What are your top 3 reasons for med school?What are your top 3 worries/concerns?

[circulus vitios]

1. It's interesting.
2. To do something useful with my life.
3. Money.

1. I won't get in.
2. I'll hate it or lose my motivation once I get in.
3. The money will disappear.

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

1. It's interesting.
2. It's a good solid profession.
3. I want to learn about the mind and improve the lives of people with Alzheimer or other illness.

1. Ending up not liking this
2. Residency overwhelming me
3. being monetarily screwed.

 

[drizzt3117]

I'd also like to point out that medicine has a HUGE weeding out process, arguable more than any other field. The amounts of people who are pre-meds their freshman year are astonishing. This number goes down for various reasons...

So saying that half the people get in doesn't paint an accurate picture of how hard it is to get in.

Are you kidding me? Take a look at the attrition rates at investment banks. Medicine is definitely not up or out, while in investment banking or to a certain degree consulting, if you're not "material for promotion" you'll be quickly forced out for the next person in from the "fresh meat" of the next recruiting class.

 

[mspeedwagon]

I think you missed my point. I was not talking about salary; I was talking about being admitted. A point made earlier was that the average M.B.A. or J.D. student was NOT as smart as the average medical student because apparently any one can get into an M.B.A. or J.D. program, but most people don't get into medical school.

I was merely arguing that this is not the case. Since like J.D. programs, medical school have different tiers of schools (with different stats) so you can't state that the average medical student is definitely smarter than the average J.D. or M.B.A. as someone earlier asserted.

Read my earlier post and you'll learn money is NOT at all a motivation for me to pursue medicine. I have no comment to the financial aspect beyond every one should pursue what they love, and the money will follow.

Cite plz.
I'm going to openly say that a person going to a DO school is going to still get paid more then half the tier 1 class.
Where as the otherway around a tier 3 person has very little chance of getting big.

 

[oaklandguy]

1. cause i don't want to be a failure in my parents eyes
2. i really like wearing white lab coats and showing them off in front of people (patients)
3. i wanna have the opportunity to play with nurses

1. my parents die before i finish the long and tedious educational training to become a doctor
2. obama steals all my monies with taxes and the destruction of the field i love
3. having residency at a hospital with older and married nurses

 

[DrArete]

.

 

[JustAGuy]

1. Respect
2. Power
3. Paper

 

[DrArete]

.

 

[Abby_Normal]

Top 3 Reasons (in any order):
1) I like analytical thinking and problem solving, particularly when they are applied to something concrete.
2) I'm not exactly sure how to put this one, but I find it very appealing:I like the relationship between medicine and the 'real world.' In a lot of intellectual fields, I think a lot of what you are doing can become completely abstracted from it and, as I mention in my first point, I like concrete things. Also, I like the idea of being able to play a beneficial role in the community.
3) job security (chances are, if you have an MD, you will be able to work as a doctor) and diversity of options and opportunities within the field

Top 3 Concerns (in any order):
1) Fear I will turn out to be a mediocre doctor when I could have been better at something else/enjoyed it more.
2) Fear that I will find medicine too narrow/restrictive (I know, in direct contradiction to #3 on my list of positives).
3) Not being able to get into a medical field I like, particularly in a place I want to live

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Wow.

I would love to know how that happened.

My guess would be that it involved someone who was a disabled Native American who had personally saved no less than 1,000 blind child lepers in the slum neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro while getting shot 4 times, and whose grandfather donated over 100 million dollars.

Or the child of the HMS medical hospital head of surgery.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I think you missed my point. I was not talking about salary; I was talking about being admitted. A point made earlier was that the average M.B.A. or J.D. student was NOT as smart as the average medical student because apparently any one can get into an M.B.A. or J.D. program, but most people don't get into medical school.

I was merely arguing that this is not the case. Since like J.D. programs, medical school have different tiers of schools (with different stats) so you can't state that the average medical student is definitely smarter than the average J.D. or M.B.A. as someone earlier asserted.

