AP’s well this coming year to really solidify the academic leg of what I call the “BSMD tripod”—academic, medical/service, extracurricular—also, if she is taking AP Calc B/C, why not go for SAT II Math level 2? Anyways, going into the second leg of the tripod: medical/service. I think this is the biggest weakness your daughter has and it is good that there is time to improve this! Her standing in research looks great (it would be better if the research gets published with your daughter’s name with it) and the community service looks great too (they’re nothing too unique, so if there’s any crazy opportunities like AIDS/HIV center volunteering, take that!) and I think in that part, she just has to keep on doing it until the time of application. However, I don’t think she is shadowing a doctor in a clinical/surgical settings! I think this is the biggest weakness that will cut down your daughter’s good academic standing and awesome research. Yes, research is important, but research can usually be tied to MD/PhD. I have, and I know your daughter will too, learned SO SO much about what it really means to be a doctor from shadowing several doctors at a local hospital. It was such an eye opening experience to come from always looking up to doctors in a patient’s shoes to looking at the patients standing right next to the doctors in their shoes to see the level of dependence and trust they have towards the doctors in their eyes. That kind of experience really helped me to write my application essays and gave me something to talk about in my interviews and really understand what empathy and compassion really is. And surely, I was certain that my path to medical school was right after such experiences. So please go look for that opportunity, as many, if not all, the applicants who come to the interview stage have had shadowed at least 1-2 doctors for a long time. Now on to the last last leg of the tripod: extracurricular. Is your daughter playing any sports? I see that she is in orchestra and that she is involved in NHS and such, but she needs a position in a leadership spot. Officer is good, but she needs to be something like Concert master/first chair or president of the club or NHS. Also, if it is not too late, sign up for sports! Or make her make a club and run it right to get some kinds of awards (like SciOly if your school doesn’t have it, if they have, JOIN!) in the extracurricular. I feel like your daughter could do a more job in trying to collect accolades such as presidential volunteer award (250+ hours), competition (either sports, academic, or music her PSAT this year can maybe get her National Merit so make sure she is studying), or anything in that area of considered as “awards”. I know it might seem like she needs a lot of improvement, but she is still a junior so there is no rush! I think it is more important to continue her good work and use my advice as a reference to shape her as a good BSMD prospect because it already seems like she is a good student, no doubt! With the list of school she might want to consider, I would like to tell you that looking into any schools at this time is too early. Each year, BSMD programs at each school come and go, new ones always come up and some die, and they always change requirements, essays, curriculum, etc… each year so you and your daughter can relax on that a little for now on that! Just keep doing what you’re doing great and try to add some spice on what I told you! If you are interested in my stats and want to compare them with the one of your daughter, I am more than happy to share with you, so just PM me! Thanks and I hope this helped! Good luck to you and your daughter and her ACT this weekend.
Well, since I found out about BS/MD programs very late compared to others, I don’t have complete stats. Unfortunately, the first and only SAT I’ll be able to take will be in October. Recently I took a full length SAT practice test without any studying whatsoever and got a 1360… I’m planning to study like crazy until the real test and most likely will not apply to any programs unless I get maybe 1480 or higher, which is still quite low. I’m aiming for the 1500s, but I’m not too sure if that much improvement is possible. Anyways, I’ve narrowed down a list of schools I want to apply to to about 17, based on certain requirements, lack of scholarships/financial need, etc. I really do not care about the rank of the schools or programs. I would really go to any school that would accept me. My GPA isn’t the highest compared to others, since apparently the regular level of all my classes in Ontario has the same curriculum as American AP level classes, therefore making it a bit more difficult to reach perfect grades. But then again, I’m really willing to go to any school that would accept me.
GPA: 3.82 (UW) - we don’t have the weighted system in Canada. Also, do american colleges look at grade 9 marks? Because if they don’t my GPA is a 3.91. In Canada, universities only look at your top 6 grade 12 courses!
Class Rank - my school doesn’t rank
SAT- lets say, theoretically, 1500.
AP/IB - my school doesn’t offer any. Sort of uncommon in Ontario.
Medically related activities:
- 250 hours hospital co-op I did in my junior year. I spent 3/4 hours per day for 4-5 months working mainly on an inpatient rehabilitation floor, while going to school. Absolutely amazing experience!!!
