2+ Year Break // Medical Billing Experience // Wasted Time?

[Aspiring_Future_D.O.]

I applied to D.O. school in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 got multiple secondaries but no interview invitations due to my 490 MCAT.

The Monday after graduation I started a job working in medical billing where I did insurance collections, medical coding, patient services, refunds, and cash posting. It's nothing glamorous, at best the past 2 yrs. have provided a different perspective into healthcare revenue cycle. I know what to look for in people I need on my team when I open a private practice.

There's still a nagging voice in my head that says I'm wasting time and should use my time more wisely doing medical research, practicing clinical medicine, or graduate education.

I need to reinvent myself. I know in the past two years I've matured as a man philosophically and know why I will do whatever it takes to be the best physician I can possibly be. The MCAT is the mountain I have to conquer to move on to the next challenge in my medical career. I've been consistently studying and preparing for the MCAT since 2014 with a 490 to show for the time and thousands of dollars spent on material.

I stumbled across a post another SDN user who advised, "if this isn't your time then continuing to try now will only make it harder later. Get a REAL masters degree, biochem, orgo, chem, physics, even engineering, etc. get a job, a house, maybe a family, and revisit the MCAT when a different person studies for it, because YOU are not ready."

I feel complacent saying "I'm not ready" though I won't ever settle for failure. I am even hesitant to start a family because I don't have a job that can support both a wife and children plus most all the advice I get from my close mentors is encouragement to wait for marriage post-medical school.

At this point I am beginning to feel ambivalent about medical school, it seems there are easier ways to impact peoples lives - maybe not as lasting or sustainable as quality medical care but I want to leave a legacy for my children.

"That doesn’t mean what everyone thinks it means… Everyone thinks the poem means to break away from the crowd and do your own thing. But if you read it, Frost is very clear that the two roads are exactly the same. He just chooses one at random. And then it’s only later at a dinner party when he’s talking about it that he tells everyone he chose the road less travelled by, but he’s lying. So the point of the poem is that everyone wants to look back and think that their choices matter. But in reality, s#!* just happens the way that it happens, and it doesn’t matter."
~Piper Chapman, Orange is the New Black

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[GTown]

I applied to D.O. school in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 got multiple secondaries but no interview invitations due to my 490 MCAT.

The Monday after graduation I started a job working in medical billing where I did insurance collections, medical coding, patient services, refunds, and cash posting. It's nothing glamorous, at best the past 2 yrs. have provided a different perspective into healthcare revenue cycle. I know what to look for in people I need on my team when I open a private practice.

There's still a nagging voice in my head that says I'm wasting time and should use my time more wisely doing medical research, practicing clinical medicine, or graduate education.

I need to reinvent myself. I know in the past two years I've matured as a man philosophically and know why I will do whatever it takes to be the best physician I can possibly be. The MCAT is the mountain I have to conquer to move on to the next challenge in my medical career. I've been consistently studying and preparing for the MCAT since 2014 with a 490 to show for the time and thousands of dollars spent on material.

I stumbled across a post another SDN user who advised, "if this isn't your time then continuing to try now will only make it harder later. Get a REAL masters degree, biochem, orgo, chem, physics, even engineering, etc. get a job, a house, maybe a family, and revisit the MCAT when a different person studies for it, because YOU are not ready."

I feel complacent saying "I'm not ready" though I won't ever settle for failure. I am even hesitant to start a family because I don't have a job that can support both a wife and children plus most all the advice I get from my close mentors is encouragement to wait for marriage post-medical school.

At this point I am beginning to feel ambivalent about medical school, it seems there are easier ways to impact peoples lives - maybe not as lasting or sustainable as quality medical care but I want to leave a legacy for my children.

"That doesn’t mean what everyone thinks it means… Everyone thinks the poem means to break away from the crowd and do your own thing. But if you read it, Frost is very clear that the two roads are exactly the same. He just chooses one at random. And then it’s only later at a dinner party when he’s talking about it that he tells everyone he chose the road less travelled by, but he’s lying. So the point of the poem is that everyone wants to look back and think that their choices matter. But in reality, s#!* just happens the way that it happens, and it doesn’t matter."
~Piper Chapman, Orange is the New Black

What's your GPA? Honestly also just consider retaking the MCAT, if you feel ready then start studying. Shadow a DO if you haven't already, pad your ECs and be honest in your app about how you've matured and grown.

 

[GypsyHummus]

I'll preface this by splitting the advice up. Generic Happy go lucky common "You ca DO it!" vs a more realistic take on the situation.