Read my earlier post and you'll learn money is NOT at all a motivation for me to pursue medicine. I have no comment to the financial aspect beyond every one should pursue what they love, and the money will follow.

Oh no I understood your point I just added that comment for the lulz. But seriously I want to see some statistics which show your right. Last I've checked top 15 GTown is like 3.5 average. Thats tier one btw, and not to mention that the LSAT is a joke. So tier 1 is about as difficult to get into as a DO school.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Let's ignore the MCAT vs LSAT for a moment because they are very different and take the one thing that the applicants have in common: GPA. I happened to take the LSAT and scored a 160 (after a decent amount of studying, which is around the 80th percentile); so I personally didn't think it was all that easy (scoring a 170 or above as required by the top 20 is near impossible for most (that would be you well into the 90th percentile), but that's beside the point).

Let's take Georgetown (which you mentioned as an example). The average GPA for the entering law school class at Georgetown was 3.67 (http://www.law.georgetown.edu/admissions/faq.html) The average medical school student entering Georgetown medical student had a GPA of 3.66 (http://alumni.georgetown.edu/default.aspx?page=NewsWhiteCoat08).

If you start working down the list of tiers as I described you'll see that the GPAs for medical, law and business schools are about the same (use google and try it if you don't believe me, below a 3.0 and you're talking Caribbean for medical school and tier 4 for law school).

Oh no I understood your point I just added that comment for the lulz. But seriously I want to see some statistics which show your right. Last I've checked top 15 GTown is like 3.5 average. Thats tier one btw, and not to mention that the LSAT is a joke. So tier 1 is about as difficult to get into as a DO school.

 

[Brigade4Radiant]

The pre-meds must take harder classes they also have to do extra-cirriculers and the MCAT is a beast. Lawschool you take whatever you want then the LSAT. There is no interview for lawschools.

Also Tier 1 law schools are equivalent to average M.D schools. Tier 2 is equivalent to D.O

 

[drizzt3117]

Georgetown med isn't as well regarded as GT law.

I'm probably one of the few people on this board that's applied to business, medical and law school (I did the last two at the same time but only applied to 3 schools, h, y, c, got in all but obviously I chose to go to med school) I think the whole med school application process involved much more hoop jumping. The law school app process was a walk in the park in comparison) I did have pretty decent numbers for law school though (~3.7/179) Pretty much if you have a little experience, can write, and smoke the LSAT, you're good to go. Med school admissions have a bit more variability.

Let's ignore the MCAT vs LSAT for a moment because they are very different and take the one thing that the applicants have in common: GPA. I happened to take the LSAT and scored a 160 (after a decent amount of studying, which is around the 80th percentile); so I personally didn't think it was all that easy (scoring a 170 or above as required by the top 20 is near impossible for most (that would be you well into the 90th percentile), but that's beside the point).

Let's take Georgetown (which you mentioned as an example). The average GPA for the entering law school class at Georgetown was 3.67 (http://www.law.georgetown.edu/admissions/faq.html) The average medical school student entering Georgetown medical student had a GPA of 3.66 (http://alumni.georgetown.edu/default.aspx?page=NewsWhiteCoat08).

If you start working down the list of tiers as I described you'll see that the GPAs for medical, law and business schools are about the same (use google and try it if you don't believe me, below a 3.0 and you're talking Caribbean for medical school and tier 4 for law school).

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Let's ignore the MCAT vs LSAT for a moment because they are very different and take the one thing that the applicants have in common: GPA. I happened to take the LSAT and scored a 160 (after a decent amount of studying, which is around the 80th percentile); so I personally didn't think it was all that easy (scoring a 170 or above as required by the top 20 is near impossible for most (that would be you well into the 90th percentile), but that's beside the point).

