SMPs. Huge risk. What will you do if things don't work out?etc

[cephalexinRX]

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Hi all,

First I would like to congratulate all of you who decided to enter SMPs or SMP like programs in your attempts to enter medical school. It's a huge financial risk and you had to courage to take it.

Second, I'd like to state that I am not a pre-medical student. I've been working as Pathologist Assistant per deim Cytotechnologist for some time but am considering a career change to pharmacy (PharmD) with special interest in hospital/clinical pharmacy.

Some of you have or will have to give up any current jobs you have. After finishing such programs you may have difficultly finding employment and will be (unless you have family paying) in debt 30K+.

Im interested in learning of some of your desire to work towards and MD or DO by doing programs that might get you into medical school (high linkage programs, unofficial linkages, etc).
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Have you considered other careers? I only ask this because I have met a few people that absolutely will not consider other fields. One actually told me "life is not worth living if I cannot be a doctor". How common is this mentality?

Are there indeed some pre-medical students that "hopelessly" hang on to their unreachable dreams of medical school? I imagine it can be very unhealthy to not be open to other options.

Again, I do not mean to discourage you from attemping medical school admission at all.

Thanks.

 

[ModernAlchemist]

I think that guy went a little far with the way he phrased it but I see where he's coming from. I have found that kind of happiness in no other place like I experience when working at medical clinics, shadowing, or volunteering in a clinical setting.

To answer your question honestly: I'll apply again and again.

 

[cephalexinRX]

I think that guy went a little far with the way he phrased it but I see where he's coming from. I have found that kind of happiness in no other place like I experience when working at medical clinics, shadowing, or volunteering in a clinical setting.

To answer your question honestly: I'll apply again and again.

Congrats and kudos to your tenacity. If I were to ever consider medicine, it would only be Pathology (diagnosing at the microscope, frozen sections, etc). Of course, this is only based on my work experience. I also am not a fan of patient contact.

 

[drizzt3117]

I don't agree with the whole "you should only do medicine if you can't see yourself doing anything else" mentality, nor the mentality that puts medicine on a pedestal. It's a job, albeit a well-compensated one where you can save people's lives, but in the end, you get out of bed in the morning, go to work, and go home and go about your life just like anyone doing a job.

That being said, I think if you don't like seeing patients, medicine is probably not the right career for you.

 

[indebted]

I think that in today's economy, it is easier for people to hold on desperately to their dreams of becoming a doctor, or at least working in medicine. I mostly attribute that to the fact that most other careers are gone and will never come back to America, but medicine will always be there. If young people who want to become doctors don't succeed, than their potential paths in other careers are pretty dismal right now.

But, to answer your question: have I thought of other career paths? Yes, because I thought med school was unattainable, but this is the field I want to go into and seems worth the risk. Other jobs I have held always left me unsatisfied by the lack of people contact and the lack of intellectual challenge.

And to be completely honest, the decision to take the risk is easy because I am already in school debt that I can't pay from undergrad, and I can't get a job to save my life. I don't really see much difference if I'm in more school debt that I won't be able to pay.

 

[cephalexinRX]

Thanks. These responses are interesting.
I'm 26 and have been considering medical school. My current profession leads me to consider pathology but I am open to other things.

I wish you the best. Hopefully, for SMP/SMP like program gradautes that don't make it into medical school, they can find something else.

I think that in today's economy, it is easier for people to hold on desperately to their dreams of becoming a doctor, or at least working in medicine. I mostly attribute that to the fact that most other careers are gone and will never come back to America, but medicine will always be there. If young people who want to become doctors don't succeed, than their potential paths in other careers are pretty dismal right now.

But, to answer your question: have I thought of other career paths? Yes, because I thought med school was unattainable, but this is the field I want to go into and seems worth the risk. Other jobs I have held always left me unsatisfied by the lack of people contact and the lack of intellectual challenge.

And to be completely honest, the decision to take the risk is easy because I am already in school debt that I can't pay from undergrad, and I can't get a job to save my life. I don't really see much difference if I'm in more school debt that I won't be able to pay.