Honestly, what does pre-med really mean?

[MWK]

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I really despise the kids who claim their pre-medsmanship as if its some tangible thing.

People who make statements after intro biology- "So I was thinking about majoring in pre-med then I was like no"- really tick me off. You are an xxxx major that would like to go to Medical School. Its a subtlety that I probably shouldn't care about but in today's 3 yrs post-Grey's culture, its a good way to sort out the flakes. Naturally, the enlightened cultural elitist type that frequent the SD forums would like to distance themselves from the commoner would have an answer for this question:

Once you get an acceptance somewhere, how can you classify yourself?

Are you then, and only then, officially pre-med? Are you a MS0? Or do you just not care anymore?

 

[inaminute]

I really despise the kids who claim their pre-medsmanship as if its some tangible thing.

People who make statements after intro biology- "So I was thinking about majoring in pre-med then I was like no"- really tick me off. You are an xxxx major that would like to go to Medical School. Its a subtlety that I probably shouldn't care about but in today's 3 yrs post-Grey's culture, its a good way to sort out the flakes. Naturally, the enlightened cultural elitist type that frequent the SD forums would like to distance themselves from the commoner would have an answer for this question:

Once you get an acceptance somewhere, how can you classify yourself?

Are you then, and only then, officially pre-med? Are you a MS0? Or do you just not care anymore?

pre-med = getting the hot babes (source: "Animal House")

dunno what pre-med wimmen get...

 

[Ashers]

Some schools actually have "pre-med" majors and minors. I don't think I ever called myself pre-med, considering that I didn't decide to go to med school until I was a senior and then took a year off. I just said, "I'm applying to med school," and when I was finally accepted, I said "I'm going to med school." I, personally, think the whole "MS0" thing is dumb. There was a big discussion about that over in allo when all the people accepted to med school invaded.

 

[mindquick]

if you're an undergrad, then you're a pre-premed. once you get accepted, then you're a pre-med.

 

[Jolie South]

I really despise the kids who claim their pre-medsmanship as if its some tangible thing.

People who make statements after intro biology- "So I was thinking about majoring in pre-med then I was like no"- really tick me off. You are an xxxx major that would like to go to Medical School. Its a subtlety that I probably shouldn't care about but in today's 3 yrs post-Grey's culture, its a good way to sort out the flakes. Naturally, the enlightened cultural elitist type that frequent the SD forums would like to distance themselves from the commoner would have an answer for this question:

Once you get an acceptance somewhere, how can you classify yourself?

Are you then, and only then, officially pre-med? Are you a MS0? Or do you just not care anymore?

i made it a point in college to not hang out with the tools that declared pre-med. i chose to associate with the cool band kids instead.

 

[DianaUT06]

i made it a point in college to not hang out with the tools that declared pre-med. i chose to associate with the cool band kids instead.

👍

 

[AeroNat13]

If anybody asks who I am or what I am doing, I just reply "I'm applying to med school in X years"... then people know you are serious and have a goal rather then just trying out this "pre med" thing. The whole "pre-med" thing is dumb.

After all where we come from (whatever major in undergrad) and where we are going (med school) is all the same thing

 

[brianoflee]

One of the great things about dietetics for me is the 40 weeks of full-time internship in hospitals, clinics, etc. that lets me get a good idea of whether or not I'll really actually like medicine (before I even apply), instead of choosing one of the more standard pre-med streams, like physiology or whatnot.

Anyhow, last summer I was working in a diabetes clinic in a big Montreal hospital, waiting for my next patient, and in walks this girl in one of those volunteer lab coats carrying a tube of dipsticks so she can test the BG levels of the urine sitting in tubes on the desk nearby.

So I politely introduce myself, and after mentioning that I'm studying to be a dietitian, I ask her what she's studying. "Oh," she says. "I'm in pre-med".

It's amazing how effectively she was able to peer down her nose at me, even though she was in the middle of jabbing paper dipsticks into tubes of other people's urine. 🙄

Turns out she was in physiology, and not even her last year. Good for her for volunteering and all, but she flaunted her "pre-med" status like it was some gold talisman. Wary of even trying to relate to her, I didn't mention my ambitions, of course. But it's amazing how her enrollment in physiology and urine-dipsticking volunteer time seemed (in her mind) sufficient enough to disregard me (already consulting patients pretty much on my own, might I mention) as some feeble-minded yokel.

