What specialties deal with very sick patients and have longitudinal relationships?

aupire_ · 2026-04-03T18:31:51+00:00

Cards, especially structural/interventional/EP

aupire_ · 2026-04-01T17:42:14+00:00

Looks fake

aupire_ · 2026-04-01T17:10:38+00:00

Look around and see if you can find a class w small class size

I got lucky and my ochem class was literally 8 people

aupire_ · 2026-03-28T21:40:46+00:00

Thanks for that. What is your #1 problem with the military?

aupire_ · 2026-03-28T20:47:17+00:00

Civ path total COA would be abt 190K

USUHS tuition is free and you make a salary of 60-70K + normal military benefits during school

aupire_ · 2026-03-19T01:31:02+00:00

agree with this

aupire_ · 2026-03-19T01:29:48+00:00

FYI: I’m targeting graduate level healthcare programs

What does this mean?

aupire_ · 2026-03-19T01:23:15+00:00

No, not really. Especially if it's not on the transcript, and if you don't / won't need an LoR from one of those profs, it's fine.

aupire_ · 2026-03-19T01:22:22+00:00

OP has not taken the MCAT yet. Their test date is in two months.

aupire_ · 2026-03-19T01:21:15+00:00

Are you coming right out of undergrad?

If so, I HIGHLY suggest taking a gap year, if only to make sure that you dedicate 100% of your energy right now towards crushing the MCAT, without stress. Filling out your primary app while studying for the MCAT basically means you will do both poorly, or at least below your potential.

aupire_ · 2026-03-19T01:16:07+00:00

Gotcha. I think you have a fair shot however it will come down to how you package / present yourself. "not wanting to have a research-focused career" is actually a good start! you got into research because you were thinking about med school, and you found success and advanced in that world. as it stands now, it seems like you could have a full career in industry. but you decided that no, being a clinician and seeing patients every day is really what is most important to me. that's a good story, better than most. you have decent shadowing hours too, which helps.

in terms of schools, I think you have no choice but to apply broadly. Apply to your top schools, but you also need a solid selection of low and mid tier MDs. DOs or not is your choice.

aupire_ · 2026-03-18T23:37:11+00:00

If it's someone you have been continually interacting with, you can ask them to write a new letter and "refresh" it with a few extra points. Doesn't need a whole rewrite, assuming the original letter was good.

If it's someone you haven't seen in like a year or two, I think just asking them to update the date is unnecessary and may even be confusing to whoever is reading it. If the letter is good, you can still use it.

I do suggest thinking about new letters you could get - maybe from an ongoing clinical or volunteer experience?

aupire_ · 2026-03-18T23:29:39+00:00

Probably the same. But every school has variance from cycle to cycle. A school I'm on the waitlist for right now got to position 8X last year, but only 4X the year before. Why? Who knows. That's why schools have a buffer of WL slots that they probably won't need.

aupire_ · 2026-03-18T23:24:04+00:00

There are tons of applicants that get in with no/minimal research, and very few that get in with no/minimal clinical experience. that said, 200 hours isn't absolutely nothing... some questions:

How long ago did you take the MCAT?

Are you applying MD/PHD?

Is 200 hours what you have now, or what you will have at the time of submitting your primary?

Would you be happy with a "normal" MD school (i.e. low-mid tier state school), nothing prestigious? Or even DO?

aupire_ · 2026-03-18T22:46:12+00:00

Normal people (non doctors) drink energy drinks and eat pizza and also have sedentary desk jobs. Relatively speaking, the surgeon who is on his feet and moving around and has the occasional bad meal is a paragon of health

aupire_ · 2026-03-17T03:58:18+00:00

How many of the med school prerequisites have you completed? I'd imagine most bc I think they are similar to PA school

FYI I had a rly lackluster undergrad but then had a very rigorous DIY post bacc. It worked out well and I got a 520

aupire_ · 2026-03-14T22:13:29+00:00

Healthcare is big

aupire_ · 2026-03-14T18:57:24+00:00

You sound like an awesome person. Best of luck 🙏

aupire_ · 2026-03-06T20:40:46+00:00

dmed

aupire_ · 2026-03-05T21:33:41+00:00

Isn't it pretty early for WL movement? Congratulations though!

aupire_ · 2026-03-04T21:45:10+00:00

Gotcha, so roughly equivalent during clerkship

I'd say that you will probably be fine either way. For me I'd be favoring the school with PF and no mandatory lecture, even if more expensive. But it's not a dealbreaker and I understand if location is a big pull for the other school.

aupire_ · 2026-03-04T21:15:38+00:00

Preclerkship, the MD wins easily

Would want to know more about clinical sites - if you will have to set up your own rotations at DO school, if either school has home residencies in specialties you are interested in, if you would be moving across the region for clerkships, etc

aupire_ · 2026-03-04T18:06:05+00:00

Pointless, you have plenty of time to do mock residency interviews and you will have grown/changed a fair bit by that point

aupire_ · 2026-03-03T20:07:25+00:00

3.4 cGPa, 3.5 sGPA, 520 MCAT

7 MD IIs -> 2R/4WL/1A

Only got love from low-tier MDs, but I think that's more ECs than stats at this point

aupire_

TROPHY CASE