Generic Not helpful SDN advice:
You can do it, dont give up on your DREAMS! Nevar give up! I know someone who had horrible GPA who managed to turn it around, now he is a orthocardiothorasticoncologist ENT specialist. Its an uphill battle, but the world is full of sunshine and rainbows and ice creams, and everything works out and everything happens for a reason *teehee. If its what you want, its your dream, and did I mention muh DREAMZ? Never give up cuz DREAMZ.


Realistic Advice:
If it were me, I'd give the MCAT one more try before moving on with something else. It seems like you need closure. Right now it seems like you are treading water while the rest of the world floats along the river. If I couldnt break the 500 mark, I'd move on. Put your heart and soul into it one last time. If it works out, great! If not, you know you left nothing behind and can move on with the next chapter of your life.

There are other ways to become a doctor and serve others in the USA. Dentistry, Optometry, Pharmacy all spring to mind. Depending on your GPA, a 490 can get into one of the lower tier Podiatry schools, which is the closest thing to MD/DO someone is going to get. Have you shadowed any of these professions? You might really like Physical Therapy. Or really not like PA.

The problem is, its been two years since you've been out of school and two years of knowlage degradation. Do you remember gibs free energy equation and what it means? How about Cis vs Trans? Do you remember what a zwitterion is, or all the properties of amino acids? Remember all those physics equations and the properties of water?

Another thing schools will ask is what you've been doing for the past two years. I totally get working in the real world, but while you've been spending two years making money and putting a roof over your head, there are students out there with rich parents who can afford to do a masters program, have personalized MCAT prep tutors, do teach for america, etc, building up their application. What have you done? Worked in insurance will not impress ADCOM when they have other non trads with PhD applying. Have you served in the military? What makes you special? Have you worked as a nurse in that time period?

This isnt to say you cant do it, especially at DO school. A high MCAT (505+) will make up for a lot of shortcomings, especially with your 3.7c GPA and 3.5s. There are people who have come back from much worse situations than yours and even gone to MD school. The issue is, you need to be realistic. You’ve spent 4 years of your life taking the MCAT to manage a 490, which will barley get you into the lowest Pod schools. Can you jump up 15 points in this next MCAT? That’s what it will take for a third time MCAT test taker. You might have some attending come here, tell you how they never gave up, and now they are a practicing doc. Thats all well and good, and good on them for not giving up, but it’s not the 90s when they were going through it, everybody and their brother wants to be a doctor, and everyone knows about the DO route. It was only 15 years ago when a 3.0 and a 22 MCAT (495) could get you into a low tier DO school as an average applicant. Times have changed, and the smart people are taking advantage of the other options available to them before time slips by. Who knows what the competitiveness of dental, optom, or podiatry is going to look like 5 years from now, while you are sitting on your 5th MCAT score of 495.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

 

[GTown]

I'll preface this by splitting the advice up. Generic Happy go lucky common "You ca DO it!" vs a more realistic take on the situation.

Generic Not helpful SDN advice:
You can do it, dont give up on your DREAMS! Nevar give up! I know someone who had horrible GPA who managed to turn it around, now he is a orthocardiothorasticoncologist ENT specialist. Its an uphill battle, but the world is full of sunshine and rainbows and ice creams, and everything works out and everything happens for a reason *teehee. If its what you want, its your dream, and did I mention muh DREAMZ? Never give up cuz DREAMZ.


Realistic Advice:
If it were me, I'd give the MCAT one more try before moving on with something else. It seems like you need closure. Right now it seems like you are treading water while the rest of the world floats along the river. If I couldnt break the 500 mark, I'd move on. Put your heart and soul into it one last time. If it works out, great! If not, you know you left nothing behind and can move on with the next chapter of your life.

There are other ways to become a doctor and serve others in the USA. Dentistry, Optometry, Pharmacy all spring to mind. Depending on your GPA, a 490 can get into one of the lower tier Podiatry schools, which is the closest thing to MD/DO someone is going to get. Have you shadowed any of these professions? You might really like Physical Therapy. Or really not like PA.

The problem is, its been two years since you've been out of school and two years of knowlage degradation. Do you remember gibs free energy equation and what it means? How about Cis vs Trans? Do you remember what a zwitterion is, or all the properties of amino acids? Remember all those physics equations and the properties of water?

