Have you just started your masters?

[mymeddream]

Hi everyone,

 

I just started grad school and hope to go into med school after my masters. I am just wondering if there is anyone else here who has also decided to go with this route to get to their med dream...I mean, are there any other med hopefuls who has just started their masters? Maybe we can share our feeling as we go through the process?

 

I will start with sharing my own feeling so far:

 

I have just started in a new lab, new area of research that I am not familiar with....everything seems too confusing and overwhelming at the moment. I just had a brief meeting with my co-supervisor on the first day of school and he welcomed me into the lab basically. I don't have a definite project set up but I have a somewhat vague idea of what I will be doing. I am also taking a couple of grad courses...one to fulfill my degree requirement and the other to teach me some of the techniques I will be using in my own research.

 

I look forward to hearing from other med hopefuls who have just started their masters. How do you find grad school so far? etc

[mymeddream]

Hmmm...Am I the only one who is going through the grad school route? No one else out there in the same position?

[SheriffLobo]

There have been others. However, most of the time those that do go through the masters route have a gpa that's competitive in their undergrad, or slightly below competitive. You are definitely not alone in doing a graduate degree before applying to med school though.

[osteon]

Yup, one right here. Doing my PhD, not first year though. My advice to you is to get a thesis proposal together ASAP so that you can stay on target to finish in 2 years or less.

[Real Beef]

Hmmm...Am I the only one who is going through the grad school route? No one else out there in the same position?

 

Once upon a time I started my Masters but I am a couple weeks out from finishing so I am not in the same position as you. Good luck. There are others.

 

Beef

[leap87]

Yup, one right here. Doing my PhD, not first year though. My advice to you is to get a thesis proposal together ASAP so that you can stay on target to finish in 2 years or less.

 

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[mymeddream]

+1 (10 char)

 

Thanks leap87 and Osteon for the advice. I am really hoping to get a research proposal together so that I know what I am doing....however, I have asked my supervisor multiple times about this.....he doesn't seem to be taking me too seriously about it. My masters is in an area that is very different than anything else I have done before...so, with my lack of knowledge and expertise in this area, I am not able to put together something myself....I don't know what I should do...also, I am so lost in my grad courses, I don't have any background knowledge in the area and its hard to follow the prof who seems to be all over the place.....

 

For those who have gone through this route before, what do you suggest as a timeline in terms of deadlines etc...I mean, other grad students in my lab are telling me to have a project ready and running by April/May....but to me, that seems to be too late, given that I would like to finish in 2 years...what do you guys recommend as a timeline?

[osteon]

Thanks leap87 and Osteon for the advice. I am really hoping to get a research proposal together so that I know what I am doing....however, I have asked my supervisor multiple times about this.....he doesn't seem to be taking me too seriously about it. My masters is in an area that is very different than anything else I have done before...so, with my lack of knowledge and expertise in this area, I am not able to put together something myself....I don't know what I should do...also, I am so lost in my grad courses, I don't have any background knowledge in the area and its hard to follow the prof who seems to be all over the place.....

 

For those who have gone through this route before, what do you suggest as a timeline in terms of deadlines etc...I mean, other grad students in my lab are telling me to have a project ready and running by April/May....but to me, that seems to be too late, given that I would like to finish in 2 years...what do you guys recommend as a timeline?

 

Timeline depends mostly on your own motivation and work efficiency, but also on what area of research you're in, what your topic is, how big your project is, if you have to get ethics approval, the number of courses you're taking etc. Lots of factors to consider. In general, I think if you can start testing in May you'll be fine for finishing in 2 years (24 months - not 2 undergrad years). Testing for an MSc should not be a year-long thing. Maybe you'll finish testing in November/December 2012, then defend in April/May 2013. But really there are a lot of factors to consider in determining a timeline.

