Humanities/Social Science/Non-Science Majors with Med ambitions

[socialistmisanthrope]

Hello!

 

Just out of curiosity, are there any other Humanities/Social Science majors, (or any other non-Science majors, really ) planning on attending med school, or have been accepted/are currently attending med school?

 

If so, what did you major in, what made you choose it, and do you think it helped/detracted from your med school aspirations?

 

I'm an English major myself, and I am looking to find solidarity in my ambitions. So far, amongst the sea of pre-meds at my university, I am an anomaly, and quite frankly, it troubles me.

 

Thanks for reading!

[Kiel]

I would check the thread,"accepted/rejected,waitlisted" under each individual med school forum.

[socialistmisanthrope]

Thanks, I wouldn't have thought to click on that particular post!

 

Most acceptee's seem to be of the science variety, however....

 

I wonder if it's because med school are more partial to science degrees, or because non-science degrees are just not as likely to apply to med school?

 

hmmmm....

[MDHopefully2005]

I did my undergrad in Social Science Psychology and am now in Mac Meds.....I Psychology chose because I really enjoyed it! I found the Social Science faculty better then Science because I had more opportunity for electives (I ended up doing history, classics, astronomy, anatomy, etc). I feel that it's given me a different perspective on some aspects of the things we've been learning and because I really enoyed what I was learning I did well in the courses! We have people in our class from all sorts of back grounds, Music, Math, Business, Health Sci...it was a little more difficult in the beginning for those without a science background...but everyone evens out in the end!

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

[socialistmisanthrope]

Thanks for your replies, theblueprint and MDHopefully, that helps a lot! Yup, I really enjoy English and I wouldn't want to be studying anything else right now. I definitely enjoy being able to take a wider variety of electives, like political science, philosophy, and psychology courses, and still have room for organic chemistry.

 

I really do hope it'll end up making me stick out as an applicant, though, rather than screwing me over.

[tmacgirl]

Don't be discourage because alot of premeds are from science. The reason most people in med school have a science degree is because its rare that you will find someone in music saying that their dream is to go to medical school, but don't worry there are peoples with BA. and BComs that apply every year and get in. When medical schools say they don't care what you majored in they really mean it.

[Darla]

Me too! I'm working on my last year of a BA Economics. It's been an interesting degree, I love it. It usually turns peoples' heads when they find out where I'm applying to for next year. I've gotten used to it

 

When I first started this degree though the requirements for med schools were quite different. I think that's (one of the reasons-as well as tmac's ) why so many react strangely.

 

The best part in my opinion though is that I have zero competition from the guys in my program. They want me to succeed and get in b/c they think it'll be a cool story to tell one day plus I don't get as stressed as others in HK or Bio-Med b/c I don't see other applicants every day.

[coastalslacker]

I'm an English major in med school and, yeah, it is a bit odd. However, I do know where to put my commas. Don't stress about being different. An English degree won't help you in medical school (trust me), but I think it will probably give you a better shot of getting in simply because you will stand out. The only way it could bite you in the ass is the subjective marking. I didn't buy into alot of the post-modern bs that is out there right now and I consequently got worked over in a couple of courses.

 

Now a question for you-can you recommend any good books? Always looking to add to my reading list.

[socialistmisanthrope]

Thanks tmacgirl and Darla! Yes, I'm definitely enjoying the lack of competition from my fellow English students, and I love how casual and laid-back they are, no pressure with them. My biology degree friends have one-track minds now, there's absolutely no use trying to talk anything non-med with them. And they all have this strange, haunted look of unease in their eyes. Hahaha, or maybe all this poetry is just getting to me.

 

coastalslacker: Hello! It's a pleasure to meet a fellow English major!

 

I hear you on the 'subjective marking'... it irks me, but I generally make out okay if I figure out roughly what the profs social/political viewpoints are and am careful not to write anything too incendiary. Mostly, I've discovered if your writing leans in an overly liberal, feminist, and *ahem* lascivious direction, you've got nothing to worry about.

 

As for book recommendations, I don't know if you've read any Ayn Rand, but I've just finished 'Atlas Shrugged' and it was a fantastic read. I didn't necessarily agree with a lot of her political/economic philosophy, particularly her fondness of capitalist extremism, but it was an interesting read on the whole, and I did find a lot of truth in her ideas regarding human interpersonal relations and society....her ideas about self-interest and self-sacrifice, etc..

A bit long, and long-winded in places, but on the whole worth a look.

 

I'm currently in the midst of 'The Agony and the Ectasy' by Irving Stone (a semi-historical/fictional account of the life of Michelangelo), and 'Nostromo' by Joseph Conrad (concerns the Spanish Civil War), both great reads. If you like anything Conrad, read 'The Secret Agent' for sure, one of my all time favourites. If you like plays, Tennesse Williams' 'The Glass Menagerie' is another of my favourites, though you might have come across it already.