Another thing schools will ask is what you've been doing for the past two years. I totally get working in the real world, but while you've been spending two years making money and putting a roof over your head, there are students out there with rich parents who can afford to do a masters program, have personalized MCAT prep tutors, do teach for america, etc, building up their application. What have you done? Worked in insurance will not impress ADCOM when they have other non trads with PhD applying. Have you served in the military? What makes you special? Have you worked as a nurse in that time period?

This isnt to say you cant do it, especially at DO school. A high MCAT (505+) will make up for a lot of shortcomings. And there are people who have come back from much worse situations than yours and even gone to MD school. The issue is, you need to be realistic. You might have some attending come here, tell you how they never gave up, and now they are a practicing doc. Thats all well and good, but we live in a diffrent time, everybody and their brother wants to be a doctor, and everyone knows about the DO route.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

This is actually some of the best advice I've seen on sdn. I do understand where OP is coming from though. In interest of providing some sort of potential path forward, I'll share my journey in bullet points. It may or may not be helpful. And you're right, it's certainly not impossible, it's just how far will you go.

*Went to a Big 10 school for undergrad (Bio and Chem major)
*Screwed up grades very badly freshman year of college (my mom had just passed away)
*I wasn't getting bad grades because of not knowing material - I just wasn't going to class (learned that the hard way)
*Spent that summer evaluating myself and realizing my laxness was only hurting me
*As and Bs in all science classes here on out, but hated having to go to non-science classes so did badly in those (Bs and Cs on and one D in a language I know -oops)
*So sGPA was alright (freshman year was haunting me), but cGPA sucked
*I was regularly shadowing physicians following sophomore year of college and when I started shadowing in the hospitals, I realized it was too soon after my mom's death. I had to give myself more time to be mentally ready for med-school
*Applied to grad school to stay within science so when I was ready to apply again I'd have relevant and surprisingly transferable work experience (As in grad school and 2 Bs)
*Worked as a pharma scientist post grad school
*Maintained my community service work through local orgs
*Got to work on some really cool oncology drugs (1 is in FDA review)
*Got to work on some really cool assays (the LCA therapy out of CHOP, I was on the team for the purity/efficacy assay development)
*Realized I'm good to go back to medicine again, shadowed in ICU's to make sure I could separate my emotional response to patients (I could)
*Studied for the MCAT while working FT (5 years of out of school at this point) and married to a resident physician
*Did really well on MCAT (513), Old MCAT 34 (7 years ago)
*Didn't even look at my gpa (I honestly still don't know what it is) and just applied to my home state and current state schools because moving is really hard with my husband kinda set in his work
*Got interviews, rejected at some MD, WL at some MD, accepted at not top choice MD, accepted to my top choice (which happened to be a DO school)
*Currently working on some really cool blood therapies (hoping to finish out this project before I start med school)

When I applied I didn't think I would even get secondaries, let alone interviews or even get accepted anywhere for that matter. I think waiting to apply was the smartest thing I did. I certainly wasn't emotionally ready following undergrad. And I think Grad school + work experience gave me an edge over other applicants with stellar GPAs (which I certainly did not have) and same MCAT scores or even better. I was very honest in my app about why I waited to apply (emotional preparedness) and why I applied now (wanting to connect my research with its human impact). I think medical schools appreciate the honesty and are looking for emotionally mature and prepared students as well as those that are academically prepared. The subjective part of your application basically.

If you think you can do better on the MCAT- take it again. Have a solid study and practice exam plan, cut down whatever you need to devote yourself. If you can break a 500 (I think 503 is a generally good score for most DO schools?), apply again. Maybe give yourself time to fill your application with more relevant work and volunteer experience. I know it's not easy to just upend everything but it depends on how badly you want to be a doctor. If it means seeking out different work, or taking more classes or going back to school - decide if that's something you're willing to do. Podiatry, opto are great options as well. Dentistry may be a little more difficult (my BIL's are both dentists and one had to take a year off to study for the DAT to make up for his lower gpa). Not sure if dental schools accept the MCAT - but something to look into.

If your goal is to help people in a meaningful way - there are other options besides being a physician. If a physician is all you want to be then make a plan on how you can make it happen. If you can't break the MCAT - it may be that medicine isn't right for you. There are a lot of exams you'll have to take throughout your medical career and the MCAT is the easiest one. While I was stressed about the MCAT, my husband would tell me you will miss MCAT studying as you move through your career. Don't be disheartened, there are other options.

 

[Osminog]

I've been consistently studying and preparing for the MCAT since 2014 with a 490 to show for the time and thousands of dollars spent on material.

