Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with medschool

Dr. Frwagon?

frwagon — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:54:36 -0800

Late twenties, and want to act on my lifelong dream of going to med school and becoming a doctor... Is this a good idea? So, I'm 27, and in a weird state of transition for me... I've wanted to be a doctor since high school, but bad study habits and the high cost of med school have scared me off... until now.

I'd need to go back and get the pre-med degree, then med school, and then residency, and I'm entirely ok with committing the next 10-12 years of my life to this ... but will it be worth it? Can a 37-year old new doctor succeed, or am I too late to follow this particular dream?

As said above, I stayed away due to bad study habits, but those have been well and truly corrected.. it's kind of what I've been spending the past ten years doing, on the side.

I'm confident that I can handle the coursework, as well as the stress, and I'm willing to be poor and dedicate my next 12 years to this, but the question still lingers in the back of my mind:

Should I pursue this course of action, or just let that dream go?

Grad-school, relationships, and geography... can all three work?

DeucesHigh — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:55:42 -0800

Grad-school, med school, residency match, geography...help? [For the TL;DR shortcut to the most important question, skip to Paragraph 4]

So in the fall of '10, myself and ms. deuceshigh will by simultaneously applying for graduate school -- medical for me, and Ph.D. psychology for her. No problem so far, as we'll be coordinating our (numerous) applications, and be able to at least match cities for the subsequent 4 years. And if that doesn't work out, at least we'll know right away, before either of us starts.

The problem will be 4 years later, the binding Match for medical residency. For those who aren't familiar, basically the med student applies to all the residency programs they could see attending, and rank them. The schools do the same for all of their applicants, and then the lists are compared to give residency assignments, which are binding. There are provisions for *medical school* couples to be matched together, but obviously that isn't the case here. The only way to get out of your match is serious hardship (a dying parent, or the like), so for all intents and purposes, you go where you're matched. So, 4 years down the road, I will be heading to a residency that -- while not totally random -- involves a great deal less choice than we've had before. She will still be in her Ph.D. program, with 3 years remaining, and presumably won't be able to move.

So I guess this is a multi-parted question. Is there anything about the Match that I'm not taking into account? Is it feasible to seed the top of my list with all the schools in the same city as her Ph.D. program, with any chance of ending up at any of them? [yes, I guess that can't really be answered without knowing my exact future situation, but maybe in general terms]. Would I be hurting my career to go to a lesser-ranked residency, in order to stay in a particular geographical area?

On the other hand, has anyone taken a 3-year break during a Ph.D. program, or is that a terrible idea? In her opinion, that would be the preferable choice over delaying the residency, so she'd like to hear peoples' experiences with taking time off. Did you have trouble returning? Is it easily doable at some schools, and a literal impossibility at others? Does it entirely depend on the department and advisor? Do many people have kids during that time, and if so, is it realistic to expect to return and finish the program?

We've had the long-distance-relationship talks, but for the purposes of this question, assume the option is not on the table.

Let's play Operation.

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:57:12 -0800

Probably a common story: I graduated with a liberal arts degree and a mediocre GPA from a mediocre college a few years ago. Now, after working for a few years, I've grown a lot and I've realized that I'd prefer a "hard science" career - and I'm seriously considering med school. The problem, of course, is the liberal arts degree and the mediocre GPA. My grades in science classes weren't good either. If it helps, I graduated in two and a half years - but it probably doesn't help.

Since I can't make my GPA go away, what's the best way to counteract it? I need to take the med school prerequisites, that's a given - but should I do them in a post-bac program or should I do another bachelor's degree entirely (a bachelor's degree meaning more credits and a greater effect on my GPA)? I've taken bio and chem, and didn't do great (B and C, respectively) - should I retake them? Is there anything I can do outside school to improve my chances - stuff like EMT certification? Finally, is it possible to do all this while maintaining my 9-to-5, full-time job?

Thanks for the help!

