A few different questions

[Lephisto]

Hey everyone

I just have a few questions to ask and any answers or direction to previous threads would be greatly appreciated : )
(I'm trying for sept 2005)

1) First off, I went to a community college (where I took the majority of my requirements for med school) for three years before transferring to a 4 year university. While I know that the Caribbean schools definately accept the credit, will this have any impact on me getting in? I talked to the pre-med advisor at my school, and he told me, for us schools, that because I took so much at a 2 year school, that it will have a negative impact on any possible acceptances.

Just to give you an idea...I took 113 credits at Cayuga Community College and finished with a 3.9+ and A's in every science course. At SUNY Geneseo I so far have 30 credits with 3.4+. I did get a C+ Orgo I, but then got a B in Orgo II there, along with A-s in both labs.

2) I'm applying for the September class of 2005. I have my application completly filled out, but just no sumbitted. I'm taking the MCAT in August 2004. Should I send in my application now before I even take my MCAT? Will it help that I'm applying over a year in advance? Or should I wait unitl 4-6 months before the class I want to enter to apply? Also, how many LORs should I send in? Does 1 from a doctor, 1 from a science professor, and 1 from my employer sound like a decent plan? I'd rather not send it from my school's pre-health advisor as I think he's a bit of an idiot, who doesn't know me at all, and I don't think he values the caribbean schools too highly.

3) This is about clinicals in the UK/Ireland (which I see have been discussed to death but I just need a little clarificiation). The schools are all "green book", so when I come back to try and get my residency/state licensure, it won't be a problem in any state because of this right? By the way, I think gong abroad for clinicals is probably the best idea I've ever heard, and makes me all the more eager to come to AUC : )

4) Ok, heres one on residencies...I understand some such as FP, IM, etc. are much easier to get than ortho, anesth, surgery, etc. etc. But I'm having trouble finding how hard it is to specialize AFTER doing a residency at Internal Medicine. I'm particularly interested in Infectious Diseases as I almost applied to graduate school for epidemiology before learning about Caribbean medical school...I know this is way early to be even thinking about this, but, I'm one of those people who plans and researches ahead :P

5) This should be my last question...for now...I only have limited exposure in clinical settings...I've spent some very scattered time over the past 4 doing volunteer work at an elderly home, and I also shadowed for a few days with a doctor. Should I get some more time shadowing with different doctors or do volunteer work in a hospital before applying? keep in mind, I work about 50-60 hours a week in the summer to pay for college/car, as mommy and daddy unfortunately don't pay for mine...but as of right now, I can very proudly say I have no debt.



Also thanks to all the people that post here. Especially Dr. Durst, Dr. Dillard, rrod and all the others auc students/graduates... This is an absolutely *amazing* forum and I've spent far too many hours reading the posts here.



btw, I'm not interested in applying to US schools...I love the Caribbean, its environment, and the beach, and will be spending my entire spring semester studying abroad in either Barbados or St. Thomas.

-Jeff

[rdecastro]

Hey everyone

I just have a few questions to ask and any answers or direction to previous threads would be greatly appreciated : )
(I'm trying for sept 2005)

1) First off, I went to a community college (where I took the majority of my requirements for med school) for three years before transferring to a 4 year university. While I know that the Caribbean schools definately accept the credit, will this have any impact on me getting in? I talked to the pre-med advisor at my school, and he told me, for us schools, that because I took so much at a 2 year school, that it will have a negative impact on any possible acceptances.

Just to give you an idea...I took 113 credits at Cayuga Community College and finished with a 3.9+ and A's in every science course. At SUNY Geneseo I so far have 30 credits with 3.4+. I did get a C+ Orgo I, but then got a B in Orgo II there, along with A-s in both labs.

2) I'm applying for the September class of 2005. I have my application completly filled out, but just no sumbitted. I'm taking the MCAT in August 2004. Should I send in my application now before I even take my MCAT? Will it help that I'm applying over a year in advance? Or should I wait unitl 4-6 months before the class I want to enter to apply? Also, how many LORs should I send in? Does 1 from a doctor, 1 from a science professor, and 1 from my employer sound like a decent plan? I'd rather not send it from my school's pre-health advisor as I think he's a bit of an idiot, who doesn't know me at all, and I don't think he values the caribbean schools too highly.

3) This is about clinicals in the UK/Ireland (which I see have been discussed to death but I just need a little clarificiation). The schools are all "green book", so when I come back to try and get my residency/state licensure, it won't be a problem in any state because of this right? By the way, I think gong abroad for clinicals is probably the best idea I've ever heard, and makes me all the more eager to come to AUC : )

4) Ok, heres one on residencies...I understand some such as FP, IM, etc. are much easier to get than ortho, anesth, surgery, etc. etc. But I'm having trouble finding how hard it is to specialize AFTER doing a residency at Internal Medicine. I'm particularly interested in Infectious Diseases as I almost applied to graduate school for epidemiology before learning about Caribbean medical school...I know this is way early to be even thinking about this, but, I'm one of those people who plans and researches ahead :P

5) This should be my last question...for now...I only have limited exposure in clinical settings...I've spent some very scattered time over the past 4 doing volunteer work at an elderly home, and I also shadowed for a few days with a doctor. Should I get some more time shadowing with different doctors or do volunteer work in a hospital before applying? keep in mind, I work about 50-60 hours a week in the summer to pay for college/car, as mommy and daddy unfortunately don't pay for mine...but as of right now, I can very proudly say I have no debt.



