Backup to Med School

[nikki dale]

I'm in my 3rd year and like the billion other people, trying to become a doctor. I honestly don't have a backup plan, i know you can do research but after working in a lab for the past 3 years i'm really not looking to do that for my whole life.

 

What are some of your backup careers to medicine??

 

I personally would consider other professional programs, like Masters in Speech Pathology as an alternative if I find that medicine ends up not being a good fit for me (which I think, will not happen. I put a great deal of thought into this.) But the career is nice (has a good balance of a normal life and hard work), part of the health care field, and rewarding.

[rmorelan]

"smarter" doesn't mean better. Getting good grades doesn't mean you have good people skills just like having good people skills doesn't necessarily predict good grades. If getting into medicine just depended on smarts they would just take the top X GPAs to fill X number of seats... right?

 

I would agree with that - beyond a point I am not sure being smarter is actually all that helpful for most of medicine

[FacelessMage]

I'm planning to apply to graduate programs in clinical psychology.

[scubagirl]

How about Physio or OT?! That's my backup plan

[FacelessMage]

Which are around as hard to get into as medicine...

 

Honestly, I didn't have a backup plan. I would have kept applying until I got in.

 

That's why I have a back-up to my back-up plan, haha! I'd stand a good chance of getting into an experimental psychology program with my research experience.

[IamIDP]

Dent is harder to get into than med? Please! LOL

 

Dentistry is mainly marks and a few ECs. Med is all-rounder, your insufficient marks can be made up by your characteristics. So TBH, both are hard.

[future_doc]

How about Physio or OT?! That's my backup plan

 

Excellent backup plan.

[goleafsgochris]

I would have done dentistry or law. If I had failed at getting into those as well, I dont know, something business related?

 

No urge at all to do the "allied health" things like OT, PT, SW, nursing, PA. Now that I am a resident, i realize I made the right decision, since these jobs essentially take tons of work, with no credit and crappy pay (I have heard the words "permanent doctor's b*tch" thrown around a lot, is the sad reality)

[BridgetJones]

Depends on your degree.. But you could go for dentistry, pharmacy, optometry... whatever.

 

Physician assistant, nursing.....

[nikki dale]

I would have done dentistry or law. If I had failed at getting into those as well, I dont know, something business related?

 

No urge at all to do the "allied health" things like OT, PT, SW, nursing, PA. Now that I am a resident, i realize I made the right decision, since these jobs essentially take tons of work, with no credit and crappy pay (I have heard the words "permanent doctor's b*tch" thrown around a lot, is the sad reality)

 

I agree. I wouldn't want ''allied health'' but I still would want something in the health field where I can be more 'in charge' than those allied health positions. Ex. Health Promotion, Speech Pathologist, Clinical Psychologist.

[aaronjw]

I agree. I wouldn't want ''alied health'' but I still would want something in the health field where I can be more 'in charge' than those allied health positions. Ex. Health Promotion, Speech Pathologist, Clinical Psychologist.

 

Health management and policy is my backup. Ability to make a significant contribution to a system that is in need of help to ensure sustainability.

[nikki dale]

Health management and policy is my backup. Ability to make a significant contribution to a system that is in need of help to ensure sustainability.

 

That's exactly what I meant

Those are great alternatives I think.

[apache]

the funny thing about all these careers is that none of them are safe, they're all businesses, and they all require a little bit of faith in yourself that you can be the top of your field, because unlike medicine, crappy lawyers don't make coin, while crappy doctors do... if you've got the raw skills and talent, are a risk taker that won't settle for the safety net of mediocrity try for one of these... if you're passionate and work hard (which is a lot easier when you're passionate and believe in what you're doing), the sky is the limit... but be warned, there's none of this pass/fail bull****, if you want to exceed in something like law, you've gotta be rolling a's across the board, and be willing to work like a dog

 

Dent is a better deal than med, so use that as a backup. SUre its hard to get into, even harder than med actually, but its another shot at something and that's worth a lot.

 

FInance and economics is a great way to make yourself competitive in the grand capitalist scheme. The economy is eroding. You could help rebuild it.