Help me encourage a great future doctor not to lose faith in herself.

dorothy humbird — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:59:09 -0800

I'm out of fresh encouraging perspectives, and the stakes are higher than ever. Please help me figure out how to best be a supportive friend in the 11th hour of my pal's struggles with studying for the med school boards. So, my friend is a very intelligent and principled person, and has for most of her education been in honors classes and in other ways recognized for her commitment to learning and knowledge. She also happens to be one of the most caring people I know, and is absolutely one of my best friends. She is the sort of person who is keenly sensitive to the human element of any problem or situation, and for this reason I think she would be an invaluable addition to the field of medicine, which can sometimes be heavily populated by self-absorbed jerks and/or people who are only in it for the money.

But, as far as I can tell, she is burned out in the extreme from years of studying and studying, not to mention her family worries and expectations (she is a 1st gen daughter of immigrants from a country with pretty conservative expectations for offspring, and despite somewhat Westernized viewpoints on the part of her parents, there are still major friction issues). She has struggled this entire year, her second in med school, with getting herself to buckle down and study, and has been discouraged time and again even when she did with grades that fell below the median of her class - but she's scraped by. And now, with classes over so the students can completely focus on studying 10+ hours a day to pass the board exams, she is really and truly putting in the effort, only to keep getting dismal results on her practice tests for the boards.

She's discouraged. I'm discouraged for her. She's been seeing a counselor, but sometimes sabotages herself even there by not revealing the extent of her struggles, or not doing the tasks that the counselor suggests for her. It takes so much effort for her to just focus on studying these massive tomes of knowledge that she somehow has to ingest and immolate into her very core that when she doesn't make progress, she loses almost all faith in herself. She has mentioned to me that her brother, who also attended med school and is now in residency, did poorly in the books section too, but excelled once he was in a more hands-on environment doing rotations. So, I've been encouraging her to look ahead to that -- but the problem that she and I both obviously can't ignore is that she has to PASS the boards to get there.

I'm out of supportive words and phrases. Everything I can think to say, I've already said: just hang in there; quit beating yourself up; I BELIEVE IN YOU - YOU CAN DO THIS, BUT YOU NEED TO BELIEVE YOU CAN DO IT; it's okay to take more time (she is now pushing back the beginning of her 3rd year to give herself more time to study because her practice test results haven't been enough to pass), you are smart! you are intelligent! you of all people should be a doctor because you actually care about human beings!

I've said it all already, and I can't imagine that repeating this to her is any help at this stage.

I need insight into this experience; who out there in MetaFilter has had similar struggles in professional schools - med school, law school, anything else similarly demanding? I am meeting to have coffee with her this evening, and I just want to give her the most encouraging pep talk I can feasibly manage without personal experience of what she is going through. It would crush me to see her defeated by this, and if there is anything I can say or remind her of to help her avoid that, I want it in my bag of resources. Help me help her.

Danielsanjay Gupta

Christ, what an asshole — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:29:39 -0800

New career path (Med school) in sights, past the deadline to apply/register for (Fall '09) undergrad programs that offer classes necessary for MCATs, any way to get into universities this late in the game? I got my BA in Communications 5 years ago. After a stint being an EMT, volunteering at hospitals, and getting the opportunity to shadow a surgeon, I'm hell-bent on pursuing a career in medicine. Problem is the culmination of all this processing didn't hit me until a couple weeks ago. I have a whole host of science courses (Bio, OChem, Physics, Lab, etc.) to catch up on and the MCATs to prepare for.

Ideally I could start up on those in the coming Fall, but most universities have been done with Fall '09 applications for quite some time. I was wondering if there's any ways to circumvent this, maybe by taking summer courses and seguing in, or if my graduate status grants me some sort of immunity/mulligan. :)

(California schools ideally, public or private.)

Anyone who knows a bit more about admissions please help.

Hail Mary Pass

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:38:42 -0800

It's the final hour of this medical school application cycle. Is there anything I can do to increase my chance of getting an interview at the schools near and dear to my heart? I have not yet been invited to interview at the state school in my back yard. I would really love to interview there (it has a strong commitment to community service, extremely diverse patient and student populations, and an extremely cool Neuroscience track for students) and I'm wondering what I can do at this late date to express my strong interest in the school, get the admissions staff to look at my application again, or somehow get an interview.

