Here's a simple answer: Forget medical school, and forget the medical field entirely.
It's such a stupid idea to even attempt it unless you have the money to pay for it out of pocket. Med schools will LOVE you and accept you without question if you have the cash up front. Why do you think they ask for your social security number and parent information on the applications? Secondly, if you don't have the money, who on earth wants to go through 8+ years of additional education on top of hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt? Certainly not me.
I have a bachelor's degree in Pathologist's Assistant. I graduated in 2006, and I've gone through about 5 jobs in the field since then. Besides the fact that I got screwed out of national ASCP certification since my program was not NAACLS-accredited, thereby hindering me from obtaining any PA job I want in the country, the field itself (as well as the entire medical field) is indeed a business....a greedy business solely focused on $$$ and never on the patient.
As a Pathologist's Assistant, I encountered the problem of productivity time and time again, to the point where they treat you like you're on an assembly line. I have also encountered multiple power struggles with managers and supervisors. None of my 5 jobs as a PA have lasted more than a year each. I even got accepted into a PA Master's degree last year, just to get ASCP certified. That backfired in my face because I was seen as a threat since I knew too much. The administration bad-mouthed me behind my back, and the Dean even suggested that I withdraw from the program. I even have copies of the e-mails they were mailing to each other about me as well as audio recordings documenting this! They made it clear that the program was for people who weren't exposed to the field, which is utter bull****. Rather than see me as a resource of valuable information and experience for my fellow classmates, they all just ganged up on me.
I ultimately withdrew from the program last October. Fortunately at the time, I applied to a PA position back home, and I got it. That gave me the go-ahead to withdraw from the PA program. However, just a few days ago, I lost that job due to poor management decisions. Long story short, I was hired as a "floating" PA, traveling to many community hospitals to cover other PA's vacations. I trained for 2 months at one hospital, was deemed competent, then I was sent to another hospital. Now, the second hospital was vastly different from the one I first trained at....double the specimen volume with way more complex cancer cases. I only got two weeks of training with the PA there, then he took a month off, leaving me alone to process everything. I was so overwhelmed and there was nobody to help me, so I just dropped everything and left. Rather than completely mess up the specimens, I decided to just stop what I was doing and leave so that I wouldn't compromise patient care.
Two weeks was clearly not enough time for me to work independently at the new location. What the manager should have done was train me for a few months at THAT hospital (the busiest in the system, by the way) before sending me to the others. Best part about this was that the initial job ad itself as well as the offer letter I signed said NOTHING about me floating to different hospitals. It just listed ONE hospital...the one I passed my training at. The "floating" component was just told to me via word of mouth only. You can see the complete and utter disaster that upper management can have on an employee...which has occurred with me time and time again, and I just can't take it anymore. The whole reason that I was hired (in my opinion) was to cover these people so that they can sunbathe on a ****ing island. I probably would have been fired or laid off once they were all done taking their vacations. Used and abused...much like the entire medical field in general.
As such, I have a feeling this was the last straw and the ultimate death of the medical field as a career path for me. It's such a shame because I have all the brains in the world for it. The world has officially lost one of the best candidates to heal the sick. It's extremely depressing, and society itself is to fully blame for this.
My only alternative option here is to go into teaching high school biology. Luckily, I can qualify for a certificate in certain states with my bachelor's degree alone. I will absolutely not teach in any states that require a Master's degree because I swore off higher education for good. I will never attempt an advanced degree again unless it's either free or fully paid for by an employer.
Teaching biology would soothe my soul. Not only am I in complete control in the classroom (except for reporting to the principal and administration, but that's outside my 4 walls), I will get to instill in my students how to deal with life itself. Biology is the study of life and living things....and life I will teach them, that's for sure! I really have hit a life or death situation, and becoming a teacher is the best route I can take. It would give me the proper amount of control that I need, and I get to divulge my personal philosophies to my students while providing them with an exceptional education.
Here's to the death of medicine!
. I was hoping to not take out loans until my 4 year school however I'm clearly going to need to stop working if I'm serious about Med School (which I AM). Thanks again!