 

Law is also a good other career, if you care to really bust ass.

[apache]

it depends on your geography, if you're in ontario, then med is more difficult, if you have ip med schools, dent is more difficult, there were people in my class with 3.4's etc. that fluked out because someone thought their volunteering was worth full marks, for dent admissions you need 3.8 plus just to have a chance, it gets even harder when you look into clinical psych you're literally looking at 3.9 maybe getting you an interview, top law programs like osgoode and u of t also require 3.9+, 95th percentile lsats, and reference letters, plus personal statements... then again, there's a reason graduating top of u of t law with business acumen is a one way ticket to wall street, or osgoode being a one way ticket to a top government position.

 

Dent is harder to get into than med? Please! LOL

[apache]

being extremely intelligent it's actually counter-productive to being a good physician (with the exception of a few specialties), i have a through the roof iq that equivocates to being the top 1 in every 1000 or so in the population (whatever iq's supposed to measure anyways) coupled with hardcore add - guess the good comes with the bad, and i had a lot of trouble with medicine because it's mostly like being a mechanic, there's a lot of memorization involved without a lot of complex reasoning and deduction from basic physiological and cellular mechanisms... anion gap... mudpiles right? don't worry about why, just treat the condition with the drug/methodology you have a working understanding of, or have associated with the acute presentation... you don't really need to think in an abstract conceptual way, you just need to be proficient.

 

i use to view this with a lot of disdain, but i sort of now realize that physicians are professionals, they're technicians, i don't care that my physician is an intellectual or knows the intricate details of the sub-receptors the drug he's giving me, i just care that he gives me the right life saving drug... like the old saying goes, the physicist can explain in intricate detail how a motor works, but he can't fix it, a car mechanic has a cursory understanding and can get the job done in a few hours... who do you want fixing your car (or body, lol)?

 

I would agree with that - beyond a point I am not sure being smarter is actually all that helpful for most of medicine

[medigeek]

being extremely intelligent it's actually counter-productive to being a good physician (with the exception of a few specialties), i have a through the roof iq that equivocates to being the top 1 in every 1000 or so in the population (whatever iq's supposed to measure anyways) coupled with hardcore add - guess the good comes with the bad, and i had a lot of trouble with medicine because it's mostly like being a mechanic, there's a lot of memorization involved without a lot of complex reasoning and deduction from basic physiological and cellular mechanisms... anion gap... mudpiles right? don't worry about why, just treat the condition with the drug/methodology you have a working understanding of, or have associated with the acute presentation... you don't really need to think in an abstract conceptual way, you just need to be proficient.

 

i use to view this with a lot of disdain, but i sort of now realize that physicians are professionals, they're technicians, i don't care that my physician is an intellectual or knows the intricate details of the sub-receptors the drug he's giving me, i just care that he gives me the right life saving drug... like the old saying goes, the physicist can explain in intricate detail how a motor works, but he can't fix it, a car mechanic has a cursory understanding and can get the job done in a few hours... who do you want fixing your car (or body, lol)?

 

and which specialties do you think those are? and why

[check212]

Law school is the ever present backup. LSAT is basically a logic game (not to be confused with the logic games on the LSAT). Get above 95th percentile (as easily done as said) with a good GPA and you pretty much get scholarships to a lot of US schools.

 

Note: Most Canadian lawschools will auto admit you with a 95th percentile + GPA over 3.5.

 

 

For further reference on US schools:

 

http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-content/uploads/Law-School-Predictor-Full-Time-Programs.htm

 

and

 

 

http://search.lawschoolnumbers.com/

 

 

 

Prime example of a person with free rides:

 

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/2fHepRQF

[check212]

................

[Larrivee]

^ I know someone who got in to U of T law last year with a 3.7.

[check212]

All of this is false. There are tons of people in clinical psych with B+ GPA's and GRE scores in the 50th percentile. Some dummy from one of my labs got in with BELOW 50th percentile GRE's and a terrible GPA last year just because our prof made a phone call and asked the other prof to accept this student. It's more about who you know than what your stats are.

