What can you do with your SMP degree? (Other than go to medical school)

[Trilliums]

Hi all,
I know many of us are hoping to enter into SMPs in order to be admitted into medical school. Some of us, myself included, are looking to use our SMPs as second chance towards improving our gpa for admission. The question I get all the time is (especially from my parents), what happens if you apply after finishing your SMP and don't get in? Will it have all been a waste, or can you use that master's degree towards getting another type of good standing job? My understanding is that most SMPs are meant to be used just for continuing education, as in, to get into vet school, med school, or a phd program. If you do not get into one of those programs, then what comes next?
I still want to plan for what happens if I get rejected from med school after my SMP. I would of course plan on reapplying... but I wanted to get your thoughts on what back-up to the back-up plans there are.
I hope I am making sense. Thanks for any input!

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[darklabel]

Hi all,
I know many of us are hoping to enter into SMPs in order to be admitted into medical school. Some of us, myself included, are looking to use our SMPs as second chance towards improving our gpa for admission. The question I get all the time is (especially from my parents), what happens if you apply after finishing your SMP and don't get in? Will it have all been a waste, or can you use that master's degree towards getting another type of good standing job? My understanding is that most SMPs are meant to be used just for continuing education, as in, to get into vet school, med school, or a phd program. If you do not get into one of those programs, then what comes next?
I still want to plan for what happens if I get rejected from med school after my SMP. I would of course plan on reapplying... but I wanted to get your thoughts on what back-up to the back-up plans there are.
I hope I am making sense. Thanks for any input!

Absolutely nothing, most SMP are only labelled as a masters program to get the students financial aid.

A good SMP means you took medical school classes (usually year one) and you are proving to adcoms that despite your mediocre GPA, you can succeed in medical school.

What jobs out there will find someone who studied only one year of med school curriculum useful?

 

[Trilliums]

Absolutely nothing, most SMP are only labelled as a masters program to get the students financial aid.

A good SMP means you took medical school classes (usually year one) and you are proving to adcoms that despite your mediocre GPA, you can succeed in medical school.

What jobs out there will find someone who studied only one year of med school curriculum useful?

You're right. I feel like not being admitted into medical school after doing a SMP is like hitting a dead end and having wasted a lot of money to get there. This fact just makes me more nervous for the whole process...

 

[darklabel]

You're right. I feel like not being admitted into medical school after doing a SMP is like hitting a dead end and having wasted a lot of money to get there. This fact just makes me more nervous for the whole process...

Its always good to apply for those that are labeled Tier 1 on the sticky for that reason. There are a lot of dubious SMP's out there just trying to cash in on the entering to med school phase.

Also, its worth the risk man. Hard work for 1 year = possible med school acceptance? definitely do it.

 

[plasmamorris]

I was only looking for summer employment - but my degree got me interviews for teaching community college bio or A/P. If I wasn't starting med school in August - I totally would have taken the job. It wasn't great pay - but you're teaching and actually using some of the knowledge you've accrued over the past couple of years. It is a Masters degree at the end of the day and it's up to the employer to determine if that's a valuable degree. Community colleges in my area only required a minimum of a masters degree to apply. Of course, you should also have some teaching experience in the form of tutoring or something along similar lines. I didn't have any formal teaching experience before applying outside of tutoring, but that was enough.

This does not apply to certificate programs. My program issued me an actual masters degree - even if it wasn't really worth much, it was still a masters.

I agree with the poster above - a good amount of risk but if you work hard you won't need a backup.

 

[chayo234]

As the above poster has mentioned - with an extensive science education, it can net you jobs as an instructor at community colleges or even the SMP school that you attended.

Most people will usually end up somewhere in the health field by doing additional coursework to get certified as an EMT, ER Tech, etc. post-graduation of a SMP.

Many others go into research and end up pursuing a doctoral degree also.

 

[Trilliums]

Thank you for all the responses! I have always found research to be very tedious work, but teaching has never been out of the question for me. I don't have any experience in it but could look into tutoring.
I guess the answer to my question is that there are no direct job outings from a SMP degree, but it can be applied for towards a position in something related to the field of biology. That makes sense. At least that lifts my spirits a bit!

 

[deleted248403]

My friend did an SMP, did very well in it, but decided medicine wasn't for him.

Works as a CRA now making every good money