 

If you're into political literature at all, I'm also currently burrowing into an assorted stack of Noam Chomsky's books, which are all fantastic. Good man, that Noam. Definitely worth a read.

 

Hmm, can't think of any others right now, and I'm sure you're well aware of all the good old classics. Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, aTurgenev, and Solzhenitsyn are amongst my favourites, I'm a die-hard Russian Lit fan.

 

Hope something mentioned above peaks your interest! Let me know if you've come across any interesting reads lately, too.

[coastalslacker]

It sounds like what you're reading is pretty similar to what I was reading in undergrad. Rand is extremely interesting, and it doesn't get any better than Atlas Shrugged-Fountainhead is good, but not as good. My big problem with her is that once you bring her ideas into a world of limited resources they fall flat since they're all predicated on continuous growth and exploitation of resources. Russians will always be great, favourites include: Cancer Ward, and the first 3/4's of The Idiot. Gotta say though, not a fan of Conrad or Chomsky.

 

Recommendations

 

Guy Vanderhaege "The Last Crossing" or "The Englishman's Boy"

Ian McEwan "Atonement" or "Saturday"

Don DeLillo "Underworld"

Paul Auster "Music of Chance"

Truman Capote "In Cold Blod"

Cormac McCarthy "All the Pretty Horses" (nothing like the movie), "Blood Meridian"

Richard Ford "The Sportswriter"

Herman Hesse "Siddhartha" or "Steppenwolf"

Margaret Atwood "Blind Assassin"

Rudy Kroetsch "The Studhorse Man"

Bapsi Sidwha "Cracking India"

 

Sorry, that's alot of books, but I they're all pretty damn good. For most of the authors I just listed my favourite book, they have lots of other good ones. Right now I'm reading a book on the origins of world religions called "The Great Transformation" by Karen Armstrong and cheesy historical fantasy by Jack Whyte to chill out. I also should be reading Moore's clinical anatomy and my lecture notes for today.....guess I'll get to that now.

[socialistmisanthrope]

Ayn Rand's ideas are definitely the most intriguing I've come across in a long while...I'm reading an analysis on the ideas in Atlas Shrugged right now, I just couldn't get enough of it reading the book, and I really want to learn more about them. As an economic system, though, her ideas are complete kerphlooey, I agree, but I need to read up more on economics before I understand what you said.

 

And I know this sounds awfully stupid coming from a premed, but Cancer Ward was a book I couldn't handle. There are rare few books I haven't been able to finish, because even if I don't like them I'm still always curious enough about how they turn out to finish them. But it was so unbelievably bleak and despressing, I gave up half way. I love A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, though, Solzhenitsyn is clearly an amazing writer if he can get his point across so well.

 

As for The Idiot, hahahahahah. You're absolutely right, the first 3/4 were fine, great even, but the end was ridiculous. I burst out laughing when I finished the book, until I turned it over and read this quote by Dostoyevsky about the book, "Is not my fantastic "Idiot" reality, and the most ordinary reality at that?", and then it seemed a liiiittle less ridiculous...

The Devils was this way too, but even more ridiculously so...it went awfully Hamlet-esque towards the end. That's Dostoyevsky's style alright, he's got a bit of a pattern going on there.

 

Can I ask why you're not a fan of Conrad or Chomsky? Conrad is more understandable, he's a bit hard to get into, and I always have trouble with his style of writing until I get right into it...but I have a strange sense of humour and his books are comedy to me, so I enjoy them. Chomsky, though, I don't understand. Do you disagree with any of his viewpoints in particular, if you don't mind sharing? I've only just started reading his work but I've read much about him, and I agree with his general direction of thought.

 

Wow, now I feel like I'm so behind on reading, the only book/author I've heard of out of all those is Herman Hesse! I loved Siddartha, I'll definitely be picking up Steppenwolf. I'll have to check out the rest of those when I get a chance, thanks for letting me know about them!

[Jochi1543]

I spent 2 years majoring in Economics, then switched to Japanese Language and Culture, which is what I graduated with.

[socialistmisanthrope]

Japanese Language and Culture sounds like a very interesting major...how did you like it? Are you in med school right now? Do you think it helped at all?

 

I don't know about making me a better prospective med school student, but I definitely think my major would help me become a better doctor. You can't help but learn so much about culture, society, religion, etc. in most of the books/plays/poems you come across, and I think it most certainly positively affects your interactions with people. Learning about culture, any culture, in my opinion, is always a good way to go!

 

What made you switch out of Economics?