Other career options?

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ohgodidonteven

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I've always planned on becoming a doctor and going to medical school. Sometimes though, the world doesn't work the way you want it to, so you need to make backup plans. Does anyone here have career choices they considered as an alternative or would suggest looking into? I'm a biology and chemistry major.

P.S. My father already told me to go into the Army and my mother has already suggested it is impossible for me not to get into med school.

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I always say to myself the cliche "where there is a will, there is a way". So many people, I think, make it out to be that getting into med school requires you to be perfect. This is simply not true. What seems to be your obstacle in becoming a doctor? Sorry to ask, as that's not the topic of this thread, but sometimes many things are corrigible and you just have to keep trying your heart out. But to answer your question, there are many things you could do with a biology and chemistry major, in terms of graduate school (while in grad school you would also be able to explore what particular areas you are interested in). Also, you could try for being nurse practitioner (someone's going to have to add the details but I believe you go nursing school first and then apply to nurse practitioner's school). They can do many of the things you associate with being a doctor. These are just a few of thousands of things you could consider. Wish you the best
 
I guess it's more of that being a doctor has strayed farther from what I expected.
 
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Alternative would be to get a MS in Chem and then work for a company. Chemists can make a ton of cash. You could also go teach Chem and bio at a high school.
 
With a science degree in general, there are several differnt fields you can look in to. But, mainly, just find something that your going to more or less enjoy spending your days doing.
 
I chose chem as a major so I'd have a backup plan if medicine didn't work out. I always figured I'd just get my MS/PhD if I didn't get into med school.

If you're really deadset on healthcare, though, you could try PA or RN/NP.
 
Call me cynical, but I'll try and try again until I get into medical school.
That's my back-up plan.
 
I guess it's more of that being a doctor has strayed farther from what I expected.

What is it that's turning you off?

I see lots of suggestions for alternative clinical careers, but those may share what you don't like. Outside of other clinical jobs there's a variety of careers that can be science related, although in most cases it requires further training. There's teaching certificate-->HS teacher, PhD--> researcher or professor, JD--> patent attorney, there are business opportunities in pharma/biotech/chem companies and consulting. The government also hires science people (FDA, NIH, CDC, NASA and more) You're really only limited by your own skill set and interests.
 
Stay out of teaching unless you absolutely want to be a teacher. I got into it when I graduated college at the ripe old age of 21 just because I wanted a job where I would put to use that B.S. degree I had literally sat through class to get. I went through an alternative licensure path which was really easy. Teaching in itself is ok. I've taught others in the workplace, trained new officers and EMTs, and I liked teaching kids one on one. I think everybody enjoys teaching others how to do stuff, but the bull***t involved with being a classroom teacher is atrocious. That's a whole other rant of its own. I have people ask me all the time for advice about becoming an educator. I tell them to stay the hell away and send their kids to private school.

That said, there are a multitude of other health professions you can go into. Even some of the tech jobs get paid a lot so you can live comfortably no matter what you do. There's also graduate school. Industrial lab jobs. I was offered one once in a chemical plant, and it paid a lot so I interviewed, looked around, and was offered the job. I just would've literally gone nuts spending my day measuring out stuff. Also, everybody that worked out there smelled like chlorine all the time. Even the interior of their cars. I grew up around chemical plants. Nasty. It may explain my third ear though. JK

Of course, like most college grads you will likely end up doing something unrelated to your degree. I got out of teaching and became a local cop. It was great, but I wanted a little more diversity so I moved to the state level and got into a hybrid administration/enforcement role. I didn't really have to have a degree for the first badge job, but I got paid more for it. The state job needed it, but no certain major was required.

You'll find after you get out of college for a bit the degree won't really be a big deal anymore. It quickly goes from the top of your resume to the bottom. You'll slip it in a drawer somewhere, or you may put it on the wall. I don't really do wall decorations to lessen what I have to dust, but it's cool either way.

When I was in college I spent probably three months of my life (if you consolidated all the time) typing into Yahoo "careers for ___________ majors." For the majority of majors there is no one job. The fact is you just do what interests you, or you do what you have to. I ran into a pimply faced kid the other day running a track hoe. We got to talking, and he pulled his check stub out of his wallet. He made $2.00 more an hour than me, lol, but he didn't have retirement or insurance although he'd never had anyone shoot at him either. I wouldn't mind digging holes some days for that.

On SDN you see a lot of people talking about "passion" as if you have to have passion for your job and/or passion for your education. It seems a bit unrealistic and academic. I'd wager that about 80% of America goes about their daily job because they love their family so they have to pay for the house, food, clothes, and whatever. I'm still young (28) and unattached so I don't feel pressed to endure my job. I like what I do a lot, but I'd rather go into doctoring because it interests me and in the right specialty I can help out people, if you will, while also keeping myself entertained.
 
