How well do people in majors such as "medical lab science" tend to fare?

[ems2doc]

Typically, it doesn't really matter what you major in as long as you complete the pre-med reqs, but what about very technical health degrees such as "medical lab science". My school offers it and I met a girl who said she's doing it as pre-med. But, I've also heard that people with more technical degrees in health sciences tend to do very poorly come application season. Thoughts?

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[baconcures]

It would be a nice backup, especially if you decide to take a gap year or two. I almost wish I majored in it because pretty much ALL the clinical lab jobs require you to be certified in it. I think it would be a good major if you want to wait a while before applying to med school (maybe kind of like if you did nursing but decided you wanted to pursue medicine instead) but MAYBE not the best if you wanted to go right to med school.

 

[deleted407021]

Engineering is considered a risky major for pre-med/dent/PA students because it tends to deflate the GPA. I don't think this is the case for the major you're referring to. In looking at Purdue's Medical Lab Sciences major, it seems like nothing more than a biochemistry degree with a more specialized, technical leaning. Sure, it will be tougher than English or History as a major, but it would certainly be doable should one choose to put in the effort, as is the way of most things.

I'm certain many students in this major have successfully entered professional school. It seems that one of it's goals is to prepare people for medical school. One may gain valuable exposure in such a major, as well.

As a rule, however, it doesn't matter what one majors in. We all must do our best, distinguish ourselves in our field of study and explore our interests. The above poster is right in saying that it may be a valuable degree to have should you take a gap year or two, or choose to do something else in health science, but disregard their last statement. It would be a perfectly fine major for going "right to med school."

 

[ems2doc]

Yeah I'm not considering it for myself, I was just curious. I'm all set with good ol' Biological Sciences.

 

[616548]

I actually did originally go this route, as a pre-med CLS major. (At my university, it was called clinical lab science; same thing, essentially). To fit the requirements for CLS, gen eds, and pre-med, I had to take classes every summer and had a high number of credits each semester. Eventually I dropped the major at the end of my junior year, due to lack of time to study for the MCAT. Its an interesting major, with plenty of information to keep you busy, but highly time-consuming and difficult when you don't have very good professors (as, sadly, we did). Out of the 15 or so CLSers who I started out with at the beginning of junior year, the class went down to 7 by the end of our junior summer.

As baconcures pointed out, and I agree, it'd be a good major if you weren't sure about med school or were going to take a gap year or two. At least in my experience at my school, it simply wasn't a good program for pre-meds. It just all depends on what you want to do and the quality of the program. (Yay for bio, though! That's what I ended up switching to, in order to graduate on time and get a few more suggested pre-med classes in.)

 

[NickNaylor]

If your application is otherwise strong, your major is irrelevant.

The more salient point is whether a major like that can lead to a productive situation should you decide not to go to medical school. Will "medical lab science" prepare you well for a career after college? Eh... maybe. I suppose it depends on the particulars of the program and your ability to market yourself.

 

[Lamel]

Lol I am surprised such a major even exists; sounds like job training.

 

[ASD2019]

I currently work as a CLS/MLS. I would highly recommend it. A lot of CLS end up going to medical school after a year or two (especially where I work). I went from a biochem major to CLS purely because of its clinical relevance. If you can get through the CLS program without your GPA taking a hit then it is one of the best preparation for med school

 

[Pholaffle]

Medical lab science major here entering third year. It's actually the only health science major at my school that allows students to pursue pre-medical prereqs and a fair amount of graduates from the program have been successful in medical school applications. The ones in the program who don't succeed however are those who take big hits to their GPA, as it is on the more rigorous side of majors offered. I myself am doing premed but having the training and credentials to enter other health professions is a nice security blanket.

 

[ASD2019]

I would say 65K/yr is a nice security blanket. However, the best part about this program is how relevant the information you learn will be in medical school and your future career as a doctor. The final year of the program I attended was mainly cased based study of differential diagnosis (might kind of come handy in med school).

 

[ems2doc]

Lol I am surprised such a major even exists; sounds like job training.

Yeah I asked the premed advisor at my school and he said applicants from Med Lab Science generally aren't as strong. About 20% of our med lab science premeds got into med school last year, which is much much lower than our "traditional" majors. I get the sense that medical lab science is really for people with that specific career in mind. I think people who say that you can get in with "any" major are generalizing. While yes, theoretically, any major would work, people with technical majors will have a much harder time.

 

[ASD2019]

Yeah I asked the premed advisor at my school and he said applicants from Med Lab Science generally aren't as strong. About 20% of our med lab science premeds got into med school last year, which is much much lower than our "traditional" majors. I get the sense that medical lab science is really for people with that specific career in mind. I think people who say that you can get in with "any" major are generalizing. While yes, theoretically, any major would work, people with technical majors will have a much harder time.

I would agree that most people who enter these technical majors aren't looking to go to any further schooling. However, I would argue that if you know you are a premed then this a better degree than the biological degrees. I say that because I was almost done with my biochem degree before switching out! The norm for premeds is just to do a biological degree hence why you see a lot of biology majors going to medical school. The fact that you can only make a little over the minimum wage with a biology degree might also be another reason a lot of biology majors go to further schooling. Having a degree outside of the biological majors might actually help you stand out. I honestly think your GPA will most likely be a little lower if you choose this route due to the intensiveness of the program, but if you want to get into medical school then you should be willing to take the challenge.