Let's take Georgetown (which you mentioned as an example). The average GPA for the entering law school class at Georgetown was 3.67 (http://www.law.georgetown.edu/admissions/faq.html) The average medical school student entering Georgetown medical student had a GPA of 3.66 (http://alumni.georgetown.edu/default.aspx?page=NewsWhiteCoat08).

If you start working down the list of tiers as I described you'll see that the GPAs for medical, law and business schools are about the same (use google and try it if you don't believe me, below a 3.0 and you're talking Caribbean for medical school and tier 4 for law school).

I'm sorry but it's not difficult to maintain a high AO gpa. If you want to compare gpa's compare the AO gpa of the average medical school accepted ( taken over 8 science courses + lab) to the AO of the average law school student ( likely taken 1 or 2 easy science courses).
When you compare the AO of DO schools 3.7 ( AOAMC handbook) to the all other of GTOWN law students you'll obviously see that even most DO students are higher then law students.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Most pre-meds do fairly well in the science classes (that's where most pre-meds As are; I know that's my case). If I took out my science GPA, my personal GPA would go down. I thought the science classes were easy (I'd much rather take biology than, say, political science). To each his own.

I think we can agree though that you cannot blatantly say, "the average medical school applicant is smarter than the average law or business applicant." That bold statement doesn't have much grounding.

P.S. I actually checked for G-town, AO GPA is not that different for their medical school and law school students. I can't find that stat for most schools (I'd need the MSAR which I don't have a copy of).

I'm sorry but it's not difficult to maintain a high AO gpa. If you want to compare gpa's compare the AO gpa of the average medical school accepted ( taken over 8 science courses + lab) to the AO of the average law school student ( likely taken 1 or 2 easy science courses).
When you compare the AO of DO schools 3.7 ( AOAMC handbook) to the all other of GTOWN law students you'll obviously see that even most DO students are higher then law students.

 

[Cleavername]

You do bring up a good point.

What exactly does it mean to help people?

Is it better to help a few people a lot, or many people a little?

I have done consulting work for NGOs and major multilteral organizations involved in development.

Some people have the idea that if you just give money to charity, you are helping people.

This is not always the case, due to many factors involving corruption, sustainability, etc.

The whole give a man to fish/teach him to fish thing.

IMHO, the best way to help people, particularly in a developing country, on a long term basis, would be to start a business in said country that is profitable, employ local people, and pay them fair wages.

IMHO, the best way to help people, particularly in a developing country, on a short term basis, is to specialized in surgery or tropical diseases, go to the developing world, and volunteer your time.

Oh, and if you want to see a horrendously depressing documentary, watch Darwin's Nightmare (no, it is not about the Tea Baggers).

eh i don't play well with the other kids when i was growing up . so ima pass on the helping other people thing.

 

[drizzt3117]

I think the skill sets for all 3 are drastically different. I do think med students are probably the most qualified though, but the best people in each field will all be good.

Most pre-meds do fairly well in the science classes (that's where most pre-meds As are; I know that's my case). If I took out my science GPA, my personal GPA would go down. I thought the science classes were easy (I'd much rather take biology than, say, political science). To each his own.

I think we can agree though that you cannot blatantly say, "the average medical school applicant is smarter than the average law or business applicant." That bold statement doesn't have much grounding.

P.S. I actually checked for G-town, AO GPA is not that different for average medical school and law school student. I can't find that stat for most schools (I'd need the MSAR which I don't have a copy of).

 

[mspeedwagon]

Agreed; more qualified yes, had more requirements yes, greater overall drive to succeed yes. I just disagree with the average intelligence being greater.

I think the skill sets for all 3 are drastically different. I do think med students are probably the most qualified though, but the best people in each field will all be good.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Agreed; more qualified yes, had more requirements yes, greater overall drive to succeed yes. I just disagree with the average intelligence being greater.

Well intelligence can not be quantified. Its a sheerly subjective thing/ a matter of personal opinion. I think honestly both someone who got into Harvard med v.s Harvard law both are smart. But who's the more intelligent? That's a matter of opinion.

