<p>i'm currently a bio [pre professional major]; however, some recent events in my life have made me rethink my career path. i'm not sure i'm cut out for med school or if that's really what i want in life. i was wondering should i stick with the pre-med curriculum, or change my major to something like laboratory science? its a major based on medical laboratory diagnostics. i really like the health field, but i don't want to be a nurse and i don't know if i'm cut out to be a doctor. i don't like chem enough to pursue pharmacy so i was wondering, what are your thoughts? i'm a sophomore, undergrad if that helps.</p>
<p>i don't have a real advisor to talk to about this, i transferred schools and haven't had a chance to go through the long process it takes to get an advisor in my department, so it would be opportune to change now before i start going through that process.</p>
<p>i know that nursing has its own major, i really don’t want to be a nurse. but i was thinking along the lines of laboratory research.</p>
<p>thanks for the suggestions but i definitely don’t want to be a podiatrist and i feel like i might as well go to med school if i’m considering being a PA. :/</p>
<p>so should i switch from bio pre-professional to just bio? or should i go for the medical laboratory sciences major or something more along the lines of molecular and microbiology?</p>
<p>i thought it was a PhD, but then again I thought maybe med research would require an MD or DO. </p>
<p>mmmcdowe, i’m not sure yet, i think medical research would be fascinating but then again i wouldn’t mind conducting research in general. i’m really interested in the immune system, the circulatory system, viruses, etc. i am definitely considering grad school, just i don’t quite know about med school yet and i hate to finish all this pre-med stuff if i can change now and save myself some of the headache.</p>
<p>That’s not true. Most MDs and DOs do not do research full time because they would take a large pay cut compared to clinical practice. Hence medical research is dominated by PhDs. There are many PhD programs at medical schools that turn out biomedical researchers. A PhD concentration in Pathology, Immunology, Virology, etc. would end up doing medical research.</p>
Well, this doesn’t really make sense. PA school is two years, compared to 7-15 of med school and residency/training. PA school is a lot less selective than med school. And PAs usually work fewer hours than doctors.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info/help schrizto, I really don’t know a whole lot about research since I’ve focused on clinical practices and what that entails. So I just didn’t know how things worked when it came to research. Thanks for explaining that to me, a PhD makes a lot more sense. </p>
<p>I know it probably doesn’t make sense logically bluedevilmike, but I’ve shadowed ER PAs and while I really do respect their field of study, I would rather go to med school and be doctor vs. a PA. I don’t really know if the clinical part of being the doctor is going to work out for me, so being a PA would kind of be the same thing in that respect. I don’t know if I explained that in a way that makes sense, but I think I would rather be behind the scenes than working directly with patients. That’s what makes me think I might like research better. Sorry if that was a convoluted way of saying it. It’s just I’ve weighed this and ultimately I know it’s my decision, but I don’t want to switch my major and then regret it. It’s just overwhelming.</p>
<p>BDM, from what I understand, I’m not so sure this is entirely true. Do you have data showing this? My understanding is that while PA school is shorter and obviously leads to less responsibility, the actual competition for entrance into programs is nearly the same and, at minimum, is quite keen. Perhaps there is some difference in competitiveness of applicants, but to me, your statement sounds as though it could be interpreted to mean that virtually any premed could get into PA school, which is, in my understanding, patently false. They are, in the end, distinctly different careers. I would also point out that the schooling itself is still quite intense, although obviously less in-depth than med school and does not last as long.</p>
<p>Not every pre-med could get into PA school, but I’m pretty sure that with the appropriate changes to extra curriculars most medical students could. The same, however, can not be said about as many PA students. So, in general, a pre-med probably has a better chance of getting into PA school than med school.</p>
<p>School
Degree
Mean GPA
Mean GRE
Patient Contact </p>
<p>Medical University of Ohio
MS
3.5
Not required
Not required</p>
<p>Kettering Medical Sciences
MS</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Marietta College
MS</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Illinois<br>
Midwestern University
MS</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Rosalind Franklin University
MS</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Indiana<br>
University of St. Francis
MS</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Michigan<br>
Central Michigan University
MS
3.4
1050 V&Q
1,000 hours</p>
<p>Wayne State
MS
3.45
1075 V&Q
500 hours</p>
<p>Western Michigan
MS</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Pennsylvania<br>
Arcadia University
MS
3.4
1050 V&Q
200 hours</p>
<p>I can’t imagine getting a medical lab diagnostics degree without Chemistry.</p>
<p>You need to understand Chemistry basics for analyzing blood chemistry, hematology, and urinalysis. You need to understand analytical chemistry which utilizes methods such as UV, IR, HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS, MS-MS, ELISAs, and elemental analysis to evaluate various constituents of body fluids.</p>
<p>Even the PAs have to have a good understanding of basic pharmacology, therefore, organic chem I think.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned a PhD. I dont think this is a realistic option if you don’t like Chemistry. Whether you pursue a PhD in Biology or Biological Sciences, you still have to deal with molecular pharmacology which requires a good understanding of basic chemistry (orgo included).</p>
<p>Please check the website of PhD programs and their core courses. You will notice that Bio PhD would have Biochemistry and Cell Biology as core requirements. Biochem 1 and 2 are the same courses taken by med students. We even exchanged scripts and practice tests with med students back in my grad days in NY. They were taught by the same professors! These are pretty tough weeder courses as I recall. Much of Biochem can not be understood well without Orgo background. Therefore, it’s somewhat unrealistic to consider a PhD in Biol Science without a firm Chem background.</p>