Should I visit the school? What do I say? Who do I speak to? Should I send them more materials? Wrap myself in a bow and camp outside their office with cookies? Please help me genius hive!

I'm up for any suggestions, no matter how wild. The school gets over 5,000 applications for about 150 spots, so anything could potentially help. I'm an older applicant with varied life and teaching experiences, a much lower than average undergraduate GPA with a 4.0 in upper level sciences as a post-bacc. My MCAT score is very good, about 5 points higher than the average for this particular school. My goal is to ultimately live near this school and serve the very populations served by this school and it's affiliate hospitals. I realize this is the sort of thing studentdoctor.net sees all the time, but I have come to trust the MeFi community, and would appreciate any suggestions y'all may have.

Medical School Admissions

Science! — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:35:25 -0800

Asking for a friend: I am in interviewing at medical schools, and I am considering writing a letter of intent, but am unfamiliar with the protocols, expectations, and ramifications... How much of a difference does writing a letter of intent make in the selection process and what are the ramifications (in medical school, while applying for residencies, and beyond) of backing out of a letter of intent?

I recently interviewed at a top tier, widely known medical school (A), and they will be reviewing my application in February. In the last few days (almost unexpectedly) I was also invited to interview at another top tier school (B) at the very end of February. Of course I would love to attend one of these schools, and from my research (culture, environment, location, academic structure, etc) I think my first choice will be school B. However, for various reasons I think that I have a better chance of being admitted to School A than School B. This guess is based on the date of my interviews (School B interview is only two weeks before March 15, when med schools have filled their slots), and my guess that School A is more selective in choosing who they interview. Because both of these schools are very selective, I want to write a letter of intent in order to bolster my application to School A, but if I am later selected for a position at School B I am likely to go there instead.

Boiled down: Do letters of intent help medical school applicants that have not been placed on a wait list, and what happens when an applicant backs out of the statements made in that letter? I am well aware of, and wrestling with, the morality of stating that I will attend School A when I have my doubts. I am trying help my chances of getting in to School A as much as I can, since my interview with School B is so late in the process. Also, will a letter of intent to either school affect my position at School C, a state university where I have already been interviewed and accepted?

Where should I go to med school?

snoogles — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:52:57 -0800

Where can I get a quality medical education for cheap in Europe when dual French and Canadian nationalities? I'm an undergrad student in my 3rd year of an Honours Degree in biology at a university in Ontario, Canada. Right now, I'm on exchange in France.
I have both French and Canadian nationalities, but I've been living in Canada for the part 10 years, meaning that I fail the "residence" test for qualifying for EU tuition (i.e cheap tuition) at most European medical schools that I've looked at.
I'm looking to get a medical education in Europe, because this is where I'm planning to live and practice medicine. However, there is no way I can afford the exorbitant tuition rates that is charged to international students. I'd stay and do it in Canada, but that degree is not recognized in France (and other European countries, AFAIK).
To complicate matters, I'd prefer not to attend med school in France, because they would ignore my undergrad education, and I would have to start at the very beginning of the 8 year med program.
If it makes a difference, I'd also be interested in pursuing a masters in biology before med school, especially if that makes qualifying for EU tuition possible.
Any ideas? What's the best possible way of going about this to make it the easiest for me to get a "short", cheap, and transferrable medical degree? Or should I just suck it up, do it in Canada, and then jump through the hoops to be able to work in Europe later?

Med School Interview

Orange Pamplemousse — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:35:51 -0800

Medical School Interview (MMI Style) Tips? My girlfriend, let's say Purple Pamplemousse, is applying to med school and has been offered an interview at a Canadian school in the prairies. The format is MMI (multiple mini interviews) where she visits 10 stations, each with a written question she has 2 minutes to read and formulate a response to and 8 minutes to discuss with the interviewer.

PP's had plenty of experience with panel-style interviews (jobs, etc) but none of this type.

