Famous Former Pre-Meds Who Aren't Doctors...

[Will Ferrell]

What famous people are pre-med/medical school dropouts?

I have heard about Bill Murray and the wrestler Razor Ramon/Scott Hall. Anyone else?

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[!dr_nick!]

Charles Darwin

 

[Will Ferrell]

I forgot Nostradamus. For every doctor there's a dozen premed dropouts.

 

[Fusion]

I believe Fidel Castro dropped out of medical school to pursue politics.

Actress Robin Givens was a med student at Harvard who dropped out to pursue an acting career.

 

[Kazema]

Craig Krenzel gave up medicine to become a terrible rookie NFL quarterback

 

[bewitched1081]

freud (yes, that psycho) and lisa kudrow.

 

[45408]

freud (yes, that psycho) and lisa kudrow.

Freud WAS a doctor

 

[Fermata]

Freud WAS a doctor

And a quack. 😀

 

[rambo]

I forgot Nostradamus. For every doctor there's a dozen premed dropouts.

He practiced medicine, I thought. Wasn't he mocked for his beliefs against bleeding patients who had the plague?

 

[Nutmeg]

I believe Fidel Castro dropped out of medical school to pursue politics.

Actress Robin Givens was a med student at Harvard who dropped out to pursue an acting career.

I believe that you're thinking about Che Guevarra. I just watched a documentary on Fidel, and it made no reference to any pursuit of medicine.

 

[scooter31]

Steve Young- SF 49'ers & JD. He was one of the many that gave it up after going through OChem and switched to pre-law type studies.

Alan Henderson- hoops, I think he's still with the Atlanta Hawks. He may have actually sat the MCAT prior to being drafted (I may be wrong on this one-- after all, he did go in the first round way back when).

👍

 

[kinetic]

I believe Fidel Castro dropped out of medical school to pursue politics.

Actress Robin Givens was a med student at Harvard who dropped out to pursue an acting career.

Craig Krenzel gave up medicine to become a terrible rookie NFL quarterback

According to A&E Biography's website, Fidel Castro graduated from the University of Havana with a doctorate in law.

According to a quick google search, Robin Givens was "Robin enrolled as a freshman [at the age of fifteen] at Sarah Lawrence College to study pre-med." She began pursuing acting as a junior.

It's difficult to look up Krenzel's biography, but everything on the web seems to indicate that he was drafted straight out of college after playing for Ohio State as a senior.

 

[Fermata]

This topic is pointless because 50% of college students started out as "premed".

 

[kinetic]

Yeah, everyone talks about how Cindy Crawford was a chemical engineer ...because she chose that as her major for her FRESHMAN YEAR.

 

[Fermata]

Yeah, everyone talks about how Cindy Crawford was a chemical engineer ...because she chose that as her major for her FRESHMAN YEAR.

So how'd that work out for her anyways? 😀

 

[kinetic]

Well, she works for Revlon ...just in a different capacity. 😀

 

[PublicEnemy]

yeah, cindy crawford was smart for leaving northwestern early, like charlton heston before her, i too should have only stayed 1 quarter, could have been a star...

 

[evajaclynn]

Yeah, everyone talks about how Cindy Crawford was a chemical engineer ...because she chose that as her major for her FRESHMAN YEAR.

Same thing goes for Ashton Kutcher, who completed a semester or maybe a year with a 'biochemical engineering' major. So what, he took the same core classes that everyone takes? Big deal.

 

[Kazema]

It's difficult to look up Krenzel's biography, but everything on the web seems to indicate that he was drafted straight out of college after playing for Ohio State as a senior.

Yeah, I don't think he ever applied but announcers always made a big deal about how he was a pre-med molecular genetics major with a 3.6 or 3.7 GPA or something. And I think I remember them saying he was "putting his medical career on hold" to enter the draft 🙄.

So I don't know how serious his intent to become a doctor after being a pro football player is. I rather doubt he'll be in the NFL for long, even though he was pretty good in college.

"When I grow up, I want to be a NFL player and a doctor and a rocket scientist and the President!" Well Krenzel's 1/4 of the way through that list .

 

[kinetic]

Yeah, I saw on the Miss USA paegent (or maybe it was Miss Universe ...whatever), they said the winner was "majoring in pediatrics." That tipped me off right away.

