as a med tech applying to med school for 2015, i would like to hear from any other med techs. i am a non-trad that went back to med tech school. but working as a med tech definitely cemented the decision to apply to medical school. is anyone out there a med tech (working as a generalist or in another field of medical technology-such as a blood center, transplant testing, reference lab, etc...)? and are you having any interview success this cycle? if so, was your work experience a plus during the interview?
Medical Technologists/Clinical Laboratory Scientists getting interviews in 2015?
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Not applying this cycle but my former classmates and CLS colleagues have been pretty successful in general. Good luck.
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I'm in med tech school right now and have a load of med school prereqs to take before I can take the MCAT and apply but would you give some insight on what things in the clinical lab cemented your decision towards medical school? Best of luck
all of the rotations confirmed it to me. they were awesome. to name a specific, we observed some marrow taps (that was a big one for me). and i really liked all the subject matter we learned in class.
i was at a pretty big hospital for my training and i enjoyed the high energy there. all the pathologists were pretty cool. i like the "detective work" aspect of their jobs. as a med tech you do learn alot of how all the different tests can point to a certain disease, but once you're actually a med tech you're not supposed to interpret anything...
i was at a pretty big hospital for my training and i enjoyed the high energy there. all the pathologists were pretty cool. i like the "detective work" aspect of their jobs. as a med tech you do learn alot of how all the different tests can point to a certain disease, but once you're actually a med tech you're not supposed to interpret anything...
did they have any issues with the extracurriculars? i'm wondering if the successful applicants did other activities with even more patient contact...
i'm hearing some differing viewpoints on this. i suppose b/c each individual's app (especially if you're a non-trad) has it's unique set of circumstances...
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@Ol'Lady
I think they usually had other extracurriculars in addition to a year or two work experience.
How much direct patient contact you get as an MLS depends on whether you actually work in the field or apply right out of school. It's also a function of where you work. In my clinical rotations at a small hospital, I did phlebotomy and was out interacting with patients regularly. Where I currently work, I have no patient interaction unless someone is lost and I'm helping them figure out how to get where they're trying to go. So depending on which of those backgrounds you're coming from, you might have different needs for more or less other patient contact.
You should probably still shadow docs outside of pathology, as people who aren't familiar with pathology (and that includes a lot of non-pathology docs) tend to stereotype and might think you're weird if you only shadowed pathologists/want to be one, lol. No matter how cool pathology is. Make sure you have a good feel for how things work outside the lab.
Make sure you find multiple areas of medicine appealing before you apply.
Some kind of volunteering/community service is desirable. If you've already got sufficient exposure to patients and a hospital setting, then volunteering doesn't need to be medical, could be mentoring or something.
I think they usually had other extracurriculars in addition to a year or two work experience.
How much direct patient contact you get as an MLS depends on whether you actually work in the field or apply right out of school. It's also a function of where you work. In my clinical rotations at a small hospital, I did phlebotomy and was out interacting with patients regularly. Where I currently work, I have no patient interaction unless someone is lost and I'm helping them figure out how to get where they're trying to go. So depending on which of those backgrounds you're coming from, you might have different needs for more or less other patient contact.
You should probably still shadow docs outside of pathology, as people who aren't familiar with pathology (and that includes a lot of non-pathology docs) tend to stereotype and might think you're weird if you only shadowed pathologists/want to be one, lol. No matter how cool pathology is. Make sure you have a good feel for how things work outside the lab.
Make sure you find multiple areas of medicine appealing before you apply.
Some kind of volunteering/community service is desirable. If you've already got sufficient exposure to patients and a hospital setting, then volunteering doesn't need to be medical, could be mentoring or something.
thank you for the advice. i guess i am a little weird
. i feel i may still have a chance, but if i don't get in, i suppose i will have to beef it up for next year...
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I am graduating in a year as a MLS and am also interested in med school. My only concern is that the MLS path has left me without orgo 2 and physics 1 and 2 so I have to go back and take those still.
For those who are MLS's, do you think it would also be a good choice to pursue a masters degree? What do you think about the MLS salary? I personally think it's good but some people think otherwise. Where I live 50000 to 60000 dollars a year and low cost of living constitutes a pretty good lifestyle ( I don't have kids, debt, etc)
For those who are MLS's, do you think it would also be a good choice to pursue a masters degree? What do you think about the MLS salary? I personally think it's good but some people think otherwise. Where I live 50000 to 60000 dollars a year and low cost of living constitutes a pretty good lifestyle ( I don't have kids, debt, etc)
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Depends on what you want a masters degree in. Do you want to be a section supervisor one day? It'd probably be better to get work experience and maybe take a specialist exam (such as blood bank, microbiology, etc). From what i've seen the most cost efficient way to move up in this field is to get experience if you want to be in management (which I dont want btw). I think the pay is good, and I'm saying from the Southeast US where pay is lower than pretty much everywhere else but so is the cost of living. Give and take.
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I don't think I would want to do management. I want to move to southern Utah (St George) really bad and I think the average salary down there is like 52k. So basically, Im trying to decide if I want to do that and just have a career in MLS or try to get into medical school and then try to move down to southern Utah after med school. I just don't want to go to med school somewhere where I don't want to live and honestly I'm pretty burned out at the moment. I do however think it would be cool to go into PATH or RAD.
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Yeah I'm actually in the same situation for the most part. I'm graduating at the end of the year with my bachelors in medical laboratory science. Obviously I'm interested in medical school but I have a lot of pre reqs to take post bacc and am not sure if I have the intellectual ability to make the jump in addition to me thinking the medical technology field is pretty awesome too despite some of its perceived short comings
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It bothers me so much that I cant decide what to do. I think I could live as an MLS and have plenty of money because I don't plan on having kids or anything. The idea of having to still take orgo 2, and 2 semesters of physics makes me want to vomit. Plus the MCAT... I just purchased the Kaplan set to study for the MCAT but I might return it...I just don't know! The thought of going through 4 years of med school torture is very discouraging
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The MLS field should be a pretty good living for you especially if you don't plan on having kids. My girlfriend and I aren't planning on having kids and she works so we should be quite comfortable. Middle class, but comfortable. When do you graduate with your MLS? It might help you a lot to work in the field to see whether working in the lab is really what you want. Not to mention if you want to make some more money you can pick up OT or find a prn job. By the way, you're taking an MCAT prep before you've completed the pre reqs? That would be disastrous for me!
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I graduate next May. The reason I want to study for the MCAT now is because I don't have time to study for it next year because I have no time. I may take it twice. Is it really possible to make more money with experience? It seems like the average salary doesn't increase too much even with 20 years experience.
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Yeah I see what you're saying. I've read online (reddit) and through my program that experience can get you a nice raise but that would need to be coupled with moving to a different hospital since raises when moving to a new lab are often higher than the raise you'd receive annually if you stayed at your current employer. So it's not at all uncommon to see people work in a lab anywhere from 1-3 years then switch to a new hospital to make more. I'd probably prefer to stay in a lab and make more by PRN but money talks so you never know.
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