Should I invest in my future by going to med school?

[Marko-ER]

If you are interested in pharmacology, counseling and high tech stuff (like sequencing), I personally strongly recommend Genetic Counseling masters, as an excellent career in healthcare or perhaps a stepping stone. Particularly to men, who happen to be underrepresented in this field. You can do quite a bit with the degree, obviously bread & butter is genetic counseling, but anything from research to pharmacogenomics to clinical trials in cancer genetics for an academic center... Think about it!

[Marko-ER]

@WCI has a great quote to answer you:

"If you can be talked out of a career in medicine, you should be."

Cannot agree more! I have had career conversations with undergrads at local universities, particularly when they come upon a very tough subjects like O-chem or Physical chemistry or just get a very sub-par MCAT score and run into an identity crisis. No shame in a fallback plan: PA school, Nurse Anesthesist, genetic counseling, physical therapy/rehab, whatever floats your boat. I rapidly change the subject if doctor of nursing practice is mentioned.

[artemis]

No shame in a fallback plan: PA school, Nurse Anesthesist, genetic counseling, physical therapy/rehab, whatever floats your boat.

EVERYONE needs a fallback plan, since there's no guarantee of admission. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," isn't bad advice, but eventually the time will come when a change of course is needed because it's becoming obvious that admission to medical school/dental school/ vet school just isn't going to happen. I worry about students (in any field) who honestly believe there is only one satisfying career path they can take.

[HikingDO]

I know... but it's still a thing at the vast majority of good residencies: they know even top DO students weren't competitive for most MD schools. .

This isn’t even close to being accurate.

[excited_delirium]

I earned my PhD in synthetic and physical organic chemistry. Why not go that route, since you enjoy studying chemical formulas? At least you get paid in school for that route while you sort out your early goals...

I'll check it out, but I'd much rather dabble in psychiatry tbh

[excited_delirium]

RN is undoubtedly the way to go in terms of years/debt : hours/income ratio. No joke, that's the move in pure money return terms. Finish school and get that invest account stuffed early. Do crit care and enjoy a ton of days off and $$$.

MD is rewarding, but esp in a low end pay specialty like psych, you had better do a top residency (Ivy or similar name/connections).

Dent is pretty good if it interests you.

I would stay away from DO unless you really want FP, peds, psych. You could do worse, but if you are considering the financials, it must enter the convo. Can of worms, I know... but it's still a thing at the vast majority of good residencies: they know even top DO students weren't competitive for most MD schools. It is worth doing a MS or gap year and re-taking MCAT if you are borderline between the two. Again, not a huge thing if you don't want surgery and just want to do rural FP or peds, etc... but you might decide you want to compete for surg, anesth, etc after your clinicals... so best to leave all doors open. There is also a pay gap for a reason.

Pharma, podiatry, chiro, OD, PA/NP, etc are very hit-or-miss and not worth over $200-500k debt. There are probably some people loving them, but they are the minority. And again, a good RN can beat them with half the schooling and loans.

...if you're NOT very keen on medicine (anatomy science etc), programming or business (MBA specialist) is the way to go for return on time/money put into school. A lot of those folks pull same or near what MDs do.

Definitely.

The only way to have real nice success in pharma is to do the basically entrepreneur route: have a store that sells braces, walkers, vitamins, various rubs and OTC med stuff, candy, snacks, soda... oh, and Rx meds too. That takes credit or family money... and the thing is, you don't really need a doc degree to do that, you just do a gas station or drug store.

thank you for the well thought out essay, ill definitely keep that in mind

[excited_delirium]

@WCI has a great quote to answer you:

"If you can be talked out of a career in medicine, you should be."

? proper consideration takes time

[Marko-ER]

I'll check it out, but I'd much rather dabble in psychiatry tbh

Do not dabble. If you are gonna do something, do it. Do not be a dilettante. You can time to consider your career options, but as was previously mentioned more than 1 "gap year" is too much, and comes at an opportunity cost.

[AR]

This isn’t even close to being accurate.

Really? Not even close? Maybe it depends on how stringently you are defining "top"?

Even the top half of MD students would not have gotten interviews at "most" allopathic medical schools. Top 1% probably would have. Something like top 15%, I'm not sure, but given the heavy emphasis placed on state residency, I'd lean towards would not.

[artemis]

I'll check it out, but I'd much rather dabble in psychiatry tbh

Can you describe what you find so attractive about psychiatry? That might help us figure out if your expectations for what a career in that field is like are realistic or not.

[HikingDO]

Really? Not even close? Maybe it depends on how stringently you are defining "top"?

Even the top half of MD students would not have gotten interviews at "most" allopathic medical schools. Top 1% probably would have. Something like top 15%, I'm not sure, but given the heavy emphasis placed on state residency, I'd lean towards would not.

In 2020, the average MCAT and GPA for students entering US allopathic programs were 511 and 3.74. The average MCAT and GPA for students entering US osteopathic programs were 504 and 3.54. Pretty unlikely only 15% of those osteopathic students only got interviews at allopathic schools. Believe it or not, for some students getting into an allopathic medical school isn’t the holy grail of their lives. Although it was 30 years ago, I was accepted to an allopathic school along with four osteopathic medical schools. At my interview, I fell in the love with the osteopathic medical that I eventually chose, and I haven’t regretted that choice once in the last 30 years. Remember, not everyone has the same goals and desires in life, and some things that are important to one person may not be important to another.

[F0017S0]

I'll check it out, but I'd much rather dabble in psychiatry tbh

"[D]abble"? What does that mean? To be a psychiatrist, you're doing four years of medical school, three-four years of residency: eight years possibly just to "dabble". Another option might be a PhD in psychology (fully funded) followed by an internship and licensing.

[Brains428]

You can also get a PsyD. Clinical psychologist. 5 years post grad. There are also mental health nurse practitioners.

Each degree for psych path with have different utilization and practice scope.

I wouldn't bank on doing whatever you think you'll be doing. Most people change their minds with a few exceptions. I don't know many radiologists who wanted to do radiology starting first year med school unless they had a parent or family member in the business.

[AR]

In 2020, the average MCAT and GPA for students entering US allopathic programs were 511 and 3.74. The average MCAT and GPA for students entering US osteopathic programs were 504 and 3.54. Pretty unlikely only 15% of those osteopathic students only got interviews at allopathic schools. Believe it or not, for some students getting into an allopathic medical school isn’t the holy grail of their lives. Although it was 30 years ago, I was accepted to an allopathic school along with four osteopathic medical schools. At my interview, I fell in the love with the osteopathic medical that I eventually chose, and I haven’t regretted that choice once in the last 30 years. Remember, not everyone has the same goals and desires in life, and some things that are important to one person may not be important to another.

The claim was not that a top DO student would not be competitive for ANY allopathic medical schools. Or even SOME allopathic medical schools. It was

they know even top DO students weren't competitive for most MD schools. .

That is a super high bar to clear even for top MD students because there are so many state medical schools who give massive preference to in state students. If you're out of state you almost have no shot at these unless you are truly exceptional, and even then maybe not.

[wideopenspaces]

Can you describe what you find so attractive about psychiatry? That might help us figure out if your expectations for what a career in that field is like are realistic or not.

Just look at the username. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this person and their chances of becoming a psychiatrist.