Is the academic intensity of Medical School anything like studying for the MCAT

[BennieBlanco]

You are an idiot! Plenty of people earn over 100k? You must be young and stupid.

I earned 170k my last year working... many people in sales I worked with made 100k. Young maybe, not stupid. Not quite sure how to respond to your elegant comeback.

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[dragonfly99]

The income someone could make as a non-doctor is probably highly dependent on the undergraduate degree (for most people). If tris has an English degree from a liberal arts college, or an art history degree, then I'm not seeing the 100k job coming down the pike any time soon in this economy (unless he can swing a consulting job, which might be possible). If he was an engineering major or computer science major in undergrad, then it might not be that farfetched at all.

As someone who has been through med school, I can say that I was a depressed piece of crap for parts of med school. And I don't think it was all me. Honestly, depending on which med school he attends, he might be very out of place (in terms of age, background of the other students, etc.). These things make it harder to make friends no matter how nice you try to be. However, also one's attitude has something to do with it. If someone is just reserved or quiet, that could come across as arrogant or uninterested in other people.

I think that it is important to realize that counselors at school work for the school and may not be trained to tread real depression, which trismegistus may have (I saw this an in internist). At least he may have dysthymia, if not major depression. Honestly, what you call it is somewhat subjective and may be in the eye of the beholder (whoever is treating the patient) as there aren't lab tests that define these things. It may be hard to be honest with the counselor who works with the school,or he/she may be great at giving career advice to the average med student, but tris may not be the average med student. I do think he's at a good point in med school to start thinking about nonclinical vs. clinical careers...if he can find himself a nonclinical career that he likes then no reason to do a residency. There aren't a ton of jobs that require and MD with no residency, but there are some and there are certainly others that he could get where the MD would be somewhat superfluous but not useless (i.e. work for a drug company or some medical device company that makes pacemakers, orthopedic inplants, etc.).

 

[jl lin]

I earned 170k my last year working... many people in sales I worked with made 100k. Young maybe, not stupid. Not quite sure how to respond to your elegant comeback.

Yes, it comes out to at least 30,800,000, based on a population of about 308,000,000 based on current US Census data, and that's based on at least first six figures. Of course combined incomes are considered in that. I know plenty of people that make that minus the spouses' income.

Yes there are still businesses where experience, reputation, innovation, and the ability to get a job done and done well requires more than a mere undergrad degree or graduate degree. It's about hard-earned experience and real talent to get things done and be an earner form the company. Most of these folks don't walk into it. They work hard, pay their dues, are innovators in their own right, and are desired b/c of it. But at any rate, in various kinds of sales, six figures and up in is doable if you are motivated. In fact most in sales that my relatives work in make at least $300,000 per year. You have to be willing to travel a lot, and some have more of a talent for it than others. Others just live off that one big fish for the company.

The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more is around 6.7 million in 2008, according to the Spectrum Group-- reported by Reuters. It was closer to 10 mil; but the economic downspiraling , which has only been made worse(with more to come no less) has led to small business people losing out as well as other losses across the board.

Many in publishing make that much.

I know a number of folks with English/Communication degrees that work as heads in customer service, and they make that. You basicially have to show that you are definitely worth it, and that requires time and a lot of effort and talent in paying your dues and showing it.

 

[mediterranean]

I shadowed a private practice doctor that said being in med school was much easier than where he is now.

 

[NTF]

I shadowed a private practice doctor that said being in med school was much easier than where he is now.

For a lot of people that isn't necessarily true.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/science/chen10-30.html

 

[Doctor Bagel]

The income someone could make as a non-doctor is probably highly dependent on the undergraduate degree (for most people). If tris has an English degree from a liberal arts college, or an art history degree, then I'm not seeing the 100k job coming down the pike any time soon in this economy (unless he can swing a consulting job, which might be possible). If he was an engineering major or computer science major in undergrad, then it might not be that farfetched at all.

I agree. And Tris has already portrayed himself as as generally non-go-getter non-charismatic type of guy, so he's probably not going to be the guy pulling in $170k in some sales or consulting job. Actually, most of us med school types wouldn't be that person, and the security, stability and orderliness of medical school probably appealed to us somewhat because of that. So on the money side, I think most of us probably wouldn't find better salaries outside of medicine. I'm not saying there aren't better salaries, but we wouldn't likely be making those salaries.

 

[Trismegistus4]

The income someone could make as a non-doctor is probably highly dependent on the undergraduate degree (for most people). If tris has an English degree from a liberal arts college, or an art history degree, then I'm not seeing the 100k job coming down the pike any time soon in this economy (unless he can swing a consulting job, which might be possible). If he was an engineering major or computer science major in undergrad, then it might not be that farfetched at all.

Music major, actually. I did work in IT for several years, but my skills and knowledge are out of date now.

I think that it is important to realize that counselors at school work for the school and may not be trained to tread real depression, which trismegistus may have (I saw this an in internist). At least he may have dysthymia, if not major depression. Honestly, what you call it is somewhat subjective and may be in the eye of the beholder (whoever is treating the patient) as there aren't lab tests that define these things. It may be hard to be honest with the counselor who works with the school,or he/she may be great at giving career advice to the average med student, but tris may not be the average med student. I do think he's at a good point in med school to start thinking about nonclinical vs. clinical careers...if he can find himself a nonclinical career that he likes then no reason to do a residency. There aren't a ton of jobs that require and MD with no residency, but there are some and there are certainly others that he could get where the MD would be somewhat superfluous but not useless (i.e. work for a drug company or some medical device company that makes pacemakers, orthopedic inplants, etc.).

