So as noted above, I'm an MLS (through round about fashion after my initial bachelors) and have been working for about a decade in the field. I plan to apply to medical school, though I did this degree with the intention of getting a job and didn't decide for sure on medical school until I already was in the MLS program.
I've mostly enjoyed my time in the field. I did my clinical internship in a small rural hospital in my hometown, worked the blood bank for a few years at a large tertiary academic type place, then the core lab there, then got promoted to a position evaluating new assays, anaylers, and some clinical research on diagnostics. I have learned a TON working there. I also had the opportunity to teach students, techs, residents, and fellows which I enjoyed. Now I'm back in my hometown at a rural clinic lab. It's not where I want to stay as there's a lot of downtime and my two coworkers don't really hold themselves to a high standard.
If I hadn't made the idiotic decision to also go to grad school for Epidemiology while I worked, I would've been quite comfortable financialy on my income (expensive, but I love every minute of it). My income is less than an RN but more than my friends with just bio degrees. I was able to own my own home by myself on that income. I have former colleagues that are regularly able to take nice trips and do fun stuff.
As for the allied health folks getting into medical school, based on what our SDN adcom folks like
@gyngyn and
@LizzyM have said, this is definitely a concern. Certain allied health programs have less rigorous science courses, like light versions of bio and chemistry, that don't compare well to the courses science majors take in terms of depth and difficulty. A good friend who graduated with a bio degree with me went back to get her RN and they had to take another microbiology class (we'd taken one for or bio degrees). The nursing students were able to take a micro class in the nutrition dept and most took that one because it was an easy A. She said it was a joke.
So to some extent that's understandable. I disagree with that logic for the MLS degree though. Every program I'm aware of requires you to take the same biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, biochem, and physics that the science majors take, not some watered down version. So I don't really get how we get boxed into that thinking. I felt MLS specific courses were as difficult or more difficult (in different ways) than my upper division bio electives. But it is a perception you'll have to contend with at some places.
Having said all of that, the medical schools where I did my MLS degree and in the state where I worked looked very favorably on the MLS grads according to folks on their respective admissions committees, esp if you have a year or more work experience in the field. They've had good success with those students and are familiar with the rigor of their programs. I've known quite a few MLS folks who went to medical school (and PA school) and were glad they took the route they did and felt it gave them a big leg up for certain parts of their curriculum.
Finally, if you really want to do this so you have some job security or a backup plan, but are concerned about the perception issue, you can always do a 4+1 type program where you get a BS in Biology taking MLS relevant electives like microbiology, virology, immunology, biochem, molecular biology, or histology, then complete your remaining courses and clinical practicum in your +1 year. That takes a bit of planning to get the timing right, but is doable. Or just double major like some classmates did. There was a lot of bio or chem majors plus CLS major with psych minors in my class.
