Is it better to do medicine as an undergraduate or graduate course ?

[Raora]

Hi all.
I wanted to know your opinion on whether it's better to do medicine or dentistry as an undergraduate course ( right after high school) or is it better to do a different undergrad and then do graduate medicine
( or dentistry)?

I'm really struggling to choose between these two.
Also I'll be studying medicine or dentistry as an international student in UK or US in the future .

The other thing is that I'm very passionate about singing and being an actress and I also want to work in these fields professionally.
Initially, I planned to do medicine as an undergraduate course in the UK and then apply for residency in the US, so that I'll be doctor in a shorter amount of time; which then I thought I may be able to dedicate a reasonable amount of my time to do my passion alongside it.

My second plan, which I'm thinking about right now is to study music or drama or performing arts in the college and then apply for medicine as a graduate course for top med schools like Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge,etc or dental schools.
(I haven't decide between medicine or dentistry yet.)

But I'm really stuck between these two options.
By doing some research on the internet, I found out that some people prefer graduate medicine, because by then we become more mature and we won't lose fun college experience, which they believed is the best years of a person's life .

So in your opinion what is the best option?
Any help would be appreciated 🙏

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[ACSurgeon]

Pick a field and try to do it well. You’ll either be a professional artist or doctor, not both.

If you plan to work as a physician or dentist in the US, plan to study in the US otherwise there’s a high chance you won’t be able to work in the US.

 

[howdoiknow]

Oh boy here we go again. We gave you lots of advice the last 8 times you asked this question. Additionally, you're not getting into Harvard or the ivory towers (let alone a brand new private DO school) if you are incapable of introspection and think that this path is "fun". Can a mod lock this please?

 

[Goro]

We really can't advise you on what you want to do when you grow up.

 

[Raora]

Oh boy here we go again. We gave you lots of advice the last 8 times you asked this question. Additionally, you're not getting into Harvard or the ivory towers (let alone a brand new private DO school) if you are incapable of introspection and think that this path is "fun". Can a mod lock this please?

Guess you've mistaken me for someone else.
This is the first time I'm asking this question.
Plus I absolutely know that studying medicine is not fun and it requires lots of hard work and dedication.
Just wanted to know If it's better to take the graduate or undergraduate route.

 

[Raora]

We really can't advise you on what you want to do when you grow up.

Well, I've told you about my plan and I've already decided to pursue both medicine or dentistry and music .
I just want to know that based on my situation,in your opinion; is it better to take the undergrad or graduate route for medicine.
I want to know the pros and cons of both undergraduate and graduate entry , and as I mentioned some people preferred graduate route which is offered in the US, because the students will become more mature by then.

Just want to know which route will be better ?

 

[Lost in Translation]

It would be very hard to do residency in the US coming from the UK even if you graduated from the Royal College.

And if you plan to singing and acting professionally, think long and hard about how badly you want to do medicine. You seem to have the impression that you’ll be able to treat both professions as a hobbies which they most certainly are not.

 

[Med Ed]

Just want to know which route will be better ?

Graduate route. Harvard > Yale.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

It would be very hard to do residency in the US coming from the UK even if you graduated from the Royal College.

And if you plan to singing and acting professionally, think long and hard about how badly you want to do medicine. You seem to have the impression that you’ll be able to treat both professions as a hobbies which they most certainly are not.

Couldn't radiology be an option for this person, assuming if they make it to the US? Maybe do VRADs to supplement income at night and the other stuff by day

 

[howdoiknow]

Guess you've mistaken me for someone else.
This is the first time I'm asking this question.
Plus I absolutely know that studying medicine is not fun and it requires lots of hard work and dedication.
Just wanted to know If it's better to take the graduate or undergraduate route.

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Hi all🖐 I really need your help. I'm a high school student in grade 11th and I'm really passionate about music and singing . I like to study music in university but my dad thinks that I can't make it big and I end up nothing 😒 and he REALLY WANTS me to study a field in medicine, so he was...

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I know you're just in high school but you've been asking these questions forever. If you let your father dictate your life you'll never be happy. Anyways if you want music/art to be your side hustle then do medicine in Europe. It's brutal here in the US and you'll never survive, but from what my relatives across the pond tell me, it's much easier to get admitted to a med school over there and also much easier to get through it.

