Prep for Med School/Future ENT?

[Heatwave]

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I will be going into my second year of my undergrad this fall, as a Communication Sciences and Disorders (Speech Pathology) major on the med school route and I was wondering what I could be doing now that might help me not only get in but learn more about the Oto field.

I shadowed an ENT around where I live and I absolutely fell in love and decided that Oto is what I want to do. Is it still too early to be doing anything too substantial or are there more things that I should be doing?

Also, as a side note, do you think having the major that I have now will significantly hurt my chances in getting into a school? I want to keep the major as a back-up plan in case med school doesn't really work out.

Thanks for the help!

 

[MrBigglesworth]

delete

 

[neutropeniaboy]

There's no reason to change your major.

Take the prerequisites and get As in them.

Only change your major if you think your career won't be viable in the event you don't get into medical school and need to get a job.

 

[resxn]

There's no reason to change your major.

Take the prerequisites and get As in them.

Only change your major if you think your career won't be viable in the event you don't get into medical school and need to get a job.

Agree. Don't change your major. Do you know how many applications look the exact freaking same? If the committee is thumbing through 1000 biology major apps and then they come across a history major who has straight A's in their pre-reqs, all of sudden that's a stand out if not entirely intriguing. It's good to be intriguing when you are trying to set yourself apart.

If you're smart enough to get into med school, you are smart enough not to need to build some great science foundation prior to getting in. You'll learn what you need to learn when you're there.

Also, don't worry about learning oto now. If you're interested in research, that's one thing you can try and jump into now that will help later, but just enjoy college, work hard, you'll be fine.

 

[neutropeniaboy]

Also, don't worry about learning oto now. If you're interested in research, that's one thing you can try and jump into now that will help later, but just enjoy college, work hard, you'll be fine.

Plus, if you focus solely on Oto, which isn't bad per se, you might overlook something else that you would have liked more-- that would be bad.

 

[Heatwave]

Thanks for all the info guys! Much appreciated! Just as a side question out of curiosity: Are there any fellowships ( I know this is WAY down the line for me) that you guys went through or wished you went through and any that are competitive or will be in about 15ish years (if you can guess)? I was thinking pediatric or laryngology?

 

[AngkorWuT]

Just FYI. I know at least 4-6 CSD majors who are now Oto residents.

 

[AngkorWuT]

And at my alma mater, nearly 80% of all CSD majors go on to med school, regardless of whether or not they do Oto.

 

[WDeagle]

My advice is to have fun in undergrad and enjoy life without messing up your gpa. Major in whatever you want to major in. Don't go to med school with a set specialty in mind. Most people end up changing their minds. Keep in mind that ENT is a surgical specialty. You'll realize this one day but surgery just isn't some people (most people actually).

 

[plauto]

My advice is to have fun in undergrad and enjoy life without messing up your gpa. Major in whatever you want to major in. Don't go to med school with a set specialty in mind. Most people end up changing their minds. Keep in mind that ENT is a surgical specialty. You'll realize this one day but surgery just isn't some people (most people actually).

x2. Yep, keep your mind open. Neurology might be just as attractive to you for instance. ENT is very surgical. as already mentioned above, keep your GPA up. Do not change major, study what you enjoy. Go the MD route. ENT is much harder for DOs.

 

[neutropeniaboy]

If you haven't spent at least half of your time in college doing this:

,

then don't bother applying to medical school. Because in order to get through medical school and keep your sanity, you need to spend at least 75% of that time doing this: