<p>Applying to medical school without a degree -- or with a degree in the health sciences -- is extremely difficult and the odds will be very severely against you.</p>
<p>do degrees in the "health sciences" include biology, chemistry, biochemistry and biomedical eng?</p>
<p>No. "Health sciences" are usually vocational or technical in nature ("dietetics", "cytotechnology", "medical technology", "diagnostic genetic sciences", to name a few offered at my school). Biology, chemistry, etc. are hard sciences, they are academic majors.</p>
<p>Thanks goldshadow and blue.
I really would like to know about how to soul-search.</p>
<p>and aren't you guys medical students? I have seen that you spend a lot of time helping others on these forums - is it just you two (because you are not the average joe) or does everyone get that time in medical school? -- just curious.</p>
<p>GS is still an undergrad. These forums take remarkably little time, especially since there are about four questions that get asked over and over again. (Yours is one of the few interesting ones.) I'm still preclinical, meaning that I'm in lecture and attending classes like everybody else. You'll notice that clinical students, like BRM, have much less time on their hands.</p>
<p>blue, what was your major and which ug/med school did you go to? Isn't preclinical just as hard as clinical because you have to study and "drink water from a fire hose," whereas in clinical you have interesting rotations and just have to study for usmles?</p>
<p>Haha - from everything else i heard, preclinical studies seem to scare me. Maybe, I heard it from untrustworthy people - isn't preclinical studies really really really tough?</p>
<p>There's no question that medical school is tough, even the preclinical years. In some ways, they're much more unpleasant than the clinical years. That said, there's no denying that students have a lot more free time than we will during our clinical years! We go to class from 9 to 4; we come home and study; but our time is our own. Nobody pages us because a patient needs to be admitted, nobody tracks us down to see why we wrote a particular comment in a history or physical exam writeup.</p>
<p>So yes, preclinical years are hard -- there's a lot of information, and we spend a lot of time studying -- but there's time for the Internet. Clinical years are much busier, although they're generally considered less unpleasant.</p>
<p>^that clears it up. But don't you get immune to all that studying that medical school difficulty becomes a routine or are there more challenges?</p>
<p>How should I soul search?</p>
<p>I am thinking that I should take pharm path right now, then transfer my credits to a biochemistry degree if I really confirmed my interest in medicine... how does that sound? </p>
<p>I really wish I could know what I want/can do within a month (deadline is May 1).</p>
<p>and im assuming, bluedevil, that you go to duke for med school...let me know if I'm wrong...</p>
<p>BDM went to Duke for undergrad. He goes somewhere else for medical school.</p>
<p>I'd reiterate what I already told you. Go to a regular undergrad program, do some more exploring, and then when you've figured it out stake out down that path. While going to the 0-6 pharm path and then transferring could work, you'll lose a lot (A LOT) less ground if you go to undergrad, then enter either a 2+4 pharm program or medical school, as there's a very real likelihood that a portion of your pharm credits would not transfer to a 4 year university. I'd further remind you that you can enter pharmacy school after getting your bachelor's degree. Going to undergrad first keeps your options open to a greater degree. While the 0-6 programs are nice if you know that pharm is exactly what you want to do, they aren't good options if you are as uncertain as you appear to be.</p>
<p>
[quote]
MyAshes, I would like to know what you majored in.
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</p>
<p>I am still an undergraduate sophomore and I am a Chemistry major, which isn't easy but I genuinely enjoy it. I withdrew myself from the 6-year program (2 years of undergraduate pre-pharmacy coursework + 4 years of pharmacy school) that I was in because I realized that I wanted to become a doctor. Fortunately, almost all of the classes I had taken (except one) overlapped with my pre-med requirements, applied to my Chemistry major, and/or has benefited me in some way, so the transition was easy. </p>
<p>I understand that being in a 6-year program is a big deal because you don't have to apply and compete to get into pharmacy school. And that's something you do not want to give up unless you absolutely know you do not want to be a pharmacist. I do not regret starting out with pharmacy because it has made me realize how much I wanted to be a doctor.</p>
<p>"Soul-searching" is very vague but that's because it encompasses a lot of things. You have to think about both your career goals and your life goals. Instead of comparing pharmacy and medicine, separate the two and think about your motives for each. Know what you're getting yourself into, but more importantly, know why you're doing it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
And that's something you do not want to give up unless you absolutely know you do not want to be a pharmacist.