So you studied for 3-4 years, spent thousands of dollars, and ended up with a 19th percentile MCAT score? Even if you got into a DO school by some fluke, the shelf exams and board exams would eat you alive. According to studies, those with sub-500 MCATs are at an unusually high risk of failing Steps 1 and 2.

Here's the bottom line: You have a major problem with taking standardized tests, and this problem is most likely not going to go away; you've been at this since 2014. I recommend exploring other career avenues that would allow you to help people in a healthcare setting. If you have a 3.5+ GPA, you can consider podiatry -- or you can consider becoming an NP or PA. Lots of options out there.

Your heart seems to be in the right place. Best of luck!

 

[Aspiring_Future_D.O.]

What's your GPA? Honestly also just consider retaking the MCAT, if you feel ready then start studying. Shadow a DO if you haven't already, pad your ECs and be honest in your app about how you've matured and grown.

Overall: 3.7
Science: 3.5

 

[Osminog]

Overall: 3.7
Science: 3.5

How did you do on the SAT or ACT when you were in high school?

 

[GTown]

Overall: 3.7
Science: 3.5

That's way better than mine! Focus hard on the MCAT and I think you'll be fine for DO and even MD (I got in to MD with even lower).

 

[Aspiring_Future_D.O.]

How did you do on the SAT or ACT when you were in high school?

(ACT)
first time: 21
second time: 19
third time: 25

 

[Osminog]

(ACT)
first time: 21
second time: 19
third time: 25

So you have a history of struggling with standardized tests. Discouraging.

 

[Aspiring_Future_D.O.]

So you studied for 3-4 years, spent thousands of dollars, and ended up with a 19th percentile MCAT score? Even if you got into a DO school by some fluke, the shelf exams and board exams would eat you alive. According to studies, those with sub-500 MCATs are at an unusually high risk of failing Steps 1 and 2.

Here's the bottom line: You have a major problem with taking standardized tests, and this problem is most likely not going to go away; you've been at this since 2014. I recommend exploring other career avenues that would allow you to help people in a healthcare setting. If you have a 3.5+ GPA, you can consider podiatry -- or you can consider becoming an NP or PA. Lots of options out there.

Your heart seems to be in the right place. Best of luck!

I understand stats don't lie but if undergraduate and/or medical school curriculum are focused on testing then students are set up well to perform their best on ACTs, MCATs, or STEP exams.

Education is not a strong-suit in the county I graduated H.S. from, consequently my poor math score brought my overall down, but after self-study I was able to manage a 25. WVSOM (my top choice) incorporates STEP prep in the curriculum and prepares students specifically to do well, their first-time pass rate is above 80%.

At my university there was no "pre-med" program, therefore no emphasis on MCAT prep or induction in the curriculum. After 4 years: a Kaplan course and self study I've managed a 485 and 490. The biggest struggle is comprehension - not content. There was a comment earlier if I remembered the Gibbs Free Energy equation, Cis vs Trans, zwitterions and properties of amino acids. I do notecards everyday and my recall is sharp. I need to improve my comprehension of the passage-based questions, that's my biggest hurdle and honestly I've been doing really well on the AAMC practice exams and section bank materials I purchased.

The biggest discouragement is exceeding the GPA requirements for WVSOM in the 2016-2017 AACOMAS cycle and meeting the MCAT minimum (490) to get rejected (https://www.wvsom.edu/Admissions/application-requirements).

True failures blame others for their short-comings; I still have fight in me! I'm not done yet. I am not a failure.

 

[Magus5454]

Minimums aren't there to say, oh hey if you are over this we will take you. Look at the average instead.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Wow, amazing journey, congrats on the acceptance!

Issue here is, OP has a track record of poor standardized test results. You had baller MCAT scores both times.

Plus you had an excellent upward trend and some very cool cancer research.

OP, I'd give the MCAT one more crack within the next 6 months and if you cant break the 500 mark, take a break from medicine. Again, doesnt mean you cant go to medical school eventually, but when you are digging a hole, put down the shovel. Collect and regroup. take a break for five years working in a health care field. Then Do a rigorous post bacc to nail all the thing

I actually recommend doing nursing, as it will give you real time clinical experience, a career path in case you dont get into medical school, and you will have time to formulate the answer to the question "why medicine".

Medical School isnt going anywhere. Be the best that you can be, otherwise, med school will break you.