Stay out of teaching unless you absolutely want to be a teacher. I got into it when I graduated college at the ripe old age of 21 just because I wanted a job where I would put to use that B.S. degree I had literally sat through class to get. I went through an alternative licensure path which was really easy. Teaching in itself is ok. I've taught others in the workplace, trained new officers and EMTs, and I liked teaching kids one on one. I think everybody enjoys teaching others how to do stuff, but the bull***t involved with being a classroom teacher is atrocious. That's a whole other rant of its own. I have people ask me all the time for advice about becoming an educator. I tell them to stay the hell away and send their kids to private school.

That said, there are a multitude of other health professions you can go into. Even some of the tech jobs get paid a lot so you can live comfortably no matter what you do. There's also graduate school. Industrial lab jobs. I was offered one once in a chemical plant, and it paid a lot so I interviewed, looked around, and was offered the job. I just would've literally gone nuts spending my day measuring out stuff. Also, everybody that worked out there smelled like chlorine all the time. Even the interior of their cars. I grew up around chemical plants. Nasty. It may explain my third ear though. JK

Of course, like most college grads you will likely end up doing something unrelated to your degree. I got out of teaching and became a local cop. It was great, but I wanted a little more diversity so I moved to the state level and got into a hybrid administration/enforcement role. I didn't really have to have a degree for the first badge job, but I got paid more for it. The state job needed it, but no certain major was required.

You'll find after you get out of college for a bit the degree won't really be a big deal anymore. It quickly goes from the top of your resume to the bottom. You'll slip it in a drawer somewhere, or you may put it on the wall. I don't really do wall decorations to lessen what I have to dust, but it's cool either way.

When I was in college I spent probably three months of my life (if you consolidated all the time) typing into Yahoo "careers for ___________ majors." For the majority of majors there is no one job. The fact is you just do what interests you, or you do what you have to. I ran into a pimply faced kid the other day running a track hoe. We got to talking, and he pulled his check stub out of his wallet. He made $2.00 more an hour than me, lol, but he didn't have retirement or insurance although he'd never had anyone shoot at him either. I wouldn't mind digging holes some days for that.

On SDN you see a lot of people talking about "passion" as if you have to have passion for your job and/or passion for your education. It seems a bit unrealistic and academic. I'd wager that about 80% of America goes about their daily job because they love their family so they have to pay for the house, food, clothes, and whatever. I'm still young (28) and unattached so I don't feel pressed to endure my job. I like what I do a lot, but I'd rather go into doctoring because it interests me and in the right specialty I can help out people, if you will, while also keeping myself entertained.

So the job you are doing now, police, and not even at an entry-level is really unavailable. To get into nypd(a very big police force) you would have to wait over a year for spots to open up. And to get into a good department like suffolk county is like winning a lottery. I inquired about careers in an earlier thread. And even going into the military as an officer now requires a 1yr wait, ha! And besides, all the jobs listed in this thread suck terribly. Teaching and cops are not too bad if you have a certain attitude/personality.
 
So the job you are doing now, police, and not even at an entry-level is really unavailable. To get into nypd(a very big police force) you would have to wait over a year for spots to open up. And to get into a good department like suffolk county is like winning a lottery. I inquired about careers in an earlier thread. And even going into the military as an officer now requires a 1yr wait, ha! And besides, all the jobs listed in this thread suck terribly. Teaching and cops are not too bad if you have a certain attitude/personality.

I learned things teaching that I applied to law enforcement, and if I went back into teaching (a cold day that would be!) I'd be a much better classroom manager now after having been an officer.

New York is a hard area. I've spoken with officers from that area, and they've told me about it. I'm also shocked by how low the starting NYPD salary is. Heck, I made more than that in a city of 25,000, lol.

Have you thought about going for a master's in something maybe and undergoing ROTC throughout the process? I'm told that once you're at 04 a master's is a pretty good thing to have for further promotion, plus you might get a little tuition money from Uncle Sugar while you're in ROTC.

When I was younger I wanted to be an army officer and fly Apaches particularly the AH-64D. I've mentioned that before on SDN. Hell, I'd still do it if I could, but I'm red-green color blind so I can't, and with that I never even bothered contemplating another officer role. I later found out I couldn't go into federal LE for the same reason, lol, after I had gone back for a second degree in accounting to try and facilitate that process. I gave that up quick.