[mymeddream]

Timeline depends mostly on your own motivation and work efficiency, but also on what area of research you're in, what your topic is, how big your project is, if you have to get ethics approval, the number of courses you're taking etc. Lots of factors to consider. In general, I think if you can start testing in May you'll be fine for finishing in 2 years (24 months - not 2 undergrad years). Testing for an MSc should not be a year-long thing. Maybe you'll finish testing in November/December 2012, then defend in April/May 2013. But really there are a lot of factors to consider in determining a timeline.

 

Thanks Osteon. I am required to take 3 courses for my degree requirement and another one that my supervisor wants me to take in order to get the training/learn the techniques I will be using. I am taking 2 courses this term, one course next term and a stats course next year. My study will be under the ethics approval that my supervisor already has so I won't have to go through that process. I am also required to write a secondary paper (essay) and a thesis for my degree. I plan on finishing that paper by August 2012 and also have my data by the end of next summer. Although, someone in my lab was telling me that that earliest I would be able to defend is August 2013 as i had expected.....not April/May 2013 as I had thought...this has got me confused as it won't be in time required for med school purposes.

[mr.o]

Hey mymeddream,

 

seems like I've gone through a similar situation! One major difference though is I'm in an MES program in urban planning at Waterloo so I don't have labwork.

 

Spent first year taking my 5 courses and getting depressed until the summer came when the epiphany came that I wanted to go into medicine. Spent the summer studying MCAT and now I'm at the start of a new term enrolled in orgo and chugging away on my thesis.

 

My supervisor retired on me, but assures that he'll "finish me off" so to speak haha. My recommendation for your research is do what is right for you, something that you can finish within however much time you have left. Professors are there for a long time so it won't matter (unless they fund you) if you stay there for 2 or 5 years. Thus, keep the thesis on your own turf, do what you want, what excites you so much that even if your prof coudln't care less, you'll follow it through to the end.

 

Hope that helps and that you start to enjoy the Master's experience!

[leap87]

Thanks Osteon. I am required to take 3 courses for my degree requirement and another one that my supervisor wants me to take in order to get the training/learn the techniques I will be using. I am taking 2 courses this term, one course next term and a stats course next year. My study will be under the ethics approval that my supervisor already has so I won't have to go through that process. I am also required to write a secondary paper (essay) and a thesis for my degree. I plan on finishing that paper by August 2012 and also have my data by the end of next summer. Although, someone in my lab was telling me that that earliest I would be able to defend is August 2013 as i had expected.....not April/May 2013 as I had thought...this has got me confused as it won't be in time required for med school purposes.

 

One of the requirements of some medical schools is to defend your thesis by the end of June. Honestly, I wouldn't listen to what other people say because it is YOUR future and you make what you want out of it.

 

Thesis proposal is your own work. In your previous post, you've mentioned how you can't put together something yourself. But that is what your Master's is all about - a whole new topic. It is YOUR responsibility to search through copious amounts of research out there and write up a literature review which will further guide you to think of a suitable project.

 

Master's is very different than undergrad. Don't expect people to tell you what to do and how to do it. You should be independent enough to take matters under your control or you will be stuck doing a Master's for 3,4 years.

[mymeddream]

One of the requirements of some medical schools is to defend your thesis by the end of June. Honestly, I wouldn't listen to what other people say because it is YOUR future and you make what you want out of it.

 

Thesis proposal is your own work. In your previous post, you've mentioned how you can't put together something yourself. But that is what your Master's is all about - a whole new topic. It is YOUR responsibility to search through copious amounts of research out there and write up a literature review which will further guide you to think of a suitable project.

 

Master's is very different than undergrad. Don't expect people to tell you what to do and how to do it. You should be independent enough to take matters under your control or you will be stuck doing a Master's for 3,4 years.

 

Thanks everyone for the input.