 

[PublicEnemy]

Jason Wright. Graduated from Northwestern last year. He was near the tops for Big 10 player of the year last year, won Big 10 player of the week multiple times, 4 times last year and was National Player of the week once last year. Was right up there in rushing yards and TD's. Right now, he's on the practice squad for the Atlanta Falcons. He was pre-med, and the anouncers always made a big deal about how he had a ridiculously high gpa and scored a 38 or something like that on the MCATS. I had orgo with him. he did better than me.

 

[MadameLULU]

Yeah, I saw on the Miss USA paegent (or maybe it was Miss Universe ...whatever), they said the winner was "majoring in pediatrics." That tipped me off right away.

As I recall, she is/was an SDNer and had been accepted to her state medical school. There was a lot of talk about it on here after she won. I think the statement, "majoring in peadiatrics", is more of a reflection of Miss USA pageant's lack of knowledge about the medical field.

 

[kinetic]

Ok.

 

[Quentin Quinn]

Yeah, I don't think he ever applied but announcers always made a big deal about how he was a pre-med molecular genetics major with a 3.6 or 3.7 GPA or something. And I think I remember them saying he was "putting his medical career on hold" to enter the draft 🙄.

So I don't know how serious his intent to become a doctor after being a pro football player is. I rather doubt he'll be in the NFL for long, even though he was pretty good in college.

"When I grow up, I want to be a NFL player and a doctor and a rocket scientist and the President!" Well Krenzel's 1/4 of the way through that list .

NFL announcers alway talked about Robert Smith, the former Viking running back and also a graduate of THE Ohio State University, in a similar manner. Smith supposedly had very near a 4.0 GPA in biology and planned to attend medical school after his NFL career, though that plan has not materialized since his abrupt retirement a few years back. Doubt it will either, now that he is raking in dough from his book and business ventures. Smith is a smart guy, no doubt (actually quit the football team at OSU b/c practice conflicted with one of his courses), but subjecting yourself to 4 years of brutal education probably loses some lustre after being a celebrity with a fairly easy daily schedule and enough money to last you a lifetime.

I know that Matt Mauck (LSU QB) was accepted to dental schools and all set to go - even left school a year early. Then he ended up being drafted by the Broncos... not sure where his dental plans stand now, but I doubt he'll be hanging around the NFL long.

 

[girlscallmepogi]

Aston Kutcher(sp).

I saw it at the movies on those trivia things.

 

[mshheaddoc]

According to A&E Biography's website, Fidel Castro graduated from the University of Havana with a doctorate in law.

According to a quick google search, Robin Givens was "Robin enrolled as a freshman [at the age of fifteen] at Sarah Lawrence College to study pre-med." She began pursuing acting as a junior.

It's difficult to look up Krenzel's biography, but everything on the web seems to indicate that he was drafted straight out of college after playing for Ohio State as a senior.

you have too much time on your hands

 

[Graat]

Earlier this year I saw some guy on a reality show for comedians who graduated premed from Johns Hopkins and then decided to be a comedian instead. He made fun of himself for doing that during his routine by comparing his future career as a comedian vs. going to med school. Something to the effect of: in this life you become head resident and meet your beautiful and brilliant wife on the wards, but no, you are here, performing yet again at Chucky Cheese's and getting mocked by seven year olds.

 

[phleebie]

So I don't know how serious his intent to become a doctor after being a pro football player is. I rather doubt he'll be in the NFL for long, even though he was pretty good in college.

he'll stay in the league for a while. i mean he's good enough to be a backup QB, which in a lot of ways is better than being the starter (less pressure, less work, and more stability)

 

[synapse lapse]

Michael Chrighton graduated from Harvard Med and then decided to write instead of practice medicine. Nostradamus claims to have been a physician, though the university of Paris has no record of him graduating after enrolling. I think Will Smith got into MIT before deciding to act.

 

[Siggy]

Crichton wrote one of his books (5 patients) based off of his time in Med School.

Amazon.com link

 

[medanthgirl]

vern yip, a designer on "tranding spaces" was pre-med and changed pretty close near the end, after his undergrad degree i think. good for the show - he's the best designer on there and a cutie-patootie to boot.