 

[drizzt3117]

Agreed; more qualified yes, had more requirements yes, greater overall drive to succeed yes. I just disagree with the average intelligence being greater.

It'd be hard to evaluate without some sort of study, but I'd probably agree. I met some pretty smart people at Wharton.

 

[EpiIV]

1. Tissues are beautiful. In particular I love the plasticity of the human body and how we adapt to nearly any stress. I need a career where I can apply that knowledge.

2. Because of that obsession with science I actually wanted to go into academia. Since I've been here I've had a violent reaction to the attitude towards women in science. Specifically women who want to get pregnant and have a family. So maybe I would like to be a "breeder". The problem is that every child is seen as self indulgent sacrifice you take out on the university. I'm not looking to make my vagina into a baby pumping clown car, but hell, a family is important to me. I've met a lot of women who are doctors and mothers, not many scientists.

3. What ever job I take up, it becomes a personal cause, an extension of myself, and eventually my family. I become very attached to what I do. I need that to be something I believe is worth while.

In short I'm going into the health field any way you spin it. You better believe that I'm going to have an opinion on the way things are run. If I'm not educated we're going to have some problems!

1. I'm worried about showing my best light in the application process. I'm currently nitpicking over my resume and personal statement so this is right on the mind.

2. I'm worried that my time management skills will fail me and I'll forget my own fitness goals. I REALLY don't want to be the doctor you can't respect because they're not practicing what they preach.

3. I'm worried that my attitude isn't enough to bring up the negativity I keep encountering in this process. That I'll slip backwards and become the doctor that my family and friends seem to have so many crappy experiences with.

I'm not worried about the money though. Being a grad student has shown me I can make 12,000 for fall and spring and still manage to save 2500 from that for applications. You'd be surprised how far you can stretch yourself.

 

[pixiefh]

Getting a job in IB or strategy consulting is easier than getting in med school, except for one important difference being that school name and prestige are one of the most important factors in candidate selection. Some firms only recruit from top undergrads, so it might not even be possible to get a job there unless you went to one. Grades etc, are less emphasized though. As far as getting in the top firms, to be honest, almost anything in NYC for IB will get you to there. Strategy consulting is a little tougher simply because there's only a couple real strategy firms in the industry (McKinsey, BCG, Bain, maybe Booz-Allen), with a number of quasi-strategy firms like management/strategy consulting arms of D&T, PWC, etc. I think the top applicants to med school would be top candidates for IB/strategy too, though.

Good luck getting accurate salary information, especially in this day and age. Keep in mind that 60-75% of an investment banker's salary is from bonuses. With people's attitudes about Wall Street and bonuses right now, I doubt you're going to find any data on this.

If you're trying to make the argument that you can make more money in medicine as a mediocre candidate, then I can't say I've ever thought about that but I suppose it's true.

Finally somebody gets it. I was surprised and shocked that no one mentioned bonuses. Yeah sure, the average IB salary could be 80K-100K as an analyst but as you move up you HAVE to figure in bonuses because they make up the overwhelming majority in an IB's overall income.

 

[EpiIV]

eh i am seeing alot of "helping people" stuff here. i have nothing against you guys, but doesn't the patient also help you by indirectly paying you? seems to me they cancel each other out. if you actually want to help people, volunteering and community service with no thoughts of putting it on your resume or MD app are truely helping people. or donate money to your country. saying "get to help people" as a physician is prob like i work in starbucks, serving customer coffee just the way they wanted is also "helping people". except only doctors are being paid more lol.

i don't mean anything offensive in anything i have said, just food for though i guess.

It is good food for thought. There's too many people who want a job 'helping people' and never test anything beyond doctor. Hey, I wanted a job helping people since I was a little grub too, guess what I wanted to be? A psychologist, a karate instructor, a physical therapist, and a million other entertaining thoughts. You could argue that every damn job out there helps someone. I could be a fine mercenary mowing down hundreds and I'd be helping the people who hired me. It is not enough to want to 'help people'. That internal drive can be satisfied in many fields.

