Pre-med with no knowledge of science

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I am an undergraduate student double majoring music and psychology (I'm getting my degree soon).</p>

<p>I am in love with psychology and have just recently thought of getting in to psychiatry because psychiatrists can prescribe medicine and make more money than psychologists (not the big reason but I'm being honest).</p>

<p>However, I don't really know much about medicine except a little I learned in my psychology and physiology classes. Human biology is the only natural science class I took in college, I never took chemistry or physics.</p>

<p>I am SOOOOO willing to learn. I'm very very very interested, just never got the opportunity to learn. But I am worried - Is it too late?</p>

<p>Questions:
1) Without knowledge in natural science and medicine... Do I have a chance at getting accepted to a postbaccalaureate premed program? (I want to apply to CUNY City College or SUNY Stony Brook) My GPA: 3.5ish (1st & 2nd yr GPA: 3.0-3.3; 3rd & 4th yr GPA: 3.7-4.0), experiences in the health field via psychology fieldwork & internship</p>

<p>2) Would applying as an premed undergraduate (not postbaccalaureate) be better?</p>

<p>3) Would I be able to survive either the undergraduate or postbaccalaureate premed program? (Considering how other students should have much more knowledge and experience with science and medicine)</p>

<p>4) WHAT SHOULD I DOOOOO?</p>

<p>I'd appreciate it A LOT if someone helped me. PLEASE? :(</p>

<p>Thank you SO much in advance. :)</p>

2

<p>The obvious first step to take is to MAKE SURE you would need the MD initials next to your name. “Recently thinking” about it is definitely not substantial enough, especially since the only two differences you know of (granted one, at least, is major) is prescribing medications (the major one) and the larger salary, although I’m not sure if it is that much of a difference. Try to shadow at least 2 and ask questions that would help you make an informed decision: “Knowing what you know today, would you go the same route if you could?” “Where do you think the future of this specialty is going?” Etc. Ultimately what you do not want to happen, is you take 2-3 more years of classes as a post-bacc to fulfill the pre-med req’s, then realize you don’t want to spend another 4 years in med school and 3+ years interning/residency (not quite sure what the #'s are for psych). Because then that’s thousands of $$ wasted on the post-bacc program, which I hear are expensive + time wasted that could have been spent in a clinical psych grad program. </p>

<p>So tl;dr = shadow, make sure it’s what you want (psychiatrist vs. psychologist) - you have to be able to convincingly say why you want it over the other, apply as a postbacc, survive on your pure desire to go into medicine. GOOD LUCK! Hope this helps.</p>