<p>I am just a freshman, but I learned quickly that (at least a vocal subset) of students interested in medicine seem to be consumed by it. They constantly worry about there GPAs and plot ways to increase their application chances. Even though we are freshmen, they already know how to get into Johns Hopkins. They should be in accelerated/honors courses but they are in bio 101, chem 101, non-calculus based physics, and basic calculus even though they took the AP test, to keep a pristine 4.0. They go to every office hours and go over the test question by question with their professors, while getting tutoring at the math & science center even though they don't struggle. They've already taken the practice MCAT and the Princeton Review course. They already know how they where they will go to med school and how they will practice their chosen specialty. I swear, they would sell their soul to the Devil to get into medical school!</p>
<p>Instead, I never really worried about professional school and grad school. I don't worry about it and try to focus on learning useful things rather than making a beautiful medical school application (not that my GPA is any lower than my anxious peers). I was wondering if the worried, obsessed premeds were the ones who ended up going to medical school, and if anyone else really stands a chance. I hope there is still room for people who didn't spend every waking moment doing something to improve their CV. I am also worried that the desperate premed attitude might lead students to cheating or other unethical paths. Do medical schools also appreciate students who aren't completely obsessed with medical school admission?</p>
<p>Yes, med schools want the brightest, but they also want the most compassionate. Read the book Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, a biography about Dr. Paul Farmer. (It will change your life!) According to my daughter’s friends that are in med schools across the US, the Dr. Farmer type of student is the ideal.</p>
<p>You should be so busy working at the University hospital because you got your CNA & phlebotomy during the summer, planning your trip with a local medical aide group (take your pick) to a third world country, and running in the Boston Marathon to raise money for a child with cancer that you met while working at the hospital, that you won’t have time to worry about your “competition” at your college! </p>
<p>OP,
Stay away from people who are “a vocal subset) of students interested in medicine seem to be consumed by it”. For that matter, if it bothers you and you cannot filter it out, stay away from SDN. There are many others who are achieving at higher level bu never talk about thier grades, enjoy their college experience and are vocal in different areas, like participating in general campus life, Greek, travel abroad, volunteering, pursue thier personal interests in music, art, foreign languages, interesting Research…etc. Some of the last group are actually at the top of their peers group academically, but you will never hear from them discussing that, instead they are willing to help others. This bunch will be successful, the ones that you mentioned will fall out.</p>
<p>Another question I had was the prevalence of cheating in premed track students. Based on the zeal and level of worry some of these students show, I am afraid they might stoop to forging applications materials or cheating on tests. I don’t intend to cheat through college, but I am concerned if other students are cheating (after all, classes are graded based on score distribution). </p>
<p>Lastly, I was wondering if those radical volunteering schemes really pay off. I actually have heard premed students speaking about going to Guatemala, Mexico, Uganda and Haiti to volunteer and working as MAs. I have volunteered at the local free clinic, but don’t really want to go to Africa. Neither do I really consider being a medical assistant preparation for being a physician. All the doctors I have met say it is a completely different profession…</p>
<p>If you catch someone cheating, you should report them. It will probably benefit your grade, especially if the test is really hard and you don’t the curve to get messed up.
