Thread: Any doctors here?

Wow, excellent post Mike. I especially like your discussion of consequential thinking.

That was deep Mike, great post. I can go on and on about how I think the education system should be, but thats a subject for another thread haha. Makes me think about a lot of things. I am going for DO, makes things slightly easier for me, but not by much. I'm fighting a tremendous uphill battle with my major screw up in Organic, thats why I'm feeling overwhelmed. This thread has definetely helped a lot, makes me realize how much life I've yet to live and experience coming from all you wise folks.

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

All those things are interesting. My wife would kill me if I thought about going to law school now.

And the obvious solution would be to categorize such knowledge as a 'nice to know' instead of 'need to know'
Of course, I don't claim expertise in marriage...

I don't think what students 'need to know' is all that much. For example, in physics it boils down to 'the world that we can describe is symmetric and linear'. In mathematics the only thing one needs to know is how to count the fingers on one hand. Everything else is abstracting and generalizing these simple things.

In my opinion, the most valuable thing students learn is what is summarized by 'analytical/critical thinking'. For example most of the threads in this section and elsewhere on the forum are explicit demonstrations of how unable most people are to distinguish between opinion and fact, or postulating something and deriving it. The simple concepts of larger and smaller seems to be lost on a most people when they are presented with a simple ad which boils down to having them compare the size of the dash in >-< vs <->

When I go to a doctor I have billions of 'symptoms'. His job is to figure out what are the ones that are 'important' for making me see him and make a recommendation what to do about it so that I can be back to my life. Having the medical knowledge is necessary but certainly not sufficient for that, otherwise we'd have it all done by robots long time ago.

At the end of the day when somebody is good at 'rational thinking' they're good at pretty much anything they do. When you get into something it all can be extremely interesting whether it's art, cosmology, agriculture, medicine, law, politics, religion, business, military...
Of course, they don't pay the same, and everybody is in different circumstances with different emotional preferences, different values, different ambitions, different shortcomings...

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

We are not chiropractors. If they would tell the truth they stole it all from us in the first place.

Maybe not quite as simple as that.

I truly appreciate your posts, but I saw this little jab and just couldn't let it pass. Knowing that it is mostly unrelated to the OP's original post I submit the following link to an article that I found. The article does contain some very interesting medical history that is centered around manipulative therapy and some of you may find it to be good reading.

A History of Manipulative Therapy

Originally Posted by honedright

Maybe not quite as simple as that. ...

A History of Manipulative Therapy

My statement was hyperbolic, could have been said better and I appreciate you pointing that out. I would make clear my desire to temper that somewhat. I was the beneficiary of a chiropractor who chose to go through an osteopathic medical program. Indeed many of my techniques derive from what I learned there. Sadly, no matter whether allopathy, osteopathy or chiropractic there are those with "good hands" and those without, and many who paint all with a single brush.

The article was fascinating but leaves out any discussion of the rivalry between Still and Palmer, and does not mention the difficult to verify reports that Palmer was a student of A.T. Still for some time. Still recalls it in his writings but Palmer makes no mention of it. Since both are dead, along with any contemporaries who could validate it, it will remain anecdotal.

Having been a student of Asian medical techniques including bonesetting, the parallels are very difficult to ignore. Still does admit he learned a great deal from the Chinese who had come to Missouri as a result of working for the railroad companies. I think it's important to know one's root traditions and to clarify them when possible.

Animal...
Let me give you my story... I am just about to start 3rd year, and am currently studying for the step one board exam which quite literally makes the MCAT look like a tea party. This exam will quite literally dictate what specialty I will be able to find residencies for.
That being said, the MCAT is still important too. So sweat it, but not too much. When I was attempting to enter med school I didn't have the greatest grades. My composite (the combination of GPA and MCAT) was just barely good enough to get me interviews at my desired schools (mid range) but did little to set me apart from the other applicants. I had a 3.65 GPA(bad) and a 34(good) on the MCATs. I had a ton of real world experience but little volunteer work, which actually worked against me. If you're living at home with your parental units, then try to spend as much time volunteering in a medical setting as possible. Yeah, volunteering can be a pain in the a** but it shows the med school a couple of things. First that you are interested enough in the medical profession to do it for 'free'. Second, that you are willing and capable of service. Don't underestimate the importance of the second aspect of this. Physicians as a profession are servants of the people and through the process of medical school you will relatively quickly loose all autonomy in your life. By the 3rd year, your schedule will be forever dictated by the medical field.
BUT, back to admission... Every school sets a baseline composite score at which you must be at or above to be accepted for an interview. Once you are accepted for an interview it means that you have met their academic standards. The rest of it is about you as a person... If you and the school are a good fit, and the other aspects of your life that would make you a stand out applicant.
Retaking the class is a good idea to boost your GPA, but isn't absolutely needed. If you do retake it, just be sure to do better the second time! You've gotten some great advice here on this thread. My advise is to study hard, learn to answer and interpret questions well (the MCATs are about critical thinking), and be confident.
When you do get into medical school, first - celebrate responsibly, second - take a deep breath and enjoy the ride... It's a crap-load of information all at once (you'll do a whole semester of undergrad biochem in about a week to 11 days), but if you focus, buckle-down and study hard - and I mean REALLY hard (yes, harder than you ever studied in undergrad) you CAN do it. It is totally doable. Let us all know when you get in!

p.s.
if you don't get in this year, review the schools that you're applying to and see if they need to be adjusted down a bit. If you get an interview with a school but don't get in, apply to that school again. The majority of schools give bonus points for persistance. And most of all, don't get down on yourself and don't give up.