 

@ Leap87: I understand that a masters is more independent where I am left to do my own stuff and figure things out on my own but the issue with coming up with a project is that supervisors have various different grants for different things....they have a list of projects they have proposed in order to get that money, so I need the guidance as to what area or general idea on what they are thinking off...I will be only able to read papers based on that (I can't just randomly read papers in an area that is soooo broad) and try to come up with anything I want. Then, there are also limitations in the lab set up or available equipment which I would have to know about before coming up with something. I would also need to know about the ethics approval...has there been certain types of proposals that have been refused, what kind of experiments are approved for people in the lab to conduct under the ethics approval that the supervisor has....these are things that I don't know unless my supervisor gives me that info, I have only been in the lab for 1 week.

[iicii]

do you have a grad advisor/grad secretary through your department? Timelines and such are very variable depending on your program but I imagine they would know...or be able to direct you to someone else.

[mymeddream]

do you have a grad advisor/grad secretary through your department? Timelines and such are very variable depending on your program but I imagine they would know...or be able to direct you to someone else.

 

I checked with the Grad secretary. They only have a guideline as to when the progress reports and thesis should be submitted by but she said that everyone's projects are different and there is great variation between labs and supervisors. I need to make sure that everything I do is within a timely manner for med school application purposes whereas other grad students in my lab don't share the same goal and are okay with spending 3-4 years on a masters.

[osteon]

I checked with the Grad secretary. They only have a guideline as to when the progress reports and thesis should be submitted by but she said that everyone's projects are different and there is great variation between labs and supervisors. I need to make sure that everything I do is within a timely manner for med school application purposes whereas other grad students in my lab don't share the same goal and are okay with spending 3-4 years on a masters.

 

I really doubt that. Just because they don't care for medicine, it doesn't mean they don't care about spending 3-4 years in a Master's. Believe you me, every Master's student wants to finish early regardless if they want to do an MD after, PhD after, or just start working after. I'm getting the sense you think you're above them because you're interested in med. At the end of the day, your timelines are your responsibility and no one elses. If you want to finish before June so you can get into med, then that's totally doable but its your job, not your supervisors, not your lab mates, not the advisors. In a previous post you mentioned you have to work within the supervisors grants area. That's true and not true, meaning yes you have to work in the same general area, but on the same topic no. In fact, you probably wouldn't get the same topic because his other grad students have already started on them. Even so, you should have an idea of what the supervisors areas are because you signed up to work with him. As leap said, it's kind of your job to figure these things out.

[leap87]

Thanks everyone for the input.

 

@ Leap87: I understand that a masters is more independent where I am left to do my own stuff and figure things out on my own but the issue with coming up with a project is that supervisors have various different grants for different things....they have a list of projects they have proposed in order to get that money, so I need the guidance as to what area or general idea on what they are thinking off...I will be only able to read papers based on that (I can't just randomly read papers in an area that is soooo broad) and try to come up with anything I want. Then, there are also limitations in the lab set up or available equipment which I would have to know about before coming up with something. I would also need to know about the ethics approval...has there been certain types of proposals that have been refused, what kind of experiments are approved for people in the lab to conduct under the ethics approval that the supervisor has....these are things that I don't know unless my supervisor gives me that info, I have only been in the lab for 1 week.

 

In all honesty, all I see in your post are a bunch of excuses of why you can't do something. Problems mentioned in the post above should have been discussed BEFORE you started graduate studies. Don't tell me you just randomly picked a supervisor without researching their area of interest, talking with them about what you'd like to get involved in and then agreeing on a certain topic that your supervisor has grants for. If you're going to wait for someone to spoon-feed info about your future and project, good luck. I'm going to reiterate one more time that grad school is nothing like undergrad. At one point or another, you will have to figure out stuff on your own.

 

Why not talk with the rest of the grad students and see what they're doing? Why not try to help other grad students with their projects? Other grad students are a great resource and I'd use them as much as possible, particularly because you're ONLY a Master's student. After you've talked with them, why not try a simple pubmed search and see what you come up with in terms of literature? Why not come up with your own idea and take it to your supervisor to discuss?

