Using the term "pre-med"

[dollieee]

Thoughts? =)

[Cnussey]

Makes no difference in my life whatsoever. I am a business student and I am a premed. I sincerely hope that I can just drop the "pre" soon.

[HBP]

Pre-med is mainly an American term, where they have pre-med programs.

 

In Canada, anybody who wanted to declare themselves pre-med would be pre-med. Personally, I've never said I was pre-med or regarded myself as pre-med. I've always just said I'm studying Neuroscience and plan to pursue Medicine.

[Cnussey]

Pre-med is mainly an American term, where they have pre-med programs.

 

In Canada, anybody who wanted to declare themselves pre-med would be pre-med. Personally, I've never said I was pre-med or regarded myself as pre-med. I've always just said I'm studying Neuroscience and plan to pursue Medicine.

 

Exactly. There's no real...point. It doesn't matter.

[mattg]

i think pre-med just means you are preparing for and hoping to go to medical school.

 

I also hated being called a premed though. There are too many negative connotations and it gives the impression (to people who don't know about the process... and even more embarassingly, to people who do know the process) that you are essentially guaranteed to get in. I would always just say i'm in life science, and if asked what i want to do, i would say doctor.

 

Another thing that annoys me though is people who 100% want to go to medical school, but when asked, will say "I dunno, i'm thinking maybe medical school, but i'm not sure yet. we'll see."... the more accurate statement is "medical school, but it's really competitive to get in, so we'll see."... i dunno why, but it always annoyed me how so many "premeds" won't just admit that they want to go into medicine... there is always the supplementary statement that they don't really know

[DOC_Ma]

I was just wondering what people thought of the term 'pre-med', in terms of what type of student you are? Or what program in university you are in?

 

What exactly is a pre-med student? As someone pointed out to me, "so if I just wrote the MCAT, I would be a pre-med." This is from someone in business.

 

Plus, students that are considered pre-med get a bad rep!

 

Personally, I never say "I'm pre-med" but rather that I'm in health sciences and will be applying to medical school. I actually hate when I'm called pre-med.

 

Thoughts? =)

 

First, a premed is pretty much anyone that plans to apply to med school. Doesn't matter what program etc.

 

Second, people hate being called premeds because premeds don't exactly have a good reputation in universities. For example, you get those gunners that would fight until death to bump an 89 to a 90 (I did that once myself with a legit reason tho so no judgment plz).

[nosuperman]

I really only use the term on the forums to indicate which point of the journey I'm at. Since we're all here and we all speak the same language I think the term is pretty accurate and people won't take it to mean anything other than the expression of an undergrad/grad student's intentions.

 

Outside of that I don't use it since the people who seem to flaunt their pre-med-ness IRL are generally douche bags.

 

Plus everyone else thinks its like a degree or club or something.

[nosuperman]

First, a premed is pretty much anyone that plans to apply to med school. Doesn't matter what program etc.

 

Second, people hate being called premeds because premeds don't exactly have a good reputation in universities. For example, you get those gunners that would fight until death to bump an 89 to a 90 (I did that once myself with a legit reason tho so no judgment plz).

 

Even with profs. I've had a couple profs outright tell us on the first day of class "I don't care if you're applying to med school".

[boo]

FYI: In Quebec, there's a 1 year preparatory "program" after cegep called premed. If you're accepted into it, you're essentially accepted into med school as long as you get the minimum grades required during that year (depending on the school).

[supafield]

For example, you get those gunners that would fight until death to bump an 89 to a 90 (I did that once myself with a legit reason tho so no judgment plz).

 

Haha I did this on one half course where my grade was improperly rounded.. and it was literally the difference between me getting an Ottawa interview or not (if the cutoff is what I think it was) and with Ottawa being my only acceptance, my 89.6 becoming a 90 was the difference of getting in or not.

 

Don't sweat the small things eh? lol

[rmorelan]

Haha I did this on one half course where my grade was improperly rounded.. and it was literally the difference between me getting an Ottawa interview or not (if the cutoff is what I think it was) and with Ottawa being my only acceptance, my 89.6 becoming a 90 was the difference of getting in or not.

 

Don't sweat the small things eh? lol

 

Exactly your story was pretty much the most extreme version of it but there is a reason "pre-meds" are so competitive for marks. The system selects for it and a single GPA change can make a difference.

 

It is true that the term is unfortunately developed a bit of a negative reputation. Mostly because if you are really trying to max out your GPA you will of course try to get more resources to do that from professors or TAs - either for extra help or reviewing graded assignments. Both of which make those people's jobs harder and therefore annoys them (and many are easy to annoy). Similarly people gunning for med often feel compelled to research not for research's sake for application padding. This is not the best use of a lab's time and of course can annoy people running that lab as well.

 

My biggest concern about it is the inherit setup for failure for those that didn't get into meds in the end - I mean if you are pre-med (even if that is just what you call it) then it implies that you are doing something wrong if you don't get meds right away - as if it was a scheduled thing. In the US where the term was formed that is probably somewhat closer to being true as they have much higher acceptance rates. In Canada it is not the case at all. Worse it has people not thinking about potential backups etc - it does give a bit of tunnel vision

[Nobodycirclesthewagons]

I don't like the term, because it has too much inevitability in it, as if it's only a matter of time until you'll become a med student.