Any tips as to how the interviews are structured? Is it a conversation, or a monologue? Any excellent web-sites? Thus far she has only found ones offering attire tips, and comments about shaking hands firmly.

Thank you!

How do I know if medical school is a good environment for me?

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:29:23 -0800

Med school is considering kicking me out - what should I do? I am a first year student doctor. The medical school administration is seriously having doubts about allowing me to continue medical school. I have generally been doing very well academically. The major concerns the administration have include the fact that I failed one test, and my psychiatrist informed the school that I missed two psychiatric appointments (I had previously given my psychiatrist permission to converse with the school to verify that I was attending regular psychiatric appointments). I can truly say that I failed my test because I didn't study for it while I was in the middle of changing psychotherapeutic medications, and I missed the psychiatric appointments because of normal human error. Now I'm working very hard to prevent myself from making these mistakes in the future. More importantly, I can see myself as eventually becoming a good physician, and if I were to be kicked out of medical school, I have no idea what I would do with my life. The administration is questioning whether medical school is the right environment for me right now. I think it is. What should I do?

Help me beat possible discrimination!

wuzandfuzz — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 21:17:33 -0800

I'm currently applying to medical school. Will my essay choice blackball me from consideration? I'm currently applying to medical school. However, the one thing holding my amcas application from going out the door is a dilemma regarding my personal statement. My essay requires me to write about wy I'm interested in medicine; however, my primary interest is due to my own chronic medical condition. Will an admissions committee red-flag my application if I have such a chronic condition that can affect my ability to stay up late, and push my physical limits with regard to studying, etc?

I'd rather not talk about what my condition is, it did prevent me from applying for a driver's liscence for many years.

Community college to med school?

thehmmhmm — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:23:18 -0800

Guy has dream to be a doctor. Will most likely attend community college or similar. Screwed? Y/N? Brother wants to become a doctor. He's highly intelligent but can't afford the tuition of Stanford and was not accepted to UCLA or UC Berkeley because of out of state residency (we foolhardily assume).

He will most likely go to a community college or a state-run university that's closer to home, cheaper and embraced him with open arms (like UC Merced or SFSU).

He will probably end up transferring to UCLA or UC Berkeley or similar after two years. Does he stand a chance at gaining entrance to med school? Is there another school he should consider transferring to?

Med school? Grad school? Or should I be like William Carlos Williams?

suedehead — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:36:48 -0800

Should I go to medical school? Or go to grad school in English? Help! For a dear friend. I'll also post replies from her, if she has any.

-----

I am a senior in college who will graduate in two weeks. I presently attend a prestigious institution and have the opportunity to go to NYU medical school. My father is disappointed that I was not accepted by higher ranked schools, which has in turn made me incredibly depressed and disappointed in myself.

However, just a few days ago I realized that I might not want to go to medical school at all, that my commitment to becoming a doctor has always oscillated significantly, and that what I really want to do is study English literature in a serious manner. I am a Biology major and an English minor, which means that I will receive both a BA in Biology and English when I graduate. If I choose to study English, then I intend to take an extra semester so that I can finish the requirements for a major (about 2 more classes, but I plan to take 3 or 4) and also write a thesis. Afterwards, I hope to take my GREs, intern, and apply to MA programs; eventually my goal would be to receive a PhD.

I already have a lot of experience in terms of literary extracurricular activities, perhaps more so than "pre-med" ones, because reading and writing is what I love. I have been the editor-in-chief of literary magazines, taught English to high-school students, et cetera.

My parents would —to put it lightly—be strongly against this decision and would most likely not pay for the extra semester which would cost around $4,000. My parents do not have a lot of money, and as a result, I understand that they will want me to choose the most financially sound option. I do have a great part-time job at a non-profit institution (writing articles), and the staff at the institution really like me. I'm afraid because I'm not sure what a degree in English would mean in terms of career options, and if I'm going to be able to survive financially in the future.

As a graduating senior, I also need to decide soon. What should I do?

You can contact me at medschoolgradschoolwoes@gmail.com. Thank you, AskMe!

Mountains upon mountains of work.