 

I think I've given you plenty of ideas in this post to tackle the problems listed above. In all honesty, it doesn't really sound like you're ready for a graduate degree.

[mymeddream]

Thanks Leap87. My intention was not to make any excuses. My supervisor has been away for the past week so, I have not had the chance to meet with him since I started. There are a few PhD students and one other masters student in our lab. My supervisor emailed me to say that I should assist the masters student with the experiments she is running but she can't figure things out on how to start her experiment (and she is in 3rd year of her masters), so she has nothing for me to help her on. I have been helping another PhD student and learning how to use the equipment. I did not randomly pick a supervisor. I had an idea of what I wanted to do when I met him for the first time back in February. He agreed to take me on after he received a recent grant over the summer (which I don't know the specifics of). There are 3 major areas on which the supervisor works on and there is only 1 PhD student working on the area that I discussed with him before starting...as I said, I am already helping this student right now. Anyhow, I will try to come up with something on my own over the next couple of weeks or so.

[leap87]

Thanks Leap87. My intention was not to make any excuses. My supervisor has been away for the past week so, I have not had the chance to meet with him since I started. There are a few PhD students and one other masters student in our lab. My supervisor emailed me to say that I should assist the masters student with the experiments she is running but she can't figure things out on how to start her experiment (and she is in 3rd year of her masters), so she has nothing for me to help her on. I have been helping another PhD student and learning how to use the equipment. I did not randomly pick a supervisor. I had an idea of what I wanted to do when I met him for the first time back in February. He agreed to take me on after he received a recent grant over the summer (which I don't know the specifics of). There are 3 major areas on which the supervisor works on and there is only 1 PhD student working on the area that I discussed with him before starting...as I said, I am already helping this student right now. Anyhow, I will try to come up with something on my own over the next couple of weeks or so.

 

Ok. Step in the right direction. Remember one thing "You will get out of grad school what you put in it." If you put in the time and effort, you will mature and gain valuable experience. If you don't, then your grad experience will be useless and you will wonder why the heck you did it when you defend.

[mr.o]

I think a shared frustration with all graduate students in a supervisor that is absent/couldn't care less/spread too thin and etc. I definitely got hung up early on that mine wasn't what I idealized. Just recenter the thesis on yourself psychologically as an all-you project with your prof there to support you and suddenly, you'll find yourself plowing ahead with plenty of things to report instead of always waiting on them to be around and give the go ahead. You're doing the right thing getting to know your PhD colleagues, they often can be more motivated to see you succeed than a supervisor.

 

You'd be surprised how many people randomly pick supervisors so don't feel like you're alone on that front. One thing you should never do though is regret the past, because that is just a waste of the present. Best of luck with the hurdles ahead!

[mymeddream]

Thanks mr.o for the motivational note! I really appreciate that. I did my homework when choosing a supervisor but from the options I had (from the few that said yes to take me on as a student as well as the general idea of a project), I thought this would be the best option for me. My supervisor is a pretty big and well known prof in the department and actually runs the biggest facility within the department. He is very busy and is often away but I figured that with lots of other people including graduate students, post docs and technicians, I would be able to get the support even if he is not around. However, others can only help in the technical or analytical aspects once I have a proper project in place....so I am working on getting that together to the best of my abilities. Thanks again mr.o!

[mymeddream]

In all honesty, all I see in your post are a bunch of excuses of why you can't do something. Problems mentioned in the post above should have been discussed BEFORE you started graduate studies. Don't tell me you just randomly picked a supervisor without researching their area of interest, talking with them about what you'd like to get involved in and then agreeing on a certain topic that your supervisor has grants for. If you're going to wait for someone to spoon-feed info about your future and project, good luck. I'm going to reiterate one more time that grad school is nothing like undergrad. At one point or another, you will have to figure out stuff on your own.