This is why I always hesitate to call myself a pre-med 🙁

 

[xpinchx]

I'm a 4th year (of 5) that just transfered to a new school this fall to finish up my degree and the school I transferred to has a school of medicine, so naturally there's a huge pre-med population here and I've never been so annoyed by pre-meds in my life. At my previous school the pre-med club consisted of ~20-30 active members and ~10 of us were good friends that hung out regularly. It's not like that here at all. It doesn't seem like any of them want to be friends, and the ones that are actually outgoing tend to have their nose in the air when talking about pre-med things. A guy that sat next to me in my physiology lecture asked what my GPA was and why I haven't taken the MCAT yet in a very condescending way. (this is the first time I met the guy .)

I wish it were possible to avoid associating with those types, but it's impossible. The way I look at it, if 100 freshmen start out as premeds, 10 will finish as a "pre-med" and maybe 4-5 will matriculate into medical school their first year applying. So when those freshmen/sophomores with their noses in the air act all high and mighty as if they're already doctors, I just chuckle to myself knowing that they probably won't make it that far because the ones who tend to be reserved about their career choice are typically the ones that stick it out until the end.

 

[RPedigo]

Pre-medical student: In college, eventually planning on applying to medical school.
MS-0: Accepted into medical school, but class has not yet started.

 

[Inuranic]

If this topic comes up, I just say I'm hoping to go to medical school.

Or, if I don't want to throw it out there, I just say graduate school.

 

[Meatwad]

"Pre-med," comes from the Latin words for "will become a busines major after I get a D+ in Organic Chemistry I." I personally hate the term and would just state my major and that I plan on applying eventually. Unless, of course, you are one of those people at a school with a pre-med major (in which case, I really hope you get accpeted; can't imagine it's the most useful degree otherwise).

 

[inaminute]

Eric 'Otter' Stratton: Point of parliamentary procedure!
Robert Hoover: Don't screw around, they're serious this time!
Eric 'Otter' Stratton: Take it easy, I'm pre-law.
Donald 'Boon' Schoenstein: I thought you were pre-med.
Eric 'Otter' Stratton: What's the difference?


----------


John 'Bluto' Blutarsky: [thrusting six-pack into Flounder's hands] My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.
Eric 'Otter' Stratton: Better listen to him, Flounder, he's pre-med.

 

[45408]

The only thing that annoys me more than people claiming they're pre-med are those who claim they're not pre-med (but still are) so that they're "cooler" than the "actual" pre-meds.

You're pre-med if you plan to apply to med school. Simple as that.

 

[baylormed]

Pre-med = "I am taking a few specific science classes that are required for medical school admissions, because I plan to apply at some point in the future."

 

[Bacchus]

I'm a 3rd year biochemistry student applying to medical school at the end of next semester. Easy as that.

 

[DeadCactus]

The day I stop calling myself a pre-med just because there are arrogant pricks who think they want to be doctors is the same day I stop calling myself an Engineering major because there are some that think they're the pinical of undergraduate academics.

The ones who really make me shake my head though are the ones that know they want to be doctors, know what kind of physician they want to be, and have never spent a moment in a hospital...

 

[Meatwad]

I'm just going to go ahead and assume you fall in the "actual" pre-med group, since those are the only people who make such comments.

Uhh... actually he's a dentist.

 

[foreverLaur]

http://artssciences.udayton.edu/PremedicalStudies/Academics.asp#1000003316

yes, you can get a bachelors of science in premedicine.

 

[baylormed]

http://artssciences.udayton.edu/PremedicalStudies/Academics.asp#1000003316

yes, you can get a bachelors of science in premedicine.

Great for future employment prospects!


Prospective Employer/Interviewer: So, you majored in Pre-med, huh? That means you are a pre-doctor...so you are not a doctor? Mmmh....next applicant, please!!

 

[PreMedMommy]

LOL, this thread is funny and reminds me of something I thought of last May. Every year at graduation time, my local hole-in-the-ground-of-a-town paper does an insert where all the graduating seniors tell what the want to be when they grow up. And at least 30% every year (we get a lot of nurse and teacher wannabes) declare that they are going to "major in pre-med." I laughed for a while. You major in something with the intent to applying to medical school. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's picked up on this nuance.