Unless you have a savior complex bent around the prestige of being the quarterback of a life saving team. Why not the nurse, the physical therapist, the athletic trainer? They help people and spend more time making personal connections with their patients.

I don't know. I think that posts like these are good to make us stop and think about it all, even if they are repetitive. The drive is so deep to become doctors we forget why it's even there.

 

[mipp0]

Check out this list from Forbes 2009

Seems like the average highest paying jobs are by in large physicians.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_highest_paying_jobs

I rest my case.

That list is incredibly misleading. That list fails to consider overhead, malpractice insurance, associated costs of living, lifestyle...

I wouldn't make a case based on that. If you factor all these in, I'm sure dentists and CEOs would be at the top of the food chain : )

 

[Perforin]

That list is incredibly misleading. That list fails to consider overhead, malpractice insurance, associated costs of living, lifestyle...

I wouldn't make a case based on that. If you factor all these in, I'm sure dentists and CEOs would be at the top of the food chain : )

Yeah you're right. Dentists don't have any overhead.

 

[JustAGuy]

Agreed; more qualified yes, had more requirements yes, greater overall drive to succeed yes. I just disagree with the average intelligence being greater.

Not that I think the average medical student is all that smart (I would guess the average IQ to be around 115-120), but the sheer fact that anyone and their dog can get into a JD program pretty much guarantees them a lower mean IQ.

Well intelligence can not be quantified. Its a sheerly subjective thing/ a matter of personal opinion.

This sounds like something someone who scores poorly on IQ tests would say.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Any one and their dog can get into medical school as well (there are dozens of schools in the Caribbean that will much more readily take students than a tier 4 law school).

The views I express are about the average medical student (not median admitted US allopathic medical student).

Not that I think the average medical student is all that smart (I would guess the average IQ to be around 115-120), but the sheer fact that anyone and their dog can get into a JD program pretty much guarantees them a lower mean IQ.



This sounds like something someone who scores poorly on IQ tests would say.

 

[Cleavername]

It is good food for thought. There's too many people who want a job 'helping people' and never test anything beyond doctor. Hey, I wanted a job helping people since I was a little grub too, guess what I wanted to be? A psychologist, a karate instructor, a physical therapist, and a million other entertaining thoughts. You could argue that every damn job out there helps someone. I could be a fine mercenary mowing down hundreds and I'd be helping the people who hired me. It is not enough to want to 'help people'. That internal drive can be satisfied in many fields.

Unless you have a savior complex bent around the prestige of being the quarterback of a life saving team. Why not the nurse, the physical therapist, the athletic trainer? They help people and spend more time making personal connections with their patients.

I don't know. I think that posts like these are good to make us stop and think about it all, even if they are repetitive. The drive is so deep to become doctors we forget why it's even there.

a true philosophical chef like my self gets no happier than to see my food for thoughts are being eaten up. do consider this though. i talked to this friend of mine whos also doing pre-med, hes a true believer in the helping people stuff. i told him about my thoughs and he said but only physicians are the ones who get to save them, literally. just a thought here tho, if you really wanted to "save" people wouldn't it be more efficient to lets say, become a writer? so you can write stuff that advocates peace and change the way people think? so that people would get shot less per day or something lol? or persuade them to eat less deep fried stuff, or may be work out a little more? its much time consuming to train for 4 years + some years of residency and pay 200g just to save people one at a time, that is if you dont kill any one lol.

again, as always, food for thoughts.

 

[JustAGuy]

Any one and their dog can get into medical school as well (there are dozens of schools in the Caribbean that will much more readily take students than a tier 4 law school).

So now you're counting foreign schools?

