A little advise please!

[a_87]

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Hi. I just graduated from high school and I will be starting college next semester. I am trying to decide between
1. Majoring in Math and going to Medical School and becoming a Radiologist
or
2. Getting an Associates Degree in Radiology and then getting a bachelors in Imaging Sciences.

I need to make this decision asap since it will determine which college I chose. I am not sure if I want to commit all the time that is required for medical school but I would much rather read x-rays than take them. I am considering just going for choice 2 and then possibly go to medical school if I still have an interest in going. Would this be okay? Can you get a bachelors in Imaging Sciences and still be accepted to medical school? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks! 🙂

 

[a_87]

I meant " A little advice* please" on topic

 

[hans19]

Its good to have long term goals, but you have to learn to walk before you can run. And before that you have to learn to stand upright first.

I think you are jumping the gun. First, decide whether you even want to attend a 4 year university at all. If so, you've got to decide to where you want to go to college and what you may want to major in.

BTW, Being a radiographer will not help you get into medschool any more than being a philosophy major, in fact it may even hurt you. Ad coms claim to prefer applicants with a well-rounded 'humanistic' education (but it seems they want you to have a degree from a 4 year college). Technical colleges tend to focus on a vocational education, and there seems to be a bias against former allied health professionals in the admissions process. Generally there are MUCH FEWER PAs or nurses in medical school than biology majors, etc....

OK, lets say you decide to go the 4 year university route...
In med school, people frequently change their minds several times before they decide on their specialty. Undergrads frequently change there majors several times before they graduate. Heck, you may even decide that healthcare is not for you.

But by narrowing specifically on radiology this early on, you may be putting blinders on other excellent fields in medicine, or even other careers paths outside of health care. Don't shortchange yourself! Find out where you want to go to college, keep an open mind, have a good time, and the rest will fall into place.

If you are still interested in radiology after 4 years of premed, and after 3rd year of med school, we'll talk.

Good luck!

 

[Neuronix]

I am considering just going for choice 2 and then possibly go to medical school if I still have an interest in going. Would this be okay? Can you get a bachelors in Imaging Sciences and still be accepted to medical school? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks! 🙂

I think hans is right on the mark and want to paraphrase him for emphasis because I think this is very important for your future and you might make the wrong decision. Medical schools are looking for people with broad backgrounds. Something as specialized as going to school for "Imaging Science" is not going to help you get into medical school. Also as hans pointed out, you're very likely to change your mind at least once.

I think your best course of action is to go to a typical 4 year college and (since you mentioned it) major in something like math or physics, while keeping a focus on the pre-medical requirements. Try to get some other experiences, like research and study abroad. Keep your GPA very high! No matter what you decide to go into, that will help you. Stay focused your freshman year! Even if you decide eventually to become a rads tech (take them rather than read them), the amount of training you would need to get a job post college with bachelors would be minimal.

Take option #1! Really!

 

[Wallachia]

i would do math if you really like math since it can be very difficult to keep the old gpa up; however a good math major can have major opportunities in financial services sector in case you change your mind down the road

 

[markneil]

pick a major that you honestly and truly love. if you have your eyes set on medical school, take the prereqs. even if you're an english, history, computer science (me), math major, etc., you can always take the required courses, kick @ss, and apply to med school. you may also want to do some undergrad research, volunteer work at a local hospital, or become an EMT on the side. have fun in college.😎

 

[yowhassupdude]

If you want to become an MD:

1. goto a 4 year college that's not too crappy (not community college) but also not harvard

2. major in something easy that you can get A's in. This probably would be something that you happen to also enjoy, but that may not be 100% true. The major can be anything (except something frivolous like communcations) as long as you can get A's. Straight A's in a communications major is still better than straight B's in biomedical science or chemistry major.

3. do a lot of extra-curric stuff to make yourself look interesting come application time
doesnt all have to be medically related although i think volunteering at hospitals is a must
research is good too
you don't necessarily have to travel to africa to build hospitals, but you certainly shouldn't avoid such opportunities

4. be prepared to work hard and be at least partly miserable for the rest of your life (unless you go into derm)



have fun

 

[a_87]

I am still not positive on what I want to do but all the advice you all have given me will help me make the right decision. I am seriously considering going to a 4 yr college, majoring in math, and going to medical school. I am just worried that I won't do very well on the MCAT. Is it similar to the ACT or not? And what about boards? I am so worried that I will get half way through and not be able to pass some required test or something. Can someone give me a little more advice on these tests?
Thanks very much everyone!!!

 

[hans19]

I am so worried that I will get half way through and not be able to pass some required test or something. Can someone give me a little more advice on these tests?
Thanks very much everyone!!!

Relax, its still years away. You can cross that bridge when you get there. 1000's of people have taken the test before you; thousands will take the test after you do. If you took the medical boards today, of course you would fail miserably!!! You haven't taken a single medschool class. How can you be worried about failing a test years away when you aren't even in medical school?

The only way to know if you will be able to pass the prerequisite classes and entrance exams is to actually take the prerequiste classes and take the test! Quite a few people take prep courses for the MCAT like people do with the SAT/ACT.

IMO math, physics, and engineering are the most difficult and rigorous majors in undergrad. If you can succeed in those fields then the prerequisite classes (physics, chem, o-chem, biology) should be cake.

Sure, pre-med is not for everyone, but how can you know its not right for you unless you give it a try?

 

[MossPoh]

Follow Hans' advice here.. He is die Bombe...........which doesn't have quite the same meaning in german..but oh well.

 

[Dogsjill]

I just wanted to add onto this thread. I'm currently a sophomore math major doing pre-med and love it. I get to interact with all the other pre-med kids in my chemistry and biology classes, while math is a change of pace. Also, math has no labs which is a plus for me because one of my friends has 4 of them right now and works her tail off, while I only have 1 and have time to relax a bit. If you are far enough "ahead" in math, it will be easier to get the major too. I came to college only needing 7 math classes plus the other gen eds to get the degree, so I have time to add on a biochem minor (it's only 1 more 2 hour class than what I'd take anyway for pre-med) and I'm hoping that I'll be offered a TA job in psychology once I finish the class this semester. So, to sum it up, if you want to go pre-med, but don't want to be busy writing lab reports all the time, go for the math major. It's not all that hard and gives you time to have a life. One more thing: there are TONS of opportunities to do research that ties both fields together...I'm hoping to start some next year through my college's undergrad research program.

Sorry that ran on so long.

 

[thejesus]

couldn't agree more with what has already been said. i did the traditional biology degree... and to this day, regret not majoring in art because i really like it. im a fourth year med student interviewing and i feel pretty much like any other student... theres nothing that makes me unique. which is a problem if you want to go into something competitive.

anyway, just wanted to say i did below average on two of the four subjects on the ACT. Like a 16 in english and 18 in reading... ended up with a 24... I scored in the 70th percentile on the MCAT and around the 90th on step I. point is, i wouldnt let your fear of doing poorly on some test you might take one day make any decisions for you now.

 

[jpro]

I totally agree with Dogsjill. I'm an MS3 now, and in college I majored in physics. Why? because I enjoyed it. If your major in something that you love you will do very well. In fact my worst grades were in bio I&II, but I sailed through the physics and math. I would recomend anyone interested in math or physics to major in it because it is all about concepts and applying them to a problem. If you get the concepts the you are pretty much done studying, all you have to do is practice applying it. I decided to do medicine after my sophmore year, and I had absolutely zero pre-meds in my upper-level math and physics classes. It rocked.