<p>I will be a freshman at a top university in the fall; I plan on taking the pre-med course track (my school doesn't offer a pre-med major). Diagnostic radiology has held my interest for quite some time now and I'm intent on pursuing a career as a radiologist. </p>
<p>I've done quite a bit of research on various med schools and for a variety of reasons, Yale Med appeals to me the most of all of the schools I've investigated. With that being said, is any individual who is familiar with Yale's diagnostic radiology program willing to give me some perspective on the program as a whole?
I'd greatly appreciate your perspective/advice; I like to start planning for things earlier, rather than later...haha :)</p>
<p>Medical students go through a defined track. Your specialty preferences (and radiology is a weird one for an 18 year old outside of one very obvious virtue) have no bearing whatever on your medical school choice. It’ll matter a great deal for residency, obviously.</p>
<p>Ah.
Well I can honestly say that I am interested in radiology for reasons very personal to me, none of which relate to the salary one typically earns in this particular field. I wouldn’t consider attending med school if my motivations for becoming a doctor weren’t of the purest nature; in my opinion, the salary is merely a fringe benefit.</p>
<p>He might be referring to the fact that radiology is often considered a high-income “lifestyle” specialty.</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with being interested in radiology at this point, but realize:</p>
<p>1) You go through a defined track, as bluedevilmike said, and will have to spend years learning to be a doctor before you learn to be a radiologist.</p>
<p>2) There is a decent chance that once you are in medical school you will rethink your specialty choice – not because rads is bad, but because medical school exposes you to a ton of specialties in an organized way that lets you learn firsthand which specialties you find interesting and can see yourself doing for your entire career.</p>
<p>3) The admissions rates for medical schools are so low that you can’t aim for one specific medical school at this point. Just do your best in college and make sure to have the strongest application you can by the time you actually apply, apply broadly, and see where you get in. Focusing on a school like Yale now might lead to disappointment later.</p>
<p>4) The strength of Yale’s diagnostic radiology residency program should not really be a factor in whether you want to go there for medical school. You will have little exposure to radiology in medical school. This is a game that is best played one step at a time for your sanity’s sake.</p>
<p>@psubmb: Thank you for your reply! While I’m very interested in pursuing a career in the medical field, I clearly don’t really know very much about the actual process; I suppose that in my research I was focusing on the wrong things. So, I’ve gathered from what you’ve said that competition to gain admission to any med school is so intense, that I should apply to a few that I’m interested in and basically hope for the best? As a bit of a side note: the school that I’ll be attending for undergrad has a med school admission rate of 90%, which probably says quite a bit about the strength of the applicants.</p>
<p>I guess there are some things that I haven’t really taken the time to understand about the process. Is it unrealistic to work toward Yale Med since earning a spot in the class of 100 is so incredibly competitive? I find that I work best when I have a specific goal in mind; it’s hard for me to find motivation without a goal, but I also want to be focusing on a goal that is actually realistic/attainable.</p>
<p>I know that I can search this forum in particular to find information about the pre-med process, but since I have already started this thread, would you be willing to give me a bit more of your advice on this subject?</p>