Questions about Medical School

[EMK295]

Hello, I've been in teacher education for a few years now. I began considering psychiatry instead early one and couldn't decide, so I decided to take the "I'm already in the teacher program" approach to decision making. But now I'm at the point where I can't push off the decision if I do decide to switch. I have just enough semesters left to take the pre-req classes and prepare for mcat by graduation with a bachelors. Of course, once I start med school, it's all or nothing (loans help you start school, and it helps you finish school).

So I wanted to ask some questions to sort of help me make that final decision, since I've already heard a lot from the teachers' side.

1: Is the first year residency and med school the same for everyone? I'm looking at psychiatry. If it is different, how so?
2: Assuming a bit of financial health, are med school loans as painful as people say? Based off my math, a doctor should still have 100-200k a year left over after loan payments. Am I missing something?
3: I've seen things saying most doctors don't recommend even joining medicine, what should I make of that?
4: Is there a reason I may want to choose psychology instead?
5: Is there anything I need to consider before switching from education to psychiatry?

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[M&L]

Hello, I've been in teacher education for a few years now. I began considering psychiatry instead early one and couldn't decide, so I decided to take the "I'm already in the teacher program" approach to decision making. But now I'm at the point where I can't push off the decision if I do decide to switch. I have just enough semesters left to take the pre-req classes and prepare for mcat by graduation with a bachelors. Of course, once I start med school, it's all or nothing (loans help you start school, and it helps you finish school).

So I wanted to ask some questions to sort of help me make that final decision, since I've already heard a lot from the teachers' side.

1: Is PGY1 residency and med school the same for everyone? I'm looking at psychiatry. If it is different, how so?
2: Assuming a bit of financial health, are med school loans as painful as people say? Based off my math, a doctor should still have 100-200k a year left over after loan payments. Am I missing something?
3: I've seen things saying most doctors don't recommend even joining medicine, what should I make of that?
4: Is there a reason I may want to choose psychology instead?
5: Is there anything I need to consider before switching from education to psychiatry?

Sorry , I don’t really understand question 1, could you explain please?

 

[EMK295]

Sorry , I don’t really understand question 1, could you explain please?

Do all medical school students (at the same school) have the exact same curriculum, and do that all have the same first year in residency, or is it different based off specialty? I know psychiatry is different in the second year on, but is the first year the same as every other specialty?

 

[EMK295]

sorry, I

Sorry , I don’t really understand question 1, could you explain please?

Sorry, I wrote pgy1 instead of first year of residency.

 

[Nontraddddds]

Do all medical school students (at the same school) have the exact same curriculum, and do that all have the same first year in residency, or is it different based off specialty? I know psychiatry is different in the second year on, but is the first year the same as every other specialty?

Yes, all medical students at a particular school have the same curriculum. I believe residency experience will be different depending on specialty, even at PGY1 level.

 

[M&L]

Yes, all medical students at a particular school have the same curriculum. I believe residency experience will be different depending on specialty, even at PGY1 level.

Well also - ppl have M3 rotations in different order . So sort of yes and no .

 

[lumya]

1: Is the first year residency and med school the same for everyone? I'm looking at psychiatry. If it is different, how so?
All med school curriculum is the same regardless of what specialty you go into. Your third/fourth year may vary from your classmates depending on which electives you take. For residency, it depends on your specialty. Some specialties require an intern year, in which case many intern years may be similar even though you're in different specialties, but some do not (i.e. family med or emergency med). It probably just depends on the individual program and how they lump things together.

2: Assuming a bit of financial health, are med school loans as painful as people say? Based off my math, a doctor should still have 100-200k a year left over after loan payments. Am I missing something?
Med school loans are pretty freaking painful. You'll probably end up taking out anywhere between $100-400k and the whole time, it's accumulating interest. A lot of people say if you keep on living like a resident you can get it paid off a couple years after you become an attending. I think physicians who struggle typically have undergraduate loans or get locked into those golden handcuffs associated with a high salary. It's definitely a lot of money and you need to adequately plan for it, especially if you're an older student and have fewer years between working and retirement than some younger counterparts.

3: I've seen things saying most doctors don't recommend even joining medicine, what should I make of that?
The grass is always greener on the other side. There's definitely issues with medicine and a lot of it involve policymakers and insurance companies. Mid-level encroachment is a real issue. Residents being burned out and underpaid is an issue. Health policy might change payment and funding and who knows what the heck is happening with our insurance system. But I personally think that each field has its own downfalls so if you're passionate about medicine, I wouldn't let these issues scare you away.

4: Is there a reason I may want to choose psychology instead?
It depends on what you want to do/length of time you want to commit. A psychiatrist is 4 years MD/4 years residency/fellowship if you want. A psychologist is typically a 4-6 year PhD program. Depending on the state, you may or may not be able to prescribe medications as a psychologist. A lot of psychologist also work in academic and teach as opposed to clinical care. There are specifically clinical psychology programs but I believe they are pretty competitive. There are also nurse practitioner and physician assistant programs that are within the field of mental health to consider.

5: Is there anything I need to consider before switching from education to psychiatry?
What is your motivation to go into medicine? It's definitely a big commitment. You'll need to do really well on your science pre-requisite courses, do well on the MCAT, and get ample shadowing, clinical, and non-clinical volunteering in. It's definitely a bit time and money drain so I guess just make sure you really want to pursue it.

 

[deleted1079620]

Hello, I've been in teacher education for a few years now. I began considering psychiatry instead early one and couldn't decide, so I decided to take the "I'm already in the teacher program" approach to decision making. But now I'm at the point where I can't push off the decision if I do decide to switch. I have just enough semesters left to take the pre-req classes and prepare for mcat by graduation with a bachelors. Of course, once I start med school, it's all or nothing (loans help you start school, and it helps you finish school).

