Few ?'s bout medical school

[Tim Haas]

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hey all, i am a high school senior and very interested in a medical career. Basically i have excellent grades-3.895 gpa, study all the time, and have the desire. Basically i just have a few ?'s before i really decide on my major. For your info, i will be attending Rochester Institute of Technology in the fall.

1-medical school, are there grades or is it pass, fail, honors? im a little confused on this

2-exactly what types of coursework, lab, etc. is involved in med school....i hear stories on how people get no sleep, have no lives...etc. basically my life now but , heh yeah.

3-probably not, but is it anyway possible to have a part time job? I mean i know it takes a lot, but yeah. Even in the summer, do you have time at all to reach for employment?

4-thanks a lot for the info, and im just learning about the med. career and all this mcat stuff. I was intending to go to school for mechanical engineering, but in the back of my mind i know i'll end up in med school somehow.

FInally, if attending a lesser-known med. school, is it easier and will you still get a good education? Thanks a lot, i truly appreciate it all.

 

[neilc]

1-medical school, are there grades or is it pass, fail, honors? im a little confused on this
both, depends on your school. i think mainly pass, fail, honors though

2-exactly what types of coursework, lab, etc. is involved in med school....i hear stories on how people get no sleep, have no lives...etc. basically my life now but , heh yeah
typically, most classes have a lecture and a lab. the lab componenet varies in intensity...i spent much more time in anatomy lab then in genetics. but, it is very similar to the undergrad setup...you will get plenty of sleep, at least in the preclinical years. it really is not that much tougher than undergrad if you can stay organized.

3-probably not, but is it anyway possible to have a part time job? I mean i know it takes a lot, but yeah. Even in the summer, do you have time at all to reach for employment?
i work in the summers. but, us med schools are pretty much year round (with the exception of summer numbe 1). during school i have heard of people working, but it is not reccomended. if you have free time, do something fun

FInally, if attending a lesser-known med. school, is it easier and will you still get a good education?
lots of debate on this topic, but i think if you are joe average, going into a typical medical/surgical residency than it is all the same. if you want to go into academic/research/or some super competitive specialties it may have some bearing...but, again, this is up for debate.

good luck!

 

[MD2b06]

Originally posted by Tim Haas
1-medical school, are there grades or is it pass, fail, honors? im a little confused on this

Varies from school to school. Some are strictly Pass/Fail. Others have grades. And others have Honors/High Pass/Pass/Fail, etc. Really depends on the school.

Originally posted by Tim Haas

2-exactly what types of coursework, lab, etc. is involved in med school....i hear stories on how people get no sleep, have no lives...etc. basically my life now but , heh yeah.

You take about as much science as your brain can handle at any one time. Biochem, Histology, Anatomy, Neuroscience, Immunology, Genetics, Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Physiology, etc. These aren't all taken simultaneously, but are just some of the courses you'll cover during your first 2 years.

Originally posted by Tim Haas
3-probably not, but is it anyway possible to have a part time job? I mean i know it takes a lot, but yeah. Even in the summer, do you have time at all to reach for employment?

Anything is possible. I wouldn't advise it though. As a med student, there are going to be many days, especially around exam time when all you want to do is study. Not worry about some 4 hour work shift that pays next to nothing anyway.

Originally posted by Tim Haas
FInally, if attending a lesser-known med. school, is it easier and will you still get a good education? Thanks a lot, i truly appreciate it all.

Med school is med school. It's hard as hell everywhere. Rankings are meaningless in terms of assessing the difficulty level of a school. In terms of education, I think you'll find that you learn the same stuff everywhere, at least for the first 2 years. It's the third year/clinical training opportunites that one should use to base their decision of which medical school to attend. Unless the school is truly deficient, you should be able to get a solid education at any med school in the US.

 

[Dodge This]

Originally posted by MD2b06
You take about as much science as your brain can handle at any one time. Biochem, Histology, Anatomy, Neuroscience, Immunology, Genetics, Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Physiology, etc. These aren't all taken simultaneously, but are just some of the courses you'll cover during your first 2 years.

This is for a traditional curriculum where you learn about normal function in the first year and then abnormal function the second year. If you go to a school with an organ system-based curriculum, you actually will take many of these courses simultaneously.

 

[Tim Haas]

hey thanks everyone. really appreciate it. I was reading something yesterday and in year one they did a human dissection in year one? Is this right? Thanks, just wondering cuz that would be very interesting.

 

[rbassdo]

Originally posted by Tim Haas
hey thanks everyone. really appreciate it. I was reading something yesterday and in year one they did a human dissection in year one? Is this right? Thanks, just wondering cuz that would be very interesting.

Of course it's true. But...many schools are now going away from dissection towards computer based anatomy, prosected bodies, and some other things. Also, there's a huge difference between dissecting a body and learning from a body that's been prosected out already. Watch out for the differences in the future.

 

[Tim Haas]

hey thanks, i dont know why but that is one thing that drives me. I really look forward to a human dissection, very interesting.

 

[Smoke This]

Originally posted by Tim Haas

3-probably not, but is it anyway possible to have a part time job? I mean i know it takes a lot, but yeah. Even in the summer, do you have time at all to reach for employment?

One of my classmates has a part-time job as a tutor for junior high kids, works about 8-10 hours a week. Some people can swing it, I personally don't think I could but it all depends on your time management.

I can understand your interest in dissection. I agree, and I would have to say that anatomy much more than anything else was the defining "I'm in med school now" aspect of first year.