What happens if a Pre-med doesnt get into medicine?

[Ron Mexico]

What other career choices are out there for premeds that can't get into medical school?

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[DrBowtie]

Caribbean Med School

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Masters in Pathology, then reapply. If still no joy, then I might go to law school.

 

[odrade1]

Medical sales
Nurse's assistant
Hospital administration
Waiter
Schoolteacher
Get a desk job at a university
Research assistant

It totally depends on your interests. Strictly speaking, bachelor's degrees alone don't get you very far.

 

[chaeymaey]

What's your flava?

 

[Ron Mexico]

Masters in Pathology, then reapply. If still no joy, then I might go to law school.

Whats a masters in pathology?

 

[TerdFerguson]

It totally depends on your interests. Strictly speaking, bachelor's degrees alone don't get you very far.

Yeah, for real. I have a B.S. in Biochem and it got me to the temp agency.

 

[jon stewart]

maybe pharm school, nursing school or PA school. Who knows, but its a good idea to have a backup plan.

 

[Ashanti Rock]

There is hope Ron Mexico! I have a B.S. and I got a sweet gig making about 40grand a year! Just have to carefully sift through the job market.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Some medical schools offer a graduate degree (MS or Phd in some cases) in pathology. It's normally intended for those who wish to do pathology research, but there are a couple that have one that are geared towards turning out people who can work side by side with clinical pathologists during autopsies.

 

[Ron Mexico]

There is hope Ron Mexico! I have a B.S. and I got a sweet gig making about 40grand a year! Just have to carefully sift through the job market.

what do you do?

 

[Ashanti Rock]

what do you do?

Research at a top medical institution, can't give out name....gots to remain top secret . But if you pm me, I can send you some stuff.

Ashanti

 

[jbrice1639]

would you like fries with that?

 

[Law2Doc]

What other career choices are out there for premeds that can't get into medical school?

There's always tree surgery.

 

[justskipee]

There's always tree surgery.

you mean like inserting the shunt into Maple trees to collect syrup?

 

[silas2642]

What other career choices are out there for premeds that can't get into medical school?

If a pre-med doesn't get into medical school, then they spontaneously combust. Try not to be around a pre-med student who is about to explode, because it is gooey and messy.

 

[SuzieQ3417]

I had three friends that started as pre-med my freshmen year of college and have all switched. One went into nursing, one is going to get a master's in Genetic Counseling, and the third is currently getting a master's at a school in Philly - some sort of forensics degree I believe (it sounded really cool).

 

[bluelotus1214]

Masters in an Anesthesiologist Assistant
WOrking at a hospital
Monster.com

 

[sscooterguy]

My friend decided to go with her first original interest, dental school, after only getting one interview and no acceptance to med school. She got into a top dental school and is doing great, most likely because it was a better fit for her.

There are few things that I could think of that I could have done had I not gone to medical school. However, I found out about pathology assistants last year when I did a fellowship in pathology between my third and fourth year in medical school. There are only a few programs that I know of, Wayne State, Ohio State, Duke, but it is a 2 year masters degree, and you work in pathology departments. You can do autopsies if you like, but your main job as a pathology assistant is to gross surgical specimens (describe them, dissect them, dye them, and prepare them for histology). My friend is making $80k, PLUS $10K HOLIDAY BONUS working 50 hrs a week. She was highly recruited 6 months before she finished. Its probably the sweetest deal I've ever heard of. Apparently they are in high demand, especially near big cities and academic institutions and big private hosp programs with strong surgery departments. If I knew about it before, it definately would have been on my differential had I not made it into med school. Look into it if you're interested.

sscooterguy

 

[indo]

Masters in Pathology, then reapply. If still no joy, then I might go to law school.

Why law school? To get even with the people who rejected you from med school?

 

[nimotsu]

Why law school? To get even with the people who rejected you from med school?

that's a great idea... I never thought of it that way.

 

[MrDreamWeaver]

Lol!

 

[lorelei]

I give the same advice to every young person who tells me they're thinking about medicine: Don't be a "premed" - be a [something else] who's considering medicine. Because if you're a premed who doesn't get into med school, you're sorta screwed. (Not really - the rest of this thread has plenty of ideas.) But if you studied something else with income potential, you're fine.

Engineering is ideal for this, but there are other options as well.

