<p>I have been considering wanting to be a criminal defense attorney for a long time. But recently I have been curious about what a pathologist does. I have a strong interest in diseases and how they work. But I also love public speaking and argument/rhetoric. If I have to choose which one should I be? I love hospitals but I also love courthouses and courtrooms. Please help me decide. for undergrad im considering majoring in philosophy and speech communications. But what are the requirements for med schools. Thanks and bye</p>
<p>Have you ever worked in either a hospital or in a criminal defense practice?</p>
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<p>Go into politics. :-)</p>
<p>Yes, you can be both, but it would take many years and lots and lots of $$$. CC has a very developed area for pre-meds; I recommend that you visit it.
Unless I read your posts incorrectly, you’re still in HS and don’t like math. There is some math required for medical school-check out the MCAT to begin. If you plan on going to medical school immediately after college, you’ll need to make sure you take all the prerequisites for your application. Again, you’ll find plenty of advice on the CC medical school section. You can major in pretty much anything for either, but medical school has a ton of pre-reqs; law has none.
Other than watching TV shows, how could you possibly know you want to be a criminal defense attorney? What exactly is it about courtrooms and courthouses you “love”? How many times have you visited either or both?
And what is your knowledge of pathology? And why would you want to do both medical school and law school?</p>
<p>Practically speaking, you cannot easily be a criminal defense lawyer and a pathologist. There are some law/medicine mixes, but people with both degrees often do one job that combines both fields, such as working in the field of bioscience/medical investments. </p>
<p>Although the idea of representing someone and calling yourself as your own expert witness has a certain appeal…</p>
<p>Yes im still in high school. And what has drawn me to wanting to become a lawyer is mock trial I was a lawyer one year and a witness the next. I plan on playing a lawyer again. Oh and when I looked more closely at what pathology is I have decided oncology would be better for me. I also want to get a PhD in communication sciences so I can do some expert witness work. And im bad at math too. I dont really care about the money I would make. Its more to have a wealth of expertise and to change society. Im going to be a senior btw</p>
<p>Yes. The requirements for medical school are far more specific and it’s more difficult getting that MD so that should be your focus in college if you so want to do this. Getting into a law school thereafter is not so difficult. Also getting living wage job with a MD is far easier than with a law degree most all of the time. Having a MD and then becoming a lawyer opens a lot of possibilities in law. I do know a few who have done both.</p>
<p>This is such a College Confidential type question, lol.</p>
<p>As another user said, medical school admissions are a lot more specific in what courses are required (certain hard sciences and maths) whereas law school admissions are far more open and almost entirely numbers based. </p>
<p>The dilemma, however, is that the legal field is more or less a blood bath right now and prestige/pedigree of what law school you attend is vital for landing a job capable of paying off a huge law school sized debt load - so to have promising prospects in law, you need to attend a “top” (usually tier one or top 14) law school BUT, to major in something like Biology or Physics (where you’d nail down all the pre-med requirements), landing a Harvard/Yale Law worthy GPA would be much harder than your exclusively pre-law counterparts who are majoring in English, History, or Poli Sci. Granted, you can still major in Political Science or English and take science electives that fulfill pre med requirements but even still, you are competing GPA wise with students who have full humanities based schedules whereas you’re trying to land similar grades in classes like Organic Chemistry.</p>
<p>You asked what the requirements are for med schools - you can look that up on the websites of the different medical schools. I’ll give two examples of required courses from two different medical schools here in Massachusetts - UMass Medical School and Harvard Medical School.</p>
<p>-UMass Medical School-
Biology: A one-year general biology or zoology course, with a laboratory component is required. Students wishing to pursue additional course work in the biological sciences should consider genetics, embryology, cell biology, or comparative anatomy.</p>
<p>Chemistry: One year of inorganic and one year of organic chemistry each with a lab are required. Students interested in advanced courses are advised to consider biochemistry or physical chemistry.</p>
<p>Physics: A one year course in general physics with a lab is required.</p>
<p>English: At least one year of college level English literature or composition is required. </p>
<p>-Harvard Medical School- (Syncopated because HMS is pretty wordy with their rationale, LOL.)