- 100 hours volunteering at another hospital in the emergency department
- about 30 hours volunteering at retirement home
- about 20 hours of shadowing various physiotherapists (helped me realize physio isn’t for me!)
-health and wellness SHSM program (we have this program in Canada, it’s basically where I will get health-based certifications such as CPR/AED, medical terminology, lab practices, leadership certifications, etc)
I don’t have any shadowing or research though… which I know will hurt my application a lot. It’s practically unheard of to get anything like this where I live unfortunately. I believe it’s a much more ‘regular’ thing in the States.
Other:
- student mentor at my high school (mentor incoming freshmen for one year)
- student council grade representative for 2 years
- track and field and cross country athlete for past 3 years at my school (planning for senior year too), with a few regional titles
- volunteer weekly at school since sophomore year giving hot breakfasts to students that don’t have access to any
- one year volunteering with disabled children at my high school
- also had various part time jobs during high school, if that is a factor
- also got some school level awards
- will be on honour roll all 4 years
- completed 4 university math contests
I know my stats aren’t the greatest, and there’s so many kids out there that are better in almost every aspect, haha! But do you think I have any chance of being accepted, or not really? Any input would help:)
@ekballerbsmd2019 Thank you for sharing the posts and suggestions. I couldn’t find your stats and result on the BS/MD Result - Class of 2019. I hope you don’t mind sharing it on there. I am wondering if the SUNY Upstate’s Partner Institutions require applicants to be residents of the State of NY (like SUNY Downstate). Thanks.
@ekballerbsmd2019 Thank you for your detailed response and great suggestions. I know SAT - 1510 is not a great score. As I said earlier she is still trying for ACT and hoping at least 35 ( you never know!). Otherwise she will try again once more to improve in either SAT or ACT. She is going to take SAT Math 2 next year as she is still taking AP Calc BC in Junior year. She is rising junior. She started volunteering at an Autism Center though not very unique but I feel definitely something to make a difference. We live in a 2nd tier city so not many volunteering organizations that a High school kid can be part of. Coming to leadership - she is not that outgoing personality and the school is highly competitive. It’s so difficult to even participate in SciOlympiads as you should go through a try out etc. There are lots of Asian kids who do so well in Science, so it’s very hard. She is trying for a specific program this year that has shadowing opportunity throughout the year but it’s a highly competitive program. If doesn’t get through that then will start looking for shadowing opportunities. Most of the hospitals are giving shadowing opportunities only for 4 to 6 hrs once nothing in a long run. Do you have any suggestions for getting shadowing opportunities? Coming to extracurricular, as she is still going to be a junior they don’t get chance to be a president/vice-president. She is a secretary this year for SNHS and may move to a higher position by senior year.
Presidential Award - I thought this is something she has to register before even she starts volunteering. Please let me know if I’m wrong.
I am little new to these forums so unable to send you a private message. Please message me your stats to get an idea. Please feel free to post further suggestions.
@mygrad2021 Hello! I understand your situation a bit more now! First and foremost, I understand that your daughter is not really an outgoing person and she is still a junior! And yes, she is doing exceptionally well for her age and her peers in doing leadership and school activities, but she is trying to be a BSMD prospect so a little more would be helpful. If she really can’t become a president of a club, I suggest that she makes one and run it right. With suggestions to shadowing(I will be completely honest with you), if you are not a doctor and personally know of someone who is a doctor, it is super hard. However, it is doable because I was the first generation in my family to enter healthcare career and many, if not most, of the kids who I’ve met at the interview stage had parent(s) who are doctors that they started shadowing since freshman year or even early as in junior high. What your daughter has to do is go find staff directory at your local hospitals online and literally send emails to all the doctors and surgeons about why you want to shadow them in a really detailed email. I did the same in my junior year sending emails to about 100+ doctors (it was hard but all I had to do was copy and paste and change “Dear Dr. Smith” to “Dear Dr. Shane” and etc…) and only heard back from 7 of them… and I shadowed 2 of them which have became my biggest mentors who gave me personal advice on my application process, interview process, and even wrote recommendation letters! I know that this is the best way because if they write you back to offer you a shadowing spot, it means that they are confident to show off their skills and that was exactly right. The doctors I shadowed always got awards for best clinical experiences voted by the patients and they are either clinical professors at the local university’s medical school. Thus, your daughter will learn so much about how to be a GOOD doctor that the patients love, and that’s what’s all about being a GOOD doctor! So I recommend that you take that route and I suggest that your daughter takes SAT II Math Level 2 this year because it doesn’t even cover materials from Alg.2 and Trig (maybe like 1-2 questions, but your daughter passed that), and you can retake it if the score is not too good (it doesn’t cover higher level math but you certainly need practice tests because you need some skills that are only obtainable through some practice questions on this exam), and I took the test in my freshmen year and got 800. Hope this helps!