 

[Will Ferrell]

I give the same advice to every young person who tells me they're thinking about medicine: Don't be a "premed" - be a [something else] who's considering medicine. Because if you're a premed who doesn't get into med school, you're sorta screwed. (Not really - the rest of this thread has plenty of ideas.) But if you studied something else with income potential, you're fine.

Engineering is ideal for this, but there are other options as well.

Yea... engineering may hurt your gpa though. i think chemistry is ideal.

 

[silverjelly]

Dance at . . .

Hters!

 

[Gut Shot]

What other career choices are out there for premeds that can't get into medical school?

One word: babies.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Why law school? To get even with the people who rejected you from med school?

Not really, actually I would probably go into something along that lines of international law. I've joked about becoming a malpractice attorney, but I don't think I could stomach something that distasteful.

 

[justskipee]

What other career choices are out there for premeds that can't get into medical school?

fluffer...then get promoted to porn star...then getting promoted to porn director

 

[45408]

if you're an attractive female, then you could get a job as a pharmaceutical sales rep.

I'm not sure if that's actually one of the job requirements, but it sure seems like it.

 

[BlinkyCat]

If I didn't get into med school..here are some things I thought about:

Become test subjects for drugs or various surgical procedures
sell eggs
audition for Apprentice IV
become an I-banker...

Thank goodness I was accepted...

 

[jebus]

if you're an attractive female, then you could get a job as a pharmaceutical sales rep.

I'm not sure if that's actually one of the job requirements, but it sure seems like it.

Apparently it helps to be a cheerleader at UoKentucky if you want to be a pharmaceutical rep. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40917FC3F550C7B8EDDA80994DD404482
According to the article:

Approximately two dozen Kentucky cheerleaders, mostly women but a few men, have become drug reps in recent years.

While there are no statistics on how many drug representatives are former or current cheerleaders, demand for them led to the formation of an employment firm, Spirited Sales Leaders, in Memphis. It maintains a database of thousands of potential candidates.

''The cheerleaders now are the top people in universities; these are really capable and high-profile people,'' said Gregory C. Webb, who is also a principal in a company that runs cheerleading camps and employs former cheerleaders. He started Spirited Sales Leaders about 18 months ago because so many cheerleaders were going into drug sales. He said he knew several hundred former cheerleaders who had become drug representatives.

I don't remember if the OP said anything about his cheerleading career at UK, though.

 

[gary5]

Masters in Pathology, then reapply. If still no joy, then I might go to law school.

Yep, do a 1-year post-bacc program and reapply. Maybe post your scores/stats and ask peoples' opinions about your chances. You still need be roughly in range and you can retake the MCAT.

 

[Siggy]

would you like fries with that?

I would thing rejected pre-meds were more on the lines of, "Enjoy your movie and remember to rewind." Arts majors already have a corner on the "Would you like fries with that" line.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

And history majors have a corner on "Hi, my name is ------ and I'll be your waiter this evening."

 

[LucidSplash]

There is hope Ron Mexico! I have a B.S. and I got a sweet gig making about 40grand a year! Just have to carefully sift through the job market.

Yeah, for real. I have a B.S. in Biochem and it got me to the temp agency.

I'm with BOTH of you. I temped for around 6 months after graduating with a BA in Biochem, then landed a job for 38K at a CRO. I was promoted a year later to a job that actually requires a brain and now make 45+ telling PhDs what to do.

Damn ambition and lifelong dreams! Forever keeping me unsatisfied!
Please interview me please please please oh please I need interviews please.

 

[Em1]

There's always the MRS degree...

 

[nebrfan]

LAWYERIZED!

(Aren't most pre-law students pre-med washouts anyways?)

 

[DarkFark]

Dance at . . .

Hters!

Hooters girls don't dance, they serve wings. Perhaps you meant Scores?

 

[jebus]

(Aren't most pre-law students pre-med washouts anyways?)

Whoa, champ! Ok, so, my brother's starting law school this fall. I'm pretty sure with his 3.8 undergraduate GPA, 2350 GRE, PhD in Neuroscience, 4.0 Graduate GPA, NSF Pre-doctoral fellowship, HHMI pre-doctoral felllowship, Merck Pre-doctoral fellowship, post-doc at Harvard in the lab of a member of the National Academy of Sciences and HHMI investigator, $200K a year in grants from Merck and the NSF as 1st year post doc he could have gotten into any med school.
Some people are just not interested in medicine. So let's lay off bashing lawyers. If, as a basic researcher and now that he's gotten into law school, he doesn't bash pre-meds you can afford lawyers the same luxury. Well, except medical malpractice and personal injury attorneys. Bash away.

