<p>i definitely want to become a doctor so ill be in the pre med program thing at my college and make sure i get the prerequisites for med school but! my back up plan is to become a pharmacist if i dont get into med school because i think that would be interesting to me and i love science. so! i asked my college admission advisor for the college im hoping to go to if i could do the pre med program and the pre pharm program or if theres something she would recommend. all she did was tell me that YES they HAVE a pre med program and a pre pharm program and a bunch of OTHER pre professional programs i can take. unhelpful. didnt even answer the question. so! ill ask on here! my major will be chemical engineering (unless i change it once i get there)! should i worry about being in both the premed and the pre pharm program or do they both cover the same classes? should i pester my advisor more or is it even possible to do both? also on a kinda unrelated topic! i wanted to minor in spanish or some other foreign language...do you think it would be wise to do that with my major and a pre professional program or two? THANKS!</p>
<p>While there is good deal of overlap between pre-med requirements and pre-pharm requirements, they are not identical. (Pharmacy has more and the exact requirements can and do vary from school to school. Pharm schools typically require biochem, microbiology and anatomy & physiology in additional to the pre med courses. Many also require or recommend public speaking, psychology and 2 semesters of econ.)</p>
<p>Both medical schools and pharmacy schools expect applicants to have extensive clinical experience, shadowing and research experiences in the relevant areas at the time of application. It would be complicated and extremely time-consuming to put the necessary hundreds of hours into doing so for both pharmacy and medicine while at the same time maintaining a high GPA in a demanding major.</p>
<p>I suggest you do some career exploration into both pharmacy and medicine during your freshman year, then commit to one pathway or the other.</p>
<p>thanks for that! how do you mean experience? my friend is a psych major and shes doing an internship…is that what you mean but obviously pertaining to medicine? and if so how do i go about applying or signing up for these things? is it school sponsored stuff or an outside of school thing?</p>
<p>It’s outside of school stuff that you’ll need to arrange for yourself. You’ll need to do clinical volunteering at a hospital, free-standing clinic, group home or nursing home to gain experience working with people in medical situations. You’ll need to contact physicians and see if one or more will allow you to shadow them so you can get a realistic idea of what doctors actually do and how they interact with other members of the medical staff.</p>
<p>If your college has a pre-med club, the club may be able to help make be able to suggest some places where volunteers are welcomed.</p>
<p>AFAIK there are no formal internships for pre meds.</p>
<p>how could i do clinical volunteering at a hospital as just a premed student? i wouldnt have the training to do anything…i can understand shadowing but i dont understand how i would be allowed to volunteer in a hospital without having a degree…</p>
<p>I do not understand what you meant by “clinical volunteering.” But for volunteering at a hospital, of course you can. Some hospital even accepts high schoolers as volunteers.</p>
<p>The hospital will assign the job that you can do.</p>
<p>Clinical volunteering means doing volunteering that is clinically relevant. It need not be in a hospital but it can be. For example I had friends at brown who were involved with a program that taught asthmatic kids to swim and also taught them about their medicine and how to control their asthma. I had another friend who was essentially an orderly. He helped transport patients around the hospital, would fetch charts, etc.</p>
<p>D2 worked as a therapeutic mentor (outpatient) to mentally/emotionally troubled middler schoolers all 4 years of college. She also worked as a volunteer therapy aide in the brain injury unit where she would would do things like play card games (Memory, Old Maid, War, etc) with the patients and help them practice fine motor skills doing art projects.</p>
<p>In high school D2 volunteered in pediatrics where she played board games and read stories to hospitalized children. She also was a volunteer baby snuggler.</p>
<p>There are lots of things a student can do.</p>
<p>During undergrad, I facilitated discussions about relevant health topics for pregnant teens and teen parents through an agency I volunteered for. I visited with elderly folks and helped them get to their doctor’s appointments. I volunteered for a nonprofit that’s working to decrease the occurrence of maternal death in Ethiopia through a variety of approaches. I had an internship at the state capitol working on health policy with legislators, lobbyists, and constituents. </p>
<p>I’m currently a second year med student and still have never volunteered in a hospital. At the same time, I have many friends who volunteered in hospitals or nursing homes and found it to be quite rewarding.</p>
<p>would it be a good idea for me then to ask around and volunteer this summer (my summer before college) at a hospital or nursing home or something similar? or would that experience not be counted since i wouldnt be in college yet?</p>
<p>Activities done before college starts typically aren’t included on your application for medical school.</p>
<p>But if you want to start volunteering, feel free to do so. It’s chance to make contacts and gain experience that may help you get a volunteer position in your college town.</p>
<p>OTOH, this is your last summer of freedom for a loooonnnnggg time.</p>
<p>thanks for the info!</p>