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Hello everyone!
I'm new to the forum and not sure where to start... Maybe a little background?
Five years ago I graduated from a respectable US graduate program with a Ph.D. in mathematics and after going through a post-doc I was lucky to land a tenure-track position as an assistant professor at a regular 4-year college. It is a regular research university located in a small town in the midwest. Rresearch is going relatively well (I have a steady stream of publications and research grants), teaching is going well and I think I am on track to get tenured (at least that is what I have been told thus far). Everything is looking very nice, right?
When my wife and I move here from the West Coast, we were ecstatic to start this new chapter of our lives. An unfortunate turn of events, a few deaths in the family, a few new kids (nephews) and no prospects in the small town for my wife to go back to her career as a math teacher made her really want to move back to the west coast and be closer to her family. She is very unhappy here. We do not have marital problems - she just wants to be closer to her family. We have an almost two years old baby boy and my obligation goes first to my family and then to my career. Our plan A is to look for tenure-track positions for me but if this fails I may have to go back to school and change careers. Getting a tenure-track job in academia these days is quite difficult thus a plan B may be more real than just pure speculation and a cushy safety net.
When I was younger (I'm 35 now) I debated between a career in mathematics vs medicine. I found both fields very attractive. Immigration to the US (I'm of Eastern European origin with a green card now) was easier done through the math option. In my "old country", none of the two career paths gives financial security and a proper standard of living commensurate to the required education.
Looking for a plan B, going back to medical school came up as an option. Giving up mathematics to become a physician would make me equally happy and make me feel equally accomplished. Both careers have their pros and cons. As far as being a research mathematician, I am pretty aware of the drawbacks. Talking to doctors I've learned possible disadvantages of the medical profession.
As already mentioned, the possibility of going back to school may become fairly tangible in the course of the next few years. First and foremost please do not say "You should not do it because of somebody else (your wife)". I would do it for myself. I spent a lot of time in hospitals in the past few years taking care of her relatives and weirdly enjoyed the environment. I talked to their doctors a lot as well with regards to their profession.
I already talked to a pre-health program advisor at the university I work at and I think I have a pretty good grasp of what this endeavor entails and what I would need to do. I researched extensively what the process of preparation and application looks like. I do not mean to sound arrogant or ostentatious but I do believe that I am capable of doing well on the pre-reqs GPA as well as on the MCAT. I am used to a heavy workload and performing intensive mentally demanding tasks.
It may sound irrational but I think my fears are related to medical schools not being interested in admitting anyone with the above described credentials. I also do not really have a BS from a US university (I have two MS degrees back from Europe, a MS from a US university and a Ph.D from the same US university) thus I cannot say I would have a "cumulative GPA" - does anyone know what GPA would be taken into account by the admissions committee? Would it be the cumulative GPA from the science pre-reqs I'd take in preparation? My cumulative GPA in Grad School was 3.85.
I would be glad to hear some opinions regarding what I just wrote about. I am at a stage where going back to medical school would not make me bitter that I abandoned mathematics. I think I would enjoy learning a lot of new things and become capable of applying them. I am curious to find out what you think the difficulties of going back to school in my situation may be?
I'm new to the forum and not sure where to start... Maybe a little background?
Five years ago I graduated from a respectable US graduate program with a Ph.D. in mathematics and after going through a post-doc I was lucky to land a tenure-track position as an assistant professor at a regular 4-year college. It is a regular research university located in a small town in the midwest. Rresearch is going relatively well (I have a steady stream of publications and research grants), teaching is going well and I think I am on track to get tenured (at least that is what I have been told thus far). Everything is looking very nice, right?
When my wife and I move here from the West Coast, we were ecstatic to start this new chapter of our lives. An unfortunate turn of events, a few deaths in the family, a few new kids (nephews) and no prospects in the small town for my wife to go back to her career as a math teacher made her really want to move back to the west coast and be closer to her family. She is very unhappy here. We do not have marital problems - she just wants to be closer to her family. We have an almost two years old baby boy and my obligation goes first to my family and then to my career. Our plan A is to look for tenure-track positions for me but if this fails I may have to go back to school and change careers. Getting a tenure-track job in academia these days is quite difficult thus a plan B may be more real than just pure speculation and a cushy safety net.
When I was younger (I'm 35 now) I debated between a career in mathematics vs medicine. I found both fields very attractive. Immigration to the US (I'm of Eastern European origin with a green card now) was easier done through the math option. In my "old country", none of the two career paths gives financial security and a proper standard of living commensurate to the required education.
Looking for a plan B, going back to medical school came up as an option. Giving up mathematics to become a physician would make me equally happy and make me feel equally accomplished. Both careers have their pros and cons. As far as being a research mathematician, I am pretty aware of the drawbacks. Talking to doctors I've learned possible disadvantages of the medical profession.
As already mentioned, the possibility of going back to school may become fairly tangible in the course of the next few years. First and foremost please do not say "You should not do it because of somebody else (your wife)". I would do it for myself. I spent a lot of time in hospitals in the past few years taking care of her relatives and weirdly enjoyed the environment. I talked to their doctors a lot as well with regards to their profession.
I already talked to a pre-health program advisor at the university I work at and I think I have a pretty good grasp of what this endeavor entails and what I would need to do. I researched extensively what the process of preparation and application looks like. I do not mean to sound arrogant or ostentatious but I do believe that I am capable of doing well on the pre-reqs GPA as well as on the MCAT. I am used to a heavy workload and performing intensive mentally demanding tasks.
It may sound irrational but I think my fears are related to medical schools not being interested in admitting anyone with the above described credentials. I also do not really have a BS from a US university (I have two MS degrees back from Europe, a MS from a US university and a Ph.D from the same US university) thus I cannot say I would have a "cumulative GPA" - does anyone know what GPA would be taken into account by the admissions committee? Would it be the cumulative GPA from the science pre-reqs I'd take in preparation? My cumulative GPA in Grad School was 3.85.
I would be glad to hear some opinions regarding what I just wrote about. I am at a stage where going back to medical school would not make me bitter that I abandoned mathematics. I think I would enjoy learning a lot of new things and become capable of applying them. I am curious to find out what you think the difficulties of going back to school in my situation may be?
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One would be to become a school teacher, however I would probably live the rest of my life with a sense of un-fulfillment. Another may be to find a job in the financial sector - low job security and the same problem as before. I would view medical school more as an investment in the time after.
