<p>Hi folks,</p>
<p>I am hoping to get an idea of how others might perceive medical school rejection.</p>
<p>(Yes, anticipating failure clashes with my username, but it’s not really worry that motivates this question, it is more to sate my curiosity)</p>
<p>Now, when I say others, I do not mean my best friend’s mom or my sister’s husband or something like that. What I mean are graduate schools, prospective employers, etc. A few examples:</p>
<p>Let’s say upon rejection someone elects to forgo another application cycle (perhaps they’ve already attempted 2 cycles) and instead pursues a Masters of Physician Assistant. I know that there are some other prerequisites that they would first have to satisfy in order to do that, but assuming they do all of the legwork, how would their history affect their application? Let’s face it, it would be impossible to spin it such that MPA was always the goal. Does it matter? Is it OK that they failed to gain admission to medical school and instead elected to have a career in healthcare via some other avenue?</p>
<p>Another possibility is a prospective employer. Assume that we have an Economics graduate who has failed to gain admission to medical school after two cycles. He/she decides to pursue a job in economics instead. Again, what effect would their history have on their chances? Is it a negative? Does it instead show perseverance (tried twice) while also demonstrating self-awareness (when enough is enough)?</p>
<p>Surely perceptions can vary a great deal from situation to situation and depends heavily on the individuals involved, I am just trying to get an idea of whether or not it is common for medical school rejection to haunt someone going forward.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I guess it would all depend on why the individual was rejected in the first place.</p>
<p>If the individual had the academics, scores, requisite ECs, got interviews and was roundly rejected from all med schools then I would say it’s unlikely that a PA school would accept him/her since the personal qualities that are sought in doctors are identical the personal qualities desired in PA students. (Confidence without cockiness, empathy & an unwillingness to judge others, strong interpersonal communication skills, a sense of service to others, an ability to work well with others, strong sense of ethics.)</p>
<p>However, if it’s question of academics (low GPA or MCAT), then a PA program is a possibility so long as the individual has really thought about the difference between the role of the PA and the role of a physician and is willing to fulfill the former role. (No doctor wants to work with a PA who thinks the PA ought to be the boss or is chafing to exceed a PA’s scope of practice.)</p>
<p>I appreciate the insight, that all makes sense. However, is that just your personal opinion, or actual experience? I guess I was looking more for testimonials, although perhaps that was a bit much to hope for… I probably wouldn’t hang around a pre-med forum if I were rejected from medical schools.</p>
<p>Any thoughts on other types of graduate school, or employment? I suppose for graduate school it would not matter as long as it wasn’t in healthcare, e.g. requirements for a PhD in Economics or something probably doesn’t necessarily overlap with the qualities mentioned in your first paragraph, or at least they are less important. Would employers look at you as a flight risk, thinking that perhaps you would only work until you can gain acceptance?</p>
<p>At any rate, thanks again for the reply, I hadn’t really thought about it like that.</p>
<p>Personal opinion based upon numerous conversations with physicians, with a couple members of the adcomm of the local medical school, and with people in other healthcare professions (PAs and paramedics).</p>
<p>I know a couple of failed med school applicants. (One went 3 rounds before he moved on.) Both went on grad school: one in medical nanoscience, one in biochemistry. In both cases, the grad program did not hold the medical school admissions attempts against them–probably because both were outstanding students academically. But both had made it clear that they were fully committed to their graduate program, intended to complete it and had no further med school ambitions.</p>
<p>would you even have to disclose this fact if applying for anything other than medical school?</p>
<p>I doubt it, but the individuals I knew ended up at research programs associated with a med school they’d been rejected from so it was kinda common knowledge they’d applied to the med school.</p>
<p>Can you apply to PA and M.D/D.O schools all in the same cycle?</p>
<p>I’d imagine it’s possible, but… I wouldn’t apply to PA program and MD/DO programs that are at the SAME school during the same round of applications. </p>
<p>For example, I wouldn’t apply to both Hofstra’s med school AND Hofstra’s PA program at the same time since both operate thru the medical school and some members of the adcomm may overlap. The med school’s admission office staff will certainly see that you’re applying to both program. (And may flag your app for the adcomm.)</p>
<p>BTW, many PA programs have different admission requirements<a href=“in%20terms%20of%20both%20pre-reqs%20and%20hands-on%20experience”>/u</a> than do med schools. Be sure you check requirements before you apply. </p>
<p>You will also need to research because a good number of programs listed on</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.arc-pa.org/acc_programs/[/url]”>http://www.arc-pa.org/acc_programs/</a></p>
<p>are combined BS/MS programs and do not admit applicants just for the MS portion of the program.</p>
<p>IMO, they shouldn’t look at it like that. Instead they should realize that there’s a chance that a student may not get in to any med schools and he/she needs a plan B which is usually P.A school. But that’s just me. Does Cornell, Columbia have P.A programs ? I don’t think that I’ll get into their M.D schools but are their P.A programs easier to get into?</p>