The White Hat — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 12:51:41 -0800

BA to MD/PhD - how do I do it? So I'm currently an undergraduate in International Affairs with a Global Public Health concentration. After reading one of Paul Farmer's books and thinking very hard for a few months, I've decided that I want to go to medical school, preferably one with an MD/PhD program in epidemiology and Global Public Health or something along those lines. Naturally, a few major problems and about ten to twelve years separate me from my goal.

I graduate next year with a BA, having taken no science classes since high school. This necessitates premedical study. I've looked around and have found a few 1- and 2-year MS programs, but is this the only way? Also, how does a BA in what is ostensibly a humanities program make himself attractive to a hard science masters program?

I'm already an EMT, though not currently practicing, and I'm looking for health-related internships over the summer, but is there anything else I should be doing? I don't have any room in my academic schedule for science courses, so should I be studying orgo in my spare time?

Any and all help is much appreciated. I found the advice in this question very informative.

Should an illegal alien go to med school or nursing school?

k8t — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:05:02 -0800

What's the better choice for an illegal alien: med school or nursing school? I have a friend who is an illegal alien. She and her family came to the U.S. when she was 14 and they overstayed their tourist visas. They have been living for the past 7 years in a city that is heavily populated with people (many of whom are illegal) from the same country. Friend attended high school in this city, learned English, graduated at the top of her class and went to a very good large state university. (She lives in a state that is flexible with illegals attending college cheaply.) She is now a senior in the bio-chem major. She's gotten great grades, done special internships and is an all-around great girl.

She was hoping/betting on her folks getting their illegal status sorted out before she graduated. This hasn't happened. So now she's almost done and her dreams of applying for medical school have been are fading.

If she applies for med school (assuming she does well on the MCAT), she'll have to apply as an international student. This likely means she won't get any financial aid. She can't take out loans very easily and can't really work. Also, it means that she will have to continue putting off trying to get a permanent resident card for a number of years. Plus I wonder if the med school/SEVIS might have a problem with popping a student visa in an expired passport with a 7 year expired tourist visa!

So, she's now considering nursing school. Nurses are so badly needed in this country that she figures that she'll be on the path to getting a permanent residency card much more quickly. She is bummed out though, as her plans to be a doctor are quickly going away. It seems though, that she could probably apply to a nursing school program at a community college and try to play it out so that she seems to be just a citizen without a SSN rather than an international student.

Is it worth it for her to stick it out and try to go to medical school or is nursing school the most practical thing?

Is she going to have a problem getting a student visa in her expired passport?

What would you recommend to this wonderful young woman? Yes, the obvious answer is "just get married." This is a last resort.

Going back to her country of origin would be very difficult. First, if she went back after overstaying her visa, she'd never be allowed a visa back to the U.S. again and then she'd never see her family again. Secondly, she has no family or friends left in that country and it would be very tough for a 21-year-old with no connections to resettle in her country.

What kind of volunteer work will help me decide about medical school?

limicoline — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:02:05 -0800

Say I want to change my career path and go to medical school. What kind of volunteering would be helpful in terms of a) deciding if medicine is for me, and b) getting into medical school? I am just finishing a master's degree in a hard science, but I am finding that after a change of major as an undergraduate and now a change of heart as a grad student that things are never as they seem from the outside. I always wanted to be a research professor until I hung out with a bunch of research professors and found out it doesn't fit with my personality at all. I'm certain that academia is all wrong for me.

I've given a lot of thought over the last year or so to medical school, and I think medicine would potentially be a much better fit for me — science and interaction with other people on a regular basis! But I don't want to invest loads of time and money and mental stability just to find that it's not for me, either.

I've been wanting to do some volunteer work this year anyway, and I thought this also would be a good opportunity to explore my options... I just don't know where to start. I am admittedly also looking for something that might help me on a medical school application as well, but that is more of a perk than a motivation.

The few caveats:

1. While my graduate student schedule is pretty flexible, I would prefer to keep regular business hours reserved for school, for the most part. Maybe a couple of hours on the occasional afternoon, but not every week.