Also thanks to all the people that post here. Especially Dr. Durst, Dr. Dillard, rrod and all the others auc students/graduates... This is an absolutely *amazing* forum and I've spent far too many hours reading the posts here.



btw, I'm not interested in applying to US schools...I love the Caribbean, its environment, and the beach, and will be spending my entire spring semester studying abroad in either Barbados or St. Thomas.

-Jeff

Your grades are great, and the classes should be fine as long as they're transferable to a University. For intance, in California all the CC's serious classes are considered by the UC system to be transferable (you might get fewer credits for them but as pre-reqs they're fine).

I don't think sending in an app way early will help. In fact, it might hurt, at least in that the records will get lost and you'll have to do it again.

[teratos]

I don't think that the CC credits will be a big deal. Why would the classes there be any easier than classes at a University? I think that is silly. If you can get A's in CC you should be able to get A's in med school. There is more material to learn, but that just means you need to spend a bit more time studying.

UK/Ireland clinicals are equivalent to "Green Book" sites. That is not a problem either.

Infectious disease is one of the less competitive fellowships. If you do reasonably well in residency, do a little research, and get some good letters of rec, you shouldn't have a problem landing an ID fellowship somewhere.

Clinical experience isn't a huge issue. Sure you will feel inferior to the people with tons of clinical exposure (the nurses, PAs, chiros etc.), but you will catch up fairly quickly. As a student, you get a lot of exposure pretty quickly.

Good Luck. G

[levator]

Hey everyone

I just have a few questions to ask and any answers or direction to previous threads would be greatly appreciated : )
(I'm trying for sept 2005)

1) First off, I went to a community college (where I took the majority of my requirements for med school) for three years before transferring to a 4 year university. While I know that the Caribbean schools definately accept the credit, will this have any impact on me getting in? I talked to the pre-med advisor at my school, and he told me, for us schools, that because I took so much at a 2 year school, that it will have a negative impact on any possible acceptances.

Just to give you an idea...I took 113 credits at Cayuga Community College and finished with a 3.9+ and A's in every science course. At SUNY Geneseo I so far have 30 credits with 3.4+. I did get a C+ Orgo I, but then got a B in Orgo II there, along with A-s in both labs.

2) I'm applying for the September class of 2005. I have my application completly filled out, but just no sumbitted. I'm taking the MCAT in August 2004. Should I send in my application now before I even take my MCAT? Will it help that I'm applying over a year in advance? Or should I wait unitl 4-6 months before the class I want to enter to apply? Also, how many LORs should I send in? Does 1 from a doctor, 1 from a science professor, and 1 from my employer sound like a decent plan? I'd rather not send it from my school's pre-health advisor as I think he's a bit of an idiot, who doesn't know me at all, and I don't think he values the caribbean schools too highly.

3) This is about clinicals in the UK/Ireland (which I see have been discussed to death but I just need a little clarificiation). The schools are all "green book", so when I come back to try and get my residency/state licensure, it won't be a problem in any state because of this right? By the way, I think gong abroad for clinicals is probably the best idea I've ever heard, and makes me all the more eager to come to AUC : )

4) Ok, heres one on residencies...I understand some such as FP, IM, etc. are much easier to get than ortho, anesth, surgery, etc. etc. But I'm having trouble finding how hard it is to specialize AFTER doing a residency at Internal Medicine. I'm particularly interested in Infectious Diseases as I almost applied to graduate school for epidemiology before learning about Caribbean medical school...I know this is way early to be even thinking about this, but, I'm one of those people who plans and researches ahead :P

5) This should be my last question...for now...I only have limited exposure in clinical settings...I've spent some very scattered time over the past 4 doing volunteer work at an elderly home, and I also shadowed for a few days with a doctor. Should I get some more time shadowing with different doctors or do volunteer work in a hospital before applying? keep in mind, I work about 50-60 hours a week in the summer to pay for college/car, as mommy and daddy unfortunately don't pay for mine...but as of right now, I can very proudly say I have no debt.



Also thanks to all the people that post here. Especially Dr. Durst, Dr. Dillard, rrod and all the others auc students/graduates... This is an absolutely *amazing* forum and I've spent far too many hours reading the posts here.



btw, I'm not interested in applying to US schools...I love the Caribbean, its environment, and the beach, and will be spending my entire spring semester studying abroad in either Barbados or St. Thomas.

-Jeff

just to give you my input on the comm. college credits: i went to a community college in southeast georgia. After two years i transfered to a university to work on my bachelor's. when i applied to the school, my credits were not an issue.

later,

[MushieCookie]

not too many here at this school. I'm from Rochester. Good luck applying to med schools. With your grades, and assuming you do relatively well on the MCAT's, you should be alright.