Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

What's your plan B?


Recommended Posts

I went to an interview preparation session for dentistry a few months back, and the person leading the session went through some of the common questions that are asked. One of them was "What are you going to do if you don't get in?". Someone put their hand up and said "I'm going to keep trying until I get in". The session leader then said something to this extent; "that answer is not very good as it demonstrates that you're not very strategic, and really, you should have a plan B." (I know what a lot of you think of that..)

 

Anyway, what's your "plan B"?

 

My plan B is to pursue a Masters of Biotechnology and get into the industry. I'd probably apply to dentistry one more time after the masters to see if I can get in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 53
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Masters in medical biophysics hopefully...and then like you said, apply one more time after the masters. But most likely, if they won't let me practice medicine in THIS country, I'm MOVING!

 

No, I joke, I love Canada!:D But things can always change........lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5th year. apply again. take a year off. apply again. masters in neurosci. apply again. phd. apply again. but with regards to what the OP said, you should keep trying until you get in, but pay attention to why you didn't get in the first time so you can "plan" your improvement for the next

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In an interview, you are trying to sell yourself. You don't have to tell them exactly what you are going to do ( majority of the control during the interview lies with the candidate). Hence when they ask you for your strengths and weaknesses, you don't actually give them your true weaknesses.

 

Simple answer to your question: I am very interested in ___________. I believe _____ is best suited for skill set bla bla bla... However, if I don't recieve admission then I will try to do a Masters in ________ through which I can still contribute meaningfully to ______. bla bla bla...

 

You don't have to keep going on and on about what if that doesn't work... The whole point of asking those types of questions is two-folds: How committed/determined is this applicant to the field, specifically the country, location, etc (its very easy to go oversees...), and does this person realize the extent of the competition and hence is realistic and has made alternate plans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I hadn't gone into medical school this year, my plan was to either:

 

1. apply for physical therapy

 

or

 

2. go back and do a second undergraduate degree in nutrition/dietetics (that way I could become a registered dietitian after completing a post-degree internship if I didn't eventually succeed in making it into medical school)

 

Those are both two health-related professions that I could be content with, and both are related to my passion for fitness, so I'm pretty sure I would have been satisfied with either one as a career.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my mind, having a plan B was like planning for failure. I was very resistant to that idea and I planned to pretty much apply until I got in. However, I did have a plan B just to have one, in case someone asked... I'd have an answerfor them. My go-to Plan B response was to obtain a PharmD and work in the hospital.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a great thread! My plan B for next year was going to be to sell my soul to pharma and make some bills. After two years of living the high life I would do a post-doc in a big lab in the states and then 2-3 years after that start looking for professorships in Canada.

 

For those of you thinking about PharmDs and PhDs in a medical field, the pharma/biotech job market is pretty good all things considered if you are okay with the stress of industry. There are very few professorships out there right now though, so keep that in mind. The greatest thing about these careers is if you lose your job you can usually start working as a post-doc immediately (albiet for a lot less money, but it is waaaay better than being unemployed). There are tons of post-doc positions around. Tons!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gold digger :D

 

 

Plan B was to win the lottery.

 

Yes, I thought plan B would have better odds of success than plan C :rolleyes:

 

Become a gangster

 

Two words: Meth Lab

 

Get my money's worth out of all that O-chem I had to sit through.

 

Very interesting plan Bs. Hey Para D, we should find someone that majored in Pharmaceutical chemistry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps get a job? I don't understand why everyone thinks masters is the only viable solution if not admitted to medicine. Pursue interests, make some differences and grow as a person. I understand masters is perfectly good for people interested in research, but if you're only doing masters to get into medicine, its pretty much waste of your time and will make your life suck for the two years. That being said, I want to work/volunteer overseas and live in a foreign country for a year.

 

EDIT: Habitat for huamnity or greenpeace are always looking for international volunteers...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

a few of the masters stated are course based/professional degrees. You can get a job with a bsc, but having done co-op in industry, I've learned that a masters (mba, msc course or research) is becoming the new bsc, and is necessary if you want to work your way up in biotech and pharma.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I'm sort of doing my back up plan. Clinical research and reapplying.

 

Initially I though my *permanent* backup would be an MLIS degree. Basically to become a teen librarian. I've worked/volunteered in libraries over half of my life and I just love it there. But now I am finding that I have become so passionate about neuroscience and since I seem to be doing well in this field, why not run with it?

 

Still don't know for sure, but I like my current job. Pays well and is rewarding! We'll see what happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...