Transfer to another type of program

[gatsbyjo]

Have you ever heard of an MS1 being able to transfer after a semester or a year to another program... like dental, PT, DO??

Would it be possible?

In other words, will this semester count if i stop

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[DrMom]

Unlikely as most schools' curriculums don't match up exactly. Both dental and osteopathic programs are very similar to allo for the first year, but they also have additional coursework.

 

[PeterGriffin]

I've been thinking about leaving med school and have been pondering similar questions. So far I haven't found anything out for sure but all I've really looked into is dental school. And as far as what I've looked into, it seems that none of this first semester will count towards anything . In fact, it seems that withdrawing from med school will make it more difficult to get in. You have to convince those adcoms that you wont quit again.

 

[gatsbyjo]

Great... so this last five weeks has been for nothing!! Oh well I would hope that at least the nursing schools around here would be understanding.

 

[PeterGriffin]

I'm not certain about this. You might be able to get some credit depending on what other professional school you want to transfer to. As far as what I've looked at around here for dental school, very little or nothing will transfer.

 

[InductionAgent]

For Gatsby:

If you're not satidfied with an MD program, I wouldn't suggest going DO. If you're truly unhappy with medicine and the basic sciences, your dissatisfaction is not likely to be quelled simply by adding OMT into the mix.

Why is it that you want to transfer?

For Peter:

Have you been interested in dentistry for a long time and if so, why did you choose medicine over dentistry? Put another way- if you're unhappy with the prospect of being a doctor, is transferring into the profession with the highest suicide rate a good idea?

 

[DrMom]

Gosh, that stupid suicide thing just won't die. *pun intended*

Really, though, that has been shown to not be the case.

 

[PeterGriffin]

For Peter:

Have you been interested in dentistry for a long time and if so, why did you choose medicine over dentistry? Put another way- if you're unhappy with the prospect of being a doctor, is transferring into the profession with the highest suicide rate a good idea?

Yeah, I have been interested in dentistry for quite some time. I just had my eyes set on med school pretty much all my life and developed tunnel vision. I was so focused on the goal that I didn't realize that maybe I look more into dentistry.

And I don't buy into that suicide rate bs.

 

[gatsbyjo]

Basically, I don't mind the MD program I just can't stand the curriculum at my school. I go to a huge state school and sit in a lecture hall with the same 200 people for seven hours a day.

Then we are give tests that only require regurgitation. Except for about 15 percent of the questions which are obscure scraps of knowledge from the captions of books "reccommended" by course directors. I can only imagine that this is to drive the mean score down.

Basically, Im very capable and hard working, but I don't see any sense in paying this much money to be told how unsuccesful I am and what a "bad" or non-competitive specialty I'd have to go into.

So, its not that I want out of Medicine, i just want out of my school. Unfortunately, there aren't really any options for transferring.

I just can't believe Im spending this much time doing only memorization... I guess I was naive enough to believe that there was some level of understanding involved. Nope! Fortunately I have a photographic memory so this is not that hard, I just hate it. I feel like my brain is rotting. Plus, I get so worried that Im going to lose my individuality by the time I make it out of here.

In retrospect, i should have tried harder to get into a school with PBL. We have NONE!

 

[HiddenTruth]

Basically, I don't mind the MD program I just can't stand the curriculum at my school. I go to a huge state school and sit in a lecture hall with the same 200 people for seven hours a day.

Then we are give tests that only require regurgitation. Except for about 15 percent of the questions which are obscure scraps of knowledge from the captions of books "reccommended" by course directors. I can only imagine that this is to drive the mean score down.

Basically, Im very capable and hard working, but I don't see any sense in paying this much money to be told how unsuccesful I am and what a "bad" or non-competitive specialty I'd have to go into.

So, its not that I want out of Medicine, i just want out of my school. Unfortunately, there aren't really any options for transferring.

I just can't believe Im spending this much time doing only memorization... I guess I was naive enough to believe that there was some level of understanding involved. Nope! Fortunately I have a photographic memory so this is not that hard, I just hate it. I feel like my brain is rotting. Plus, I get so worried that Im going to lose my individuality by the time I make it out of here.

In retrospect, i should have tried harder to get into a school with PBL. We have NONE!

damn dude, your school sounds like mine--and i have the same issues--although i've learned to accept it and realize that tearin up boards is the only way out--

lotta people don;t even go to class, cuz they realize that they gotta hammer down the material in any way possible. I would love to go to class if they TAUGHT something. I pretty much pay 30g's a year to self teach myself...basically like a vocational school--"buy an MD, only 180k plus interest" (im in a combined degree program, oh wait--tuition increases every yr, so like over 200k+--SHEESH!!)