 

[MsEvolution]

I may be way wrong on this, but someone once told me that one of the "Hootie & the blowfish" guys was a surgeon. Is that right? I guess that's not pre-med, but I remember thinking wow... he gave up surgery to go into the music industry... that must have been a very tough decision.

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

Yeah, I don't think he ever applied but announcers always made a big deal about how he was a pre-med molecular genetics major with a 3.6 or 3.7 GPA or something. And I think I remember them saying he was "putting his medical career on hold" to enter the draft 🙄.

So I don't know how serious his intent to become a doctor after being a pro football player is. I rather doubt he'll be in the NFL for long, even though he was pretty good in college.

"When I grow up, I want to be a NFL player and a doctor and a rocket scientist and the President!" Well Krenzel's 1/4 of the way through that list .

I can offer some first hand insight, he was my classmate all through OSU. He never applied to medical school nor has he taken the MCAT. He was going to take it the summer before he graduated but Coach Tressel would not allow for study time.

Krenzel was NOT pretty good in college. His receivers made him look good.

The GPA that the announcers keep referring to is certainly A) not accurate and B) even if it were, not one that he earned.

I know for a fact that there were some grade adjustments in certain classes that he received that I did not. Of course, I wasn't the starting QB either.

Situation makes me sick, and you can imagine how old it got hearing them talk about his major all the time.

 

[ByrnBabyByrn]

Pat Garrity on the Orlando Magic graduated with a 3.8 from Notre Dame and I believe was accepted to medical school before he decided to enter the NBA. He's a pretty decent player.

 

[funshine]

This topic is pointless because 50% of college students started out as "premed".

exactly.

 

[funshine]

ME.
if i become famous, in which case i would promptly drop out of medical school.

 

[funshine]

Michael Chrighton graduated from Harvard Med and then decided to write instead of practice medicine. Nostradamus claims to have been a physician, though the university of Paris has no record of him graduating after enrolling. I think Will Smith got into MIT before deciding to act.

wow. that is really awesome. but at the same time, i can't help but think what a waste med school was for him. it's not like it's a fun experience. personally, i'd be really bitter i ever went.

 

[Uegis]

wow. that is really awesome. but at the same time, i can't help but think what a waste med school was for him. it's not like it's a fun experience. personally, i'd be really bitter i ever went.

Crichton infused his knowledge and helped create ER, which is one of the longest running TV show still on today. His medical knowledge undoubtedly helped him shape the show into what it is now.

 

[funshine]

Crichton infused his knowledge and helped create ER, which is one of the longest running TV show still on today. His medical knowledge undoubtedly helped him shape the show into what it is now.

i see. i've never watched ER before, so i didn't know that.

 

[YzIa]

NFL announcers alway talked about Robert Smith, the former Viking running back and also a graduate of THE Ohio State University, in a similar manner. Smith supposedly had very near a 4.0 GPA in biology and planned to attend medical school after his NFL career, though that plan has not materialized since his abrupt retirement a few years back. Doubt it will either, now that he is raking in dough from his book and business ventures. Smith is a smart guy, no doubt (actually quit the football team at OSU b/c practice conflicted with one of his courses), but subjecting yourself to 4 years of brutal education probably loses some lustre after being a celebrity with a fairly easy daily schedule and enough money to last you a lifetime.

I know that Matt Mauck (LSU QB) was accepted to dental schools and all set to go - even left school a year early. Then he ended up being drafted by the Broncos... not sure where his dental plans stand now, but I doubt he'll be hanging around the NFL long.

I thought that robert smith had planned to attend law school

 

[basten0]

Alan Henderson- hoops, I think he's still with the Atlanta Hawks. He may have actually sat the MCAT prior to being drafted (I may be wrong on this one-- after all, he did go in the first round way back when).

👍

actually, i think henderson did sit through the mcat and maybe even did decent. His dad is a doctor i think. somebody please correct me if i'm wrong but i remember watching him get drafted and i could've sworn one of the analysts had said that he got into medical school somewhere (if this is true i would assume it would be at his alma mater Indiana University) but none if this is confirmed.

 

[Fusion]

According to A&E Biography's website, Fidel Castro graduated from the University of Havana with a doctorate in law.