Look, there are like 200 US law schools. Outside the top schools, admission is a joke. Even the top 50 schools average only a mean 3.61 GPA. Tier 4 averages around 3.1 something. Pretty lame.

 

[mspeedwagon]

There are more than a handful. There are 30ish; granted, only 4 reputable programs, as in approved in all 50 states (Ross, AUC, Saba and SGU).

As for GPA, like I said, to each his own. If I were trying to pad my GPA, I'd take science classes (biology, chem, etc. all have very clear right answers and a definite way to get As). This of course, may not be true for every one.

There are what - a handful of Caribbean schools?

 

[EpiIV]

a true philosophical chef like my self gets no happier than to see my food for thoughts are being eaten up. do consider this though. i talked to this friend of mine whos also doing pre-med, hes a true believer in the helping people stuff. i told him about my thoughs and he said but only physicians are the ones who get to save them, literally. just a thought here tho, if you really wanted to "save" people wouldn't it be more efficient to lets say, become a writer? so you can write stuff that advocates peace and change the way people think? so that people would get shot less per day or something lol? or persuade them to eat less deep fried stuff, or may be work out a little more? its much time consuming to train for 4 years + some years of residency and pay 200g just to save people one at a time, that is if you dont kill any one lol.

again, as always, food for thoughts.

AH yes. The classic response. "Well I don't want to just help people; I want to SAVE them."

Putting aside that this too is vague and could be fulfilled through working in emergency medical transport, police, counseling for eating disorders or narcotics, etc...I'm going to just say what no one wants to hear. Doctor's are not saviors. They are enablers and at best catalysts.

As a doctor, you do not save anyone. They save themselves. You are paid to give them an opportunity to extend their life. Maybe the illness is a wake up call. It's not you. The patch job procedure or prescription to alleviate symptoms can give them the time needed to pull their crap together. More often than not, it just enables them to continue their crappy lifestyle that landed them in the hospital in the first place. Are you their savior or are you an enabler?

I think at best we are catalysis. Pushing that big chemical reaction forward that we call life. It's going to go where it wants to whether we like it or not. I'm going to serve a lot of patients who are good people, but I can't deny that I'm going to get my fair share of selfish brutes who don't contribute anything to society. That's not my call to say who deserves it or not. However, I'm not going to pretend that all of my work is Good or Helps society as a whole. At the end of the day, I really hope it tips in a positive direction. That's just hope though.

If your friend really believes he's saving people, let him have it. At the end of the day he just needs to go into the field with a reason that will make him fulfilled and happy. However also remind him this. He's the Quarterback of the life saving team. The leader takes the fall when the team loses but if he's smart, he'll know that it takes the entire team to win. The underlings make it or break it. If he believes the doctor is the only one that really saves a life, he needs to take that thought and shove it up his cinnamon hole.

 

[DrArete]

AH yes. The classic response. "Well I don't want to just help people; I want to SAVE them."

Putting aside that this too is vague and could be fulfilled through working in emergency medical transport, police, counseling for eating disorders or narcotics, etc...I'm going to just say what no one wants to hear. Doctor's are not saviors. They are enablers and at best catalysts.

As a doctor, you do not save anyone. They save themselves. You are paid to give them an opportunity to extend their life. Maybe the illness is a wake up call. It's not you. The patch job procedure or prescription to alleviate symptoms can give them the time needed to pull their crap together. More often than not, it just enables them to continue their crappy lifestyle that landed them in the hospital in the first place. Are you their savior or are you an enabler?

I think at best we are catalysis. Pushing that big chemical reaction forward that we call life. It's going to go where it wants to whether we like it or not. I'm going to serve a lot of patients who are good people, but I can't deny that I'm going to get my fair share of selfish brutes who don't contribute anything to society. That's not my call to say who deserves it or not. However, I'm not going to pretend that all of my work is Good or Helps society as a whole. At the end of the day, I really hope it tips in a positive direction. That's just hope though.