- Biology
The required 1-year biology course should be devoted to genetics and cell biology and should emphasize human biology (signal transduction, basic pharmacologic principles, homeostasis and feedback, an introduction to hormone receptors, neuronal signaling, and immunology). </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Chemistry
Students should be exposed to general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry in a 2-year sequence that provides the foundation for the study of biologically relevant chemistry. Organic chemistry preparation should be woven seamlessly with basic principles of biochemistry (especially protein structure and function).</p></li>
<li><p>Physics
In the area of physics, students should be well prepared in biologically relevant areas of mechanics, kinetics, thermodynamics, the properties of matter (quantum theory) and wave theory, electricity and magnetism, and optics. Ordinarily, this requirement is accomplished most readily by a year-long course in physics.</p></li>
<li><p>Laboratory Experience
Required laboratory components of biology and chemistry are no longer defined as discretely as they were in the past. Lengthy laboratory components of the required science requirement courses are not necessarily time well and efficiently spent. </p></li>
<li><p>Computational Skills/Mathematics
Computational skills are required for contemporary scientific literacy. Although the calculus of derivatives and integration represents important concepts for the precise, quantifiable understanding of dynamic physiological processes and systems, a full year of calculus focusing on the derivation of biologically low-relevance theorems is less important than mastery of more relevant algebraic and trigonometric quantitative skills. </p></li>
<li><p>Analytical and writing skills/Expository Writing
Creative, complex, and compelling discoveries in medicine, as in other fields, involve grappling with good questions borne from close-reading analyses and careful observations. Therefore, effective courses in science and nonscience disciplines should focus on analytical and writing skills. In addition, at a minimum, HMS matriculants should have one year of critical writing/thinking preparation, preferably in a course devoted specifically to the development of expository writing skills. </p></li>
<li><p>Language
Because effective communication among the medical care team and between physicians and patients is so crucial to the delivery of care, all matriculants should be fluent and have a nuanced facility in English. Mastery of a foreign language, although not required, is a valuable skill that expands intellectual and cultural horizons and that reinforces preparation for patient care in a multicultural society.</p></li>
<li><p>Additional Requirements for the HST Program
In addition to all the above requirements, the HST curriculum requires that students be comfortable with upper-level mathematics (through differential equations and linear algebra), biochemistry, and molecular biology. In addition, one year of calculus-based physics in college is required.</p></li>
</ol>
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<p>Okay, let’s think about this a little more just from a logistical point of view.</p>
<p>For any of these options, you’re likely looking at a bachelor’s degree first, which is about 4 years. During this time, you would be expected to complete the medical school prerequisites, take the MCAT, and have med school related extracurriculars (clinical/hospital experience) to make yourself a competitive application. You would also be expected to take the LSAT for law school, and it would probably be a good idea for you to get more familiarity with the legal field to make sure this is something you actually want to do. To get a PhD, you’d need to take the GRE and get a good amount of research experience to be considered a competitive applicant, which is especially important if you’re trying to get funding.</p>
<p>Law school is three years with very little funding available, so you would likely go into significant debt for this degree.</p>
<p>Med school is four years also with very little funding available and significant debt, after which you would likely have to complete a residency with can be 3-5 years (or more) depending on your specialty.</p>
<p>Getting a PhD can be upwards of 5 years, depending on your program and how quickly you can get your dissertation done. I’m not familiar with communication sciences, so I don’t know how readily available funding is in that field, but it’s possible that you could attend a funded PhD program.</p>
<p>So you’re looking at about 19+ years of further education/training for all three of those degrees to do… what exactly? After the first degree I would imagine they’re really going to be questioning what you really want to do, and that will likely be something you’re going to have to argue during the admissions process. Med schools, after all, want to train doctors, not future lawyers. </p>
<p>It’s nice to have ambitions and goals, but be realistic about it. Unless you’re independently wealthy, being a professional student really isn’t an option for most people, even if you don’t care about money. What I would recommend is to just keep all of these options in the back of your head and worry about undergrad first. Take some time to explore different interests. Volunteer in a hospital/clinical setting, try to do some research in a field that interests you, try to get a job in a legal office or get some exposure to what law is really like (informational interviews with lawyers may be an option, if you’re not able to work with any directly). Find more about law school, med school, and grad school. Talk to your professors about what grad school was like and what a career in research is life. Talk to people who have PhDs who work outside of academia. Explore you’re options and see what you would like to do after college and then pursue that path. Figure out what you want to do and then figure out what degree would help get you there. Trying to do everything (especially in the very beginning), usually turns into you not being very good at any of them.</p>
<p>@Anonguy67 Well, if you want to kind of combine the medicine and law, look into Public Health Policy. I’m in the same boat as you, and I’m seriously considering PHP as a major in college.</p>
<p>I know two JD/MDs. One started as a lawyer working in health law and became a doctor because he thought that part was better. The other does medical malpractice. From this extensive sample I conclude that you can do both, but you’ll end up doing one or the other because the overlap is very narrow.</p>
<p>I’ve known of two JD/MDs as well. They were both medical examiners. I think law school would be a piece of cake after medical school. The benefit of being a medical examiner as a doctor is, I suppose, you wouldn’t need malpractice insurance. </p>
<p>Just make sure that either your parents can fund or that you you have credit good enough that you are able to borrow the over $500k that it would cost today to complete both degrees. Add approximately 5%each year to the cost for tuition/housing increases</p>
<p>You can do both but usually the second occurs deeper into the first profession. The MD I knew at law school had been practicing medicine for 6-8 years. I’m wondering now if he stayed with law… </p>
<p>I know a doctor who practiced law for two years, then decided it wasn’t for her and went to med school. So much studying and debt! I can’t imagine. But she is a really good doctor. You can certainly have both degrees. But it is extremely unlikely that you will practice medicine and law simultaneously. There are some jobs where having both degrees could come in handy (professor of medical ethics? general counsel for a hospital? IP lawyer for pharmaceuticals and medical devices? expert witness in malpractice cases? I’m sure there are others). But in ALL of those jobs, it would probably be more common to find people who only have one of those degrees. It’s not essential to have both. </p>
<p>Look at the Penn web site. They have a lot of joint or dual degree programs.</p>
<p>There was an article in my local paper at the beginning of this month and it made me think of this thread. UVA is beginning a dual enrollment program:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/uva-begins-dual-medicine-law-degree-program/article_616e046a-1b66-11e4-a1d8-001a4bcf6878.html”>http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/uva-begins-dual-medicine-law-degree-program/article_616e046a-1b66-11e4-a1d8-001a4bcf6878.html</a></p>