That being said, don’t cheat on tests yourself. This isn’t high school; you will have almost no chances to redeem yourself.</p>
<p>I realize we are discussing MD, but according to the the U of Iowa PA program, “A minimum of 1,000 hours of direct patient health care experience is required for admission”. The reason I mentioned the CNA/Phlebotomy is most students will not be able to work in a hospital unless they have some sort of certification. Most may not want to work in nursing homes. Just saying you are “pre-med” may not be enough to get those jobs now. </p>
<p>The free clinic is absolutely a great place to volunteer! I was just making a statement based on the Dr. Farmer model & encouraging the original poster to look beyond his/her peers. Daughter worked with Katrina victims rather than going to a third world country as many of her peers did, and this was to assure getting into Nuclear Medicine (BS) (most of the same pre-reqs as pre-med) at the U of I. These experiences, along with multiple certifications, helped her to get interim positions after graduation and ultimately her full time job. She also had a BA at another college, and articulated her science credits for another degree. (It’s a tough job and admissions market out there!)</p>
<p>Whether we like it or not, a biology degree that didn’t get into med school may have to fall back on those lowly certifications. I’m so sorry so many very qualified and hard working young people have to work harder than the generations ahead of them, to no avail.</p>
<p>Intellect may not be enough to become a doctor. You must show intent.</p>
<p>OP: Do you have to be obsessed from freshman year? My son, now an M3, didn’t decide on medical school until spring of junior year, and he was a econ major. He took bio and chem to keep the option open, but didn’t give it much more thought than that. He worked very hard, but had a very good social life and had only one friend who also went to medical school. I will say that the top 10 or 20 medical schools were out of reach because he didn’t have the full resume; i.e, years of research and volunteering, great recommendations from sciences profs, etc. However, he’s happily ensconced in his “mid-level” medical school and should have every opportunity he could want.</p>
<p>one of the reasons my D is taking the four-year plan for sciences, allowing a double (and thesis) in Philosophy. Of course, that will result in a gap year, but that could be the last year in one’s life before retirement to have fun and do something solely for self.</p>
<p>It’s also why she chose this route later than most. She saw the gunnerish competition in our HS (top 5% is NM, melt down over the first B in life), and never wanted to be “that kid.”</p>
<p>I feel that this is a very sad situation! Many bright capable college students who work their butts off to pursue what they think is their dream to become a medical doctor, actually think they are a failure if they do not get into med school! My son is one of them and I am concerned that all that he is doing to ultimately practice medicine is not healthy. I hardly think graduating from a rigorous prestigious college with lets say a 3.5 is a failure but he may?? The question is: Will this have lifetime self esteem implications for these students or will they pursue a more meaningful path and strengthen from their perceived failure? Time will tell but I sure hope it turns out OK! He is done with his sophmore year and doing a paid science internship in a neuroscience lab. There must be some future in research! Someone has to tell these M.D.'s what to do and how to practice!</p>
<p>The unfortunate fact is that those students who are truly “consumed” by their efforts to get into medical school might have a harder time getting in than those who aren’t. I spent the (vast) majority of my interview at the medical school I now attend talking about one of my extra curricular activities that had NOTHING to do with being pre-med. I know of one of my classmates who spent almost the entire interview talking about college basketball. Not because he played it but because he followed (and still follows) it religiously.</p>
<p>Not to be glib for a second time in this thread, but “all work and no play…”</p>
<p>Of course there are various career path that one can lead with self respect, … But as we all know that after the hard earned PhD the profession can be long and tough, but not so well paid. There may be minor portion of MD’s who earn little and live a lower middle class life, but the majority of PhDs I would dare to guess are middle or lower middle class. Some, and not too infrequently, fall on tough luck like the person in this story.</p>
<p>it is easy to be ‘consumed’ with premed and still be active in ECs, whether that be a hobby, intramurals, community service, research, or giving campus tours. Indeed, I would submit that the EC’s that compound the issue. A’s would be a little easier to come by if that is all one did. But yeah, what a boring existence. :)</p>
<p>Medschool admission is in a way very similar to admission to top colleges in that if all you do is study and nothing else then you are likely rejected by college. We saw a valedictorian from a very competitive public highschool which routinely sends over half a dozen kids to top 10 colleges getting no admission to any college she applied to and had to go to an asian country (to her parents homeland) to attend college. Any premed students who knows what s/he is doing will do other necessary activities for medschool admission. Nothing wrong with being completely immersed in preparing oneself for medschool though.</p>
<p>Thanks for link toughyear! My son is also obsessed with college basketball so maybe that will help! What a tough break for that researcher, sounds like his career path reached a real deadend.</p>
<p>Even if you do everything right on paper, isn’t there something wrong with being obsessed with school admissions? I mean, I meet these students and it seems so important too important to them. For them, it’s as if medicine is some holy grail quest that I am afraid will disappoint them. I fell that behind every anxious freshman is someone who wants to be a doctor because they see it as a status symbol.</p>