Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wait, so the only reason you're majoring in pre-med is because you were good at high school biology? Honey, that's not enough of a reason. Heck, I aced high school biology too, as well as anatomy & physiology, and passed high school chemistry, but I knew 2 semesters into a pre-veterinary major that I wasn't cut out to be a vet, doctor, nurse, or anything hospital related. I spent enough time volunteering and working in a hospital setting to realize that I lacked the proper temperament to do so.
What other reason do you have to go into pre-med? Be honest here. Have you ever worked or volunteer at a hospital, clinic, or nursing home? Do you have an intense desire to work with the sick and infirm? Are you thinking it's guaranteed six figure job? It's very early in your college career so if I was you, I would make a list of things you really want to do, based not just on what classes you passed in high school, but based on actual desire and aptitude. For now, stick with completing your gen eds-you may find your passion there.
I do believe I have it to be a doctor. I'm typically very relaxed and I enjoy talking to troubled people about their problems and helping them. My original major was psychology, but I was talked out of it because psychology is apparently a starving field where too many people compete for too few jobs. Also I have an aptitude for languages, which I heard is very important in a medical field.
Thing is...I have a passion, and that passion is art. I'm a creative soul who enjoys painting and drawing portraits. Unfortunately, art is a starving profession that relies heavily on luck. You can be the greatest artist in the world and nobody will buy your art, or you can be a ******* who throws paint at a wall, and be branded "an artistic genius". There really isn't much for an artist out there, unless you're gonna work at Central Park drawing caricatures of strangers for 50 cent apiece.
You haven't talked to your friendly doctor, have you? If it's so important, just ask doctors what they remember about chemistry, and it's not much (and it's mostly info buzz), as far as useful practical knowledge goes it's even less than the buzz they remember.
Actually, I have.
Organic chemistry - both semesters of it - were very important...
for the knowledge base and for the GPA.
Bomb organic and kiss med school good-bye.
Seriously.
You haven't talked to your friendly doctor, have you? If it's so important, just ask doctors what they remember about chemistry, and it's not much (and it's mostly info buzz), as far as useful practical knowledge goes it's even less than the buzz they remember.
When it came time to take the MCAT you can be sure they remembered a heck of a lot of chemistry, otherwise they wouldn't be doctors in the first place.
And maybe a little OT but did you know that when working a synthesis problem on an organic exam you work it out backwards? I wish someone would have told me that. 10X easier!
Last edited by TwinbrookNine; 09-29-2013 at 09:26 PM..
long story short: too many lawyers, not enough legal jobs.
Seriously, that is probably the worst advice I have ever heard.
Old news is not relevant news. The world is changing rapidly and its very evident to us who have been around for a long time that the legal profession and more importantly, all of its tentacles are where "it" will be at in YOUR lifetime. You don't go to law school to be a lawyer, you see; you go to law school because there are dozens of high paying jobs that a law degree will set you up for. You need to look into that and lay off the generality stuff that is meaningless. Warazawa says he's good at language - probably the single most important predictor of success in law school.
Parents in Grosse Pte, MI require their college student kids to get a law degree first and foremost, no matter what they plan to do including business. And believe me, those people know!
You could become a Marriage and Family Therapist MFT or a Social Worker LCSW and do therapy, with minimal hard science courses.
Or if you want some medical, an advanced practice psych RN or PA.
You haven't talked to your friendly doctor, have you? If it's so important, just ask doctors what they remember about chemistry, and it's not much (and it's mostly info buzz), as far as useful practical knowledge goes it's even less than the buzz they remember.
What don't you get about the fact that it doesn't matter how much chemistry is actually needed to practice medicine???
If you don't ace chemistry, including organic chemistry as an undergrad you don't get into medical school so that you can then forget all that chemistry....never mind the amount of chem on the MCATs
There are big differences between being a doctor and being a good doctor and a world class doctor. I'm at one of the best hospitals in the world, and you can bet your bet that the physicians here understand chemistry. For example, many of the physicians here do research, how can you do research then on say a new target for cancer if you don't understand equilibrium, binding, and dissociation constants? Almost all molecular based therapies are going to be described based on their potency and efficacy, which of course relate to how well they bind to their target= equilibrium constants.
I really don't see how a physician could be a good physician without understanding the basics of acid base chemistry when it comes time to treating a patient with say diabetic ketoacidosis. If a patient comes in with a blood pH of 7.25 when the normal blood physiological pH is 7.35, a physician should know that that 0.1 differences is a big deal because pH is on a log scale. Basic concepts in chemistry go a loooooooong way in understanding many diseases, syndromes, and poisonings that are biochemically based. There are also many genetic diseases that mess up all sorts of normal biochemistry.
I agree that knowing allll the stuff you learn in organic is not needed as a practicing physician--no physician is going to need to know how to read a molecule NMR or understand the reaction mechanism for michael additions. But, if you understand organic chemistry, you'll understand why say drugs contain amine groups that are reacted with acids to form salts. Organic can definitely help you understand pharmacology.
It's not that you might not need to use chemistry on a daily basis, it's that if you have an understanding of chemistry, you'll understand WHY you do things.
I do believe I have it to be a doctor. I'm typically very relaxed and I enjoy talking to troubled people about their problems and helping them. My original major was psychology, but I was talked out of it because psychology is apparently a starving field where too many people compete for too few jobs. Also I have an aptitude for languages, which I heard is very important in a medical field.
Thing is...I have a passion, and that passion is art. I'm a creative soul who enjoys painting and drawing portraits. Unfortunately, art is a starving profession that relies heavily on luck. You can be the greatest artist in the world and nobody will buy your art, or you can be a ******* who throws paint at a wall, and be branded "an artistic genius". There really isn't much for an artist out there, unless you're gonna work at Central Park drawing caricatures of strangers for 50 cent apiece.
Well for the chemistry, you don't have to be a genius but at the very least you have to be able to pass the 2 semesters of chem and organic chem with at least a C. If you cannot hit that then yes the Medschool dream is probably over as I believe nearly all Med schools require a year of chem and organic chem as a prereq.
In terms of the art and your passion being art-yes it is a "starving profession" yes the whole "starving artist" is not a cliche. For every successful artist that made it (and I am sure people will bring somebody up) there are many more who did not. There are many more working some retail or fast food job. OP is there any other major of interest to you? Would you mind majoring in a "practical" major whilst minoring and/or doing art on the side?
Old news is not relevant news. The world is changing rapidly and its very evident to us who have been around for a long time that the legal profession and more importantly, all of its tentacles are where "it" will be at in YOUR lifetime. You don't go to law school to be a lawyer, you see; you go to law school because there are dozens of high paying jobs that a law degree will set you up for. You need to look into that and lay off the generality stuff that is meaningless. Warazawa says he's good at language - probably the single most important predictor of success in law school.
Parents in Grosse Pte, MI require their college student kids to get a law degree first and foremost, no matter what they plan to do including business. And believe me, those people know!
Tell this to all of my law school graduate friends, currently in a large city, who are waiting tables. The only one with a legal job that required bar passage is because her daddy owns the firm.
Maybe the link I found was old; however, the jobs outlook for lawyers is bleak and is just getting worse.
This isn't a place to argue about law school, though. It doesn'ts seem like the OP is interested.
My philosophy on this is if art is your passion, follow it. Look into programs for art therapy where you can use your passion in art and your passion to help people. I know the school districts where I live employ a few.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know the school districts where I live employ a few.