 

[foreverLaur]

Great for future employment prospects!


Prospective Employer/Interviewer: So, you majored in Pre-med, huh? That means you are a pre-doctor...so you are not a doctor? Mmmh....next applicant, please!!

it's pretty much identical to the Biology major at my school. plus, if you don't go to medical school, you can't do much more with a BS in Biology...

Not my school - I'd prefer a "real" BS but I had a friend who went there, majored in that, and is now in med school.

 

[baylormed]

it's pretty much identical to the Biology major at my school. plus, if you don't go to medical school, you can't do much more with a BS in Biology...

Not my school - I'd prefer a "real" BS but I had a friend who went there, majored in that, and is now in med school.

I have to disagree with you there.

You can do many things with a bio-degree. From teaching, to research, to working for pharm companies, etc etc.

 

[foreverLaur]

I have to disagree with you there.

You can do many things with a bio-degree. From teaching, to research, to working for pharm companies, etc etc.

True, but for teaching, you need a Masters in Education and for Research you need a Masters or Ph.D. if you want to really do anything. You can get either of those with a BS in PreMed and then teach, do research, etc.

For pharm companies, they don't care what your degree is in (my neighbor at my parents house is a recruiter for Pfizer)

 

[ADeadLois]

i made it a point in college to not hang out with the tools that declared pre-med. i chose to associate with the cool band kids instead.

I literally did the exact same thing. Most of my friends in undergrad were music performance students. Go figure.

 

[Jolie South]

I literally did the exact same thing. Most of my friends in undergrad were music performance students. Go figure.

it was good for me to be around people that could relax.

 

[UCDavisdude]

i always just say, im a bio major. then they are like" what are you going to do with that" and ill just reply "im going into medicine. i really hate the whole premed thing to.

 

[45408]

Uhh... actually he's a dentist.

lol, someone finally noticed. actually, I'm an M2. I never announced to people that I was pre-med, and since people usually ask what your major is, I'd tell them I was a bio major, but their next question was 90% of the time "Oh, what do you want to do with that?" So I'd tell them. It's not good to be neurotic, but it's only the dedicated students who are going to get into med school.

I never made it a point to only hang out with certain students, pre-med or not. I had pre-dent, pre-pharm, and pre-med friends. Others were in nursing, architecture, psych, or whatever. Who cares?

 

[foreverLaur]

i always just say, im a bio major. then they are like" what are you going to do with that" and ill just reply "im going into medicine. i really hate the whole premed thing to.

yeah.. people realize there isn't much to do with our degrees without some sort of graduate education. i always get asked what i plan to do with my microbiology degree. i always say medical school after that.

 

[45408]

For pharm companies, they don't care what your degree is in (my neighbor at my parents house is a recruiter for Pfizer)

They generally prefer hotties with a science background. It's a must to have a pretty face, but you should also know what DNA stands for.

A guy that sat next to me in my physiology lecture asked what my GPA was and why I haven't taken the MCAT yet in a very condescending way. (this is the first time I met the guy .)

Wow. I never had anything like that at my school.

 

[foreverLaur]

They generally prefer hotties with a science background. It's a must to have a pretty face, but you should also know what DNA stands for.

They prefer person skills over anything else. It is a lot easier to teach someone the science behind the drug than it is to teach someone to be able to act professional, walk into an office, and interact with the staff and doctors.

When I interviewed for Pfizer a few years ago they took almost primarily business majors for the drug reps.

 

[baylormed]

True, but for teaching, you need a Masters in Education and for Research you need a Masters or Ph.D. if you want to really do anything. You can get either of those with a BS in PreMed and then teach, do research, etc.

For pharm companies, they don't care what your degree is in (my neighbor at my parents house is a recruiter for Pfizer)

Actually the M.Ed is not required to teach non-college classes, which is what I was referring to.

Second, in the lab where I worked last summer, many of the research assistants/trainees were guys with only a bachelor's. I never said you were going to become the PI of a project (that's PhD guy), but you can certainly work in research.

When I said pharm companies I wasn't referring exclusively to recruiters, but also in the more "sciency" (yes, I made that word up) aspects of pharmacy.