I hate to continue to focus this thread on me, since I agree I probably did too much of that already, but people keep talking about me whether I post or not, so let me just say that I only talked to the school counselor once and that was really to find out what my options are. He gave me several names of people in the community to follow-up with; I just haven't done so yet since I've been out of town.

I do stand by my affirmation of the SDN mantra that if you're smart enough to get into medical school, you're smart enough to do plenty of other things. You might not know it or believe it, but you are.

 

[BennieBlanco]

Music major, actually. I did work in IT for several years, but my skills and knowledge are out of date now.



I hate to continue to focus this thread on me, since I agree I probably did too much of that already, but people keep talking about me whether I post or not, so let me just say that I only talked to the school counselor once and that was really to find out what my options are. He gave me several names of people in the community to follow-up with; I just haven't done so yet since I've been out of town.

I do stand by my affirmation of the SDN mantra that if you're smart enough to get into medical school, you're smart enough to do plenty of other things. You might not know it or believe it, but you are.

I know high school graduates who likely couldn't get a college degree who were doing very well. So yeah, if you have a decent head on your shoulders and you learn the basics of success, then you can do very well in America. We all are pretty lucky.

 

[Sainttpk]

I know high school graduates who likely couldn't get a college degree who were doing very well. So yeah, if you have a decent head on your shoulders and you learn the basics of success, then you can do very well in America. We all are pretty lucky.

I concur, anyone with the ability to work hard with decent intelligence could probably do well in America.

And Bennie Blanco is right there are plenty of people who earn 100K in this country. Certainly not the majority, but then again the vast majority of people are fat and lazy. =)

That being said the average starting salary for a police officer in a city like Seattle is nearly 80,000 dollars. And this is normally someone with just a bachelors degree at the most.

I bring this point up, because there are plenty of other jobs out there that make decent salary, yet don't require the years of training a physician needs.

 

[kia ora]

I concur, anyone with the ability to work hard with decent intelligence could probably do well in America.

And Bennie Blanco is right there are plenty of people who earn 100K in this country. Certainly not the majority, but then again the vast majority of people are fat and lazy. =)

That being said the average starting salary for a police officer in a city like Seattle is nearly 80,000 dollars. And this is normally someone with just a bachelors degree at the most.

I bring this point up, because there are plenty of other jobs out there that make decent salary, yet don't require the years of training a physician needs.

if by "nearly 80,000 dollars" you mean "nearly 65,000 dollars" then that's correct (I know a lot of SPD officers). but whatever

and the "vast majority" of ppl in this country are "fat and lazy"? nice. I would disagree. I know some fat ppl who are not lazy; I know some lazy ppl who are not fat. I don't know many who are both. but I would never make a sweeping generalization like that.

 

[BennieBlanco]

if by "nearly 80,000 dollars" you mean "nearly 65,000 dollars" then that's correct (I know a lot of SPD officers). but whatever

and the "vast majority" of ppl in this country are "fat and lazy"? nice. I would disagree. I know some fat ppl who are not lazy; I know some lazy ppl who are not fat. I don't know many who are both. but I would never make a sweeping generalization like that.

I know some people who are fat and lazy. It is not unthinkable for the 2 to go together.

i did a quick google image search for fat and lazy...

Starting at 65-70k means a handful or years/maybe even a decade and you hit 100k. Also, that is likely a 40 hour week at 65k! If that person worked 60 hrs they will likely earn 80-90k (the average physician probably works about 60 give or take). SO.... that is pretty close in my book.

Although I was unable to find cat obesity rates I did find Americans... Looks like 25% or so are at least fat. There was no laziness data available.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

 

[kia ora]

^^^^^^that cat isn't fat, it's just big boned...

no kidding the two things aren't mutually exclusive, but for someone to say that the "vast majority" of Americans are both fat and lazy is ridiculous. those are the words of someone who needs to step away from the cable tv news shows


so off topic now...

 

[BennieBlanco]

^^^^^^that cat isn't fat, it's just big boned...

no kidding the two things aren't mutually exclusive, but for someone to say that the "vast majority" of Americans are both fat and lazy is ridiculous. those are the words of someone who needs to step away from the cable tv news shows


so off topic now...

That cat probably has a bit of big bone and a bit of fat. Too much bud light. Lets just talk about this cat, I enjoy him.

I've already given him a name, Mr. Bigglesworth.

 

[kia ora]

That cat probably has a bit of big bone and a bit of fat. Too much bud light. Lets just talk about this cat, I enjoy him.

I've already given him a name, Mr. Bigglesworth.

I wonder what he is watching? Animal Planet? nah, probably a Law and Order marathon

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Cops and firefighters in my city are facing pay cuts and layoffs. Not such a great job right now with broke municipalities everywhere. Are you guys also missing the fact that we're in a period of record unemployment? Lots of people are out of work or not making a lot of money not because they're "fat and lazy" (jeez, so nice that a future physician is so positive about his potential future patients), but because the economy sucks.

 

[BennieBlanco]

Cops and firefighters in my city are facing pay cuts and layoffs. Not such a great job right now with broke municipalities everywhere. Are you guys also missing the fact that we're in a period of record unemployment? Lots of people are out of work or not making a lot of money not because they're "fat and lazy" (jeez, so nice that a future physician is so positive about his potential future patients), but because the economy sucks.

where have you been?

We are trying to figure out what show the big boned cat is watching... keep up!

 

[Doctor Bagel]

where have you been?

We are trying to figure out what show the big boned cat is watching... keep up!

I think he's watching The Real Housewives of Orange County.

 

[scurred09]

So because you and your buddy earned over 100k, everyone else must earn six fig?

I earned 170k my last year working... many people in sales I worked with made 100k. Young maybe, not stupid. Not quite sure how to respond to your elegant comeback.