 

[ems2doc]

I would agree that most people who enter these technical majors aren't looking to go to any further schooling. However, I would argue that if you know you are a premed then this a better degree than the biological degrees. I say that because I was almost done with my biochem degree before switching out! The norm for premeds is just to do a biological degree hence why you see a lot of biology majors going to medical school. The fact that you can only make a little over the minimum wage with a biology degree might also be another reason a lot of biology majors go to further schooling. Having a degree outside of the biological majors might actually help you stand out. I honestly think your GPA will most likely be a little lower if you choose this route due to the intensiveness of the program, but if you want to get into medical school then you should be willing to take the challenge.

I'm not going to argue about which is better if you don't get in, but the fact is that medical schools tend to accept a higher percentage of traditional majors. By traditional I don't mean traditional premed (bio, biochem, chem, etc.), I mean traditional in the more broad sense (including liberal arts, history, engineering, physics, math, business, etc.). At least where I go to school medical lab science is in the nursing school, and looking at most of the classes, it seems very technical. Most of the courses revolve around working in a lab. Students there don't take a broad array of classes like in the other "traditional" programs. That's why I think they don't do as well in terms of acceptances. Personally I wouldn't major in medical lab science unless that's really what I wanted to do with my life. Too technical for me. It's almost like a certificate program you might find at a community college.

 

[616548]

At least where I go to school medical lab science is in the nursing school, and looking at most of the classes, it seems very technical. Most of the courses revolve around working in a lab. Students there don't take a broad array of classes like in the other "traditional" programs. That's why I think they don't do as well in terms of acceptances. Personally I wouldn't major in medical lab science unless that's really what I wanted to do with my life. Too technical for me. It's almost like a certificate program you might find at a community college.

The science requirements for the major goes through quite a range; I had to take stats and calc, 2 semesters gen bio, 2 semesters gen chem, 1 semester orgo chem + lab, and micro + lab before taking any of the CLS courses. And those, while all are medically based, went from two lab techniques courses to a physiological based biochem to micro/viro/parasit to urinalysis and hemostasis. Of course, beyond the sciences and gen ed requirements, there is little time for sociology, psychology, art, English, etc. It is very technical and most classes are lab-based, but it does teach you a lot about the medical tests performed and some physiology you might not have received in the normal a/p class. If you find it interesting but you don't want to take the time to work in the field and get certified, then taking a couple CLS/MLS classes (if allowed) might be the best thing to do. Despite having changed my major, I'm happy to have taken some CLS courses, as I feel they will be helpful in med school.

 

[ASD2019]

I'm not going to argue about which is better if you don't get in, but the fact is that medical schools tend to accept a higher percentage of traditional majors. By traditional I don't mean traditional premed (bio, biochem, chem, etc.), I mean traditional in the more broad sense (including liberal arts, history, engineering, physics, math, business, etc.). At least where I go to school medical lab science is in the nursing school, and looking at most of the classes, it seems very technical. Most of the courses revolve around working in a lab. Students there don't take a broad array of classes like in the other "traditional" programs. That's why I think they don't do as well in terms of acceptances. Personally I wouldn't major in medical lab science unless that's really what I wanted to do with my life. Too technical for me. It's almost like a certificate program you might find at a community college.

Do you really understand what a CLS job really entails? Or are you just providing advice from your assumptions after looking at course listings online? You would be surprised to find out there really isn't much "technical" work involved in a clinical lab job now a days. Most of the testing is done by analyzers. The majority of a CLS job entails reviewing the test results to make sure they are accurate and correlate with the patient's condition. 70% of a patient's diagnosis comes from laboratory values (the other 30 coming from the clinical presentation, history, other allied health services, etc). Imagine going into medical school having a deep understanding of what these lab values really mean. It would probably be a good guess to say that this might be a little advantageous during medical school.

 

[Gauss44]

Typically, it doesn't really matter what you major in as long as you complete the pre-med reqs, but what about very technical health degrees such as "medical lab science". My school offers it and I met a girl who said she's doing it as pre-med. But, I've also heard that people with more technical degrees in health sciences tend to do very poorly come application season. Thoughts?

I had a minor in Med Lab Science and it supplied me with all of the necessary coursework for MCAT and medical school. I had hands-on experience with a lot of the experiments on the MCAT. If you get a BS, that will open some additional research doors, but not as many as a Biology major would, unless you (and an employer) both consider MLS to be a type of Biology which is a stretch IMO, and may be seen as pushing the envelope.

I suspect that given the chance to explain what an MLS degree is, many labs would like to have you aboard. If your MLS is anything like mine, we were taught to both understand and use almost anything that could possibly end up in a medical laboratory. And we had graded hands-on experience with most lab techniques. And we used common techniques every single week.

If you are considering a year-round school or a 5 year school, those aspects would be worth asking about as well.