The Medical Thread

[BigRedBeta]

AKAMonet has given a slightly gloomier picture than I think is necessary, but I think her point that there's a lot that goes into becoming a physician is what really needs to be considered. It's true, not everyone has it. And I think some of the reasons why she personally didn't go through with the change reflect that there are personality aspects that need to fit - especially in her case where she's done a lot of basic science research and to "sell" herself to a med school admissions committee would likely mean explaining her need for patient interaction and a desire that goes far enough to change from one scientific field to another. Coming from a music background - that's probably an easier sell.

The anatomy, the knot tying, the creation of differential diagnoses (what are all the possible reasons a person could have chest pain), the business of medicine stuff, those are all things that you'll learn in medical school. I don't think it's necessary for any potential med school applicant to feel like they need those things before starting.

What does matter is work ethic, perseverance and being able to interact with people. It helps if you're outgoing, naturally intelligent, and not a whiner.

As for the involvement on campus remark I made earlier. As a non-trad applicant, you'd be judged by what you've done recently - I didn't mean it say that they would look at your campus record. The bare bones essentials you'd need would be some sort of volunteering - preferably in a patient related area (though it doesn't have to be overnight, I volunteered from 10am to 1pm every Tuesday for 6 months). And you also need some sort of doctor interactions - which usually takes the form of shadowing several different ones. Basically adcoms want to see that you've spent time with patients and doctors and have at least some idea of what you're getting yourself into. Like AKA_Monet suggested though, if you did music in hospital experiences (even without any sort of formal review/research process) that could be a very powerful, very easy to sell activity.

As far as the salary and debt issues. Keep in mind it's a salary, it's not per hour wages. And that is during residency - you have those letters MD behind your name, but you're not eligible to become board certified until after you've finished your residency and in most states you cannot practice on your own until after you've completed at least one year of post-grad training (more and more completing a full residency is becoming the requirement to get your license to practice). Residents are capped at working 80 hours a week, though it's very program dependent and actually most of the time you won't be working 80 hours...but 60+ hours a week is a given. And it's just assumed that you're going to be working 6 days a week. Overnight shifts usually occur between every 4th to every 6th night - and you'll have been at the hospital since the morning already. Residents are not allowed to work more than 30 consecutive hours. Think about that: they had to put national rules in place (in 2003) to prevent working more than this. However, as many older doctors love to point out, there are no work hour limits once you're done with residency.

As far as loans go...most residents defer them until after residency, so that interest accumulates for another three to seven years. After that they'll refinance, then start paying them off...and I've had some friends in the financial field tell me it's actually a smart decision to take as long as possible to pay off that debt (not sure if I buy that idea quite yet).