So I wanted to ask some questions to sort of help me make that final decision, since I've already heard a lot from the teachers' side.

1: Is the first year residency and med school the same for everyone? I'm looking at psychiatry. If it is different, how so?
2: Assuming a bit of financial health, are med school loans as painful as people say? Based off my math, a doctor should still have 100-200k a year left over after loan payments. Am I missing something?
3: I've seen things saying most doctors don't recommend even joining medicine, what should I make of that?
4: Is there a reason I may want to choose psychology instead?
5: Is there anything I need to consider before switching from education to psychiatry?

1. Most US medical schools follow a 2 year preclinical and 2 year clinical program for their education. Some schools have an accelerated program that is only 3 years total, but the vast majority of schools are 4 years. The first two years are fairly standard and follow the formula of 1st year basic sciences and normal physiology, and 2nd year abnormal physiology (pathology) plus clinical presentation, treatment, etc. Some schools do a block style schedule where they go through the organs systems and teach the anatomy, micro, immuno, pharm, physiology, etc. of each system; and some schools teach the subject matter concurrently (ex: anatomy, micro, immuno one semester, and path, pharm, physio the next). Some schools have lectures, some have cased-based learning where you learn at home and then attend a session where you talk through cases at school. The same curriculum can be delivered many different ways.

During the clinical years there are core rotations you must go through as a 3rd year that everyone has to do (IM, FM, Ob/Gyn, Surgery, etc), and then some elective rotations. 4th year is mostly electives and interview rotations as you prepare for the match. Residency is tailored by specialty, so if you want to do Psych you would start seeing Psych patients your 1st year of residency.

2. Most doctors make a salary that allows them to repay their loans without difficulty, provided they are wise with their money after residency.

3. I think there are people who say that in every field. Only you can decide if medicine is right for you.

4. I'll let others comment on this, because my knowledge of the differences between psychology & psychiatry is that one can prescribe meds and one cannot. I'm sure there are MANY more differences but I'm not educated on them.

5. It's a long road. You didn't mention your age, a spouse, or a family in your OP, so I'll assume you're young, unmarried and have no children. In that case it's just whether or not you decide the extra years of study are worth it to you.

 

[LizzyM]

Let's start at the beginning...
Medical school in the US is typically 4 years. Confusingly, this is sometimes referred to as undergradaute medical education.
After medical school graduation, one begins residency. The first year of residency is called PGY-1 , post-graduate year 1. It used to be called internship and that name persists in some circles.

What is covered in the first year of residency varies based on the specialty.

What might you want to consider? That it is difficult to get into medical school. Spend a few bucks and buy online access to MSAR (Medical School Admisson Requirements) complied by AAMC. If you don't have the pre-reqs, you'll find out which ones you need. If you've taken the pre-reqs, you'll see where your GPA needs to be to be a viable candidate. After you have the pre-reqs, you'll need to take the MCAT which is a 7 hour exam. Most successful applicants I talk with tell me that they spent anywhere from 100 to 320 hours preparing for that exam. A practice test takes 7 hours and many people take 6 or 7 of them, and spend an equal amount of time going over the results. Combined with content review, and you see that the time commitment is a serious one.

At the very least, you'll need to have shadowed a few physicians, ideally including a primary care doc, so you have an idea of what a career in medicine is all about. Given that you are a career changer, schools may want to be sure that you're making an informed choice and not jumping from one career to another without adequate consideration. Edit: thought you were a teacher educator who was changing careers. Now I see that you are a college student.

There is more but at this point, let's not get bogged down. Line up some shadowing and buy the MSAR before you go any further. That may be all you need to decide that clinical psychology is more to your liking than psychiatry. Also consider what the routine is like in those two professions. I know someone who did clinical psych only to find that sitting one on one with a person for 50 minutes, rinse and repeat hour after hour, day after day, was not a good fit. That person is now in software sales in the HR industry. Lots of transferrable people skills.

 

[Goro]

Hello, I've been in teacher education for a few years now. I began considering psychiatry instead early one and couldn't decide, so I decided to take the "I'm already in the teacher program" approach to decision making. But now I'm at the point where I can't push off the decision if I do decide to switch. I have just enough semesters left to take the pre-req classes and prepare for mcat by graduation with a bachelors. Of course, once I start med school, it's all or nothing (loans help you start school, and it helps you finish school).

So I wanted to ask some questions to sort of help me make that final decision, since I've already heard a lot from the teachers' side.

1: Is the first year residency and med school the same for everyone? I'm looking at psychiatry. If it is different, how so?
2: Assuming a bit of financial health, are med school loans as painful as people say? Based off my math, a doctor should still have 100-200k a year left over after loan payments. Am I missing something?
3: I've seen things saying most doctors don't recommend even joining medicine, what should I make of that?
4: Is there a reason I may want to choose psychology instead?
5: Is there anything I need to consider before switching from education to psychiatry?

Read this:
Med School Rx: Getting In, Getting Through, and Getting On with Doctoring Original Edition by Walter Hartwig
ISBN-13: 978-1607140627

ISBN-10: 1607140624

 

[EMK295]

Read this:
Med School Rx: Getting In, Getting Through, and Getting On with Doctoring Original Edition by Walter Hartwig
ISBN-13: 978-1607140627

ISBN-10: 1607140624

Is there an online version? I'll buy it physical if not

 

[Goro]

Is there an online version? I'll buy it physical if not

Don't know. Check Amazon