[TheBoss]

It is true that the term is unfortunately developed a bit of a negative reputation. Mostly because if you are really trying to max out your GPA you will of course try to get more resources to do that from professors or TAs - either for extra help or reviewing graded assignments. Both of which make those people's jobs harder and therefore annoys them (and many are easy to annoy). Similarly people gunning for med often feel compelled to research not for research's sake for application padding. This is not the best use of a lab's time and of course can annoy people running that lab as well.

 

These are pretty much my thoughts exactly. Especially with regards to research. I know of an instance where a prof got really pissed when he found out a research student in his lab was applying for med, because he already had premeds who were only there for application padding and had no interest in research whatsoever. Unfortunate, but not at all surprising.

[DOC_Ma]

Haha I did this on one half course where my grade was improperly rounded.. and it was literally the difference between me getting an Ottawa interview or not (if the cutoff is what I think it was) and with Ottawa being my only acceptance, my 89.6 becoming a 90 was the difference of getting in or not.

 

Don't sweat the small things eh? lol

 

Your bump is legendary bro!

[DOC_Ma]

Even with profs. I've had a couple profs outright tell us on the first day of class "I don't care if you're applying to med school".

 

Again shows that they r sick and tired of "premeds".

[Tango Charlie]

I honestly believe that attaching any sort of label to yourself does more harm than good. Hold your cards close unless you have something to gain by showing them.

[Leon]

There is such a negative stigma attached to students applying to medicine that I try to avoid mentioning it as much as possible.

I also hate the term "pre med." It's misunderstood by many people who end up making false assumptions (eg. half my relatives think that if you are a "pre med" then you are going to get into med no matter what )

 

 

I honestly believe that attaching any sort of label to yourself does more harm than good. Hold your cards close unless you have something to gain by showing them.

 

Exactly. +1

[future_doc]

My biggest concern about it is the inherit setup for failure for those that didn't get into meds in the end - I mean if you are pre-med (even if that is just what you call it) then it implies that you are doing something wrong if you don't get meds right away - as if it was a scheduled thing. ...... Worse it has people not thinking about potential backups etc - it does give a bit of tunnel vision

 

Do you have any idea of the percentage of students claiming to gun for med who change their mind for a variety of reasons (including not being competitive)? It is bad enough that highly competitive candidates need to apply year after year to finally get in or give up.

 

My feeling, with no real information or statistics, is that the greater proportion of students calling themselves premeds never apply.

 

Your point is well taken about having a Plan B and tunnel vision.

[rmorelan]

Your bump is legendary bro!

 

yes, yes it is! I can say how happy I was for him to finally get in

[future_doc]

yes, yes it is! I can say how happy I was for him to finally get in

 

We all agree and are so happy for supafield!

 

He earned his acceptance the hard way and I can only imagine how sweet it was to attain the goal he so richly deserves.

 

A story for his grandchildren to motivate them and to pass down to future generations!

[kylamonkey]

Supafield +1

 

 

About the term "pre-med"- I would never call myself that in even a basic academic setting, but I have been known to use the term when trying to describe myself or others to non-university people. What can I say, I like talking to all sorts of people! The lady I met on the ferry last weekend doesn't know the negaive implications of the term, so I had no qualms using it with her.

[mnemosyne]

In my university, they do have a program called 'pre-med' but students registered for it aren't really guaranteed a spot in med school. It's more like a formality under the school's 'Pre-professional programs'. Being in it just helps people pick the classes they need for med school apps! Would be nice if we're guaranteed admission though, haha.

 

I personally consider myself a science student, hoping to get into med in the near future

[Psychobabble]

In my university, they do have a program called 'pre-med' but students registered for it aren't really guaranteed a spot in med school. It's more like a formality under the school's 'Pre-professional programs'. Being in it just helps people pick the classes they need for med school apps! Would be nice if we're guaranteed admission though, haha.

 

I personally consider myself a science student, hoping to get into med in the near future

 

Haha yeah my school is getting a "pre-med" program of sorts. I personally just think it's for students that can't think for themselves and helplessly follow the blind.

[apache]

When I hear pre-med I think obsessive loser who has no life, and sort of equivocate it with the hardcore gunner type, thus there can be people who wanna do med who aren't "pre-meds" but are totally cool, at least to me ;p

 

the moment i see you hassling the professor over 2 extra marks though u've earned annoying premed status, lol

 

I always told people I wanted to be a psychiatrist (since a lot of people think they're psychologists; or not real doctors anyways) to avoid the premed rep.

 

I was just wondering what people thought of the term 'pre-med', in terms of what type of student you are? Or what program in university you are in?

 

What exactly is a pre-med student? As someone pointed out to me, "so if I just wrote the MCAT, I would be a pre-med." This is from someone in business.

 

Plus, students that are considered pre-med get a bad rep!

 

Personally, I never say "I'm pre-med" but rather that I'm in health sciences and will be applying to medical school. I actually hate when I'm called pre-med.

 

Thoughts? =)

[mnemosyne]

I personally just think it's for students that can't think for themselves and helplessly follow the blind.

 

Not all the time lol