 

[howdoiknow]

Couldn't radiology be an option for this person, assuming if they make it to the US? Maybe do VRADs to supplement income at night and the other stuff by day

I really don't understand some of the suggestions ya'll make. "Just do radiology". OP is an IMG and will never match radiology in 10 million years, especially if they're distracted being a musician or whatever. Just like another reddit post asking "I hate small talk and I have ADHD" and someone suggested IR and got tons of upvotes ( every specialty was suggested... like usual). No one bothered checking if OP had the scores (DO or MD - DO hella hard time matching IR even via ESIR).

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

I really don't understand some of the suggestions ya'll make. "Just do radiology". OP is an IMG and will never match radiology in 10 million years, especially if they're distracted being a musician or whatever. Just like another reddit post asking "I hate small talk and I have ADHD" and someone suggested IR and got tons of upvotes ( every specialty was suggested... like usual). No one bothered checking if OP had the scores (DO or MD - DO hella hard time matching IR even via ESIR).

Well I was saying that maybe OP could study medicine, then go into radiology, do one of those work from home gigs, then persue their passions. You don't have to do IR/VIR to to do VRAD.

 

[Raora]

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Flexible field in medicine for musician

Hi all🖐 I really need your help. I'm a high school student in grade 11th and I'm really passionate about music and singing . I like to study music in university but my dad thinks that I can't make it big and I end up nothing 😒 and he REALLY WANTS me to study a field in medicine, so he was...

forums.studentdoctor.net

I know you're just in high school but you've been asking these questions forever. If you let your father dictate your life you'll never be happy. Anyways if you want music/art to be your side hustle then do medicine in Europe. It's brutal here in the US and you'll never survive, but from what my relatives across the pond tell me, it's much easier to get admitted to a med school over there and also much easier to get through it.

Well, I got you now.
Back then, I wasn't sure if I really want to study medicine, now assuming that I've made my decision of pursuing it,
my question here is that overrally , is it better to go to med school right after high school or is better to get my undergrad and then apply for med school?
This is the question that I'm looking for answer right now.

from what my relatives across the pond tell me, it's much easier to get admitted to a med school over there and also much easier to get through it.

You mean Europe, yeah?

You seem a little angry at me, however I would like to read your opinion on whether it's better to take the graduate or undergraduate route for medicine?

It's brutal here in the US and you'll never survive,

I've never been to the US before.
Can you explain it for me a little bit more?
Why do you think that I'll never survive?

 

[howdoiknow]

Well, I got you now.

Not angry. I think you should go to Europe (undergraduate route) if you don't want medicine to consume 150% of your life. If you want the graduate route (US) then you need to get your undergraduate degree here to maximize your chances of getting into a US medical school. If you attend a foreign medical school and apply for US residency, there is a high chance you'll end up in community internal medicine working 80+ hours a week in the middle of nowhere (small rural town, nothing to do and nothing to eat but bacon and sausage, no veggies).

 

[Raora]

Not angry. I think you should go to Europe (undergraduate route) if you don't want medicine to consume 150% of your life. If you want the graduate route (US) then you need to get your undergraduate degree here to maximize your chances of getting into a US medical school. If you attend a foreign medical school and apply for US residency, there is a high chance you'll end up in community internal medicine working 80+ hours a week in the middle of nowhere (small rural town, nothing to do and nothing to eat but bacon and sausage, no veggies).

And what do you think on getting my bachelor's in art/ music and then do medicine in the US?

So you mean by studying in Europe, medicine wouldn't consume 150% of my life, whereas in the US it does. Why ? What's the difference in medical education and working situation in these two places that causes this difference?

 

[Med Ed]

And what do you think on getting my bachelor's in art/ music and then do medicine in the US?

Sounds great if you can pull it off.

There are currently about 22,000 new matriculants into US MD programs each year. In 2019 there were 325 accepted international students, and 272 of them matriculated. International students therefore represent about 1.3% of the total matriculant pool.

