<p>Hello everyone, I recently decided to leave medical school because of significant academic struggles and the unrealistic possibility of getting a job as a physician. I have decided on pursuing accounting and hope to one day work for a hospital in an under-served area by managing their accounts so they can help those who are financially unable to afford health care. My majors in undergrad were physiology and cell and developmental biology and i graduated with a 3.1...however after a year a half in medical school I am barely pushing a 2.0...I am planning on going back to get a bachelors in accounting and have been looking at masters of accounting programs, some of which say you need a 3.0 in all institutions attended. Assuming I excel in accounting, would my medical school grades haunt me from Macc programs or will it not be important because it is totally unrelated and my accounting grades will hopefully be stellar? Thank you for your input</p>
<p>Just to add a little more information, I graduated from Michigan State University. Also my extracurricular activities are diverse (licensed EMT, US Masters Swimmer with multiple top-10 finishes, a published poet, and a competitive billiards and chess player). I am also fluent in 2 additional languages. I plan to continue with these activities in addition to joining 2-3 clubs while going for my BS in accounting. I feel that I’m well rounded, have a unique background and am young enough (24) to start this path and succeed…just interested to know if my past failure in med school will hold me back from joining an accounting firm by the age of 27-28, thanks again</p>
<p>You got into medical school with a 3.1 GPA?</p>
<p>You know what, it would be really hard for me to advise you to do Accounting at your stage. I say you should stick with medical school. A LOT of people kill to go to a Medical School in America. Be glad you did it. If you are going into Accounting just for a stable job, don’t do it. You showed in your post that you are interested in working in health-care anyway. I advise you to stick with it despite your low gpa. If you can finish medical school, I believe you can do things in the health-care industry even if you don’t want to be a physician (health care consulting, managing a hospital, etc.)</p>
<p>Just think about it.</p>
<p>MedWell…haha yes I got in with that GPA, my MCAT was very high and my extra-curricular activities were impressive to them (I have A LOT more ec’s but i left them out of here because they are not relative to accounting)</p>
<p>SP1212…thanks for your input, the only concern I have with continuing in medicine is accruing significantly more debt that I would be unable to pay off. Consulting/Management would not pay nearly enough to cover the approximate 300K in debt i would have to start out with (and the interest on 300k as you can imagine is quite substantial). Also getting those jobs as an MD without any clinical experience (10+ years) means nothing, they would much rather hire an MBA. I am not interested in it for the stable career but for the fact that I believe data analysis and math skills are the only reasons I made it through this far. I still love interacting with people and I want to help them but even my adviser has told me to reconsider the profession because things are going to only get tougher (and the statistics he showed me looked gruesome). Accounting is a path where I feel I can still contribute to a community in a positive way. With that being said, if I were to go into accounting, how negatively would my grades in med school affect my outlook in the profession assuming I got a 3.7+ accounting GPA and would be 27-28 when I am done? Thanks again</p>
<p>You may not state that you went to a medical school. By doing this, employers will not know what kind of GPA you had, or know about the fact that you went to a medical school.
Did you ask yourself why your GPA is low? Is it because of the difficulty of courses, or the lack of time that you spend studying? Personally, I think that anyone can learn anything, and excel in it; someone just may need more time. What I’m trying to say is that you can simply take less classes, and if you do that your GPA will improve. </p>
<p>MightyMouse23, “…things are going to only get tougher (and the statistics he showed me looked gruesome).”</p>
<p>What do you mean?</p>
<p>By the way, does your GPA really important in medical field? I thought that the most important part was getting a license, for no matter how high your GPA is, unless you get your license, you cannot work as a doctor. Am I correct?</p>
<p>Tosh, thanks for your reply, unfortunately my medical school does not allow you take fewer classes, everyone takes the same set schedule. At first I was not taking the school work as seriously as I should but for the past couple months I have been extremely diligent and I still am not making progress, the depression from trying hard and still not succeeding only further exacerbates my academic struggles. In reference to your licensing question, yes that is true for the most part, but in order to become a fully licensed physician you need to go through an internship/residency, it is here where your GPA and board exams become important. As with all professions, if you can’t do well in the classroom you can’t do well on the national standardized exams. With my grades and couple failed classes, I was told by my school counselors that I can pretty much say goodbye to every medical specialty with the exception of psychiatry/family medicine and possibly pediatrics. Given that there are only 25,000 internships/residencies for an approximate 78000 applicants (most of whom have never failed a class), my chances of getting one were approximated at 10-15%. Without an internship/residency your medical degree means nothing and I am not interested in those three fields…so that’s why I want to switch careers, I don’t want to go into substantial debt and “possibly” pursue a specialty I don’t even enjoy. </p>