If your friend really believes he's saving people, let him have it. At the end of the day he just needs to go into the field with a reason that will make him fulfilled and happy. However also remind him this. He's the Quarterback of the life saving team. The leader takes the fall when the team loses but if he's smart, he'll know that it takes the entire team to win. The underlings make it or break it. If he believes the doctor is the only one that really saves a life, he needs to take that thought and shove it up his cinnamon hole.

/Disagrees

 

[Cleavername]

/Disagrees

haha love house.

 

[surftheiop]

The top strategy consulting companies and investment banks have higher average salaries than medicine for most of their analysts/consultants (i've worked for both) and also you have to look at the overall economics. You're starting in those fields immediately after ug with starting salaries in the 80-150k range, while med students are paying to go to school for four years and residency for 3-8. With 7-10 years experience and probably a MBA in there it'd be surprising for someone still in ib/consulting to be making mid 6 figures.

Yeah, but your probably one of the few people in medicine who could land those sorts of jobs, not all of us went to MIT lol

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Not that I think the average medical student is all that smart (I would guess the average IQ to be around 115-120), but the sheer fact that anyone and their dog can get into a JD program pretty much guarantees them a lower mean IQ.



This sounds like something someone who scores poorly on IQ tests would say.

Umm my IQ last I checked was a 122. However that doesn't matter as IQ tests are utter crap. They are completely unvalid and unreliable. As there would be little to no fluctuation between tests. Simply being said I did a project on how IQ scores are completely useless in quantifying intelligence. The concept of multiple intelligence theory is something you should read up on.

 

[Jasgop]

1. Money
2. Power
3. Prestige
4. I like to be alone! =D

 

[drangocar]

Top 3 pros:
1. Interest in the subject matter.
2. Many options for use of the MD degree.
3. Job security/compensation.

Top 3 worries.
1. Time strain on family.
2. Mental burnout.
3. Not being able to use mechanical pencils any more. Luckily I found this bad boy early in M1 year to match my mechanical pencil. http://www.jetpens.com/product_info.php/products_id/791

 

[jboz]

Top 3 pros:
1. Interest in the subject matter.
2. Many options for use of the MD degree.
3. Job security/compensation.

Top 3 worries.
1. Time strain on family.
2. Mental burnout.
3. Not being able to use mechanical pencils any more. Luckily I found this bad boy early in M1 year to match my mechanical pencil. http://www.jetpens.com/product_info.php/products_id/791

why can't you use mechanical pencils in med school?

 

[BubbaChuck3]

Umm my IQ last I checked was a 122. However that doesn't matter as IQ tests are utter crap. They are completely unvalid and unreliable. As there would be little to no fluctuation between tests. Simply being said I did a project on how IQ scores are completely useless in quantifying intelligence. The concept of multiple intelligence theory is something you should read up on.

I just had to post on this thread to let you know that your statement is factually incorrect. IQ test and scores have been validated for decades and any professional can tell you that they are not useless in quantifying intelligence. You could argue their might be a cultural bias for some people that are administered them. But to call them useless is a pretty bold statement and I hope you have HARD data from your project to back up this hyperbole.

 

[drangocar]

why can't you use mechanical pencils in med school?

Good point. I guess you can the first two years but when writing notes at clinic for example you need a pen. It was more of a concern for medicine as a career.

 

[wannabedoc2]

Hmmm...I dont know about that.

You can make more money, quicker, doing many things.

The power? Well, you do have some power, but it is more responsibility than power, because you can't just do whatever you want without serious consequences.

The prestige? Definitely.


The chicks? LOL. No way. Most women, who actually know what the time constraints many docs face are like, would much rather have someone with more free time.


Also, you didnt exactly follow the format I suggested.

Really? Like what?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I just had to post on this thread to let you know that your statement is factually incorrect. IQ test and scores have been validated for decades and any professional can tell you that they are not useless in quantifying intelligence. You could argue their might be a cultural bias for some people that are administered them. But to call them useless is a pretty bold statement and I hope you have HARD data from your project to back up this hyperbole.