 

[foreverLaur]

Actually the M.Ed is not required to teach non-college classes, which is what I was referring to.

Second, in the lab where I worked last summer, many of the research assistants/trainees were guys with only a bachelor's. I never said you were going to become the PI of a project (that's PhD guy), but you can certainly work in research.

When I said pharm companies I wasn't referring exclusively to recruiters, but also in the more "sciency" (yes, I made that word up) aspects of pharmacy.

Well every job I've ever seen in research for people with nothing above a bachelors degree pays less than I've gotten in my summer internships.

Also, you are now required to have M.Ed even to teach 2nd grade. 👎 My education friends don't like it much. You need it within a certain number of years of graduating with your bachelors. At least you can do it part time while working.

 

[Ashers]

lol, someone finally noticed. actually, I'm an M2. I never announced to people that I was pre-med, and since people usually ask what your major is, I'd tell them I was a bio major, but their next question was 90% of the time "Oh, what do you want to do with that?" So I'd tell them. It's not good to be neurotic, but it's only the dedicated students who are going to get into med school.

I never made it a point to only hang out with certain students, pre-med or not. I had pre-dent, pre-pharm, and pre-med friends. Others were in nursing, architecture, psych, or whatever. Who cares?

That dentist thing's been bugging me for ~1month.

 

[45408]

That dentist thing's been bugging me for ~1month.

if you try to make your user text say "administrator" it will **** out the first half

 

[foreverLaur]

pre-med means i'm taking an extra quarter of organic chemistry beyond what is required for my major.

 

[mvenus929]

And at least 30% every year (we get a lot of nurse and teacher wannabes) declare that they are going to "major in pre-med." I laughed for a while. You major in something with the intent to applying to medical school. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's picked up on this nuance.

At our 'Academic All Stars' banquet, I'd say a good 30% said they were going to major in pre-med, including a few from the top 10 at my school. The valedictorian (who is going into law) and I were so ashamed. Even if the degree was offered at my school, I wouldn't do it. I'd prefer to have some options left open to me, however few they may be.

Also, you are now required to have M.Ed even to teach 2nd grade.

Makes me wonder why we offer a bachelor's in Elementary Education. I think it might vary from state to state, though. Some are so desperate for teachers that they'll accept you with just a certification.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

My favorite thing about Premeds is the assumption that they know anything about medicine.

"Dude, I feel sick to my stomach."

"Go talk to Bill, he's a premed".

 

[TheRealMD]

I didn't call myself pre-med until I started applying so that I would avoid most of this silliness in college. And even still, being with a bunch of pre-meds in the same room just makes me cringe (i.e. o-chem, biochem, medical ethics)

 

[HumidBeing]

Actually a bachelor of Ed. IS all you need to teach in public school. If you already a bachelor's in something else, though, might as well go for the M.Ed. It is possible to teach, especially in areas designated as critical need, for a limited # of yrs. while working on the Ed. degree, if you already have a bachelor degree. They have 'emergency certification' in the meantime. Private schools aren't required to have all of their teachers certified. Even w/an Ed. degree of any order, a teacher isn't fully certified until he's worked satisfactorily in a classroom for a certain # of years and completed additional exams. That's how it is in my state. My sister is a teacher here.

 

[foreverLaur]

My favorite thing about Premeds is the assumption that they know anything about medicine.

"Dude, I feel sick to my stomach."

"Go talk to Bill, he's a premed".

hahahaha so true... ever since i decided to pursue medicine i get this all the time. "i did xx to my knee and it hurts here like this - what's wrong?" then they think i'm an idiot when i don't know.

 

[foreverLaur]

Actually a bachelor of Ed. IS all you need to teach in public school. If you already a bachelor's in something else, though, might as well go for the M.Ed. It is possible to teach, especially in areas designated as critical need, for a limited # of yrs. while working on the Ed. degree, if you already have a bachelor degree. They have 'emergency certification' in the meantime. Private schools aren't required to have all of their teachers certified. Even w/an Ed. degree of any order, a teacher isn't fully certified until he's worked satisfactorily in a classroom for a certain # of years and completed additional exams. That's how it is in my state. My sister is a teacher here.

at least in the state I am originally from, you need a M.Ed to teach now. I've heard that this will eventually be adopted nationwide. I've also heard they are phasing out degrees in education. You get like a degree in history, then your masters in education, then teach type of deal.

