Questions on Pre Med and Medical School Rotations

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Today in my career exploration class we received our CISS results and it told me in analyzing to avoid that area completely, but when I went to the specific area with my results it told me to develop my skills in physician. I have been kicking the idea of medical school around for maybe month or so. I have a cousin who is a doctor of radiology I plan on talking to her, and possibly job shadowing since I think if I did medical school I would like to do a radiology rotation, and a sports medicine rotation if possible.</p>

<p>My questions to the always helpful CC's is are surgery, and ob/gyn always required rotations? I know that I do not want to work in those fields of medicine. I really don't like blood, or needles. I can watch some surgery when it is on the different t.v. shows but I really don't like it. How competitive is pre med? My cousin got C's in her math courses, and I believe Bs in her sciences with some A's. I know that C's aren't the best and probably hurt you but math isn't my thing. I started off in remedial math, and I'm in college algebra right now. (1st semester freshman) Chemistry also isn't my thing how much of it is required?</p>

<p>I'm more interested in physical therapy right now, but part of me is really interest in vast varieties of the physician field. Between physical therapy, and pre med which one would be harder to get into? I have to do an informational interview in a potential career to pass this class so I'm hoping my teacher knows a physician, or physical therapist who is willing to do this since family members don't count.
Thank you for the help. I plan on researching the pre med program at my school for help too.</p>

2

<p>Your post is very confusing. Are you in HS, UG or Med. School? You are talking about many things all at once. If you are in HS, why are you talking about Med. School rotations that happen in 3rd year of Med. School? Even 1st year med. students do not think about rotations, they think about their current material and tests. UG students do not care at all about rotations, they are working hard to have everything required to apply to Med. School. HS kids are busy with their life as high schoolers, making good grades and some are applying to colleges. Where are you currently in this cycle?</p>

3

<p>Actually, Miami–it depends on the school and its curricula. D1 and her classmates are already doing clinical training, are working in clinics examining and diagnosing real patients and are having hands-on mentoring by various physicians in different specialties. D1 is scrubbing into surgeries already…The MS1s will also be spending 6 weeks this summer working full time as an asst to a PCP in rural areas.</p>

<p>fumafoo–to answer some of your questions.</p>

<p>Yes, OB/GYN and surgery are REQUIRED rotations for all medical students–they’re the first 2 rotations at D1’s school. Radiology is an elective rotation and sports medicine is a specialty that you probably won’t be able to do during medical school. </p>

<p>A radiology specialty requires excellent math skills. (Because you need to be able to calculate radiation dosages etc.) It requires strong calculus & physics skills. Radiology is an especially competitive specialty and only students with very high scores on the USMLE and excellent LORs from their preceptors will be considered.</p>

<p>If you have a strong aversion to needles and blood, then probably medicine is not a career you should pursue. Both are unavoidable and you will be dealing with blood, needles and all sorts of unpleasant bodily fluids for the rest of your career. Even as a radiologist.</p>

<p>Pre med is extremely competitive everywhere. You need to be in the top 10-15% in your science and math classes, plus have everything else that med school require–community service, shadowing, medical volunteering, leadership positions. Medicine is long and often exhausting route.</p>

<p>Med schools require 4 semesters of chemistry (general and organic), 2 semesters of math, 2 semesters of physics and 2 semesters of biology. New changes to the MCAT in 3 years will add more biology, chemistry, math and humanities to these basic requirements.</p>

<p>Physical therapy is now a doctoral level program. (DPT) PT requires an undergrad degree in biological sciences plus another 3 years of directed study and a year of hands-on clinical experience to earn a professional PT degree. PT is not a bloodless field. PT students spent the first semester of their first grad year doing close and careful dissection of a human corpse.</p>

<p>PT students have even more biology requirements than do med students. Aside from the science listed above for med students, DPT students are also expected to have psychology, human anatomy, human physiology and sometimes other classes, depending on the school.</p>

<p>Admission to DPT programs is as competitive as admission into MD programs–though the minimum GPA for DPT is a slightly lower. (Closer to 3.0, rather than the 3.5 for med students) Still for every student accepted into a DPT program another 5-8 are turned away.</p>

4

<p>WOWM,
But your MS1’s are not going thru rotations? Are they? There are clinicals, but they are not rotations at D’s school. They are not gone to different places for different specialties, they are all still at school. Well, maybe at other Med. Schools students are going thru rotations before they learned…this would seem a bit out of sequence</p>