<p>Hi Everyone,</p>
<p>I want to apologize if this isn't the right place to post this as I wasn't sure. I'm having a tough time deciding what I want to major in, but I know I want it to be a science. My goal is to hopefully get into Med School, but considering how competitive it is I need a back-up plan. I am trying my absolute best to be competitive for Med Schools GPA, E.Cs, Volunteering. I have been searching for a medical related job for about a year now (anything even remotely related to medicine) but no luck. The economy is just terrible and I don't want to be stuck if I am unable to get into Med School. My question is if I major in Medical Laboratory Technology will it hurt my chances to get into Medical School that is if I decide to apply without working as a Medical Laboratory Technologist. It seems very appealing to me, but my dream is to be a doctor. I wanted to have a back-up plan and I know majoring in nursing is looked down upon if you don't work as a nurse. Is this the same for Medical Laboratory Technologist. Also, how were your experiences with majors and Medical Schools, if you don't mind me asking. Thanks in Advance!!!</p>
<p>I am currently a CLS (Medical Technologist) and went to CPP too many years ago. I have several friends that majored in Microbiology with an emphasis in Medical Lab Tech and went on to Medical school, Dental school and even Vet school. It is great that you are thinking about a back-up plan and definitely think that this major would help. Most Pre-Med majors will major in Biology, but as long as you take the required classes for Med School and score high on the MCAT, it does not matter what your major is in college. </p>
<p>I can see two, maybe 3 potential problems with majoring in Med Tech</p>
<p>1) AMCAS statistics show that vocational majors (nursing, med tech, nutrition, exercise science, etc) have the lowest average MCAT scores of all majors and are accepted into med school at a lower rate of all majors, even when adjusted for MCAT score differentials.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/2013factstable18.pdf”>https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/2013factstable18.pdf</a></p>
<p>2) if med tech requires you to do clinical training during your senior year, that may make taking time off for med school interviews & travel difficult.</p>
<p>3) LizzyM says this about vocational majors:
</p>
<p><a href=“Can we/should include internships in the medical application? | Student Doctor Network”>http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/threads/can-we-should-include-internships-in-the-medical-application.1042765/</a></p>
<p>(She talking specifically about a nutrition major in this thread but it’s similar to comments she and other adcomms have made about vocational majors.)</p>
<p>~~~~</p>
<p>Now, none of this means you won’t get accepted to med school. But it may mean that you are making your route to med school more difficult.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Thank You both for your reply. If I did major in Medical Laboratory Technology, I would make sure that I graduated by the end of senior year (I believe clinical experience is taken during the summer of junior year in the program I would enter). That is exactly what I was worried about, having the question “why train for this other profession if the goal is to be a physician?” It seems that back-up majors like nursing, MLT, Engineering…etc seem to pop up this question although health-care related majors are what interest me. I guess I will have to reconsider my major since I have heard biology, chemistry…etc don’t seem to have good job prospects. I do know however that I plan on majoring in the natural sciences since this is what I find most interesting. Thanks to all who applied. It really helped.</p>
<p>Before you make any final decisions, meet with the pre-health advisors at your college. They may have more insight into how MLT majors at your school have fared when applying to med school.</p>
<p>And yes, you will be asked why you’ve trained for a different healthcare field when you really want to be a physician. It’s a pretty standard question. If you have a convincing answer, you’ll get a pass on your choice of major. Usually it’s easier to convince an interviewer that you want medicine instead of MLT if you have actually worked as a professional in your major field first.</p>
<p>~~~</p>
<p>If you want a natural science major that has better post-graduation employment prospects than chem or bio–consider mathematics or statistics.</p>
<p>(Yes, math and stats are both consider “natural sciences”.)</p>
<p>That is a good idea; I hadn’t even thought about that. Although I have never actually worked as an MLT, I have had experience with research both as a research assistant and in my Biology Labs (though I’m sure it’s not the same). To me, their very different. I’ve always loved the idea of being a physician and helping actual people than being in a lab so I’m sure that I’d rather go to Medical School than become an MLT. I also know that simply because I want to go to medical school doesn’t mean they want me and I’m trying to be prepared if that’s the case. Of course, I will reapply and try again but at that point I will also need a career or at least an major that can get me one later on and being an MLT does sound more appealing to me than say a biologist, but I can’t say since as you said I would have to work in it first. I do love mathematics so that would also be a viable option, though I’m not a fan of finance in particular. I am a freshman at college so I am glad that I atleast have some time to think about it. I just don’t want to major in something I will regret later on. Thank You for the advice.</p>
<p>Finance isn’t the only field that hires math majors. (Both my Ds had a math major in addition to another science major.)</p>
<p>Public utilities, insurance companies, state & federal agencies, biomedical & pharm companies, airlines, even public health agencies—all hire math majors, </p>
<p>Biostats (either a MPH or MS degree) is a very, very hot field right now. Tons of jobs monitoring drug & medical studies, either on the pharm business side or on the federal regulating agency side.</p>
<p>Embedded within son’s majors of biochem and microbiology was a biotechnology minor. Same was true for the med tech lab, the major was just a few more classes. This was at our local state uni so adding the additional classes didn’t change his tuition during the semesters. You might check your school as well to see if you could do something like that. allowing for a STEM major with a vocational one serving as your back-up without having to add very many more classes. Genetics also is very close to micro and biochem as well.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Kat</p>