Recent Accident to My Son

[Eileen]

Roger, it is always a pleasure to read your posts and to watch the determination that you and Brian have showed since day one. He is certainly interviewing at some of the top med schools in the country, which is wonderful! The idea of him being next door is great. I love the fact that he will have his own living space but will also have the security of you being next door if a problem arises. I hope his Honda is ready to go soon. It is one of the cutest cars out there as far as I am concerned. I have an ab friend who has one. He is sort of a jock, so he bought it because he can throw a couple of bikes, his golf clubs, a picnic hamper, and a couple of change of clothing in there and still not feel crowded. I have my fingers crossed for you both!!

[Roger]

Brian got an email from the Stanford Medical School. They have decided to accept his 2005 MCAT scores and have requested that he submit a secondary application. So that's another possibility. The next step is to be selected for an interview. A secondary application request means that Brian has passed the first cut. For Brian to be selected for an interview he will need to write a very good essay next week. As I've said previously the medical application process is unbelievably competitive.

Brian and my wife are on a plane heading back to Phoenix from Baltimore right now.

Roger

[hlh]

What an impressive journey. Congratulations to the whole family.

A wonderful array of schools. Best of luck with the interviews. In the hundreds of interviews that medical schools will filter through, I am sure that no one who meets Brian will forget his story and his drive. That will set him apart, and increase his chances. I hope he is getting good practice with his interviews, hopefully getting more comfortable with each one.

California schools have the added attractions of good weather. It's awful to be trying to drive to a hospital at 5am and searching for parking.... in snow. Wow, Stanford.... great accessible parking at all of its affiliated hospitals. UCSF should have parking as well at all of its sites.

Fingers crossed for you....

[Roger]

Brian left for San Francisco Saturday. A college friend is meeting him at the airport. My wife is already in San Francisco to walk in the Nike Marathon on Sunday.

Brian was busy this week. He finally got his Honda Element on Tuesday, he wrote an essay for the Stanford secondary application and ghostwrote a paper for a doctor at Barrows. Next week after he returns from SF he's going to be working on some articles for Emedicine.com adding references. Last Thursday, Brian was suppose to interview at the Phoenix Branch of the University of Arizona medical school. The interview got post-phoned until Nov 3. Brian had some lingering effects from a UTI and he thought that it would be best to post-phone the interview until he was completely recovered.

Tuesday is the big day for the UCSF interview. I think if he got accepted at UCSF he would jump at the chance for a couple of reasons. He likes the curriculum at UCSF, the weather in San Francisco is easier to deal with and he has many friends in San Francisco. UCSF is one of the top five medical schools in the country so he's still a long shot for getting accepted. Johns Hopkins where Brian interviewed on Oct 10 is also a top five school which means it's also very competitive. Brian also interviewed at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The U of A only accepts Arizona residents which makes it much less competitive they accept 1 out of 5 applicants. Johns Hopkins and UCSF accept 1 out of 50 applicants.

When I look at these statistics I have a whole new respect for doctors. Every doctors has worked very hard to get into and complete medical school.

Roger

[Eileen]

Great news Roger. So happy Brian's car is available to him now, and as for the medical schools he has interviews at one can only say a very loud "WOW!!" I will be thinking of you all on Tuesday and hoping UCSF becomes a reality.

[Roger]

Brian and my wife returned to Phoenix Tuesday night at about 10:00 pm. Brian's interview at UCSF went very well. They'll let him know sometime in Dec or Jan their decision. The UCSF was a closed book conversational interview. What that means is that the doctors interviewing Brian didn't know anything about Brian prior to the interview. They asked Brian questions about what he has done and what he hoped to do. Because of Brian's injury he had a great deal to talk about. It's hard for me to imagine how the medical schools make their final selections. They need to select 130 out of 600 extremely qualified candidates. I looked it up on the Internet ~68,000 people took the MCAT last year. Johns Hopkins and UCSF had about 6000 applicants apply. That's the top 10% applying to Johns Hopkins and UCSF. Out of that top 10% they select 2% or 1 out of 50.

Monday Brian and my wife fly to New York City for an interview at NYU on Tuesday. Nov 3, Brian will interview at the University of Arizona Phoenix Campus. That's all of the interviews that have been schedules so far. He's still hoping to get an interview at UCLA and Stanford.

In the mean time Brian is working on an article for a doctor at Barrows and next week he's going to give a presentation to medical students at St. Josephs. The meeting was arranged by the coordinator of the SCI Wellness Program at St. Josephs. She asked Brian to make a presentation discussing his SCI experiences.

Roger

[Roger]

Late Friday afternoon Brian got a message on his cellphone to call a lady at Johns Hopkins. This morning he called and was told that he has been accepted into the Johns Hopkins medical school class starting in Sept 2009. This is GREAT GREAT GREAT news.

Today Brian interviewed at the University of Arizon medical school Phoenix Branch. He won't hear anything from them for several weeks. He's also waiting to hear from UCSF.

I still can't believe he's been accepted at Johns Hopkins.
Roger

[RehabRhino]

Late Friday afternoon Brian got a message on his cellphone to call a lady at Johns Hopkins. This morning he called and was told that he has been accepted into the Johns Hopkins medical school class starting in Sept 2009. This is GREAT GREAT GREAT news.

Today Brian interviewed at the University of Arizon medical school Phoenix Branch. He won't hear anything from them for several weeks. He's also waiting to hear from UCSF.

I still can't believe he's been accepted at Johns Hopkins.
Roger

Fantastic news. I like this thread. It reminds me what is so good about CC and most of the people who post here.

[hlh]

Congratulations.

Incredible.

Many people will argue Hopkins is one of the very top med schools (some argue the top). His acceptance at Hopkins means he is truly competitive to get in anywhere. Bravo.

The toughest to get in will still be UCSF, as they must give priority to in state residents, but it is still possible.

It's always nice to have Hopkins as a fall-back (!)

[RAFS]

Late Friday afternoon Brian got a message on his cellphone to call a lady at Johns Hopkins. This morning he called and was told that he has been accepted into the Johns Hopkins medical school class starting in Sept 2009. This is GREAT GREAT GREAT news.

Today Brian interviewed at the University of Arizon medical school Phoenix Branch. He won't hear anything from them for several weeks. He's also waiting to hear from UCSF.

I still can't believe he's been accepted at Johns Hopkins.
Roger

Roger,
I'm so happy for Brian, you & your family. This is GREAT, GREAT, GREAT news like you say. I know that you are very proud of him. I'd be ecstatic if he was my son. I hope he gets accepted at the San Francisco school.
Like you say the weather is better there & he has a lot of friends there.
Brian must be beside himself. There is a new doctor at the SCI Center that I go to at the Tampa VA & he is also a quadriplegic. He's in a manual chair w/Emotions power assist wheels. He is also a young guy. He came to Tampa from the Miami Florida VA Hospital.
Please congratulate your son for me. Glad to hear he got his Honda Element. I hope it serves him well.