Well i'm going to say that any psychologist and statistician will tell you IQ tests are BS. They are unreliable and inaccurate, simply being said that for a IQ test to be truly effective there would be a plateau after the 3rd test. Simply being said there have been studies which show that IQ tests do not do this, people end up getting scores with standard deviations and intervals which simply make them useless.
There is also the major concept of multiple intelligence theory. This theory basically makes the claim that intelligence is too wide and subjective a matter to truly quantify.

Simply being said i've never found any data which shows the statistical and experimental reliability of IQ tests. Only data which shows otherwise.

 

[SusGob711]

3 Reasons Why:

1) I have yet to find anything else that makes me happy
2) I love that we have the privilege of easing someone's discomfort or ensuring good health
3) Money

3 Worries:

1) Money
2) Am I actually capable of becoming this person--an excellent physician?
3) Money

 

[yoman786]

1. Its a job that lets me be around people, help them, and use the science and stuff I learned in school, I can be a know it all and its ok, because I'm using that knowledge to help people
2. Its a surefire way to do good things and help people
3. Money/Women/all those worldly things

1. Am I really worthy/good enough
2. Am I doing this for the right reasons
3. Will I be happy doing this and what specific subfield should I enter in order to actually have a life inside and outside work, be happy, and make money?

 

[pOrtEnt]

Top 3 pros:

3. Not being able to use mechanical pencils any more. Luckily I found this bad boy early in M1 year to match my mechanical pencil.

wTFFFFF http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H91rPIq2mN4 seriously how come I didn't know this before? What will I doooooo

 

[mspeedwagon]

As someone that worked as an investment banker out of college, that does come to mind (65k base, plus 35k bonus the first year directly out of college and I was on the low end).

I now work as a clinical research monitor. Most make about 100k after two to three years of experience. Much, much more if you have a lot of experience.

Also, people who are good at sales. I know quite a few that make six figures and they are in their mid-20s.

Those are only the fields I know. I'm sure there are a ton of others where you make a lot more money faster.


All of the above don't need anything beyond a four year degree.

Really? Like what?

 

[klmnop]

1-human body is awesome
2-maximizing my intellectual potential
3-helping people fix what they can't fix themselves is awesome

1-debt debt debt
2-future relationship difficulties
3-future family/child-rearing difficulties

 

[HopenSacrifice]

1. Make my life meaningful by helping those who really want to live and to
help the underdeserved communities attain health care.
2. Prestige- make loved ones proud and myself proud
3. Curiosity for medicine



1. Cavaders - I am necrophobic so i have to slowly learn to not let it get
in the way of med school
2. Not passing the Nal't test
3. Lonelinesss- no time for social life (for mate, family, friends)

 

[BubbaChuck3]

Well i'm going to say that any psychologist and statistician will tell you IQ tests are BS. They are unreliable and inaccurate, simply being said that for a IQ test to be truly effective there would be a plateau after the 3rd test. Simply being said there have been studies which show that IQ tests do not do this, people end up getting scores with standard deviations and intervals which simply make them useless.
There is also the major concept of multiple intelligence theory. This theory basically makes the claim that intelligence is too wide and subjective a matter to truly quantify.

Simply being said i've never found any data which shows the statistical and experimental reliability of IQ tests. Only data which shows otherwise.

I only asked because I work in the medical psychology division of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the psychologist here would disagree with you. And from what I know from case presentation and the limited data analysis and work I have done correlation NART IQ as well as other intellectual measures with different cognitive tasks, diseases or other variables that IQ and education showed to be a very very reliable predictor for a number of tasks. Like I said I am no expert on this but I know the psychologist and psychiatrist in this department would disagree with your statement. I don't want to follow them blindly but if I had to guess I'd assume they would be a better audience to listen to on this matter than you.