Nontraditional MS in ChemE (Stanford) to Med School

[I Integrate]

Hello SDN,

I am always hesitant to create posts on forums, but I've been following various threads on SDN for a while and thought your guys's opinions and advice could be valuable.

Background:
24 year old male
B.S. Chemistry and Biochemistry from a UC school (3.75 GPA)
M.S. Chemical Engineering from Stanford (3.7 GPA)

I am currently in a transitional period in my life where I need to make a decision on a career path. During high school, my passions were in mathematics and physics, however due to family edging me away from engineering, and me afraid that a math/physics degree would be unemployable (a naive fear, I believe a math and physics degree is very employable now) I decided to major in Chem and Biochem. That way I could take all the pre-medical requirements while at the same time taking courses that would challenge and interest me (multivariate calculus, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, etc.).

I followed the pre-med route taking all the requirements, taking biochemistry/genetics as well.
I took the old MCAT my junior year of college and scored a 31 (11 PS 9 VR 11 BS), although that score was around the average for matriculants (31-32), I was not comfortable applying to medical schools. Not simply due to the score, but I also felt I had unfinished business with studying math/physics/engineering.

So after college ended, I decided to take a break from formal education and travel. I ended up backpacking the Sierra mountains, training and completing an olympic-length triathlon, and teaching and tutoring high school students who were preparing for the SAT and other high school math courses. Teaching, much like many endeavors in life, was joyful and challenging, and I'm very appreciative for the experience.

However, wanting to continue my education, I applied to formal master's program to help decide whether I wanted to continue with the medical route or go with my original plan of pursing an engineering career. I took the GRE and luckily scored decently well as my MCAT preparation seeped over to my GRE studying. I got accepted to a 2-year course based Master's Program at Stanford.

At first, I was ecstatic, Stanford was ranked #2 (behind MIT) in chemical engineering at the time and a had great reputation and respect among everyone (including myself). After beginning, I was placed in an environment in which I was not accustomed to. I had to make shifts in not only my study patterns, but my maturity as a student and person, realizing that perfectionism and a hyper competitive attitude towards my peers would only serve to cripple my learning experience.

As time passed, I had realized that this master's program was essentially an extension of my undergraduate education and although I was becoming a more confident and mature scholar, I was not any closer to making the important decision that had been looming over my head (medicine or engineering).

Now I stand at the brink of graduation and soon turning 25. Although I do still have a passion for math and physics, my deepest and greatest passion and joy will be to raise and provide for a family. Although, I've heard medicine encompasses long and arduous hours, I believe the job stability and patient interaction is more aligned with my ultimate goal of raising a family. That's why I'm considering reopening the can of worms that is medicine.

Although I will have to retake the MCAT (which should be easier the second time around), I am wondering if anyone has similar experiences or if anyone's opinions may shed some light on my story. If you read all the way, I am nothing but thankful to your abundance of time or your desire to assist people.

Other activities I did as an undergraduate:
3 years in a Physical Chemistry/Biochemistry lab
4 years as a nursing home volunteer (speaking with lonely residents who needed someone to speak to)
3 months of shadowing through a local clinic (observing and assisting ophthalmologists, ENTs, urologists, and primary care physicians).

Tl;dr Med School or Engineering Career, would like some advice.

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[curbsideconsult]

It depends.

When do you want to start a family?

What are the job prospects for you as a CE with a master's? I would assume that they're pretty good because much of medicine is about drugs and pharmaceutical companies are always drug designing. Are you ok giving up a pretty good salary for at least 8 years (assuming you apply to med school this year and gain an acceptance)?

Why is "patient interaction" more in alignment with your "ultimate goal of raising a family?" Your interaction with patients will not have much direct positive contribution to raising a family. In fact, depending on the specialty, it could be a big obstacle to your being there for your family. Of course, this depends on your definition of "raising a family." If you're happy with being the breadwinner and finding a spouse who's ok raising the kids while you work a bunch of hours bringing home that cabbage and you see the little munchkins a few hours a week, then that won't be a problem. But if you end up with a spouse who absolutely wants you to spend tons of time at home and with the kids, you're going to have big problems for at least a little while (from observations of my mom and workaholic dad, not from personal experience).

If your true passion really is raising a healthy, happy family, like you mentioned, will you be ok in a non-medicine job that you might not enjoy but will bring financial security and allow you to be more physically and emotionally available to them? If you go into medicine, knowing that your passion is your family, would you be willing to sacrifice big chunks of time you could have with them so that you can study/work/be on call/etc.?

There's no right or wrong answer here and you don't have to answer my questions. These are the questions I would ask myself if my passion were to raise a family so I pose these for you to ponder and hopefully help you out.

 

[futuremdforme]

I think you will be a good applicant to many schools - good GPA from good schools in hard programs, and longstanding volunteer work.

In terms of family, medicine is compatible with having a family, but certain specialties afford you more time with them. You can decide on those later.