It all starts here.

Hello, my name is Erin and I’m about to take the MCAT in January and start applying to Doctor of Osteopathy schools. It seemed reasonable to start a blog of my own because it seems all I’ve been doing for the past few months is visit blogs relating to advice on medical school, the MCAT, personal statement, and anything relating to the challenge I (and many others) are currently facing. By starting this blog I intend to help those in similar situations and hopefully pay it forward to the people that inspired me.

I only decided to apply to Doctor of Osteopathy schools my senior year of college. I had never even heard of a DO before then. I used to be pre-dental, you see, and I was intent on becoming an Orthodontist. Dental school was safe in that the career and lifestyle of an Orthodontist was very appealing due to the freedom of having a life and family, yet also having the ability to have my own practice. I thought the challenge of solving puzzles (straightening teeth) would satisfy my scientific mind.

My future seemed to be all planned out until I was sitting at the dining room table with my Dad, Grammy, and Granddaddy having one of those intense discussions about my future—I’m sure you all know what those discussions can be like. My family simply was urging me to keep an open mind about my future, and that Dental school might not have been the only possibility. I was so eager to plan out my future and feel comfortable that I was not listening carefully to the advice and wisdom of my family, mentors, and peers. In this conversation, I was acutely humbled by my Granddaddy, a very successful diplomat that was an Ambassador to two countries and used to be the President of a world-class museum in New York City; He has a longer list of diverse accomplishments than anyone else I know and can rightly humble whomever he wants.

If I’m being dramatic, I would say my granddaddy practically yelled at me with frustration that I was being close-minded because I felt that I had to have an exact plan of my future with no wiggle room (wiggle room because I was only interested in one field of dentistry, orthodontia, and was definitely not interested in becoming solely a dentist). He told me the only reason he has made all the wonderful and meaningful decisions in his life and career that he has, is because he had mentors that gave him advice and he was always willing to listen to a perspective that could help him make difficult decisions.

After this conversation, I talked to a good friend of mine who has always given me good advice. Ironically, she was pre-dental and is currently at UPenn Dental school. She agreed with my family and asked me if I knew what a DO was. Embarrassingly, I did not, so she explained the more holistic philosophy that was intertwined with the hard science of medical school. While she spoke I could feel myself burst out in smile at the career she was describing. This sounded just like the perfect mix of my dad and me. My dad is a big believer in holistic medicine and I though I shared some of those beliefs, I was interested in the hard science of medicine. Thanks to my good friend, I have now found a field that allows me to mix the two fields in quite an elegant way.