Physician launches consulting firm for would-be doctors

A Texas-based emergency room physician has recently launched a consulting firm that will advise med school applicants on how to beat the numbers game that sets them up for rejection regardless of qualifications.

Dr. Paul Toote launched National Premed Consulting when he observed that with 18,000 medical school spots in the U.S. every year and 49,000 annual applications, would-be medical students face an expected rejection rate of 56 percent. Toote says that many students face rejection even when their qualifications indicate they'd make excellent physicians. He says he founded the strategy consulting firm to give students a competitive edge in their medical school applications.

The consulting services National Premed Consulting will offer include a profiling analysys that pinpoints a candidate's strengths and weaknesses and works with them when putting together his application package. The services also help a candidate craft an optimal undergraduate curriculum to better his chances of admission into a medical school program.

For the 2010-2011 entering class, U.S. medical schools received 580,304 applications from 42,742 candidates, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.