<p>In regards to leaving it off my resume…do you think that’s a good idea? How would I explain a 2 year gap from undergrad with science majors to accounting? While I wouldn’t dare list my med school GPA (or even my first undergrad one), I don’t think I could lie if they asked me what I was doing from 2009-2011. I think the best way for me to approach the problem is being accountable for my struggles and if I excel in accounting, backing up what I learned from the experience with that high accounting GPA. Some friends have told me not to be too ashamed of it, failing out of med school isn’t like being convicted of a crime…on the other hand I’m not sure if an accounting master’s program or future employer will look at it and say “if he can’t finish med school he has no shot at passing here”; or if they will put more weight into what I accomplished in my accounting major and to a certain extent, excuse my med school grades…if there are any employers/recruiters/accountants out there, your input would be much appreciated, thanks again - MightyMouse</p>
<p>I might be able to give you some solid advice…but first…What state would you be looking to do your MAcc in?</p>
<p>You seem confused.</p>
<p>I think we can all agree med school is significantly tougher than accounting. The fact that you got in to med school shows something at the least. I’m sure if you gave accounting a shot it should be fine, I think being honest and up front is the best way to go.</p>
<p>MightyMouse23, “In regards to leaving it off my resume…do you think that’s a good idea? How would I explain a 2 year gap from undergrad with science majors to accounting? While I wouldn’t dare list my med school GPA (or even my first undergrad one), I don’t think I could lie if they asked me what I was doing from 2009-2011.”</p>
<p>Yeah, you are probably right. You should state that you went to a medical school, but do not state your GPA–you don’t have to. Though it is better to state your undergraduate at least, for 3.1 is not very low, since 3.0 is an average GPA. In addition, if you do not state your undergraduate GPA, employers may assume that it is very low. (lower than 3.0 or even 2.5). In case they will ask you why did you leave a medical school for accounting, and they definitely will do that, tell them, for instance, that your parents wanted you to go to a medical school. Then you went there, and found out that it wasn’t for you; thus you can also explain why your GPA was low, if they ask. After that, tell employers that YOUR true passion was accounting, and that you finally have decided to do what you want, not what your parents wanted you to do. If you able to support that with a high MAcc GPA, they are going to believe and understand you because in the U.S. and other countries, it is very common when parents push their children in a certain direction, which is not always good. You will have to lie a bit, since if you tell the truth about leaving a medical school, they might have a wrong impression. (e.g. that you are a quitter)</p>
<p>Moreover, you may not realize, but there is also a good thing that you went to a medical school. Now, if you couple your undergraduate degree and classes that you took in a medical school with a MAcc, you will have more than enough credits (150+) to sit for the CPA exam, which is a big plus. As for the CPA exam, there is no GPA requirement. </p>
<p>MightyMouse23, after reading your last post, it seems very reasonable why do you want to switch. You seem to be a rational person, so I guess you will be able to succeed in accounting, and we are here to support you.</p>
<p>WorkingATbig4 - Thank you for your willingness to help. In regards to what programs I will be applying to…with the exception of USC, almost any school outside of California and New York. My plan is to apply to about 75-100 schools in the midwest/south/southeast, see which one’s I get accepted to and then choose between the ones that have the highest placement in the big4/GT/BDO. The only reason I’m considering USC is because of their reputation and the fact that their poster-child on the website attended the same school I will be getting my BS in accounting from (Oakland University)…so they know the caliber of students coming from there. I took a practice GMAT a couple days ago and got a 640 as my baseline score, I’m confident I can get it to a 700+ when I take it in a couple months which should help offset the med school grades and show I’m competent. If you had advice in mind for a particular state (even Cali/NY), please let me know, and thanks again</p>
<p>Halukcan - Not sure what you mean, med school isn’t working out for me but I still have the desire to help people; being an accountant for a hospital and making sure they have enough finances to help those without insurance is a rewarding challenge in my opinion. Yes it’s not as high-paying or prestigious as being a physician, but there is more than one way to help those in need; accounting is a path that seems to fit for me. If this isn’t what you were implying, please explain, thanks</p>
<p>Bschool - Thanks for your comment and support</p>
<p>Tosh - Thanks for pointing out the reason I should include my undergrad GPA…being interpreted as a quitter is an interesting take that I was concerned about, it’s a question I am going to have to give more thought to, thanks for your support as well</p>
<p>Guess I should rephrase. What state do you plan on taking the CPA in?</p>
<p>^If he completes a MAcc, he will be able to take the CPA exam, or become a CPA, at any state–so it doesn’t really matter. The question is in which state he resides now; since the tuition varies based on whether a person is a resident of a certain state or not. Thus, MightyMouse23, it is better to apply for schools in your own state, unless you would like to pay almost twice as much. Though you can do whatever you want, if money is not an issue.</p>
<p>workingATbig4 - Nothing is set in stone yet for a state I would like to live in, but for the sake of it lets say North Carolina, thanks again</p>