 

[Meatwad]

at least in the state I am originally from, you need a M.Ed to teach now. I've heard that this will eventually be adopted nationwide. I've also heard they are phasing out degrees in education. You get like a degree in history, then your masters in education, then teach type of deal.

Hopefully that helps the current state of the US public education system.

My only concern is, though, that it will be even harder to find certain subject teachers, namely math and physics. Let's be honest, I'm sure most students have the intellectual capacity to get an education BA. Getting a pure mathematics, or physics degree for that matter, is a totally different animal. Students getting math and physics BS' are usually very interested in research (maybe I'm biased because my school prides itself on researchers, and from what I see, a very weak and small education program).

 

[foreverLaur]

Hopefully that helps the current state of the US public education system.

My only concern is, though, that it will be even harder to find certain subject teachers, namely math and physics. Let's be honest, I'm sure most students have the intellectual capacity to get an education BA. Getting a pure mathematics, or physics degree for that matter, is a totally different animal. Students getting math and physics BS' are usually very interested in research (maybe I'm biased because my school prides itself on researchers, and from what I see, a very weak and small education program).

we were fortunate at my high school. my precalc/calc teachers had masters in math and education. my chem professor was a chemical engineer who went back to get his masters in education.

my high school was really good though. you know it is good when you have a 3.95 GPA taking all honors/AP classes (weighted for class rank, but not GPA - durr the one B in freshman world history) and didn't even make top 10% of your graduating class.
man that screwed me out of so so so many scholarships...

 

[TRAMD]

we were fortunate at my high school. my precalc/calc teachers had masters in math and education. my chem professor was a chemical engineer who went back to get his masters in education.

my high school was really good though. you know it is good when you have a 3.95 GPA taking all honors/AP classes (weighted for class rank, but not GPA - durr the one B in freshman world history) and didn't even make top 10% of your graduating class.
man that screwed me out of so so so many scholarships...

One B got you a 3.95? So you only took 20 classes in all of high school?

One B and you weren't top 10% in my class either, but it was just a regular mid-west HS and an exceptional graduating class. People with one A- were salutatorians (sp?) and one B+ rounded out the top 10%.

It is true that having the 1/199 on my transcript was VERY nice when applying for anything . . . I could put that even though we had 8 people tie with straight A's [shrugs].

 

[TRAMD]

Saying you are pre-med is stupid. My freshman majors bio course had 300 people in it who were ALL "pre-med". About 20 of us ended up in medical school.

If anyone asked about my major I said "Math and Physics". I could then make some joke about all I could do with that was teach it and nothing more serious about my future plans was usually discussed. My closest friends knew my ultimate goal and I didn't feel the need to point it out to everyone else . . . most didn't really care anyways; asking someone's major is just an ice-breaker.

 

[foreverLaur]

One B got you a 3.95? So you only took 20 classes in all of high school?

One B and you weren't top 10% in my class either, but it was just a regular mid-west HS and an exceptional graduating class. People with one A- were salutatorians (sp?) and one B+ rounded out the top 10%.

It is true that having the 1/199 on my transcript was VERY nice when applying for anything . . . I could put that even though we had 8 people tie with straight A's [shrugs].

i did post secondary and those grades don't factor into my GPA for high school graduation.

my high school graduating class was about 380 i believe.

 

[Quix]

I don't think I've ever really described myself as pre-med. I didn't even start the requisite classwork until I was well into graduate school.

 

[TRAMD]

i did post secondary and those grades don't factor into my GPA for high school graduation.

my high school graduating class was about 380 i believe.

Odd, those grades counted for our GPA. Oh well, looks like you are doing well anyways. That will show all of 'em! Damn high school and my geekiness in it! . . . sorry, off topic there, phew, ok I'm fine now.

 

[Meatwad]

Hmm, just because one B meant you weren't in the top 10% doesn't really say anything about the education; for example, what if all those A's were given out like candy? Then, that one B could actually be considered a D to another school. In fact, this is one of the things I feel is severely wrong with our system: so many people have ridiculously high GPAs in high school (me being one of them), and when you graduated and go into a good school, you realized you didn't know anything! A 4.0 is useless if it was too easy to attain.