 

You are mistaken with law stats as well. I'm applying to law school as my backup, so I've done quite a bit of research on this. Osgoode is not hard to get into at all- you need like a 3.6-3.7 GPA in your BEST TWO years and an LSAT in the 80-85th percentile. For U of T, which is considered the hardest school to gain acceptance to in Canada, the average accepted applicant has a 3.8 GPA in their best three years and a 90th percentile LSAT. Oh, and U of T doesn't even look at reference letters. This is why tons of pre-meds have law as a backup- even U of T law is easier to get into than med.

 

Osgoode even had a special category last time I checked for students who can basically get a doctors note. I'm not going to comment on the ethics of the issue for those with criminal minds, but it's a thought to be considered because with them providing so much leeway with the best two years thing, it makes it even easier if you have a special category.

[check212]

lol you can get auto admitted at most Canadian law schools with a 3.7 and like 82th percentile

 

I was looking at UBC the other day, and you can get in with a 66% average and a 98th percentile LSAT

 

That's not necessarily bad. The US system is more accurate in my opinion because the LSAT has the strongest correlation with success in first year law of any of the factors, even GPA.

[osmosis]

I'm in my 3rd year and like the billion other people, trying to become a doctor. I honestly don't have a backup plan, i know you can do research but after working in a lab for the past 3 years i'm really not looking to do that for my whole life.

 

What are some of your backup careers to medicine??

 

1. Engineering

2. Business (Accounting or Finance)

3. Nursing - if you don't mind being a nurse instead of a doctor. if you get a master's degree and become a nurse practitioner, you have basically all the rights that a GP has.

 

With the nursing option, i placed it as third b/c i have been told that the vast majority of people who do not make it to med school switch out of the health profession entirely. i honestly couldn't be a nurse if i wanted to be a doctor, knowing that i never made it and that i am now taking orders from those that did.

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4. Research - i liked research in grad school. but what i did not enjoy is the lack of funding and hoops you have to go through in human based clinical stuides.

[aaronjw]

Really? That's interesting! I'm not against admitting lower GPA students...my point is just that it isn't nearly as competitive as med in Canada (unless you are IP, then they are maybe the same).

 

The US system also requires a 99.5th percentile LSAT to get into the top schools. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer lower percentile requirements.

 

Are you applying to law as well?? I wasn't too keen on it at first, but I think I would be very happy in something like health law/policy, or professorship. If I don't get into med this year, I think I'll stick with law.

 

 

Health policy rocks. I'm already being forced to change my perspective on a few issues based on what im learning and i've had extensive experience working for Health Canada and PHAC but nothing there ever made me adopt a new style of thinking towards health problems and challenges.

 

So fascinating!!!

[check212]

Really? That's interesting! I'm not against admitting lower GPA students...my point is just that it isn't nearly as competitive as med in Canada (unless you are IP, then they are maybe the same).

 

The US system also requires a 99.5th percentile LSAT to get into the top schools. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer lower percentile requirements.

 

Are you applying to law as well?? I wasn't too keen on it at first, but I think I would be very happy in something like health law/policy, or professorship. If I don't get into med this year, I think I'll stick with law.

 

Actually, if you look at those sites I posted, you'll see that it's not really 172+(99th percentile) in order to get into the top schools. The stronger law schools require a high GPA, just like Canada but not an insane LSAT. I'd say averages are 3.8 167. The ones who get 170 something essentially guarantee themselves a top school provided their GPA is anything ot be noticed. You are right about law not being as competitive because of the lower GPA though.

 

I'm using law as a backup plan if a lot of others things fail. I wouldn't mind law as long as it involves a courtroom. No contract law for me. Medical school involves another two years worth of a degree and an MCAT. I'm going ot stick with it unless I find the MCAT to be too difficult.

[A Second Daniel]

I think pharmacy is a good back up. The relative pay:work ratio is much higher than that of MDs, with pharmacists starting off around $40/hr. Plus, I hear some schools don't even require the PCAT, making it that much easier to get accepted.