Sooo, I apologize in advance but this is going to be long…
Hi! I’m a going into my Junior year of Undergrad at UMich and currently freaking out when it comes to the future. I know career prospects always change and live is ever evolving blah blah blah but I would really like to find a Major I could cling to as to have some way to anchor myself on my journey at school.
I came into UMich thinking I wanted to be a chemistry major but then came to the sad realization that chemistry majors do not make much money and jobs are usually not the most interesting. I continued to study science because I really enjoy it and finished all of distribution requirements along the way. Whenever anyone would ask me what I was doing I would tell them I was PreMed with a Major in biology. Yes going PreMed still holds interest to me but I feel like I can’t be so casual about a field that requires many many many years of study. Still I continued taking the PreMed classes and have kept up a 3.9 GPA.
I later figured out how much I enjoy studying French and am interested in having a minor in French. It just scares me that I don’t have the same passion that I do with studying a foreign language than I do with a career in science. I am still interested in studying biology but I don’t know what major to declare and become afraid that I’m falling behind or have not done enough to secure a future job. It would be really cool to try to become a professor later on in life but I’m not sure what I’d need to do to be able to secure that career path.
To sum everything up, I’m confused. I know this sounds sort of desperate but I could really use some suggestions. If you finished reading this thank you so much and Go Blue!
You could go into biomedical or chemical engineering. A lot of pre med courses overlap with their requirements. However, engineering courses in all departments often have a very rigid prerequisite chain, thus if you were to start now, you may be forced to take a fifth year, which is not a problem in the eyes of employers or graduate/professional schools, but it will be extra time and tuition for you.
Have you considered something like a physician assistant program instead of medical school? Doctors and PAs have VERY similar roles (can diagnose, write scrips, etc.) but PAs do not specialize in any one field. I think the biggest differences are that PAs cannot perform surgery, and while doctors typically work autonomously, PAs work always under the “supervision” of a doctor (not that the doctor is always hanging by your side, but they are essentially your “boss”).
Given you don’t want to commit to that kind of study but are still interested in medicine, I would really encourage you to look into this more! PA school is usually 24 months I believe, and is competitive, but you sound like a competitive applicant given your grades! There is no residency - just a licensing exam - though I’ve heard post-grad training is becoming more common (not required). It’s a booming field and I think I’ve been seen by more PAs in the last four years than I have in the my whole life! The job growth right now is something like 25-30% (national average for most careers is 7-8%).
As far as the state of Michigan, Western Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, University of Detroit Mercy, Wayne State University, and Eastern Michigan University all have very reputable and accredited programs. I can’t speak for anything out-of-state but I think that most states will have at least one school offering this kind of program.
I hope this helped if you haven’t already considered it! I was considering the PA route for a long time so I’ve done a lot of digging on it.