Medical What jobs options do you have as a pre-med major?

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TheBoneDoctah

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Hi! If medical school does not turn out to be an option after obtaining a bachelors, what pre-med majors offer a variety off job options. For example, I was considering taking nursing as a pre-med major, but I heard that getting into med school is not so easy with a B.S. in Nursing.
I mean, lots of jobs don't really care what your degree is in as long as you have a bachelor's. Most of the degrees in the "pre-med" world kind of pigeon-hole you into some sort of lab or medical field (assistant type work). My degree in neuroscience was literally zero help when I was trying to find a job after undergrad (before medical school) and I had to take a job at Target for a while until I was able to find a job in a clinical lab running blood samples.

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Their historically were issues from any of the allied health professions then applying into medicine. Nursing and pharmacy had the lowest admission rates for many years. It is doable, but you are going to have to have an excellent explanation beyond just job matters why not continue onto the NP track especially if you desire primary care options. Nursing, pharmacy, and clinical lab sciences are worse than neutral for this reason, but a great candidate is a great candidate, and most of the very prejudiced faculty are being phased out. One other note, the GPA standards do not change for your major, bear in mind that nursing is considered to be one of the harder majors but you will need to keep the GPA up.
 
If you enjoy nursing, getting a BS in nursing and working as a nurse prior to medical school (taking a year off can give you valuable clinical experience) is a great idea. Just be prepared to talk about how your background in nursing will help you be a better physician. It will help you be a better physician; it's just important to be able to talk about it intelligently.
 
Thank you! I agree about how limiting pre-med majors are, and how they really test patience and commitment when it comes to medical school or other programs. Do you happen to know if neuroscience meets the requirements for PA programs?

I am not 100% sure what the requirements are for PA from a course standpoint. If you are literally just getting a neuroscience degree (and not pre-med), then I am not sure you have to take all the chems, o chem, physics, etc. I don't remember exactly because I was pre-med so didnt really look at that. For PA, you will need a bunch more direct patient care hours though.
 
Thank you so much for the encouragement! Would you happen to know more about how I would meet the pre-requisites or if I would have to take the MCAT after working as a nurse?

you can meet the medical school pre-requisites in any major. Typically they are chemistry, biology, physics, and organic chemistry, all with lab, and each school may have its own requirements beyond those.

In addition, everyone who applies to medical school must take the MCAT.
 
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