Let's break down some numbers...my analysis.

By all means, please feel free to make comments as you see fit so long as they are productive in nature. I'd like to hear what people out there think or what they would like to hear more of from this blog. Today, however, I'd like to offer my analysis of the current situation in the application process to medical school. Granted, using old numbers to predict the future does not guarantee similar results; however, looking at patterns can help you tremendously. It's funny. You'll see that medicine is all about "trends" and "patterns". Soon, you'll become concerned with a patients' blood sugar patterns or their cholesterol trends. So the same goes for applications to medical school. They are "cyclical" if you will. There are up years and down years for applications. Sometime in the not so distant past, applications were as high as 45,000 for roughly 16,000 spots. That number doesn't include DO schools mind you. Forty five divided by sixteen gives you 2.8. So, roughly one-in-three applicants actually enrolled. Now, the numbers are slightly down. In 2005, that number declined to 37,000 applicants for the same number of spots (roughly). That is almost one-out-of-two. Not too bad. But why?? Why did the numbers drop? Part of the reason is the cyclical nature of the application process. Other factors include the current malpractice climate, decreasing salaries of physicians, a broken system, whatever. Now is a good time to apply to medical school - the numbers are in your favor. Also, I'd like to add that DO schools (and Caribbean schools as well) are cyclical in nature too. I've seem to have lost track of how many DO spots a year there are now because I can't keep up with the tremendous growth of osteopathic schools in this country! They are growing like weeds! No matter - your chances for admission are probably at its peak right now. Looking at recent past trends and depending on what happens to health care in the next 4 years will ultimately determine whether the number of applicants goes up or down. You tend to see a reverse cyclical trend with business schools. What I mean is that when medical school applications are down, business school apps are increasing. Again, there are factors involved that I won't go into, but the point I'm trying to make has been made. Follow the cycles, but don't necessarily let them dictate when you apply. If you are a strong candidate, it doesn't matter so much whether you apply in an up year or a down year. You'll probably get in somewhere either way.