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About 2 years ago our younger son announced that he wanted to go to medical school. He was a sophomore in college at the time and was majoring in Psychology with a couple of different minors. He had to scramble to load up on pre-med classes which included taking calculus which he had declined to take in high school, in order to graduate in 4 years. But he did it (at least he's on track to graduate this May with a 4.0 out of 4.0).
He'll be taking a "gap year" to study for the medical school entrance exam and to save up money while hopefully getting a job as a scribe at a local hospital.
One of my colleagues has a son who "wanted to go to medical school" but was not accepted because he did not have any related work experience. These schools are highly selective and they want to see evidence of a desire to do the work, not just good grades. (BTW my colleague's son now has a doctorate in research biology. The alternative to medical school is not necessarily digging ditches)
My son is an neurosurgery resident. Parroting my son.......if your kiddo hasn't taken o-chem II he should before taking the MCAT.
Same here. In fact, I tried writing novels. They sucked, at least to me. Then I got into writing scripts, and took off - kind of. That was 12 years ago, and I have finally signed with an agent and a talent manager who both are negotiating with a major production company to sell my 5 best screenplays. Never give up. If I can do it, anyone who enjoys writing can. I'm about to work on my old awful novels, to revise them & publish them on Kindle.
I did journalism, professionally, but I've always had writing as a big part of every job I've had, and it's been a big part of my life overall.
My wife demands that one of our kids become a doctor, regardless of their interest. Or I should say she attempts to nurture their interest in this field.
I think this is primarily due to the conventional thinking that doctors are one of the best professions.
Is that conventional thinking still true on the eve of 2020?
Unless one wants to be a doctor, what's so special about that field?
Unless one wants to be a doctor, what's so special about that field?
As previously noted, medicine is a very high paying field compared to other occupations. Additionally, the respect and esteem in which physicians are held is greater than most fields.
Some other factors which I think are significant too include the ability to move around and practice medicine almost anywhere. My b-i-l is an orthopedic surgeon and has practiced in four separate states in very different parts of the USA. I have a friend who is an anesthesiologist who has had a practice in five states during his professional career. The field is such that if you decide you don't like a particular geographic area or the other people you must associate with to maintain your practice, you can simply move on. I think many people in many occupations wish they had that ability.
Ultimately though, the thing to keep in my mind as that very few people who want to be doctors probably have the aptitude to be one. Unless you are capable of getting A's in math and science when you are in college earning an undergraduate degree than its probably not going to happen. In my observation, very few people can do that. Math and science courses are often not graded on a curve. You have to achieve 90% or better on tests to get an A. I remember some of these classes had impossibly low averages when I attended college. A 1.5 class average (slightly below a C-) was not unusual in some math classes. The one medical school in my state had 120 seats. I think they admitted about 10% of the applicants who applied at that time. I doubt the numbers have changed either.
Judging from your screen name you may identify with my next point. I decided at about age 19 I wanted to be a "trial lawyer" and I really never deviated from that career choice. Its certainly not for everyone. However, I view my decision--next to my marriage--as best choice I ever made in my life. Picking a career is a very individual thing. I knew I would have to pick something that would keep me from being bored and would pay reasonably well. One's ultimate goals should play a huge role in a career choice.
Well you have PA and NP programs. It a lot of smaller towns they are much cheaper to hire than an MD and can generally fulfill most of the same responsibilities. I think the NP route is the cheapest of them all and probably the easiest to get into to. I don't think being an MD is as coveted unless you come from a rich family. With the shortages in the medical field everyone from aide all the way up to MD has more on their plate because of monetary and staffing issues. There is also a high turnover in the medical field too especially at the beginning. It's a very stressful field.
My wife works in a 5th Grade Classroom. She is distressed to hear these students declare their career goals are:
Victoria's Secret Model
You-Tuber
Professional Gamer
Professional Athlete
Frighteningly few of the 'traditional' aspirational (yet achievable) employment goals of becoming a Doctor, Nurse, Teacher, Engineer, Scientist, Veterinarian, etc.
About 2 years ago our younger son announced that he wanted to go to medical school. He was a sophomore in college at the time and was majoring in Psychology with a couple of different minors. He had to scramble to load up on pre-med classes which included taking calculus which he had declined to take in high school, in order to graduate in 4 years. But he did it (at least he's on track to graduate this May with a 4.0 out of 4.0).
He'll be taking a "gap year" to study for the medical school entrance exam and to save up money while hopefully getting a job as a scribe at a local hospital.
One of my colleagues has a son who "wanted to go to medical school" but was not accepted because he did not have any related work experience. These schools are highly selective and they want to see evidence of a desire to do the work, not just good grades. (BTW my colleague's son now has a doctorate in research biology. The alternative to medical school is not necessarily digging ditches)
Our youngest wanted to be a Veterinarian for years, then shadowed our local Vet and changed his mind. I think he saw too many healthy animals being put down simply because the owners no longer wanted the pet, and the euthanization fee was less than the fee collected by the Humane Society to accept an unwanted animal.
Se he followed his second career choice and graduated college with a Computer Science Degree. After 5 years with IBM his job was out-sourced to India during the Great Recession. So he re-invented himself, used the IBM Separation Package to pay for a two-year Pre-Med program at Harvard via their Extension School (although held in Harvard buildings in Cambridge MA, this was surprisingly much less expensive than two years in the standard Harvard programs!)
This was followed by three years working in a Neuro-Biology Lab at Yale where he ran the Lab's computer systems in addition to working on research projects. He was paid enough to cover his bills and save too, and took the MCAT during the third year. The Yale experience bolstered his Med School Applications Resume.
He was accepted into Med Schools and received scholarship offers (who knew these even existed?). Four years of Med School later he began a Pathology Residency, now in year #2.
Last edited by MI-Roger; 12-13-2019 at 07:33 AM..
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