This is actually some of the best advice I've seen on sdn. I do understand where OP is coming from though. In interest of providing some sort of potential path forward, I'll share my journey in bullet points. It may or may not be helpful. And you're right, it's certainly not impossible, it's just how far will you go.

*Went to a Big 10 school for undergrad (Bio and Chem major)
*Screwed up grades very badly freshman year of college (my mom had just passed away)
*I wasn't getting bad grades because of not knowing material - I just wasn't going to class (learned that the hard way)
*Spent that summer evaluating myself and realizing my laxness was only hurting me
*As and Bs in all science classes here on out, but hated having to go to non-science classes so did badly in those (Bs and Cs on and one D in a language I know -oops)
*So sGPA was alright (freshman year was haunting me), but cGPA sucked
*I was regularly shadowing physicians following sophomore year of college and when I started shadowing in the hospitals, I realized it was too soon after my mom's death. I had to give myself more time to be mentally ready for med-school
*Applied to grad school to stay within science so when I was ready to apply again I'd have relevant and surprisingly transferable work experience (As in grad school and 2 Bs)
*Worked as a pharma scientist post grad school
*Maintained my community service work through local orgs
*Got to work on some really cool oncology drugs (1 is in FDA review)
*Got to work on some really cool assays (the LCA therapy out of CHOP, I was on the team for the purity/efficacy assay development)
*Realized I'm good to go back to medicine again, shadowed in ICU's to make sure I could separate my emotional response to patients (I could)
*Studied for the MCAT while working FT (5 years of out of school at this point) and married to a resident physician
*Did really well on MCAT (513), Old MCAT 34 (7 years ago)
*Didn't even look at my gpa (I honestly still don't know what it is) and just applied to my home state and current state schools because moving is really hard with my husband kinda set in his work
*Got interviews, rejected at some MD, WL at some MD, accepted at not top choice MD, accepted to my top choice (which happened to be a DO school)
*Currently working on some really cool blood therapies (hoping to finish out this project before I start med school)

When I applied I didn't think I would even get secondaries, let alone interviews or even get accepted anywhere for that matter. I think waiting to apply was the smartest thing I did. I certainly wasn't emotionally ready following undergrad. And I think Grad school + work experience gave me an edge over other applicants with stellar GPAs (which I certainly did not have) and same MCAT scores or even better. I was very honest in my app about why I waited to apply (emotional preparedness) and why I applied now (wanting to connect my research with its human impact). I think medical schools appreciate the honesty and are looking for emotionally mature and prepared students as well as those that are academically prepared. The subjective part of your application basically.

If you think you can do better on the MCAT- take it again. Have a solid study and practice exam plan, cut down whatever you need to devote yourself. If you can break a 500 (I think 503 is a generally good score for most DO schools?), apply again. Maybe give yourself time to fill your application with more relevant work and volunteer experience. I know it's not easy to just upend everything but it depends on how badly you want to be a doctor. If it means seeking out different work, or taking more classes or going back to school - decide if that's something you're willing to do. Podiatry, opto are great options as well. Dentistry may be a little more difficult (my BIL's are both dentists and one had to take a year off to study for the DAT to make up for his lower gpa). Not sure if dental schools accept the MCAT - but something to look into.

If your goal is to help people in a meaningful way - there are other options besides being a physician. If a physician is all you want to be then make a plan on how you can make it happen. If you can't break the MCAT - it may be that medicine isn't right for you. There are a lot of exams you'll have to take throughout your medical career and the MCAT is the easiest one. While I was stressed about the MCAT, my husband would tell me you will miss MCAT studying as you move through your career. Don't be disheartened, there are other options.

 

[GTown]

I understand stats don't lie but if undergraduate and/or medical school curriculum are focused on testing then students are set up well to perform their best on ACTs, MCATs, or STEP exams.

Education is not a strong-suit in the county I graduated H.S. from, consequently my poor math score brought my overall down, but after self-study I was able to manage a 25. WVSOM (my top choice) incorporates STEP prep in the curriculum and prepares students specifically to do well, their first-time pass rate is above 80%.

At my university there was no "pre-med" program, therefore no emphasis on MCAT prep or induction in the curriculum. After 4 years: a Kaplan course and self study I've managed a 485 and 490. The biggest struggle is comprehension - not content. There was a comment earlier if I remembered the Gibbs Free Energy equation, Cis vs Trans, zwitterions and properties of amino acids. I do notecards everyday and my recall is sharp. I need to improve my comprehension of the passage-based questions, that's my biggest hurdle and honestly I've been doing really well on the AAMC practice exams and section bank materials I purchased.

