STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

GucciGal19 · BCBG

Anyone in med school or wanting to go?

Mia · Kate Spade

Not a med student, not planning on being one but my cousin recently became a doctor (she's 34 and has been in school the WHOLE time). Med school is a long, hard road, so my advice would be to be 100% sure it's what you want. My cousin went into Psychiatry (because she's squeamish - that's the real reason!).

sfclinevandy · Coach

That's awesome you decided to change your major! Med school is a lot of work but you'll have a very fulfilling career when you're through.

My sister is a year younger then you and she is already planning for med school. I couldn't handle all the math and science classes but she's doing really well (I'm in law school because I avoided math and science courses in college like the plague!). My parents and I are strongly encouraging her to go into dermatology (which is the field with the hardest residencies to get) or plastic surgery. Not only so my mom and I can get free work, but also because those are two fields where you can still make a whole lotta money and don't have to deal with much insurance crap.

From my understanding all that really matters are your grades and MCAT scores. Some people say that you should do research before you go but I know plenty of people whose grades and scores were good enough for them to go right after college. It also looks good if you have either worked or volunteered in a medical setting... at my sister's school (Wake Forest) and my friend's sister's school (Barnard...my friend's sister is a junior and also premed) require premed students to volunteer so many hours. I also know from my family that every medschool teaches the exact thing (you can't really get creative with anatomy). What's most important is that you get good grades wherever you go so you can get a good residency.

Obviously I've never gone (or even attempted to go) to med school but everyone in my family is a doctor. My dad's a radiation oncologist, my uncles are a pulmanologyst, an internist, aand a urologist, and my aunt is a radiologist. I hate blood, sick people, and am not very patient so I would have made a horrific MD

-- Edited by sfclinevandy at 16:36, 2005-02-10

-- Edited by sfclinevandy at 16:36, 2005-02-10

-- Edited by sfclinevandy at 16:37, 2005-02-10

lsubatgirl · Gucci

I'm not but from what I understand you don't get to pick your speciality until after you graduate Med School and start your residency. From what I understand based on my bf's friend who just graduated med school, you pick your specialty based on your class ranking and if your specialty is already full then you get your second choice or third choice if this makes sense. So you want to graduate towards the top or middle of your class.

Just take it easy right now and don't make any decisions on what kind of doctor you want to be until after you get through undergrad and start med school.