 

Why not talk with the rest of the grad students and see what they're doing? Why not try to help other grad students with their projects? Other grad students are a great resource and I'd use them as much as possible, particularly because you're ONLY a Master's student. After you've talked with them, why not try a simple pubmed search and see what you come up with in terms of literature? Why not come up with your own idea and take it to your supervisor to discuss?

 

I think I've given you plenty of ideas in this post to tackle the problems listed above. In all honesty, it doesn't really sound like you're ready for a graduate degree.

 

@Leap87: I did NOT choose a supervisor randomly. I discussed a general area/stream as well as the nature of work that I was looking into with my supervisor before committing to their lab. My supervisor himself specializes in basic sciences but has recently made an addition of a clinical aspect to his work. He recently got a grant for such work. When I met with him in February, he was submitting the grant applications....I could not discuss the details of his funding or what he was going to be writing in his application to the granting agencies at the time...so discussing all of this BEFORE was NOT a possibility. And right now, no one else in the lab is doing the clinical type work that I will be doing. I am not sure where you are getting the idea that I picked a supervisor randomly or even that I am not ready for graduate degree.....I have more than 4 years of full time and part time experience in research before I committed to graduate school. I am not someone coming straight out of an undergrad degree, looking to be spoon fed. I have various life experiences and have seen the real working world before starting grad school......I only wrote my initial post to see if there were others going through the same process. I am changing my fields...meaning that my undergraduate degree and past experiences are not even remotely related to the graduate work that I will be doing...hence, I was finding the whole transitioning thing to be a little overwhelming and was just looking to see if there were others around here going through similar transitions.

[DanInVan]

For the record, sometimes Masters degrees just take longer than anticipated. Three years isn't unheard of. I took an extra year to do mine, and ended up with two first author publications and five presentations by the time I finished. I loved grad school, enjoyed my time, and didn't rush my way in to medicine.

[osteon]

For the record, sometimes Masters degrees just take longer than anticipated. Three years isn't unheard of. I took an extra year to do mine, and ended up with two first author publications and five presentations by the time I finished. I loved grad school, enjoyed my time, and didn't rush my way in to medicine.

 

True, and not true. For instance, I had 2 publications and 4 conferences in 1.5 years in a science field. I also know some students in epidemiology (where data is already pre-collected) and they ended up with 7 publications in two years. At the end of the day how long you take, and what you get out of it comes down to how hard you're willing to work, and how lucky you are with your project and research area.

[leap87]

@Leap87: I did NOT choose a supervisor randomly. I discussed a general area/stream as well as the nature of work that I was looking into with my supervisor before committing to their lab. My supervisor himself specializes in basic sciences but has recently made an addition of a clinical aspect to his work. He recently got a grant for such work. When I met with him in February, he was submitting the grant applications....I could not discuss the details of his funding or what he was going to be writing in his application to the granting agencies at the time...so discussing all of this BEFORE was NOT a possibility. And right now, no one else in the lab is doing the clinical type work that I will be doing. I am not sure where you are getting the idea that I picked a supervisor randomly or even that I am not ready for graduate degree.....I have more than 4 years of full time and part time experience in research before I committed to graduate school. I am not someone coming straight out of an undergrad degree, looking to be spoon fed. I have various life experiences and have seen the real working world before starting grad school......I only wrote my initial post to see if there were others going through the same process. I am changing my fields...meaning that my undergraduate degree and past experiences are not even remotely related to the graduate work that I will be doing...hence, I was finding the whole transitioning thing to be a little overwhelming and was just looking to see if there were others around here going through similar transitions.

 

Well, if you have so much life experience, why not use it in grad school?

 

Also it seems to me like you are underestimating other graduate students in your lab.

[leap87]

True, and not true. For instance, I had 2 publications and 4 conferences in 1.5 years in a science field. I also know some students in epidemiology (where data is already pre-collected) and they ended up with 7 publications in two years. At the end of the day how long you take, and what you get out of it comes down to how hard you're willing to work, and how lucky you are with your project and research area.

 

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