The biggest discouragement is exceeding the GPA requirements for WVSOM in the 2016-2017 AACOMAS cycle and meeting the MCAT minimum (490) to get rejected (https://www.wvsom.edu/Admissions/application-requirements).

True failures blame others for their short-comings; I still have fight in me! I'm not done yet. I am not a failure.

I would say still try but moderate your expectations/goals and have an actionable back-up plan. You can't also just be re-taking the MCAT multiple times. But a history of difficulty in taking standardized exams is something you need to consider. Yes my high school prepared us to take the ACT, but undergrad isn't designed to help prepare you for the MCAT or any other professional standardized test. There was no dedicated pre-med program at my undergrad, and our advisors honestly were useless. Med schools, don't really teach for boards (I think Caribbean schools do actually), but from what I know of my husband going through medical school (MD) his classes were focused on material, comprehension, early clinical exposure and application. The idea being you will learn as you go through to be able to do well on boards with a few weeks of studying when the time comes. He started light studying 2 months out and intense studying 5 weeks to exam day (I never saw him during this time basically). I think it varies student to student and what their studying style is.

I think everyone else that has offered advice has more prudent and potentially money-saving advice, but I do understand that it is difficult to just walk away. Give yourself the time and resources you need to study for the MCAT. Figure out where the hump is and formulate a plan to get over it. Clearly you know the material based on your GPA, but knowing/memorizing is not the same as comprehension/application as you pointed out yourself. The new MCAT is a comprehension and application based exam, a more true test of how a student will do in med school and subsequent testing than the old MCAT was (the old MCAT was 'easy' compared to the new one). If you're having difficulty now with comprehension and application of basic sciences, even if you get in to med school - do you think you'd be able to apply what you learn to clinical scenarios? That's something to consider because at some point you'll be an attending and not a student or resident with a fall-back.

But in light of your dream and wanting to still pursue it, take the steps necessary to improve your comprehension and see how it goes. If you're still not able to bring up your score it may just be you and standardized tests don't mesh or it could be that despite knowing the content, you're unable to apply it. And as others have already pointed out, medicine is full of tests throughout your career. Not just in med school, not just in training. And unfortunately you have to be able to do well in those to move through each step.

I do wish you luck in whatever you decide!

 

[GypsyHummus]

One thing too about Podiatry, while some schools take the same exact classes side by side with the DO students (you essentially get a DO education minus OMM), the boards are much easier. Many more 1st and 2nd order questions focused on lower extremities. Where step will have a long questions stem that you need to fully absorb and crictically think about the answer, a typical pod board question would be like “what lowers GFR?” Plus, since pods know what their residency is going to be in, it’s just pass fail. If I recall correctly, I don’t think there is a limit to the amount of times you can take the APMLE, but idk for sure.

Plus, no shelf exams in pod school.

I’d go Pod before going PA or NP.

So you studied for 3-4 years, spent thousands of dollars, and ended up with a 19th percentile MCAT score? Even if you got into a DO school by some fluke, the shelf exams and board exams would eat you alive. According to studies, those with sub-500 MCATs are at an unusually high risk of failing Steps 1 and 2.

Here's the bottom line: You have a major problem with taking standardized tests, and this problem is most likely not going to go away; you've been at this since 2014. I recommend exploring other career avenues that would allow you to help people in a healthcare setting. If you have a 3.5+ GPA, you can consider podiatry -- or you can consider becoming an NP or PA. Lots of options out there.

Your heart seems to be in the right place. Best of luck!

 

[Osminog]

One thing too about Podiatry, while some schools take the same exact classes side by side with the DO students (you essentially get a DO education minus OMM), the boards are much easier. Many more 1st and 2nd order questions focused on lower extremities. Where step will have a long questions stem that you need to fully absorb and crictically think about the answer, a typical pod board question would be like “what lowers GFR?” Plus, since pods know what their residency is going to be in, it’s just pass fail. If I recall correctly, I don’t think there is a limit to the amount of times you can take the APMLE, but idk for sure.

Plus, no shelf exams in pod school.

I’d go Pod before going PA or NP.

That's why I recommended podiatry.

EDIT: Guessing you were talking to OP, not me. My bad.

 

[GypsyHummus]

OP, if you also are a notecard person, I would recommend looking into the DAT or OAT. These tests do a lot of recall and memorization, which is suited to notecard learning.