Is it just me or do tons of pre-meds have no idea what residency is?

[Cyberdyne 101]

I kind of skim this thread, hopefully I am not repeating someone else's reply, but while it IS funny now to see these clueless pre-meds, some of these kids are clueless because they don't where to look and sometimes they are embarrassed to ask. Being a first generation, I really didn't have the information given to me of what to expect. Don't get me wrong, the internet (especially student doctor) is a beautiful and information filled universe, but sometimes you get misinformation and other things. I was working a large portion of my freshman year. I didn't really know about residency or the application cycle. I didn't know how important ECs were. I skipped the orientation my college has for pre-meds because I was working (biggest mistake of my life). I just lived my life doing what I thought needed to done. I didn't know about this site until after my first year of undergrad, I discovered it after my advisor gave me **** for not doing any ECs all my freshman year. So it does happen, I am glad I found out about it sooner rather than later. But I can see how some of these kids can go so blindly into a field

I couldn't agree more. Misinformation is the cancer of the pre-med track, and unfortunately, the oncogenesis often begins in HS. Many premeds seem to unnecessarily overextend themselves while others take in the rigorous course work with no genuine intentions of helping sick people.

I feel that a lot of this stems from poor/inadequate advising. Obviously, schools profit from having hundreds (and more) sign up for pre-med courses fully aware of the high attrition rates. Also, the brand-name schools enjoy perpetuating the lie that they are the only appropriate gate-keepers for med school admission, which of course is not true. And some ppl (this includes professors and even students) seem to relish in punishing premeds with insane coursework (that's not really conducive to learning) just for the hell of it.

Obviously, you need to be challenged, but everything should be done within reason.

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[Mad Jack]

A 22 on the MCAT doesn't constitute a higher score, though, which is what the school is telling students they need to be competitive. Maybe I've been reading the wrong information myself, however, because I thought 3.2 was considered pretty low for DO as well.

They aren't so much telling the student they are competitive by writing s letter at 3.2/22, just that they will agree to write the letter and let you take it from there. Not standing in the way of a student's ability to apply is not necessarily an endorsement.

 

[touchpause13]

The problem is there is so much misinformation out there and it's hard to know what to trust. Most of us came out of high school thinking our advisors and professors would know wtf they were talking about and would give us good advice. This is not the case. While it's easy to sit back and laugh at the premed who says only biology majors can get into med school or that DOs can't do surgery or that they will make 400k right out of med school, you gotta remember that somebody probably told them that and they believed it

I think the problem is that advisors are piss poor, not that premeds are stupid

 

[Xenoblade]

why do you care?

It doesn't affect you. Worry about yourself.

 

[studentp0x]

The problem is there is so much misinformation out there and it's hard to know what to trust. Most of us came out of high school thinking our advisors and professors would know wtf they were talking about and would give us good advice. This is not the case. While it's easy to sit back and laugh at the premed who says only biology majors can get into med school or that DOs can't do surgery or that they will make 400k right out of med school, you gotta remember that somebody probably told them that and they believed it

I think the problem is that advisors are piss poor, not that premeds are stupid

lol I was always aware my advisors had no idea what they're talking about.
But yea you're right.

 

[studentp0x]

5-6 years residency
300k debt
Get replaced by a NP

Living the life.

What specialty has a 5-6 year residency or 5-6 years of total residency/fellowship and still has ANY potential to be replaced by an NP?

People go to see the doctor, not the nurse. Certainly a percentage of the population doesn't care, but on the whole people certainly do.

 

[mrh125]

premeds don't know everything. we're all learning. You cant expect everyone to know everything about the process. If you're shocked about them not knowing why not explain to the less enlightened ones?