2. I'm currently living in Seattle, but I am leaving for a three-month out-of-state internship in June. I'll be back in the fall (possibly), but I can't commit to anything that would require extensive training before I can really even get started doing some actual work.

Help me decide whether to have a baby or study medicine first.

mjao — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 17:54:39 -0800

My partner and I really want to procreate. I also want to go to medical school. I've spoken to friends about this, to gather several schools-of-thought that might be useful in making some kind of decision as to the timing of these two things. Now I'm turning to you. Which should we do first? I am 23 and I'm an undergrad; I want to go to med school eventually. My partner is 30. I would say that we want a child more than I want to go to med school. i.e., If I had a child first, and found that it became impossible to study medicine because of this commitment, I think I would learn to accept that and feel content with my life. However if I pursue medicine, and put off having a child, and something happened such as the death of my partner, or becoming infertile, etc., I would be devastated and would not be satisfied with my career/life at all.

The way I see it, here are my options.

1.) Have a child now. I am currently studying biomedical science externally. I'm still in first year. I could have a baby and cut back to part-time study until my baby is a certain age, then go to med school. By the way, I am not concerned with becoming a doctor ASAP. I could easily see myself waiting until my child was a teenager before I pursued this. Life is long. But the problem with this plan (as some of my friends tell me), is that once I have a child I probably won't want to go to med school. I feel that there is a flaw in this argument. It is conceivable however that I may very well want to study medicine, but find myself strapped for time/energy. Possibly until the child is an adult.

-Are there any mefites who managed to go to med school (or undertake similar study) with a small child? Or do you know anyone who did?

2.) Work really hard, finish med school before having a child. This option bothers me. I can't imagine waiting ten years to have a baby. After all, I won't be able to give birth straight out of med school. It will be a few years at least until the work load decreases somewhat. (I want to be a GP, by the way.)

I am willing to do this, but my partner and I do feel strongly about having a child as soon as possible. If I were to decide to finish med school first, what do you guys think of freezing sperm/ova, in case something disastrous were to happen in the meantime?

3.) Have a baby now, work in pathology or research with my undergrad degree, and just see what happens with my feelings toward medicine?

Basically, I may be naive, but I feel that having a child doesn't have to change your life. Of course, it DOES, but I feel that with careful scheduling you should be able to achieve things and have a family.
On the other hand I am aware medical school is very intensive and very draining and many students do not come out with their spirituality/humanity/personality intact, let alone their relationships. I would hate it if I found myself getting so involved in medicine that I drifted away from my partner, and we never had a chance to have children.

Help me decide, hive mind!

Plus-Size shirt for under med student lab coat

not that girl — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 09:48:28 -0800

I'm looking for the perfect shirt for a plus-size woman doing med school rotations Asking for a friend, who is too busy studying for pharmacology to shop for herself. Alas, I am terrible at buying clothes for myself, let alone being drafted to be someone's personal shopper, so I thought I'd ask what you all know.

Here's the deal: She starts rotations this fall, and needs to find the perfect shirt to wear. Here are the guidelines she sent me:

it needs to have no collar, bc i have a collar on my lab coat, which i must wear at all times. it must be light so i don't get too hot. it must be easily washable and not too wrinkly after the dryer. it must not look like just a t-shirt. it must be short, or regular t-shirt length, not tunic-length... so it doesn't stick out from under my short coat.

My additions:

It needs to come in sizes up to 3X or 4X.

And, since her plan is basically to find the right thing and buy a bunch to wear with neutral trousers, I suppose it should ideally come in several colors.

OK, all you plus-sized clothes-horse medical professionals, find me this shirt!

Gift for future pediatrician?

grouse — Sun, 29 May 2005 09:03:53 -0800

Suggestions for a gift for a graduating med student friend who will be a pediatrician? My friend starts her pediatric residency in a few weeks. I'd like to get her a gift in the $5-$20 range (I'm poor, and it's really just a token). I live in the UK, so something I can order off of a US merchant for shipping to Texas would be best. I've already seen these threads, but nothing there within my price range seems right. Any suggestions?