 

[gatsbyjo]

yeah I almost did a combined degree program, thank goodness I didnt it would have been an awful fit.

i wouldnt mind school so much if I felt like the school was interested in producing great physicians. however, because of "the system" they are only interested in teaching the boards. since THOSE are great indicators of being a good doctor.

Whatever, at least I rock at standardized tests. Too bad i have to sit through all this crap on the way. At least we aren't flipping burgers! (Since that was really everyone's "plan B". Right)

Well Im off to take a 3.5 hour tests for anatomy. Terrific! Hope regurgitation goes well...

 

[GoodMonkey]

lotta people don;t even go to class, cuz they realize that they gotta hammer down the material in any way possible. I would love to go to class if they TAUGHT something. I pretty much pay 30g's a year to self teach myself...basically like a vocational school--"buy an MD, only 180k plus interest" (im in a combined degree program, oh wait--tuition increases every yr, so like over 200k+--SHEESH!!)

i'm currently going into the financial hole to self teach, as well. but at least i'm not as stressed and feel more on top of things than i did last year, when i went to about 80% of classes. now i go to required classes and to those taught by lecturers i like. i wish i would have listened to people who told me to do this last year - it all comes down to learning style, figuring out what works for you, and doing just that. we have the benefit of having our classes all videotaped and then streamed online. i watch my lectures at 1.5x (2XAV/enounce) after having gone through the material once on my own - that way i don't have to take notes or worry about what it was they just said, and i have an understanding (slightly) of what's going on to begin with, so i can sit back and listen, only writing down things that seem really important, or highlighting key facts.

seriously, though, you may find yourself liking it better, or being less stressed out, if you *didn't* sit in lecture for 7+hours a day with 200 or so people. i find i'm more efficient and have more free time when i do things this way.

just a thought. good luck w/your decisions.

 

[Wednesday]

Basically, I don't mind the MD program I just can't stand the curriculum at my school. I go to a huge state school and sit in a lecture hall with the same 200 people for seven hours a day.

Then we are give tests that only require regurgitation. Except for about 15 percent of the questions which are obscure scraps of knowledge from the captions of books "reccommended" by course directors. I can only imagine that this is to drive the mean score down.

Basically, Im very capable and hard working, but I don't see any sense in paying this much money to be told how unsuccesful I am and what a "bad" or non-competitive specialty I'd have to go into.

So, its not that I want out of Medicine, i just want out of my school. Unfortunately, there aren't really any options for transferring.

I just can't believe Im spending this much time doing only memorization... I guess I was naive enough to believe that there was some level of understanding involved. Nope! Fortunately I have a photographic memory so this is not that hard, I just hate it. I feel like my brain is rotting. Plus, I get so worried that Im going to lose my individuality by the time I make it out of here.

In retrospect, i should have tried harder to get into a school with PBL. We have NONE!

You know, this is only temporary. It's a long temporary, but it won't last forever. Seems a little silly to change CAREERS because you don't like the way your med school teaches the first 2 years.

 

[gatsbyjo]

Ok. well obviously from the verb TRANSFER (as opposed to QUIT) I am NOT changing careers. My school is just not a good fit. However there are no other med schools in the state. Making it difficult to just pop into another program. Hence the move laterally to another program type, still in a health field.

Plus, I cant stand the psycho competitive want-you-to-fail nutcases i sit in lecture with.

 

[Wednesday]

Ok. well obviously from the verb TRANSFER (as opposed to QUIT) I am NOT changing careers. My school is just not a good fit. However there are no other med schools in the state. Making it difficult to just pop into another program. Hence the move laterally to another program type, still in a health field.

Plus, I cant stand the psycho competitive want-you-to-fail nutcases i sit in lecture with.

Transfering to a PT or dentistry school IS changing careers. Those are both pretty different than med school because when you get out you will be a PT or a dentist not a physician. DO school is a different story, that would be a lateral transfer.

As for the nutcases in your class, they might improve with age. Or they might not. Skipping lecture like others mentioned might be a good idea for you. I still maintain that this is a temporary unhappiness (unless you deep down don't actually want to be a physician in which I would recommend checking out the "I don't want to be a doctor" thread) which you can live through like the thousands who have already done it. I am sorry that you don't like the curriculium at your school. Just know that the majority of med students are going through a simular experience. From reading this site and from experiencing it myself, it seems that med school in general, (and the first two years in particular), isn't much fun for most people. Just a necessary evil to hurdle in order to get to the good stuff. Good luck to you.