Paying for school can also be challenging for international students, since they generally do not have access to federal loans. Unless you or your family can simply write a check, you would have to rely on private or institutional loans, and medical schools often require a lot of the money up front.

None of this means that it's impossible to attend a US MD program as an international student, but unless you are a citizen or have permanent residency, the deck is very much stacked against you.

 

[howdoiknow]

And what do you think on getting my bachelor's in art/ music and then do medicine in the US?

So you mean by studying in Europe, medicine wouldn't consume 150% of my life, whereas in the US it does. Why ? What's the difference in medical education and working situation in these two places that causes this difference?

You'll need $150k+ for an undergrad degree in the US (you will pay international tuition which is often 2-3x in-state and 1.5-2x out-of-state tuition).
You'll also need another $400k+ out of pocket for medical school (unless you marry a citizen and qualify for federal loans and in-state tuition).

Also, us Americans are just built different. We work longer hours and our labor laws are lacking compared to our soft European cousins.
My friends/family who study medicine in the Europe have lots of free time to grab "fish and chips" and drink lots of "cup of tea" while I am working and studying nonstop here in the US, barely even have the time to empty my bladder or shove anything down my gullet.

 

[Browns99]

Well, I got you now.
Back then, I wasn't sure if I really want to study medicine, now assuming that I've made my decision of pursuing it,
my question here is that overrally , is it better to go to med school right after high school or is better to get my undergrad and then apply for med school?
This is the question that I'm looking for answer right now.


You mean Europe, yeah?

You seem a little angry at me, however I would like to read your opinion on whether it's better to take the graduate or undergraduate route for medicine?

I've never been to the US before.
Can you explain it for me a little bit more?
Why do you think that I'll never survive?

"Well, I got you now.
Back then, I wasn't sure if I really want to study medicine, now assuming that I've made my decision of pursuing it,
my question here is that overrally , is it better to go to med school right after high school or is better to get my undergrad and then apply for med school?
This is the question that I'm looking for answer right now."

What, your post was less than a month ago, " back then", is too funny. To be honest, you shouldn't even be on these forums at this point, especially in the MD section. The best advice anyone on this forum can give you, is to speak to your HS guidance counselor.

 

[Raora]

from what my relatives across the pond tell me, it's much easier to get admitted to a med school over there and also much easier to get through it.

Do you mean Europe?

My friends/family who study medicine in the US have lots of free-time to grab "fish and chips" and drink lots of "cup of tea"

And also here, do you mean
"My friends/family who study medicine in EUROPE "?
Cause after that, you say that in the US you work and study non stop.

Also, you've suggested me to study medicine in Europe, what about UK med schools? are they like EU med schools?
When you mentioned EU med schools did you also mean the ones in the UK?

 

[Helpful Troll]

Hi all.
I wanted to know your opinion on whether it's better to do medicine or dentistry as an undergraduate course ( right after high school) or is it better to do a different undergrad and then do graduate medicine
( or dentistry)?

I'm really struggling to choose between these two.
Also I'll be studying medicine or dentistry as an international student in UK or US in the future .

The other thing is that I'm very passionate about singing and being an actress and I also want to work in these fields professionally.
Initially, I planned to do medicine as an undergraduate course in the UK and then apply for residency in the US, so that I'll be doctor in a shorter amount of time; which then I thought I may be able to dedicate a reasonable amount of my time to do my passion alongside it.

My second plan, which I'm thinking about right now is to study music or drama or performing arts in the college and then apply for medicine as a graduate course for top med schools like Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge,etc or dental schools.
(I haven't decide between medicine or dentistry yet.)

But I'm really stuck between these two options.
By doing some research on the internet, I found out that some people prefer graduate medicine, because by then we become more mature and we won't lose fun college experience, which they believed is the best years of a person's life .

So in your opinion what is the best option?
Any help would be appreciated 🙏

If money, citizenship/residence, academic ability, 'social' skills, and ultimately medical skills are not an issue... It's better to go to school and complete medical residency in the country you intend to practice long term. Then, follow the educational process in that country. Most importantly, any of these paths can have barriers and to get a feel for that you would have to read a large number of FMG/IMG threads identifying many failures and some success. Please don't be naive and believe the barriers won't apply to you at any point in the process... have multiple back up plans for each step in the process.