According to a quick google search, Robin Givens was "Robin enrolled as a freshman [at the age of fifteen] at Sarah Lawrence College to study pre-med." She began pursuing acting as a junior.

It's difficult to look up Krenzel's biography, but everything on the web seems to indicate that he was drafted straight out of college after playing for Ohio State as a senior.

I did a quick Yahoo search of my own, and this is a copy-and-paste of a little something I found:

After dropping out of Harvard Medical School prior to playing a call girl in the 1986 TV film Beverly Hills Madam, Robin Givens called her old boyfriend Eddie Murphy to break the news. ''How could you do that?'' Murphy blurted. ''I wanted you to become a doctor.'' According to Givens, Mur- phy feared that the bookworm he once knew would be corrupted by Hollywood. ''He was so completely hurt,'' she says. ''He used to call me 'Doc' and make me bring my books on dates. I think he wanted ...

As for Castro, I always heard he was a med-school dropout. Apparently, he had a pretty decent fall-back option

As for Krenzel, I also heard all about his 3.8 in molecular biology. I don't recall anything about him being premed, though.

 

[kinetic]

Seems like Givens (or someone who works for her) is sending out a lot of mixed messages. On another site, it says she was accepted to Harvard Med "as a pre-med at the very young age of 19." Yet another site says that she dropped OUT of Harvard while in med school. I would assume if she really did attend Harvard (or any medical school), it would not be so widely variant.

Also, anyone stupid enough to live with Mike Tyson is not smart enough to go to medical school.

 

[JMD]

Other than Michael Crighton, i don't really have anyone to add to the list. But, i think the "pre-med" thing doesn't tell us much. How about just people who were accepted/matriculated to med school... anyone can be premed at some point if they get accepted to college (as someone noted earlier).

 

[Jalopycat]

Anyone remember Debbie Thomas? She won a bronze medal in the 1988 olympics for ice skating. She went to medical school and I believe finished her residency in orthopedics. I don't know where she went to school though. Maybe somebody else knows.....?

 

[njbmd]

Anyone remember Debbie Thomas? She won a bronze medal in the 1988 olympics for ice skating. She went to medical school and I believe finished her residency in orthopedics. I don't know where she went to school though. Maybe somebody else knows.....?

Hi there,
Debi Thomas is an orthopedic surgeon today and Chainey Umphrey (USA gymnastics team) is in an orthopedic surgery residency today. Chainey's brother Greg was one of my medical school classmates. Greg who was captain of UCLAs gymnastics team is an orthopedic surgery resident too.

A famous pre-med who is not a physician is Chelsea Clinton who started Stanford premed and switched to International Studies before ending up as a Rhoads Scholar at Oxford like her pop.


njbmd 🙂

 

[VienneseWaltz]

According to a quick google search, Robin Givens was "Robin enrolled as a freshman [at the age of fifteen] at Sarah Lawrence College to study pre-med." She began pursuing acting as a junior.

As I recall from the E! True Hollywood Story, she started acting while at Sarah Lawrence, and by graduation she had a recurring role on the Cosby Show. Bill Cosby told her that he would pay for med school if acting didn't work out, so she walked away from a Harvard med acceptance (it was the summer before she would have matriculated) to join the show.

I think "Head of the Class" counted as acting "working out," so I hope she saved her money.

 

[Davina3000]

Also, anyone stupid enough to live with Mike Tyson is not smart enough to go to medical school.

Actually Mike Tyson married a physician shortly after being released from prison 😱

The marriage didn't last, but still....how could one be intelligent enough to be a doctor, yet clueless enough to marry Mike Tyson? 😕
I've always wondered about this one. 🙄

 

[funshine]

Edit: never mind
didn't read your post 😛

 

[BSChemE]

actually, i think henderson did sit through the mcat and maybe even did decent. His dad is a doctor i think. somebody please correct me if i'm wrong but i remember watching him get drafted and i could've sworn one of the analysts had said that he got into medical school somewhere (if this is true i would assume it would be at his alma mater Indiana University) but none if this is confirmed.

You are correct. Alan Henderson was accepted to medical school at Indiana. He was actually a pretty decent player before he got injured. He just joined the Dallas Mavericks after playing for the Atlanta Hawks for almost a decade.