Hello, I recently posted here.
So, I’m thinking of doing a bachelor on biotechnology, I really enjoy science and I’m intrigued by it. I’m also really hoping to pursue further into medical school.
The thing is, I don’t want to work in a lab setting, I want to become a doctor not stay as a scientist with a bachelor. So kind of freaking out about it because what if I don’t get into medical school, then that’s how my life is going to be ? I know that some people don’t work in their bachelor path and people usually change their career throughout their life but as a college student, is stressful to think about the endless possibilities of not getting into something you want And feeling as if you wasted money and time. I also know that you don’t need a science degree to get into medical school but that’s What I like.
You need to major in something that you enjoy, that you’re good at (because you’ll need those high grades to get into med school) and something that offers you a Plan B career option.
Admission to med school is very competitive. You should NOT assume that you will get a med school admission until the day you hold an acceptance in your hand.
Every pre med needs to have a Plan B career option. That’s because the vast majority of pre-med will never get a med school acceptance.
Think about what you you’d like to do with with your life IF you don’t go to med school.
There are tons of medicine-related/medicine adjacent careers that don’t involve med school–and you’ve probably never heard of most of them.
Here’s a website that can help explore some options:
[Explore Health Careers](https://explorehealthcareers.org)
You say you don’t want to work in lab. Ok, would you be happier in some sort of direct patient care job? (Think physician assistant, nursing, anesthesia assistant, etc) What about a sales oriented job like pharmaceutical or medical equipment sales? What about a coordinator for patient care? Or a biomedical research program manager/coordinator?
BTW, there are plenty of lab jobs that don’t require to spend 100% of your time in the lab so don’t be too quick to rule that out.
Whatever your interests are, make sure you have viable exit plan in case med school doesn’t work out for you.
Both my daughters had a Plan B career in mind before they got their med school acceptances. D1 would have become a medical physicist (requires a PhD). D2 would have pursued a MPH in biostatistics and possibly a PhD in public health policy. Both also considered pursuing a MS in biomedical engineering.