 

[Raora]

You'll need $150k+ for an undergrad degree in the US (you will pay international tuition which is often 2-3x in-state and 1.5-2x out-of-state tuition).
You'll also need another $400k+ out of pocket for medical school (unless you marry a citizen and qualify for federal loans and in-state tuition).

Also is it necessary to get my bachelor's in the US if I intend to apply to med school there?

 

[candbgirl]

And what do you think on getting my bachelor's in art/ music and then do medicine in the US?

So you mean by studying in Europe, medicine wouldn't consume 150% of my life, whereas in the US it does. Why ? What's the difference in medical education and working situation in these two places that causes this difference?

I majored in theater but I live in the US. My major didn’t hold me back but I have to say if you are going to practice medicine and have a side hustle of music/theater you will be very disappointed and very tired. I have to schedule my dates for the Opera and theater well in advance so I’m sure I can go. And I just have to show up. Even community theater is a stretch time wise. Be a doctor and enjoy the arts or Be an artist and be happy visiting your own doctor. You really can’t be both and do them well.

 

[howdoiknow]

Also is it necessary to get my bachelor's in the US if I intend to apply to med school there?

It will make things substantially easier. If you don't have $600k+ to pony up you'll be far better off going to Europe (cheaper) or just do med school in your own country (for free in most developing nations or very inexpensive private schools) and hope for the best applying as a FMG.

 

[Helpful Troll]

It will make things substantially easier. If you don't have $600k+ to pony up you'll be far better off going to Europe (cheaper) or just do med school in your own country (for free in most developing nations or very inexpensive private schools) and hope for the best applying as a FMG.

The $$ are much higher than $600K for many in the US. Ahhh, just now seeing the +. I would estimate $800K+, all in, from undergrad through medical residency in the US. More importantly, the barriers can end it very early or very late with a lot of time and $$ invested.

 

[howdoiknow]

The $$ are much higher than $600K for many in the US. Ahhh, just now seeing the +. I would estimate $800K+, all in, from undergrad through medical residency in the US. More importantly, the barriers can end it very early or very late with a lot of time and $$ invested.

Exactly. And if OP decides on Dentistry she's likely to get accepted to an expensive private school like NYU or USC, which in 4-5 years will easily cost $800k alone, +$200k undergrad, so working 2-3 days a week as a dentist (like many US grads from inexpensive schools) is not possible. She will have to work 9 days a week to stay afloat unless she is wealthy.

 

[Raora]

I majored in theater but I live in the US. My major didn’t hold me back but I have to say if you are going to practice medicine and have a side hustle of music/theater you will be very disappointed and very tired. I have to schedule my dates for the Opera and theater well in advance so I’m sure I can go. And I just have to show up. Even community theater is a stretch time wise. Be a doctor and enjoy the arts or Be an artist and be happy visiting your own doctor. You really can’t be both and do them well.

Thanks for your answer.
However if I only become a doctor, my life would be absolutely empty without singing/acting.
I would really like to do both at the same time, however it seems very hard.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

Thanks for your answer.
However if I only become a doctor, my life would be absolutely empty without singing/acting.
I would really like to do both at the same time, however it seems very hard.

I think probably the most reasonable path for you specialty wise is to persue radiology and take one of those work from home jobs. You'll take a pay cut but live nicely but this is all assuming you can make it to the US

 

[Raora]

I think you should go to Europe (undergraduate route) if you don't want medicine to consume 150% of your life

Well, in EU I can also take the graduate entry for medicine.
Just want to know whether graduate or undergraduate will benefit me the most ?

 

[Goro]

Well, in EU I can also take the graduate entry for medicine.
Just want to know whether graduate or undergraduate will benefit me the most ?

Talk to a high school guidance counselor in your home country, because they'll have more insight into what the path to Medicine is like over there, as opposed to what it's like over here.

 

[Lost in Translation]

Thanks for your answer.
However if I only become a doctor, my life would be absolutely empty without singing/acting.
I would really like to do both at the same time, however it seems very hard.

Sounds like you should focus on acting then. Medicine is not for you.