[/quote]
Say instead, that's something you don't want to give up unless you do not absolutely know you want to be a pharmacist.</p>
<p>You don't get immune to studying. At least, I certainly haven't, and I'm almost done with my preclinical years.</p>
<p>Thank you so much BigRed,myashes,blue! </p>
<p>MyAshes & Bluedevil or anyone else out there, I would just like to know if you agree with Bigred's statement:</p>
<p>"While going to the 0-6 pharm path and then transferring could work, you'll lose a lot (A LOT) less ground if you go to undergrad, then enter either a 2+4 pharm program or medical school, as there's a very real likelihood that a portion of your pharm credits would not transfer to a 4 year university."</p>
<p>-- I was under the impression that my 2 or 3 years of pharm coursework can be transferred to a biochem degree...</p>
<p>MyAshes, are you still at Rutgers? I was even thinking to lean towards what you have done with your transition from pharm to med, but BigRed said taht I will lose credits. </p>
<p>I have spoken to a (firstyear, I believe) medical student at DUCOM and she said taht it is not that hard as long as you constantly study your notes. So, I just want to make sure that if I have a clear picture of Medschool. Is med school tough because it is too much info that one needs to know or that the material is difficult to understand, or is it both?</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>I also want to know if there is a possibilty if pharm jobs become outsourced. Somebody said that pharmaceut. companies are having a tough time as indian companies are copying there med. w/ a new style. </p>
<p>I know someone said this before, but is the job secure?</p>
<p>^and that too, 6/7 years from now?</p>
<p>Loss of coursework will depend entirely on what 0-6 year program you begin at, and what 4 year university you end up at (more so on the back end). If your pharm program has a bunch of specialized pre-pharm courses - ie "general chemistry for the pharmacy student" or the like, there's a possibility that some 4 year University (or a medical school) will not allow it to count as credit for completing general chemistry. Likewise any sort of pharm professionalism course that first or second year students may be exposed to, is very unlikely to have a similar counterpart at a 4 year university - meaning you paid for (and spent time studying for) a completely useless set of credit hours. </p>
<p>As for the difficulty of medical school...For me the main issue is always amount, and then the level of depth needed to answer the questions my pre-clinical profs desired. Thus it was always a balancing act of spending enough time to get the picky details while also making sure I got through everything. The clinical years...the emphasis for third years is not being to clinch the obscure diagnosis, but in making sure you know those that smack you in the face and shake you all around. The more common they are, the more you have to know about them - like treatments, but even then, details like dosing amounts aren't required knowledge. </p>
<p>Lastly, the other issue for me was that in the first two years, the learning (at least at my school) was always "Condition -> symptoms", whereas in clinical medicine it's "symptoms -> condition", so there's a different way of thinking about things.</p>
<p>Thanks BRM! What motivated you to practice medicine (open question)? Isn't it interesting to study those detail/topics that you had to study in your preclinical years? </p>
<p>I have checked the Rutgers Pharm and Biochem curriculum and its pretty much the same (the regular orgo, chem, bio, physics, labs and writing). There are few extra classes that I HAVE to take in pharm (mam phys), but perhaps, they will help me w/my MCAT. It won't be a waste of money because I have full scholarshiP! But yes, I woudl have to squeeze in extra courses. </p>
<p>BRM and BD, how did you prepare for the MCATs (self study, Kaplan, PR, or a combination) & which majors do you have? </p>
<p>MyAshes, did you find yourself overloaded with coursework (extra classes to fulfill chem major req.) because you had switched your path?</p>
<p>Economics, Kaplan.</p>
<p>BDM, what do you think of the job security of pharmacists in the near future (6-7 years)? </p>
<p>Wow! Econ! my mom majored in that too. Wasn't it difficult to major in this field AND meet MCAT prereqs? You probably have studied a lot during your undergrad years! If you don't mind answering this for me: Why did you major in economics and not go to a, let's say, a MBA course instead... basically, why a business concentration? Are you planning to manage a hospital?</p>
<p>Let's just say that BDM has a lot of things on his plate, and they're all over the place...whatever answer he gives you is just going to cause more questions.</p>
<p>I've wanted to be a physician since I was three years old after I broke my right femur. What clicked then, I don't know, but it's a position that I feel matches very well with my talents and things I like to do.</p>
<p>I'm a very big picture person. While some people can't see the forest for the trees, I'm very much the opposite. So no, I don't find having to study extremely small details very interesting. </p>
<p>Majored in sociology; took kaplan.</p>