Trying to get a grip on Ortho chances

[Pilot 4 Now]

Here are my stats:
-26 yrs old
-3.6 undergrad
-President of 2 organizations
-Airline pilot for last 3 yrs.
-ACT 27


I know that this is way down the road, but need to know if I'm even in the ball park for getting into ortho eventually. All of the research I've done and people that I've talked to, it seems ortho would be my first choice. I'm a triathlete and think ortho would be right up my alley. I know that it is an extremely competitive specialty and just wanted to know realistically what my chances would be. Also any suggestions on the best way to go about my career change would be greatly appreciated.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[-Goose-]

Here are my stats:
-26 yrs old
-3.6 undergrad
-President of 2 organizations
-Airline pilot for last 3 yrs.
-ACT 27


I know that this is way down the road, but need to know if I'm even in the ball park for getting into ortho eventually. All of the research I've done and people that I've talked to, it seems ortho would be my first choice. I'm a triathlete and think ortho would be right up my alley. I know that it is an extremely competitive specialty and just wanted to know realistically what my chances would be. Also any suggestions on the best way to go about my career change would be greatly appreciated.

None of that stuff matters. Get into medical school & go from there.

ACT? Do you mean MCAT?

 

[kjv0924]

Here are my stats:
-26 yrs old
-3.6 undergrad
-President of 2 organizations
-Airline pilot for last 3 yrs.
-ACT 27


I know that this is way down the road, but need to know if I'm even in the ball park for getting into ortho eventually. All of the research I've done and people that I've talked to, it seems ortho would be my first choice. I'm a triathlete and think ortho would be right up my alley. I know that it is an extremely competitive specialty and just wanted to know realistically what my chances would be. Also any suggestions on the best way to go about my career change would be greatly appreciated.

Focus on getting into med school first

 

[rhoads]

At 24 I quit my engineering job to pursue orthopedics. My undergrad gpa was 2.9, but that included graduate level engineering courses and independent projects. I was a leader in a few organizations. I'm now finishing my 1st year of medical school, but it hasn't been entirely easy to get here.

I had to go to school for 1.5 years to get the biology pre-reqs taken care of. I maintained a 3.85. I had a 31 ACT and got a 37T MCAT. I was accepted to a DO school, and now I'm near the top 25% of the class. I applied VERY broadly to MD and DO schools, but had a lot of doors slammed in my face. I got on an MD waitlist, but I ultimately accepted a DO spot.

I give you all the numbers to show that it's entirely possible, though I'm far from obtaining an ortho residency yet.

Think about the following:
- What pre-reqs do you need to apply to med school?
- How are you going to prep for the MCAT? You need lots of time.
- Are you willing to spend 1-2 years as a pre-med, 4 years in med school, 5 years in residency to do this?
- How are you going to bankroll this?
- Does your debt and lost income potential put you financially ahead at retirement time? (run the numbers with consistent deposits and compound interest) Or do you even care about this?
- Do you have family and friends willing to sacrifice their time with you for you to pursue this?

After you give these points some consideration, talk to some local ortho docs and ask if they'd be willing to have you shadow them for a day or two. Talking to a college pre-med counselor, or college pre-med group will help you find approachable docs.

You're lightyears ahead of my undergrad gpa. ACT doesn't mean much. MCAT and STEP scores are just a product of time and consistent effort. Just about anyone who's willing to put the effort in can do it, but it ain't easy.

PM me if you want to talk any more. Realize though that I'm a lowly first year, so take my opinion for what it's worth.

 

[corona 247]

I can relate.

Graduated in Biomedical Engineering with a 3.2. Had medicine in the back of my mind and did the premed prequites while pursuing my engineering degree. I goofed off for a bit, worked as an engineer for a while and then decided to apply to med schools around the age of 26.
Applied broadly like rhoad, got waitlisted at my home state MD school, and ended up in a DO school.
Really focused my efforts in med school, graduated 7/188, and now am finishing my first year of an orthopedic surgery residency.

Like everyone has said, first get into med school. Then work your ass off to pull the grades to make your goal of becoming an orthopod as easy as possible.

Forget the age thing. Just picture yourself in your 40s and 50s. Would you rather be flying airplanes, or practicing medicine. For me, the choice was easy, I couldnt picture myself sitting in a cubicle forever, working on AutoCAD and crunching numbers.

PM me with any question

Good luck

 

[DoctaJay]

When you start medical school you start with a clean slate. The only thing that they would possibly care about from college is stuff that you have done that is CV worthy like community service or research publications. And if you didn't do any of that in college...its okay, because you can do it in medical school.

 

[-Goose-]

Do not put any community service stuff from college... You will seem like a desperate tool.

Research from college is fine.

 

[DoctaJay]

I think it depends on what type of work it is. I did extensive missionary work in an African UN refugee camp in college. I definitely plan to list that. I also did overseas medical work after my first year of medical school. That type of work is important to me and its part of who I am. If there is something that you do that is important to you and not just a "application padder to get into medical school" project then definitely put it down. You never know what your ortho interviewer will have in common with you or want to talk about. Everyone has good research and everyone has good scores so putting that stuff down is a given.

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk