Little Advisor Rant

[rabidpanda13]

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I am a nutrition major and all the advisors in the department are registered dietitians and treat me with disdain when they find out that I am applying to medical school. They try to discourage me from doing clinical rotations, when I want to gain the clinical experience for myself first of all, and secondly be eligible to sit for the RD exam if I so choose. They try the whole "You know, you could take an extra year and do our master's program instead..." They barely listen to me once I utter the words "medical school", it's like I've committed some crime just because I am choosing a career path that differs from their own.

If anyone has any words of wisdom as to how I can respectfully deal with this situation, it would be most appreciated.

 

[Mattabet]

Student, advise thyself.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great, great advisors out there. But for every great advisor, there are three seat-fillers that probably shouldn't be in a position that could affect the rest of your life.

As an undergrad, my first advisor told me that pre-med was a waste of time; that since a majority of people who start college wanting to go to medical school didn't make it, that it was a waste of time to try. I am not most people, but it took me about three years to find a helpful advisor. Most in the interim just quoted stats out of the MSAR. For some of them, this was the job they got paid for, to quote facts and commonsense out of the literature.

As a lecturer, it got even worse. Granted, I taught an intro level math course, so there were way too many students for even a dedicated staff to handle, but contact with the student advising office went something like this:

"Instructors, please e-mail us with the names of students who are not currently on track to pass your class, so that we can e-mail them and warn them that they may not pass the class."

So, I as the lecturer, identified which students were failing. This was not a fact I would hide from you, by the way, I made it very clear when passing tests back, meeting in office hours, or updating student's grades how they were doing in the class. I also gave them quite a bit of input on the next class they should take, based on their majors and abilities (which I gleaned from other instructors and major requirements, available on the web).

Of course, even during this time, there were some great advisors (especially for undergraduate athletes), who went out of their way to actually write me personalized e-mails and advocate on behalf of their students. But this was the exception.

/Rant off. Back on point, Panda, I'd see if I could find a dedicated pre-med advisor at your school; they may be willing to help you out. Failing that, I'd look to a prof. who deals with a lot of pre-meds, or trusted upperclassmen who have succeeded at what you're trying to do. Of course, there's always SDN 🙂 Best of luck!

 

[bubbasparxx]

Grin and bear it. I had a similar experience except it was researchers telling me to get a PhD instead of an MD.

 

[Bacchus]

OP, I feel you. I've had people this entire time tell me that PR should be my thing, hah.

 

[sarahg]

Talk to any bio majors or other premeds you know and ask if there are any professors in that department that are known for giving premedical advice or are just really great advisors. Email that professor, explain that you'd like to go to med school and you hear they are a good advisor and that you haven't been getting optimal advising in your department, and ask if they could please meet with you. Hopefully one of them will say yes and you'll have a pre-med advisor, though of course you should take anything said by an individual with a grain of salt. My school happens to have a great pre-med advisor and maybe yours does too, I think it's worth at least trying.

As for the professors in your division, if they aren't actually taking action to stop you from doing the rotations and classes that you want, don't worry about them too much. You might try keeping your mouth shut about med school and just saying that you want to keep your options most open for after you graduate for financial reasons, and that's why you want to be able to sit for the RD exam. I think it's almost criminal that they're discouraging students to NOT enhance their employability to make the students enroll in their master's program, that's a pretty obvious ploy to try to increase the size of their department and thus their influence and funding. It's not like there are any shortage of master's programs in nutrition for students who are already RDs.

 

[rabidpanda13]

We do have pre-med advisors at my university as well and I intend to meet with one in particular who has been recommended to me but since he knows nothing about the nutrition courses, he can't be my sole advisor. And yes they do actually discourage people from pursuing rotations who are also applying to medical school. I've come to the conclusion that it is probably because they do not want to waste their time training someone who will most likely not use it. I think it is extremely unfair of them to make that assumption considering some of us want to keep our options open...med school isn't a sure thing.

And Bacchus, I wish I had kept up with how many different pictures of Kate Walsh you have put up since I've joined.

 

[witness23]

do you have to tell your advisers that you are applying to med school? do you have a separate pre-health committee?

 

[Bacchus]

I was called out. Supposedly they were declining in sexiness. So, I got a new one. I have this really needy one that I love a lot but it makes me feel like a creeper.

 

[rabidpanda13]

do you have to tell your advisers that you are applying to med school? do you have a separate pre-health committee?

Well when they look at my schedule and ask why I am taking physics, biology, and Orgo which are not required for nutrition I have to tell them. The whole reason this even came up today and irritated me again was because one of the advisors is teaching a class i need for the fall and it conflicts with Orgo and she didn't understand why I was even in the class to begin with so I had to tell her and so began the "Are you sure you want to..." speeches. I wish we had a nutrition advisor that dealt specifically with students who are interested in applying to med school but alas, we don't.

We do have pre-med advisors but since they are in a different college, I still have to see the nutrition advisors as well for my major classes.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

What do you need advisors for when u have SDN?

 

[cpants]

First of all, don't let yourself get pushed out of rotations or classes which you want to take. You are paying a lot of money for this education. They aren't doing you a favor by teaching you. If they truly are blocking your way from getting your RD, get in touch with the dean sooner rather than later.

Second of all, it sounds like these nutritionazis are turned off by med school. Realizing that, play the game. Don't bring the med school thing up much, just tell them you are taking the classes to keep your options open. If they want to think you are going to be a career RD, then let them.

Thirdly, I would seek out some advice from someone more accustomed to dealing with pre-meds. Someone in biology or chemistry is a good place to start. Your best bet is probably to turn to SDN for most of your advice. There is good and bad on here, but at least there are a lot of people on here who have actually been through this process. Almost no pre-med advisors have applied to med school, and if they did they were unsuccessful.

 

[dedicate]

Almost no pre-med advisors have applied to med school, and if they did they were unsuccessful.

... lol.

 

[LizzyM]

Obviously, your interest in preparing for medical school admission conflicts with your department's mission of preparing students for careers in nutrition. This isn't surprising in a department that offers what adds up to vocational training.

1) Get a nutrition degree and take pre-reqs in the summer or after college graduation
or
2) Change your major

You want your cake and eat it too -- a job to fall back on and a pass from required major courses in order to prepare for med school.

 

[lstone13]

Student, advise thyself.

Yes, agreed. Research everything for yourself first. Know what you are supposed to do. Get the advisor to approve you to sign up for classes.

Seriously, I didn't have but one advisor (out of 5) that seemed to know what he/she was talking about. I finally figured out that it was best for me to go in knowing what I needed to do, rather than look to the advisor for any kind of information or support.

 

[J ROD]

Personally, I am on my clinical rotations in pharmacy school and I am getting punished by those that know I am going to try to go to medical school. Certain preceptors expressed negatively on my decision and then my grade is lower than any others when I am performing better than other students (the other students admit and see it too). They apparently are trying to lower my GPA the only way they can since I can make As on their MC tests.

The best thing to do is tell no one. I tried but eventually it comes out when you have to ask for LORs or you just get tired of lying to people right in their face when they ask what are your plans after you graduate. I underestimated the pure jealousness of some folks.

At this point, I would do my best to get through the program and finish prereqs around it.

Remember advisors are just that. They dont make decisions for you. If it gets too bad, I would just talk to the dean. I have considered that myself, but my GPA is so high I can take a few hits and I dropped several rotations and switched to people I know that arent so petty.

It sucks but just suck it up and move forward.

 

[MarieMarie]

Grin and bear it. I had a similar experience except it was researchers telling me to get a PhD instead of an MD.

I struggle with this too 🙁

 

[Compass]

Personally, I am on my clinical rotations in pharmacy school and I am getting punished by those that know I am going to try to go to medical school. Certain preceptors expressed negatively on my decision and then my grade is lower than any others when I am performing better than other students (the other students admit and see it too). They apparently are trying to lower my GPA the only way they can since I can make As on their MC tests.

The best thing to do is tell no one. I tried but eventually it comes out when you have to ask for LORs or you just get tired of lying to people right in their face when they ask what are your plans after you graduate. I underestimated the pure jealousness of some folks.

At this point, I would do my best to get through the program and finish prereqs around it.

Remember advisors are just that. They dont make decisions for you. If it gets too bad, I would just talk to the dean. I have considered that myself, but my GPA is so high I can take a few hits and I dropped several rotations and switched to people I know that arent so petty.

It sucks but just suck it up and move forward.

The grade punishment is unethical, especially if your classmates agree. Have you talked to anybody about that?

 

[njbmd]

I am a nutrition major and all the advisors in the department are registered dietitians and treat me with disdain when they find out that I am applying to medical school. They try to discourage me from doing clinical rotations, when I want to gain the clinical experience for myself first of all, and secondly be eligible to sit for the RD exam if I so choose. They try the whole "You know, you could take an extra year and do our master's program instead..." They barely listen to me once I utter the words "medical school", it's like I've committed some crime just because I am choosing a career path that differs from their own.

If anyone has any words of wisdom as to how I can respectfully deal with this situation, it would be most appreciated.

Why would you even "entertain" the thought that a dietitian would have any interest in advising a student who has clearly stated that they were not interested in the field of nutrition or working as a dietitian? Let me see, a medical student walks into my office and states that they are interested in Internal Medicine because surgery is of no interest to them and that they want me to adivise them. I would point them in the direction of the Department of Internal Medicine and wonder why they wasted my time if they didn't have a particular question or problem that involved surgery.

If you want information about medical school, then go to the pre-med office at your school (most universities have them) or find the information that you need in the library. I would hope that you have learned how to do some research in the library as an undergraduate. In essence, your major isn't nutrition but pre-med. Utilize the premedical resourses at your college.

Do be aware that people who are in allied health professions are poorly equipped to advise premedical students. You are better off doing some on-line research or heading to your public library.

Another thing to consider is that your future plans for medical school are of no interest and no concern to the faculty in your current course of study. Although education IS education, I know that more than a few allied health faculty can be vindictive toward students who appear to be treating their field of practice as a "stepping stone" to something else.

Finally, no adviser(faculty member) is a substitute for learning how to find your own information that is pertinent to you personally. A good adviser may point you in a direction but you need to find what works for you, the consumer. Chill out and go find your own info and stop "broadcasting" your future career plans to people who have no role in them. Remember that bad advice is worst than no advice in the first place. Do your own research and make your own decisions. You have burned your bridges with that particular faculty member and therefore, it would be prudent to find another and keep your plans for medical school to yourself.

 

[J ROD]

The grade punishment is unethical, especially if your classmates agree. Have you talked to anybody about that?

I thought about it but it is not worth the trouble. It would be he said she said unless I bring in the other students. And, I dont want to put them in the middle. Plus, she could say it was performance based and it is hard to just prove.

I will just say karma is a b*tch and I will just remember it.

As of now, I have no more professors as preceptors and think things will be based on my performance and not my career aspirations.

Just more BS to put up with!