<p>"being an accountant for a hospital and making sure they have enough finances to help those without insurance is a rewarding challenge in my opinion. "</p>
<p>MightyMouse, that is confused thinking. What you are talking about is being a patient advocate which will pay you poorly. You could do that today. If you go to work as an accountant at a hospital, they are going to make you do accounting work.</p>
<p>Without mincing any words, I see no real plan here. You are running away because you are struggling. No one cares if you have a 2.0 when you graduate from medical school. As for this this “I can’t get a job” stuff, my sister-in-law (who didn’t start med school until she was in her late 30s) was able to get a job and she went to med school in the Dominican Republic.</p>
<p>Medschool is hard and the competition is fierce. Instead of 30 hours of classroom per semester ou will have 90. That being said look into your heart and decide if you want to be a doctor. If yes, you can get through this. The gpa is a passing one, and you can do additional work to get into most of the fields you are interested in. If however, you have discovered that medicine is not your passi0on, that’s ok, but don’t layer other reasons to quit. As far as being labeled a “quitter” ignore that. I don’t want a doc whose heart is not in medicine.</p>
<p>Finally, I was a non science major and my first two years of medschool were excruciatingly hard especially up against all my classmates who had already taken biochem. The third and fourth years were more clinical and I was able to outpace those who had only lived life through a text book .</p>
<p>Decide what you want and go for it. CPA, great MD well that’s good to.</p>
<p>Geo - perhaps I am confused about the true nature of accounting in a healthcare setting, I haven’t taken a single accounting class yet so I can not say with certainty what it will entail, however I do know that being an accountant can have an impact on health-care costs, investments, allocation of financial resources and analysis of financial statements that may lead to findings that can help the organization become more efficient and cost-effective. Again I may be wrong, I’ve only been researching this career path for about two weeks and I’m not sure about it, but that’s why I’m posting on this forum, thanks for your input. As far as getting a job as a physician, that is something I know very much about and it is not as easy as you make it out to be. A patient may not care about your GPA, but an employer for an internship/residency very much does; and if you don’t have an employer you aren’t going to have any patients. As for your cousin, are you sure it was the Dominican Republic or DOMINICA (common mistake)? What field is she in? What were her board scores? Did she obtain a residency in her med school country before applying for one in the US? Did she fail any classes? With numerous med schools opening up this year and the ever growing number of foreign med grads, competition is ridiculous. Even though there is a great demand for physicians, it’s not as easy as having an MD and getting offers; if it were, America wouldn’t have a shortage of physicians. Perhaps I don’t have a plan but that’s what I am working on. As a struggling student I wouldn’t say I’m running away; if you try really hard and put in about 80-90 hours per week of studying and are still barely passing and are ranked at the bottom of your class, perhaps that’s a sign it isn’t for you. Using your logic of “running away”, any person who changes their major in college is guilty of the same thing. Sometimes you unfortunately find out that something isn’t for you the hard way. </p>
<p>greyhaired - thanks for your input. I agree that I shouldn’t layer reasons for leaving medicine and I see how my statements may be read as such. As a once-struggling med student, I’m sure you can understand my current predicament. I have been told that every med student has wanted to quit at some point, perhaps that’s what I’m going through, but if isn’t and I reflect and decide this isn’t for me, I want to be prepared for another route without wasting time and sulking and being depressed. Thanks again</p>
<p>MightyMouse, sister-in-law…Dominican Republic. Only residency in US. I don’t remember her taking boards. No classes failed. Speaking of competitiveness, master swimmer with top 10 finishes sounds like someone who would relish competition.</p>
<p>Leaving med school is quite a bit different than changing a major in college.</p>
<p>Geo - Relishing competition is one thing, actually succeeding is another. I appreciate your advice on accounting but when it comes to the medical profession you simply cannot fathom what it entails even if you know someone, so we will have to agree-to-disagree on that. Also your sister-in-law had to take all four board exams, you can’t be a doctor without it. In the larger sense of the picture, leaving med school is not that different from changing a major in college; both involve choosing one career path and then deciding to follow another. The only difference is that if you are in med school; you have proven to have some intelligence. As with all majors in college, what you learn at the undergrad level and what you do at the professional level are vastly different (both for grad-schools and jobs)…sometimes you don’t realize what it truly entails until you are in the thick of it. That’s probably why there is such a high turn-over rate at the big4 and why a significant portion of people change careers in their 20’s, 30’s and even 40’s. It would be to everyone’s advantage to choose a career path on day 1 at college and carry on with it for the rest of their lives but we all know it doesn’t work that way. If you could, please explain why “Leaving med school is quite a bit different than changing a major in college” and why it would be viewed as a negative when applying for jobs in the accounting field. Also, are you currently employed in the accounting field? Thank you - MightyMouse</p>