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Junior 2nd semester, biology major, 3.7GPA, good university. Realize that medicine is not for you, what would you do (I do)?
edit: no troll
edit: no troll
Getting out of Premed
- Thread starter vladmoney
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Be an pursue a phd in ottoman art history? But that is just me. I say look at the classes you really enjoyed. If this is something you think you could do well, then pursue it. I think you should only do what you love, and if you do not love medicine, pursue what you do love! Good luck with your future aspirations!
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Yes I agree PhD would seem like the way to go, but I really don't like lab research (why I have only clinical research). I like math. I took some econ classes, and thought they were interesting but I think it might be because it's new. I'm really lost, I feel like I am somehow stuck on this path already.Be an pursue a phd in ottoman art history? But that is just me. I say look at the classes you really enjoyed. If this is something you think you could do well, then pursue it. I think you should only do what you love, and if you do not love medicine, pursue what you do love! Good luck with your future aspirations!
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I think you need to be more specific about your realization. The answer could be PA school, if medicine is not for you because of some lifestyle factor/work concerns. Or, the answer could be something wildly different like minor league baseball coach or high school physics teacher.
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Lol, you haven't even put a step on the path, how can you be stuck on it? I'm only a 2nd yr med student, so I'm about 3 yrs ahead of you, and I'm barely at the start of the path. Everyone changes their major a few times, you're just switching from pre-med to something else. You like economics, you can always go for an MBA-nice degree to have that still gives you a wide open career. Just be glad you made this determination now and not halfway into med school with 100K in debt.
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You can pursue a masters in clinical research or get a PhD in Clinical Work like clinical psychology or clinical stuff... Does your school have a good career center, cuz you might be able to get some information about that...
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Just change your major to whatever it is you do want to do. What's the big deal???
2
245399
I have quite a few friends who have pursued a scientific graduate degree then a professional degree and are very happy with the outcome; ie an MS in biomedical sciences, then a managerial MBA. Another friend has an MS in engineering and an econ based MBA.
It is a nice combo that gives you a good education and a lot of options in a many fields.
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You shouldn't. If you don't like your major, change it. It'll only add one more year.
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Do you feel stuck on this path because you've told so many people you're pre-med? Because if not, then you're not stuck in the least.
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You feel stuck because, for whatever reason, you've already made this huge emotional commitment to pursue medicine. You've married yourself to the idea that one day you'll be wearing a white coat, and now it's extremely hard to divorce yourself from this idea and put things in perspective.
In any case, what you have to realize is that you haven't made any tangible commitments yet. Sure, you've probably spent some time spent doing research, volunteering, etc., and this is time you won't get back, but you have not done anything that would preclude pursing a completely different career path entirely. Hell, even if you were a second-year med student this would be true (to an extent). The good thing is, you've learned something very important from these experiences: you've learned that medicine is not for you.
You still don't seem very certain about where your real interests lie, so the next logical step would be to try to gain some more experiences. What is everyone else doing that is not pre-med? Go out and talk to people, try some new things. Hopefully, these new experiences will be different from your past ones in the sense that, instead of convincing you of what's not for you, they'll guide you towards something that you actually enjoy and can see yourself doing for a very long time.
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why is medicine not for you?
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Agree - I and many others did not decide what we wanted to be when we grew up -- heck even now I'm getting closer but there's lots of unknowns.
It'll take a fair amount of time to think about this, but I'd suggest that a better path, if you're really uncertain, would be to spend a great deal of time thinking about what interests you -- what type of news articles, what jobs that you've heard of, what type of books..just what subject matter in general. Take a look through course descriptions in other departments, think about which classes you've taken that you like the most.
I'd switched majors to a business related field 1 1/2 yrs before graduating -- that worked for me as it opened lots of doors within that world. My reason for this was the sudden realization that being a philosophy major or studying ancient civilizations would probably not qualify me for a decent paying job -- and that earning enough to pay for a decent apartment was important to me. There are lots of smart, hardworking people outside of, as well as within, the sciences, and for many people doing something they really don't care for is not a realistic option for a 30+ year career.
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OP,
I could give you some general advice. Spend a day doing things that will make you happy to clear your mind. The next day think about what you have been doing the past three years and try looking for things you particularly enjoyed. See if any of the classes you enjoyed most relate to any particular field of medicine or some other academic field. Take higher level courses that relate to those fields if you come to the realisation that you want to follow through in studying sciences. If its relating to your mood at present, maybe you just need to clear your head and then start thinking it over.
I haven't tried it personally, but I've read that lysergic acid diethylamide can do amazing things for helping people sort out their lives.
My immediate advice is for you to leave take a three hour break from whatever you are doing.
I could give you some general advice. Spend a day doing things that will make you happy to clear your mind. The next day think about what you have been doing the past three years and try looking for things you particularly enjoyed. See if any of the classes you enjoyed most relate to any particular field of medicine or some other academic field. Take higher level courses that relate to those fields if you come to the realisation that you want to follow through in studying sciences. If its relating to your mood at present, maybe you just need to clear your head and then start thinking it over.