 

[Law2Doc]

(Aren't most pre-law students pre-med washouts anyways?)

A bit myopic -- only on SDN do people not realize that most people on the planet choose careers other than medicine voluntarilly.

Also, to the poster about malpractice law above being "distasteful", bear in mind that in each of those cases someone has to defend doctors too -- so medmal defense is also an option.

 

[chaeymaey]

If I don't get in this year, I'm currently debating whether to get an MA in English while applying to law school or getting a second BA (this time in Biology) and reapplying to med school. It seems like reapplying to med school would prevent the lifelong "what if?" question.

 

[Olddodger]

Hi all,

There's always the military. College degree + OCS + decent health/fitness = Officer.

You get to serve your country and do some neat stuff to boot, if you keep an open mind. Except for the super technical jobs (Sub/Aviation), the commitment is actually quite short.

I'll admit its not for everyone.



Best,
Oldie

 

[sgglaze]

Whoa, champ! Ok, so, my brother's starting law school this fall. I'm pretty sure with his 3.8 undergraduate GPA, 2350 GRE, PhD in Neuroscience, 4.0 Graduate GPA, NSF Pre-doctoral fellowship, HHMI pre-doctoral felllowship, Merck Pre-doctoral fellowship, post-doc at Harvard in the lab of a member of the National Academy of Sciences and HHMI investigator, $200K a year in grants from Merck and the NSF as 1st year post doc he could have gotten into any med school.
Some people are just not interested in medicine. So let's lay off bashing lawyers. If, as a basic researcher and now that he's gotten into law school, he doesn't bash pre-meds you can afford lawyers the same luxury. Well, except medical malpractice and personal injury attorneys. Bash away.

Wow! Someone is in antsy-in-your-pantzy ultra defensive mode. The other guy was obviously making an off-hand comment about lawyers. Relax.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

A bit myopic -- only on SDN do people not realize that most people on the planet choose careers other than medicine voluntarilly.

Also, to the poster about malpractice law above being "distasteful", bear in mind that in each of those cases someone has to defend doctors too -- so medmal defense is also an option.

Point well taken.....I don't know if I could do medmal defense though...

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Hi all,

There's always the military. College degree + OCS + decent health/fitness = Officer.

You get to serve your country and do some neat stuff to boot, if you keep an open mind. Except for the super technical jobs (Sub/Aviation), the commitment is actually quite short.

I'll admit its not for everyone.



Best,
Oldie

It's only for those who can't realize that they will be a number to the military, which treats its people like crap and genuinely disillusions the vast majority who enter it. Take a look at the military medicine section of this site to see what I mean......

Just a friendly warning from former Airman R---------------.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

it seems odd to be that people are listing law school as a bakc up for med school. if you'd be happy being a doctor, i can't say for sure that you'd be happy being a lawyer and vice versa. they're two very different jobs. also, the world's bigger than law or medicine. you know you don't have to go to professional school, right? personally, i'd advise against jumping into law school as a backup unless you've done your research and are truly convinced law's the field for you.

as to what people do if they don't get in, don't most people reapply? my thought is that if you don't reapply, you probably didn't want it that much anyway so the rejections were a blessing. if reapplying doesn't work, you can always explore options like *gasp* osteopathic schools and offshore schools after that. with those options, if you really want to be a doctor, you'll find a way.

 

[Virgil]

I would live on the beach, selling seashells by the sea shore. (and rum)

 

[DropkickMurphy]

My backup plans aren't limited to law school. I can always fall back on one of the following:
-Funeral director
-Forensic anthropologist
-Epidemiologist
etc, etc.....

 

[Virgil]

My backup plans aren't limited to law school. I can always fall back on one of the following:
-Funeral director
-Forensic anthropologist
-Epidemiologist
etc, etc.....

Paramedic?

 

[justskipee]

Could work on a cruise ship as a waiter or something. That would be a really unique experience, and you'd get to meet people from all over the world (other staff).