To everyone asking for my stats, I will post my stats online this weekend! I did not have a chance to post it on the 2019 decision thread because I was literally just spending my time celebrating after making my decision and found out about the decision thread until recently. Also, to anyone wondering if SUNY Upstate is limited to instate ONLY, it is NOT instate only as I am from California and another student going to this program is also from California! Yes, a lot of NY residents apply because the school is close! But they don’t have ANY restrictions on where you are from, as long as you are a legal resident or a citizen. I hope this helps and please ask away if you have any question. Thanks.
@mygrad2021 With regards to Presidential Award, I received it through an organization that’s been known to give this award to students for years and all I had to do was bring them documented hours and do some volunteering there to fill 250+ each year so I do not know how individual application to the award works, although I know it is possible. Can anyone help this? I am no expert on this one, sorry!
@ekballerbsmd2019 Thank you for your patience in helping others. Do you recommend approaching the doctors in a full-blown hospital environment or even clinics is good?
@mygrad2021 If you are asking about whether I would go see a doctor at a small private clinic or a hospital (like academic ones affiliated with medical schools) I would personally choose academic hospitals. I am not intending to say that small private practitioners are bad. As a matter of fact, medical treatments are more accessible in the forms of smaller private offices rather than big hospitals anyways and they tend to be very good too. However, speaking from my personal experience and from the advice of my doctor that I shadowed, I would go check out the bigger hospitals with medical school. Here is the reason why: Dr. Smith, a surgeon that I shadowed, had a patient come in with a certain disease (I won’t mention for privacy reasons) that does not require any forms posterior end x-ray scans. However, this patient was referred from another private practitioner, whom her wife “happens” to own a radiology clinic. So this patient, (according to my doctor literally every patient that comes from this private clinic doctor), had gone through unnecessary scans (like 3) when all my doctor ever need was only one of them. Apparently, this kind of practice is inevitable when the private clinician is bilingual and everyone in that community that speaks her second language seeks her as a main form of health service provider. My doctor commented: “this is the dark side of medicine that involves money. And I am proud to say that because I am in an academic setting, my judgement is not swayed by anything ever.” Now I am not saying that you will be ripped off when you get to see a private practitioner. The two systems just work differently. The full-blown hospital doctors get paid salary while private clinics depend on patient counts to make money. There is pros and cons to this. Cons of private clinic is just like what I have mentioned, there MIGHT be doctors like that. But the pro of this is also that! The private clinics will really try to make a lasting relationship with the patient because the more you come in, the more money they get. Thus, they will tend to spend more time with you and give personal care at a more personal level due to small size number of patients and the relationship matters! Now speaking with the full-blown hospital site, you can surely guarantee that they won’t over do you on anything like the story I mentioned above. But you should be worried about not being treated just as personally. Although I have not seem my doctors do this (they invited me to watch them… of course they will do a good job as they were awesome role models confident that they are doing exemplary.) it is obvious that some doctors have the freedom to do this. When they arrive at the hospital they get a list of patients they have to see. Once they are done, they go home and rest whether their whole day took 8 hours full of seeing patients or 8 hour with lots of gaps and rest because you sent them away fast. As you can see, there is really a lot of pros and cons in either clinical settings, so I think there is no absolute answer for me to recommend anyone either one except to just tell them “find a doctor that you like and stick with him/her” So after all, that choice of hospital vs private clinic is a matter of preference. And for the reason above (with my personal experience with my doctor), I personally choose big academic settings. Again, no right or wrong, just choices and preference. Hope this helped. Thank you.
@ekballerbsmd2019 Thank you!