I haven't tried it personally, but I've read that lysergic acid diethylamide can do amazing things for helping people sort out their lives.
My immediate advice is for you to leave take a three hour break from whatever you are doing.
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You are right, I'm definitely not as committed as you. But I already have some debt, and there is already 3 years of education. I've thought about trying to get an MBA, but I can't just jump into, I need some sort of experience.
I really think its the whole health care field that I'm not found of. I guess I really don't get the sort of joy that some people get from treating people.
I don't have time to take up another major without dishing out some more money. I'm not sure what to major in, economics? maybe, its atleast another year. Maybe I should try to get a MS or MBA like some people suggested. I don't mind taking out loans as long as I will be able to repay them, my family is pretty poor though. That's the problem, I feel like I have some options, but those options aren't all clear cut though.
Good post and I think you are correct. I really never saw myself making such an important decision so early in life, and maybe I'm still not ready. I don't like several aspects about medicine. I don't really get the joy from treating patients and getting personal with them about their lives (I often feel awkward around patients almost like I know more than I should). This is selfish of me I know, but I also don't like the self-sacrifice, almost all encompassing feeling of medicine. I think what really got me in the field is that I didn't want to have the ole regular cubicle type job with no room to move, and that idea still remains with me.
there is truth to this statement, definitely there are people out there that I would be disappointing if I don't become a doctor (but through the years those people have taken a back seat in my life though). but either way I do feel stuck for other reasons mostly, financial and emotional.
This isn't an irrational burst of emotions. Its been lingering with me for about 1 year, I'm kind of scared to act upon it though.
Really like comments and pms. Very helpful and very true.
I've already taken minor steps in trying to get out of it. But my path is still hazy. I really think I'm not the only out there feeling this way, so hopefully this discussion will help others.
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202781
You could:
- Find a major that is for you
- drop out of college
- get a B.S, Masters or PhD in whatever major you are in right now or whatever major you want to be in
- Just graduate with whatever and get a job in whatever hires you
- Take a term off and reflect on life
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235009
lab research isn't for everyone and it certainly wasn't for me...that's why i never did it
if you have a passion for clinical research you should strongly considering epidemiology! if you go to a school that offers a public health undergrad major (which are very few) you should consider switching into it or if your school doesn't have a public health major consider taking some epidemiology classes to see if you like it.
as others have said....explore what's out there...also your major doesn't dictate what jobs you are qualified for....your skills are what determine that....so id you are stuck in bio (cause you're a junior) then complete your bio major but take classes that will prepare you for the career you want to pursue or focus your extracurriculars on building your resume so you can be an attractive candidate in that field.
i know this might be shocking to you but some of us don't have med school Glaucoma and have thoroughly explored other fields. i have nothing against those who wanted to be doctors since they were 5, were bio majors in college and were "traditional" applicants but i hope it doesn't come as a surprise to you that "drop out of college" is in fact not the alternative to being pre-med!
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Random Rundown of careers you might want to consider
Pharmacy
PhD and then teach (seeing as you don't love research you could teach somewhere where the emphasis is more on teaching and less on research)
Law
Teaching Highschool/Education in general
Clinical Psychology
Some sort of "Field" science so your not stuck in lab
Finance/MBA
Behavioral Econ
Pharmacy
PhD and then teach (seeing as you don't love research you could teach somewhere where the emphasis is more on teaching and less on research)
Law
Teaching Highschool/Education in general
Clinical Psychology
Some sort of "Field" science so your not stuck in lab
Finance/MBA
Behavioral Econ
Have you considered pharmacy? I don't think it would require the same kind of personal contact with people as a doctor requires. You would deal with people and listen to customers try to argue with you because their prescription isn't covered by their insurance, but I think it would lack the personal & awkward patient interactions you seem to dislike
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i am just like you about being awkward around patients, not wanting to get personal, and not wanting a cubicle job. the more i thought about it, i realized that there are just some people who are never going to be entirely satisfied with their job, no matter what it is.
i dont know if that sounds stupid, but thats the conclusion ive come to.
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202781
i know this might be shocking to you but some of us don't have med school Glaucoma and have thoroughly explored other fields. i have nothing against those who wanted to be doctors since they were 5, were bio majors in college and were "traditional" applicants but i hope it doesn't come as a surprise to you that "drop out of college" is in fact not the alternative to being pre-med!
Wow that is shocking.
I guess I decided to be pre-med pretty early (Junior year in COLLEGE).
Also, dropping out of college IS actually a way to not be a pre-med.
The 3rd thing I want to say is that I don't see a ton of people who have no intention of applying to some sort of health professional school going onto SDN...I guess there has probably been a couple people that stumbled upon this site by accident...but they probably do not just start giving advice to PRE-MEDS
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135892
If you want to go into some sort of finance or banking job, you don't necessarily have to change your major. People go into finance from all different sorts of fields, but of course, you should try to take as many finance/economics/accounting classes as you can before you graduate, or at the very least, learn the basic concepts on your own. Of course, I can't say that going into finance would be the best idea right now...