How do you feel about wildlife biology or something like that - maybe another bio area? I entertained that idea a couple times in life, and after all this premed academic mess is over I may go that route, via a master's, if I don't make it to med school or whatever. Once I finish this I'll have around 250 undergrad hours, lol. It's about time I put them to use somehow. Once I get through all this I'm going to apply to a couple MD schools a few DO schools (just surrounding states and here) and the state pharmacy school here. I think the latter would be alright, but I'm not stoked about it enough to apply anywhere else. I've always enjoyed reading about physiology, although I didn't always know that word, diseases, and drugs. I can envision myself being a physician better than anything else, I've ever thought about or done. I've also spent a long time wanting to be one so now that I think I have the skills I'm pursuing that. Apply for my job when it opens up next month if you like Arkansas, lol. I'm going back to school.
 
I planned on going to graduate school and getting a PhD in either field if becoming an MD doesn't work out.

I guess I should say I'm a little intimidated by all fluff doctors have to put up with to do their job. I wanted to get into the medical field to put my abilities/passion to a use in doing something that I like. The idea of having to wade through bureaucratic nonsense and waste my time for increasing less compensation, all while under debt, is starting to sour my opinion. Sod the Porsche and the manse, but I'd like to at least get what I put in.

P.S. I wanted to be a H.S. teacher, but getting a doctorate and then teaching at that level is absurd.
 
I learned things teaching that I applied to law enforcement, and if I went back into teaching (a cold day that would be!) I'd be a much better classroom manager now after having been an officer.

New York is a hard area. I've spoken with officers from that area, and they've told me about it. I'm also shocked by how low the starting NYPD salary is. Heck, I made more than that in a city of 25,000, lol.

Have you thought about going for a master's in something maybe and undergoing ROTC throughout the process? I'm told that once you're at 04 a master's is a pretty good thing to have for further promotion, plus you might get a little tuition money from Uncle Sugar while you're in ROTC.

When I was younger I wanted to be an army officer and fly Apaches particularly the AH-64D. I've mentioned that before on SDN. Hell, I'd still do it if I could, but I'm red-green color blind so I can't, and with that I never even bothered contemplating another officer role. I later found out I couldn't go into federal LE for the same reason, lol, after I had gone back for a second degree in accounting to try and facilitate that process. I gave that up quick.

How do you feel about wildlife biology or something like that - maybe another bio area? I entertained that idea a couple times in life, and after all this premed academic mess is over I may go that route, via a master's, if I don't make it to med school or whatever. Once I finish this I'll have around 250 undergrad hours, lol. It's about time I put them to use somehow. Once I get through all this I'm going to apply to a couple MD schools a few DO schools (just surrounding states and here) and the state pharmacy school here. I think the latter would be alright, but I'm not stoked about it enough to apply anywhere else. I've always enjoyed reading about physiology, although I didn't always know that word, diseases, and drugs. I can envision myself being a physician better than anything else, I've ever thought about or done. I've also spent a long time wanting to be one so now that I think I have the skills I'm pursuing that. Apply for my job when it opens up next month if you like Arkansas, lol. I'm going back to school.

NYC has the most jobs in any area including teaching and cops. There is a waitlist now but someone who is willing to wait will of course get it. But it is not an option for someone looking for a temporary job while considering various careers. It is true their salaries arent comparable to the rich suburbia-i.e. suffolk or westchester, which is why it is overall much easier to get(but still a 1yr wait). But they do get 90k after 5yrs in contrast to arkansas. I bet when that job in arkansas opens up there will be a lot of applicants for it... I am enrolled in a masters program right now. Wildlife or marine biology is not better than any other type of biology. You would be a biologist. And it would be very hard to get those jobs unless you have a ph.d. from a top university... I bet even if I wanted to be a truck driver right now, I'd have a hard time getting training/job. Would have to invest to get it.
 
NYC has the most jobs in any area including teaching and cops. There is a waitlist now but someone who is willing to wait will of course get it. But it is not an option for someone looking for a temporary job while considering various careers. It is true their salaries arent comparable to the rich suburbia-i.e. suffolk or westchester, which is why it is overall much easier to get(but still a 1yr wait). But they do get 90k after 5yrs in contrast to arkansas. I bet when that job in arkansas opens up there will be a lot of applicants for it... I am enrolled in a masters program right now. Wildlife or marine biology is not better than any other type of biology. You would be a biologist. And it would be very hard to get those jobs unless you have a ph.d. from a top university... I bet even if I wanted to be a truck driver right now, I'd have a hard time getting training/job. Would have to invest to get it.

Arkansas doesn't really do "top universities." Since only about 18% of the population goes to college just having a degree is enough. If I did the the wildlife bio, which I didn't say was better than anything else, I'd try to come back to the state with AGFC.

They may get 90k after five years, but most officers don't make it past three before burnout hits. Something to think about.
 
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