A student asked if becoming a physician required perfect grades and MCAT scores:
First of all, anyone with a reasonable effort can get into medical school. I
talk about 2 different routes
1. There is a route for those with rich parents and the top scores and private
schools or high income school districts that make admission easier but makes it
more difficult for physicians in later years.
2. There is a route for those who do not have rich parents which may take longer
because of obstacles of income and education. This results in a delay in
admission to medical school, but builds character and people abilities and makes
it easier to be a physician in the later years.
Both routes require significant effort to do well in school and learn how to
study efficiently and effectively.
Route 1 requires less effort in the service areas since their scores and grades
and colleges have higher ratings.
Route 2 requires more efforts in people skills, abilities, service, and
leadership but this is more typical for the route 2 types
Both routes are able to find funding or means to become physicians that will
cover college and medical school costs.
Both routes do require some measure of deferred gratification, careful attention
to credit ratings, and not too crazy on behaviors, etc.
If you are in route 1, challenging yourself early can make it better in later
years.
If you are in route 2, this route depends upon your efforts, teachers, parents,
community, state, etc.
For an interesting study, check out Ellen Julian's article on MCAT and performance in Academic Medicine Vol 80, Number 10 October 2005. on page 916 there are a number of graphics
Driving Difficulty or
Distinction - review the graphics in this area, there is a wide range of
pass rates.
Bob Bowman
[email protected]
Acceptance Rates to Med School
Education - the entire pipeline